William Saunders (scientist)
| William Saunders | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
June 16, 1836 Crediton, England |
| Died | September 13, 1914 (aged 78) London, Ontario |
| Children | six, including Charles E. Saunders |
William Saunders (June 16, 1836 – September 13, 1914) was a Canadian agriculturalist, entomologist and pharmacist. He was a pioneer in Canadian agricultural science, led the establishment of the Experimental Farm System and served as its first director for almost 25 years.
Saunders was born in Crediton, England, the son of James Saunders and Jane (Wollacott) Saunders. His father was a shoemaker and Methodist preacher. In 1848, when Saunders was twelve years old, the family emigrated to Canada and settled in London, Ontario. Saunders had little or no formal education in London but was instead apprenticed to a local druggist, John Salter. In 1855 when he was only nineteen, Saunders opened his own pharmacy which he eventually expanded into a wholesale pharmaceutical business that specialized in medicinal extracts made from plants.
Saunders became a well-known and influential part of the pharmaceutical community in Canada and the United States. In 1867 he was a founding member and later president of the Canadian Pharmaceutical Society. He was an active member of the American Pharmaceutical Association, serving as president in 1877-1878. In 1871 he helped establish the Ontario College of Pharmacy and served as president for two years. He also lectured on materia medica (pharmacology) at the University of Western Ontario.
Saunders' interest in plants and their medicinal properties led him to the study of entomology with a focus on applications in agriculture. He befriended Charles Bethune who shared his interest in insects and together they helped found the Entomological Society of Canada in 1863. In 1868 they began publishing the Canadian Entomologist, a journal to which they were the sole contributors for the initial two issues. Bethune was the editor for the first five years and then Saunders served as editor until 1886. Both the society and the journal were the first of their kind in Canada to focus on entomology and their influence extended to the United States, where many entomologists were members of the Canadian society and published in the journal. In 1883 he published Insects Injurious to Fruits, which served as the standard text on the subject in North America for 25 years.
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