William T. Stearn: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|British botanist (1911–2001)}}

{{redirectRedirect-distinguish|William Stearn|other people with a similar name|William Stern (disambiguation){{!}} William Stern}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=SeptemberApril 20172024}}

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|name birth_name = William Thomas Stearn

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|FLS|VMH}}

| image = William Thomas Stearn.jpg

| caption = W. T. Stearn, 1974

| alt = Portrait of William Stearn in 1974

| birth_date = {{birth date|1911|04|16|df=yes}}

| birth_place = [[Cambridge]], [[Cambridgeshire]], England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|05|09|1911|04|15|df=yes}}

| death_place = [[Kingston upon Thames]], [[London]], England

| education = [[Cambridge High School for Boys]]

| workplaces = [[Botany School, Cambridge]], [[Lindley Library]], [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]]

'''William Thomas Stearn''' {{IPAcpost-ennominals|scountry=GBR|tCBE|ɜrFLS|nVMH}} ({{postIPAc-nominalsen|country=GBRs|CBEt|FLSɜr|VMHn}}; (16 April 1911 – 9 May 2001) was a British [[botanist]]. Born in [[Cambridge]] in 1911, he was largely [[self-educated]], and developed an early interest in books and [[natural history]]. His initial work experience was at a Cambridge bookshop, but he also had aan positionoccupation as an assistant in the [[Cambridge University Botanic Garden|university botany department]]. At the age of 29, he married Eldwyth Ruth Alford, who later became his collaborator, and he died in London in 2001.

Stearn received many honours for his work, at home and abroad, and was made a [[Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in 1997. Considered one of the most eminent British botanists of his time, he is remembered by an essay prize in his name from the [[Society for the History of Natural History]], and a named [[cultivar]] of ''[[Epimedium]]'', one of many [[genera]] about which he produced [[monographsmonograph]] ons. He is the [[botanical authority]] for over 400 plants that he named and described.

| caption1 = Springfield Road, [[Cambridge]], looking north. No. 37 is the last house on the left.|alt1=Springfield Road, Cambridge

William Thomas Stearn was born at 37 Springfield Road, [[Chesterton, Cambridge]], England, on 16 April 1911, the eldest of four sons, to Thomas Stearn (1871 or 1872–1922) and Ellen ("Nellie") Kiddy (1886–1986) of [[West Suffolk (county)|West Suffolk]].{{sfn|Prance|2014}} His father worked as a coachman to a Cambridge doctor. Chesterton was then a village on the north bank of the [[River Cam]], about two miles north of Cambridge's city centre, where Springfield Road ran parallel to [[A1309 road|Milton Road]] to the west.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} William Stearn's early education was at the nearby Milton Road Junior Council School (''see [[#MJRS|image]]'').{{efn|Opened in 1908, closed in 2006 and demolished in 2007, the site is now occupied by the Cambridge Manor Care Home.<ref name=Cambridge2000MiltonRoad/><ref name=GeographMiltonSchool/>}} Despite not having any family background in science (though he recalled that his grandfather was the university rat-catcher){{sfn|Times|2001}} he developed a keen interest in [[natural history]] and books at an early age. He spent his school holidays on his uncle's Suffolk farm, tending cows grazing by the roadside where he would observe the [[wild flowerswildflower]]s of the [[hedgerowshedgerow]]s and fields.{{sfnm|Heywood|2002|Times|2001|Barker|2001}} Stearn's father died suddenly in 1922 when Stearn was only eleven, leaving his working-class family in financial difficulties as his widow (Stearn's mother) had no pension.{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}}

Stearn attended evening lectures on [[paleobotany]] given by [[Albert Seward]] ([[Regius Professor of Botany (Cambridge)|chair of botany]] at [[Cambridge University]] 1906–1936), and [[Harry Godwin]].{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} Seward was impressed by the young Stearn, giving him access to the [[herbarium]] of the [[Cambridge University Department of Botany|Botany School]] (now Department of Plant Sciences—''seeSciences—see [[#1904image|1904 photograph]]'') and allowing him to work there as a part-time research assistant.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} Later, Seward also gave Stearn access to the [[Cambridge University Library]] to pursue his research.{{sfn|Prance|2014}}{{sfn|Festing|1978}}

