John Claudius Loudon: Home

Promoting natural history, landscape design and horticulture, Loudon created the “Magazine of natural history…”(1829) and the “Gardener’s magazine” (1826). The periodicals helped readers discover naturalist facts, varying observations, behaviors and new information about British plants and animals. Loudon became well known for his landscape and plant cultivation expertise, and landowners sought Loudon’s advice regarding ground and estate improvements. His knowledge helped design glasshouses, conservatories, cemeteries, hothouses at Birmingham Botanic Gardens and England’s first public park with railings for inclusiveness, the Derby Arboretum (4, 7).

His reputation and innovative breakthroughs drew the attention of renowned American botanist John Torrey. In 1941, Loudon wrote three letters to Torrey and Scottish nurseryman, George Thorburn and in the letters he “thanks Torrey for sending both books and specimens, which he has studied and now proposes to return, via George Thorburn, along with copies of his own publications; the third letter is addressed to George Thorburn, asking him to deliver his letters and package to Torrey in New York. He also briefly discusses some confusion he is having regarding the genus Ulmus, and the obsolete plant name Empetrum conradii is mentioned”(5).  After corresponding with Torrey and Thorburn, Loudon succumbed to his death and passed away due to lung disease in 1943. The original letters remain a part of John Torrey papers, available in the New York Botanical Garden Archives and online via the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL).  

With over 40 years of extensive literary research, garden visits and labor, Loudon's described as a man who "lived a full, varied, and occasionally adventurous life, unencumbered by any misgivings about his personal abilities" (6). His energy and enthusiasm to disseminate information and interest in landscape gardening allowed him to formulate his own “Gardenesque” art style, influencing Victorian designs in gardens and public parks. Demonstrating one’s disability is not an inability or identity, Loudon did not let his disabilities hinder his impact in the horticulture industry. A pioneer in landscape design, Loudon remains a respected member in the botanical community.