Henry Ibbotson

[Chris Liffen]

Ibbotson, Henry was born at Ganthorpe , near Castle Howard, Yorkshire.
He was the son of the gardener, John Ibbotson and his wife, Elizabeth. Richard Spruce (1817–1893) was his contemporary in Ganthorpe ; Spruce went on to become one of the great Victorian explorers (in South America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Spruce ). See Spruce’s article entitled “Three days on the Yorkshire Moors” page 101 - - http://www.archive.org/stream/phytologistpopul4144luxf#page/100/mode/2up/search/ibbotson


In 1851, the census records him as living in Ganthorpe with his sister Elizabeth and mother (widowed), and he is described as a ‘botanist’.


In the 1861 census, he is recorded as a gardener at Castle Howard Reformatory School (Welburn). He produced A Guide to Castle Howard (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dod9NAAACAAJ&dq=ibbotson+howard&hl=en&ei=tH47TNauMYm6jAfk3MWBBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA ). Interestingly, some of Mudd’s specimens were collected from Castle Howard by Ibbotson:-


He contributed to Henry Baines' Flora of Yorkshire (1840) and to J. G. Baker's works. He also prepared and published ‘Rarer plants near Castle Howard’ - The Phytologist 1844 (p557 http://www.archive.org/stream/phytologistpopul4144luxf#page/100/mode/2up/search/ibbotson ).

His main work was “A catalogue of the phaenogamous plants of Great Britain", which came out in parts between 1846 to 1849”, see http://www.archive.org/stream/catalogueofphaen00ibbo#page/n1/mode/2up .
His ‘last’ contribution was probably a booklet / pamphlet on “The ferns of York” in 1884. He sold specimen sets of the rarer plants of the northern counties. The 1881 and 1891 censuses record him variously as a botanist / gardener and lodger / boarder in York.