JOHN CLAUDIUS LOUDON
1783-1843
Brief Biographical sketch
From Chambers’ Dictionary
of Eminent Scotsmen 1862:
LOUDON, JOHN CLAUDIUS .—This
eminent improver of our gardening and agriculture, was born at Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, on the 8th of April, 1783. His father was a
respectable farmer, who resided at Kerse Hall, near Gogar, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh: his mother was only
sister of the mother of Dr. Claudius Buchanan, so well known by his
philanthropic labours in behalf of the Hindoos, and
his work entitled "Christian Researches in Asia." Even when a child,
John Claudius Loudon evinced that taste in gardening for which he was
afterwards so distinguished; and his chief pleasure at that time was to lay out, and make walks and beds in a little garden which
his father had given him. He was early sent to Edinburgh for the benefit of his
education, where he resided with his uncle; and besides studying botany and
chemistry, he learned Latin, and afterwards French and Italian, contriving to
pay the fees of his teachers by the sale of his translations from the two
last-mentioned languages. Being placed at the age of fourteen under the charge
of a nurseryman and landscape gardener, he continued his studies in botany and
chemistry, to which he added that of agriculture, at the university of
Edinburgh; while to obtain as much time as possible from the duties of the day,
he was wont to sit up two nights during each week, a practice that grew into a
habit, and which he continued for years during his subsequent studies.
In
1803, when he had now reached his twentieth year, and obtained a considerable
reputation in landscape gardening, Loudon went up to London, carrying with him
numerous letters of introduction to some of the first landed proprietors in
England. On entering the great metropolis, the tasteless manner in which the
public squares were laid out caught his observant eye: their gloomy trees and
shrubs were planted as if the places had been designed for church-yards rather
than haunts of recreation. As the solitary voice of a stranger would have been
unheard upon such a prevalent evil, he had recourse to the press, and published
an article, entitled "Observations on Laying out the Public Squares of
London," in the Literary Journal, in which he recommended the Oriental
plane, almond, sycamore, and other lighter trees, instead of the lugubrious
plantings that had hitherto been in vogue. The advice gradually prevailed, and
the effect is to be seen in the cheerful, graceful aspect of our public squares
in London, as well as over the
kingdom. He now became an author as well as practical workman, and his pen went
onward with little intermission for forty years, until his life terminated. His
first publication, which appeared in 1804, was entitled, "Observations on the
Formation and Management of Useful and Ornamental Plantations." In the
following year he published "A Short Treatise on some Improvements lately
made in Hothouses;" and in 1800, "A Treatise on Forming, Improving,
and Managing Country Residences; and on the Choice of Situations, appropriate
to every Class of Purchasers." As Loudon was an excellent artist, this
work was enriched with thirty-two copperplate engravings of landscape scenery,
drawn by himself.
A
disaster which soon after befell him, and under which the activity of others
would have been paralyzed, only opened up for Loudon a wider range of action.
In consequence of travelling upon a rainy night on the outside of a coach, and
neglecting afterwards to change his clothes, so severe an attack of rheumatic
fever ensued that he was obliged to take lodgings at Pinner, near Harrow. Here,
during the days of convalescence, he had an opportunity of observing the
cumbrous, wasteful, and unskilful modes of farming pursued in England, and so much at variance
with those which were beginning to be put in practice in his own country. With
Loudon, to see an evil was to labour for its removal, and persist until it was
removed. For the sake of giving practical illustrations of his proposed
amendments, he induced his father to join with him in renting Wood Hall, near
London, where their operations were so successful, that in 1807 he was enabled
to call public attention to the proof, in a pamphlet entitled "An
Immediate and Effectual Mode of Raising the Rental of the Landed Property of
England, &c., by a Scotch Farmer, now farming in Middlesex." This
excellent work introduced him to the notice of General Stratton, by whom he was
induced to farm Tew Park, a property belonging to
the General in Oxfordshire. On moving to this new locality, Mr. Loudon did not
content himself with reaping the fruits of his superior farming; anxious that
others should share in the benefit, he established an academy or college of
agriculture on the estate of Tew Park, where young
men were instructed in the theory of farming, and the best modes of cultivating
the soil; and anxious to diffuse this knowledge as widely as possible, he
published, in 1809, a pamphlet, entitled, "The Utility of Agricultural
Knowledge to the Sons of the Landed Proprietors of Great Britain, &c., by a
Scotch Farmer and Land-Agent."
