The McNab family

[Roger Horton]

Professor William Ramsay McNab, his father, uncle, and grandfather, were all botanical collectors.

William McNab (1780-1848) was employed Royal Gardens, Kew (1801-1810), & Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (1810-1848).

His herbarium passed to his son James McNab (1810-1879; Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh) who added his own specimens & some from his younger brother, Gilbert McNab (1815-1859).

The herbarium later became the property of James' son, William Ramsay McNab (born 9 November 1844, died 3 December 1889), who took it to Dublin sometime after 1872, when he was appointed Professor of Botany in the Royal College of Science; when he died his widow was obliged to sell the collection. Most of the herbarium specimens were acquired for the National Museum of Ireland, and incorporated into the Museum's botanical collection. In 1970 the Museum's botanical specimens and library were transferred to the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin (DBN).