Henry John Elwes

Henry John Elwes
Henry John as a young man.
Born	(1846-05-16)16 May 1846 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
Died	26 November 1922(1922-11-26) (aged 76) England
Residence	England
Nationality	British
Fields	Botany Entomology Lepidoptery Arboriculture
Institutions	Royal Horticultural Society
Alma mater	Eton College
Known for	Galanthus elwesii Eremurus elwesii Genus Lilium
Notable awards	Victoria Medal

Henry John Elwes, FRS (16 May 1846 – 26 November 1922) was a British botanist, entomologist, author, lepidopterist, collector and traveller who became renowned for collecting specimens of lilies during trips to the Himalaya and Korea. He was one of the first group of 60 people to receive the Victoria Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1897. Author of Monograph of the Genus Lilium (1880), and The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland (1906–1913) with Augustine Henry, as well as numerous articles, he left a collection of 30,000 butterfly specimens to the Natural History Museum, including 11,370 specimens of Palaearctic butterflies.

Elwes was the eldest son of John Henry Elwes of Colesbourne Park near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He was described as "a giant of a man, and a very dominating character". with "a booming voice which carried well across his Gloucestershire estate, but was very disconcerting elsewhere" At 13, Elwes was sent to Eton College. After the age of 17 he spent at least part of every year abroad, and was sent to tutors in Paris, Brussels and Dresden before spending five years in the Scots Guards from 1865. He apparently did not take soldiering very seriously, being more interested in ornithology which in those days consisted of collecting specimens and eggs. He resigned his commission in 1869 and thenceforth lived the life of a travelling naturalist and country gentleman. He visited various parts of the world studying aspects of natural history including ornithology, botany, entomology and big game. He combined horticulture with entomology and big game hunting with estate management and raising prize-winning show livestock, and sitting on the District council. He would later ascribe his interest in plants to his wife, Margaret Lowndes, whom he married in 1871. His first garden was at Miserden, near Cirencester; he later moved to Preston House, Cirencester, before inheriting the Colesbourne estate on the death of his father in 1891.