Hugh Plat

Sir Hugh Plat (1552–1608) was an English writer on agriculture and inventor, known from his works The Jewell House of Art and Nature (1594) and his major work on gardening Floraes Paradise (1608).

Hugh Plat was born in the spring of 1552, and baptised at St. James's, Garlickhythe, on 3 May 1552. He was third son, the eldest surviving son, of Richard Plat or Platt (1528-1600), a London brewer who ran the Old Swan brewery in James Street, London. His father owned property in St Pancras, London, bequeathed much of it to the foundation and endowment of a free school and six almshouses at Aldenham, Hertfordshire, and was buried at St. James's, Garlickhythe, on 28 November 1600. Hugh's mother, Alice, was daughter of John Birtles, of Birtles, Cheshire. Plat matriculated as a pensioner of St John's College, Cambridge, on 12 November 1568 and he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1572. Soon afterwards he became a member of Lincoln's Inn.

He resided from 1594 at Bishop's Hall, Bethnal Green, later moving to the neighbouring Kirby's Castle. Both at Bethnal Green and in St. Martin's Lane. he maintained gardens, where he conducted horticultural and agricultural experiments. For research, he often visited Sir Thomas Heneage's estate at Copt Hall, Essex, and other large properties. He learned metallurgy from blacksmiths, and worked with gardeners and farmers to gather information on horticulture and agriculture.

In consideration of his services as inventor, Plat was knighted by James I at Greenwich on 22 May 1605.

Plat married twice. His second wife, Judith, daughter of William Albany of London, was buried in Highgate Chapel, 28 January 1636. Plat left two sons and three daughters by his second marriage, and other children by his first. William, the fourth son of his second marriage, was buried in Highgate Chapel on 11 November 1637, beneath an elaborate tomb.

He left land to St John's College, Cambridge, where he had been educated as a fellow-commoner. In 1858 William Platt's estate was merged in the general property of the college, and the three Platt fellowships, which then represented the endowment, became ordinary foundation fellowships.

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