William Thiselton-Dyer

Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer KCMG CIE FRS FLS (28 July 1843 – 23 December 1928) was a leading British botanist, and the third director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Thiselton-Dyer was born in Westminster, London. He was a son of William George Thiselton-Dyer, physician and Catherine Jane, née Firminger, botanist. He was educated at King's College School where he was first mathematical scholar, and later proceeded to the medical department of King's College London, where he remained until 1863 when he proceeded to Christ Church, Oxford. Initially studying mathematics at Christ Church, Oxford, he graduated in natural science in 1867. He became Professor of Natural History at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester and then Professor of Botany at the Royal College of Science for Ireland in Dublin. In 1872, he became professor at the Royal Horticultural Society in London, being recommended by Joseph Dalton Hooker.