William Hincks

Rev. William Hincks
Hincks, William (186..) University of Toronto
Born	(1794-04-16)April 16, 1794 Cork, Ireland
Died	September 10, 1871(1871-09-10) (aged 77) Toronto, Canada
Nationality	Irish
Occupation	Unitarian minister and professor of natural history
Spouse(s)	Maria Ann Yandell (m. 1817; d. 1849) Sarah Maria (m. date unknown)
Children	8

William Hincks (16 April 1794 – 10 September 1871) was an Irish Unitarian minister, theologian and professor of natural history. He was the first professor of natural history at University College, Toronto and president of the Canadian Institute (now the Royal Canadian Institute). He was also the first editor of the Unitarian magazine The Inquirer.

Hincks was born on 16 April 1794 in Cork, Ireland, the son of Thomas Dix Hincks, an orientalist and naturalist, and Anne Boult. He was educated in Belfast and trained as a minister in Manchester College, York from 1810 to 1815. He served in Cork from 1815 to 1818, then moved to Exeter where he ministered from 1818 to 1822. In 1822 he joined the Unitarian church and served as a minister at Renshaw Street Unitarian Chapel in Liverpool until 1827. He didn't work again as a minister until 1839, when he moved to London.

In 1827 he returned to Manchester College, York to teach Mathematics and philosophy. While he was there he became involved with the Philosophical Radicals. He stayed there until 1834 and in 1839 took a break from teaching to resume his work with the church, serving in 1845 as the minister at what later became Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel in Hampstead.

In 1849 he became the first professor of natural history at Queen's College, Cork, the same year as the college started teaching and 4 years after it was founded. While there he had a major role in the development of the botanical gardens, in which he hoped to represent all the known orders of plants that he could grow in the Irish climate. He was also involved in developing the museum and herbaria.