In
this way, while Loudon was generously doing his uttermost to be the Triptolemus of England, and teaching the best modes of
increasing and eliciting the riches of its soil, his own success was a
practical comment upon the efficacy of his theories; for, in 1812, he found
himself the comfortable possessor of £15,000. This was enough for one who had a
higher aim in life than mere money-making, and to fit himself more effectually
for that aim, he resolved to improve his mind by travel. Accordingly, he
resigned his profitable farm, and in March, 1813, commenced his travels on the
continent, visiting the principal cities of Germany and Russia. Short though this tour
was, for he returned to England in the following year, it
was associated with a variety of interesting adventures, of which he published
a full account, illustrated by sketches from his own pencil. On returning to London, he found that the
greater part of his property had disappeared, from the faithlessness of the
investments to which it had been intrusted, and thus
he had to begin the world anew. He returned to his original occupation, that of
landscape gardening, on which he resolved to produce an extensive work; and for
the improvement of his knowledge on this subject, he made, in 1819, a tour of France and Italy. Three years after the
work appeared, under the title of "The Encyclopaedia of Gardening;"
and such was the high reputation it acquired, that its author was reckoned the
first horticulturist of his day. Of this work a second edition appeared in
1824, containing great alterations and improvements. Encouraged by the success
that attended it, Loudon commenced another equally copious, and upon the same
plan, which appeared in 1825, entitled "The Encyclopaedia of
Agriculture." In 1826 he commenced the "Gardener’s Magazine,"
the first periodical that had ever been devoted to horticultural subjects. In
1828 he commenced the "Magazine of Natural History, which was also the
first periodical of the kind.
In
1829 he published the "Encyclopaedia of Plants," which was less his
own work than any of its predecessors, as he claimed nothing of it beyond the
plan and general design. During the two years that followed, he was chiefly
employed in producing new editions of his Encyclopaedias of Agriculture and
Gardening, and of these, the first was almost wholly re-written, and the latter
entirely so. But these occupations, although so laborious, were not his sole
nor even his chief task at the time, for he was also closely engaged with the
"Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture,"—so closely,
indeed, that himself and Mrs. Loudon used to sit up the greater part of every
night employed upon it, never having more than four hours’ sleep, and drinking
strong coffee to keep themselves awake. It would have been hard, indeed, had
such labour been in vain; and therefore it is gratifying to add, that this was
not only one of the most useful, but also most successful of all his works, and
is still a standard authority upon the subject. His next, and also his greatest
work, which would of itself have been sufficient for any ordinary lifetime, was
his "Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum,"
in which he gave an account, with pictorial illustrations, of all the trees,
wild or cultivated, that grow in Great
Britain. This production, which
was published in 1838, at his own risk, was so unsuccessful, that after paying
artists and other persons engaged in it, he found himself in debt to the amount
of £10,000 to the printer, stationer, and wood-engraver, while the sale of such
a splendid publication was so slow, that there was no prospect that it would
ever pay its own expenses.
Up
to this period Loudon had been one of the most prolific of authors, while all that he had written, he had written well. Nothing,
indeed, could exceed his indomitable resolution, unless it might be the
philanthropic spirit by which it was animated. Independently of the subjects
which we have enumerated, he wrote several minor productions, supplemented his
own works from time to time, and was a contributor to Brande’s
"Dictionary of Science." Even, also, while the pressure of these
numerous avocations was at the greatest, he was discharging the office of
editor to four separate periodicals, all of them established by himself, and which he superintended at one and the same
time. All this suggests the idea of a frame of iron, and a constitution
impervious to human weaknesses and wants, as well as the most unflinching
energy of purpose. But our wonder is heightened when we find that, during the
greater part of these labours, poor Loudon was an invalid and a cripple. The
rheumatic fever with which he was attacked in 1806, ended in an anchylosed knee, and a contracted left arm. Thus he continued
till 1820, when, while employed in compiling the "Encyclopaedia of
Gardening," he had another severe attack of rheumatism,
that compelled him to have recourse in the following year to Mohammed’s
Baths, at Brighton. Here he submitted to the
rough process of shampooing; but this remedy, so available in many cases like
his own, was too much for his feeble bones: his arm broke so close to the
shoulder, that it could not be set in the usual manner; and in a subsequent
trial, it was again broken, and this time so effectually, that in 1826
amputation was found necessary. But a general breaking up of the system had
also been going on, by which the thumb and two fingers of the left hand had
been rendered useless, so that he could only use the third and little finger.
