George Samuel Jenman
1845 - 1902
Born near Plymouth in 1845, where he received his early training in horticulture, before entering the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in 1871.
Promoted to foreman of the herbaceous department before, in 1973, being appointed Superintendent of the Castletown Gardens, Jamaica. He was appointed Government Botanist and Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens of British Guiana in 1879.
He laid out and cultivated the Gardens and experimented with tropical plants. His name has been most associated with his seedling cane experiments. Working at first on his own, and later with Professor Harrison, he carried out a long series of experiments which made them household names with regards to the cultivation of sugarcane.
He discovered and named a number of indigenous plants.
Large number of letters between Jenman and senior staff at Kew held by the archives.
Resources: Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists, Ray Desmond (1994), Journal of the Kew Guild.