William Ick

William Ick (1800 – 23 September 1844) was an English botanist and geologist.[1] In 1837 he won a prize offered by the United Committee of the Birmingham Botanical and Warwickshire Floral Societies for the best herbarium, known as a hortus siccus, of native plants collected within 10 miles (16 km) of Birmingham within a one-year period from 1 August 1836.[2]

William Ick
Portrait of William Ick (Birmingham Museums, accession number 1964F109)
Born1800 (1800)
Newport, Shropshire, United Kingdom
Died23 September 1844(1844-09-23) (aged 43–44)
OccupationBotanist, geologist
The frontispiece, catalogue and one herbarium sheet from Ick's herbarium, held in Birmingham Museums
Sample of Ick's handwriting on a herbarium sheet in Birmingham Museums

Early life

Ick was born at Newport in Shropshire in 1800. In 1803 his family moved to Birmingham. His father was a dealer in skins and hides.[3]

Education

He was awarded a Ph.D. in Geology from a German university.[2]

Career

Ick was a tutor at a school near Warwick before becoming the first curator of the Birmingham Philosophical Institution.[2]

Contribution to botany

In 1835 the United Committee of the Birmingham Botanical and Warwickshire Floral Societies offered a prize for the best herbarium of native plants collected within a 10 miles radius of central Birmingham between 1 August 1836 and 1 August 1837.[2] Ick won this prize with a herbarium of around 320 pressed plants and published his findings.[4] In 1948 Ick's herbarium was presented to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery after being lost for over a century[2]

References
  1. Kent, D H; Allen, D E (1984). British and Irish Herbaria. London.
  2. Cadbury, Dorothy (1971). A Computer-Mapped Flora of Warwickshire.
  3. Maskew, Roger (2014). The Flora of Worcestershire.
  4. Ick, William (1836). "Remarkable plants found growing in the vicinity of Birmingham in the year 1836". The Analyst. 6: 20–28.
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