Yet though thus so maimed and mutilated, as apparently to be unfit for anything
but the sick-chamber or a death-bed, the whole energy of life seemed to rally
round his heart, and be as ready for fresh encounters as ever, so that his work
went on unchecked and unabated; and when he could no longer write or draw, he
had recourse to the services of the draughtsman and amanuensis.
We
have already mentioned the ill success of Loudon’s "Arboretum Britannicum." This was the heaviest blow of all, and
tended to accelerate the disease that terminated in his death; but still, come
what might, he resolved that to the last he would be up and doing. Accordingly,
as soon as the above-mentioned work was finished in 1838, he began the
"Suburban Gardener," which was published the same year, and also his
"Hortus Lignosus Londonensis;" and in the year following he published
his edition of "Repton’s Landscape
Gardening." In 1840 he undertook the editorship of the "Gardener’s
Gazette," and in 1842 he published his "Encyclopaedia of Trees and
Shrubs." During the same year he finished his "Suburban
Horticulturalist;" and, in 1843, appeared his last work, on
"Cemeteries." Disease in the lungs had been meanwhile going on for
three months, from which he endured much suffering, until his life and labours
were terminated together on the 14th of December,
1843, in the sixty-first year of his age. Few men have written so much under
such depressing circumstances as John Claudius Loudon, or whose writings were
so well adapted to the purpose for which they were produced; and while their
practical character and utility have been universally acknowledged, they are
pervaded throughout with an earnest desire to improve the character and elevate
the standing of those classes whose occupations are connected with gardening
and agriculture. Add to this that "he was a warm friend,
and most kind and affectionate in all his relations of son, husband, father,
and brother, and never hesitated to sacrifice pecuniary considerations to what
he considered his duty."
We
have already made a passing allusion in this memoir to Mrs. London, by whose
aid he was materially benefited when aid was most needed. To her he was married
in 1831, and in her he found a fellow-student and literary co-operator, as well
as a domestic companion and comforter. Her works, which also were numerous,
were chiefly connected with her husband’s favourite departments of gardening
and botany; and these she endeavoured to simplify and recommend to the
attention of her own sex, a labour of love in which she was highly successful.
She and one daughter survived Mr. Loudon, of whom she has written an
affectionate and truthful biography.
John
Claudius Loudon’s 1829 plan for London
Brief Biographical sketch of Jane Loudon
from Adams’ Cyclopaedia of Female Biography 1865
Jane Loudon, whose reputation is founded chiefly on works of utility, is
the daughter of Thomas Webb, Esq., of Ritwell House
near Birmingham, who, in consequence of over speculation, became embarassed in his circumstances. Miss Webb, possessing
literary talents, resolved to turn them to good account; and, in 1827,
published her first work, a novel entitled "The Mummy," in which she
embodied ideas of scientific progress and discovery, that
now read like prophecies. Among other foreshadowings
of things that were to be, was a steam plough, and this attracted the attention
of Mr. John C. Loudon, whose numerous and valuable works on gardening,
agriculture, etc., are so well known, led to an acquaintance, which terminated
in a matrimonial connection. After her marriage, Mrs. Loudon devoted her
talents entirely to those branches of literature connected with her husband's
favourite pursuits. "The Ladies' Flower Garden," The Ladies' Country
Companion," Gardening for Ladies," The Ladies' Companion to the
Flower Garden," and several works of a similar character, have become
standard books of reference, and attained a large circulation. It should be
mentioned that the daughter of this lady, Miss Agnes Loudon, appears to inherit
her mother's taste and talent. She has written several juvenile works of great
excellence. Mrs Loudon is now a widow, and in receipt of a pension of a hundred
pounds per annum, from the civil list, which she has deservedly gained.
Miss Agnes Loudon
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