Thomas Knowlton was born in Chislehurst, Kent, the son of William Knowlton and his wife Ann Stokes. He worked in 1720 at Offaly Palace, Hertfordshire, for Sir Henry Penrice.[1] He then superintended the botanic garden of James Sherard at Eltham, in Kent. In 1728 he entered the service of Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, at Londesborough Hall, Yorkshire, where he appears to have remained.
He was well known in his lifetime as a botanist and gardener with a special interest in nature, wildflowers and hothouse exotics. He was in charge of the botanic garden of the physician James Sherand at Eltham, Kent and in 1726 he moved to Londesborough, East Yorkshire, England to work for the 3rd Earl of Burlington. It seems that Knowlton spent the rest of his working life as head gardener at Londesborough. He corresponded with Mark Catesby, Emanuel Mendes da Costa, and other members of the Royal Society, and impressed Sir Hans Sloane.[2]
Knowlton was greatly interested in the latest information about the natural world, both native and foreign. He travelled to Guernsey, Holland and London, England and shared his botanical and gardening knowledge with other plant collectors. While he was in charge at Londesborough he also acted as an advisor at other local English estates, such as Everingham, Burton Constable and Birdsall, located in East and North Yorkshire. His additional earnings enabled him to invest in property, literary collections and botanical purchases.
At Wallingfen in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Knowlton discovered the algal "moor balls", known to Linnæus as Ægagropila. He prospected for them in lake water.[2]
The genus Knowltonia of the order Ranunculaceae, of a number of species of plants indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope, was named after him. This was by Richard Anthony Salisbury, in 1796.[2][1]
Knowlton claimed the location of the Roman site Delgovicia was near Pocklington, in Yorkshire. He used the Philosophical Transactions to communicate on this and other subjects.[2]
Knowlton's expertise in exotics also enabled him to gain prominence within the landowning elite. Indeed, he was responsible for building the hothouses at Londesborough (1729) and Burton Constable (1758).
Knowlton married in 1720 Elizabeth Rice (d. 1738). They had two children, Elizabeth and Charles.[1] Charles graduated M.A. from St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1751, and was presented, on 7 April 1753, by the Earl of Burlington to the living of Keighley in Yorkshire.[2][1]
The John Knowlton, gardener to Earl Fitzwilliam, with will proved in February 1782, has tentatively been identified as a brother.[2] Thomas Knowlton is known to have had a brother of the name: Henrey considers that the John Knowlton, gardener to Sir Thomas Sebright, 4th Baronet of Beechwood Park, was that brother.[3]
Knowlton died aged 90, in 1781 and was buried in the churchyard at Londesborough.
Sources:
Henry, B No Ordinary Gardener: Thomas Knowlton, 1691-1781 (1986)
Seccombe, T., ‘Knowlton, Thomas (1691–1781)’, rev. P. E. Kell, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) < http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/... > [accessed 27 February 2008]