Patrick Neill (naturalist)

Patrick Neill FRSE FSA Scot FLS MWS (25 October 1776 – 3 September 1851) was a Scottish printer and horticulturalist, known as a naturalist. A founding member, and the first secretary, of both the Wernerian Natural History Society (1808–49) and the Caledonian Horticultural Society (1809–49), he is mainly remembered today for having endowed the Neill Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Neill' works include A Tour Through Some of the Islands of Orkney and Shetland (1806), which caused much public debate at the time, due to its descriptions of the economic misery of the islanders. He also authored the Gardening article in the seventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. This article was subsequently expanded and published as a separate book under the title of The Fruit, Flower, and Kitchen Garden, which was very popular and ran through several editions.

When the Nor Loch was drained in 1820, Neill was commissioned to plan the scheme of planting of 5 acres of land, which is now West Princes Street Gardens. This included the planting of 77,000 trees and shrubs.

The rosaceous genus Neillia is named after Neill.

He was born in Edinburgh on 25 October 1776, and spent his life there. He became the head of the large printing firm of Neill & Co., of Edinburgh, but during the last thirty years of his life he took little active part in its management. Early in his career he devoted his spare time to natural history, especially botany and horticulture. The Wernerian Natural History Society was established in 1808, and in 1809 the Caledonian Horticultural Society was founded. Neill was the first secretary of both societies, holding the latter post for forty years.

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