===LaterYouth lifeand marriage===

Stearn was largely self-educated, and his widowed mother worked hard to support him while at school but could not afford a university education for him, there being no [[Grant (money)|grants]] available then.{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}} When not at the Botany School, he attended evening classes to develop linguistic and [[bibliographic]] skills. His classes there included German and [[the [[classics]].{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}} He obtained his first employment at the age of 18 in 1929, a time of high unemployment, to support himself and his family. He worked as an apprentice [[antiquarian]] bookseller and cataloguer in the second-hand section at [[Bowes & Bowes]] bookshop,{{efn|The oldest bookshop in Britain{{sfn|CUP|2017}}}} 1 [[Trinity Street, Cambridge|Trinity Street]] (now [[Cambridge University Press]]), between 1929 and 1933 where he was able to pursue his passion for bibliography.{{sfn|Walters|2001}} During his employment there, he spent much of his lunchtimes, evenings and weekends, at the Botany School and Botanic Garden.{{sfn|Festing|1978}}{{sfn|Prance|2001}} This was at a time when botany was thriving at Cambridge under the leadership of Seward and [[Humphrey Gilbert-Carter]].{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}}

On 3 August 1940, heStearn married Eldwyth Ruth Alford (1910–2013), by whom he had a son and two daughters, and who collaborated with him in much of his work.{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}}{{sfn|Robson|2001}} Ruth Alford was a secondary school teacher from [[Tavistock]], Devon, the daughter of Roger Rice Alford, a [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodist]] preacher and mayor of Tavistock. When their engagement was announced in ''The Times'', Stearn was vastly amused to see that he was described as a "Fellow of the Linen Society", a [[typographical error]] for [[Linnean Society]].{{sfn|Times|2001}}

===Later life===
Stearn was brought up an [[Church of England|Anglican]], but was a [[conscientious objector]] and after the [[Second World War]] he became a [[Quakers|Quaker]].{{sfn|Walters|2001}} In his later years, following official retirement in 1976 he continued to live in [[Kew]], [[Richmond, London|Richmond]].{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} His entry in ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]]'' lists his interests as "gardening and talking".{{sfn|Walters|1992b}} He died on 9 May 2001 of [[pneumonia]] at [[Kingston Hospital]], Kingston upon Thames, at the age of 90.{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}}{{sfn|Walters|2001}}{{sfn|Iltis|2001}} His funeral took place on 18 May at [[Mortlake]] crematorium. He left three children (Roger Thomas Stearn, Margaret Ruth Stearn and Helen Elizabeth Stearn) and an estate of £461,240.{{sfn|Prance|2014}} His wife, whose 100th birthday was celebrated at the Linnean Society in 2010, lived to the age of 103.{{sfn|Temple|2010}}

Professor Stearn had a reputation for his encyclopedic knowledge, geniality, wit and generosity with his time and knowledge, being always willing to contribute to the work of others.{{sfn|Moody|2002}} He had a mischievous sense of fun and was famous for his anecdotes while lecturing,{{sfn|Desmond|2002}} while his colleagues recalled that "he had a happy genius for friendship".{{sfn|Moody|2002|p=44}} He was described as having a striking figure, "a small man, his pink face topped with a thatch of white hair",{{sfn|Barker|2001}} and earned the nickname of "Wumpty" after his signature of "Wm. T. Stearn".{{sfn|Humphries|2002}}{{sfn|Rix|2003}}

In 1933, H. R. Hutchinson, who was the Librarian at the [[Lindley Library]], [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s (RHS) in London, was due to retire. John Gilmour, now assistant director at the [[Kew Gardens]], put forward Stearn's name, together with Bowles, a vice-president of the Society, who had discovered Stearn at the bookshop. Stearn was 22 when he began work at the library, initially as assistant librarian, before taking over Hutchinson's position after six months. He later explained his appointment at such a young age as being the result of [[World War I]]: "All the people who should have had those jobs were dead."{{sfn|Times|2001}} There he collaborated with Bowles on a number of plant [[monographs]], such as Bowles' ''Handbook of Crocus''{{sfn|Bowles|1952}} and their work on ''[[Anemone japonica]]'' (''Anemone hupehensis'' var. ''japonica'').{{sfn|Bowles|Stearn|1947}}{{efn|''Anemone hupehensis'' var. ''japonica'' (Thunb.) Bowles & Stearn, now considered a synonym of ''Anemone scabiosa'' H. Lév. & Vaniot<ref name=tpl/>}} Written in 1947, it is still considered one of the most comprehensive accounts of the origins and nomenclature of fallautumn-blooming [[anemones]].{{sfn|Rudy|2004|p=1}} Stearn was one of the last people to see Bowles alive,{{sfn|Allan|1973}} and when Bowles died, Stearn wrote an appreciation of him,{{sfn|Stearn|1955}} and later contributed the entry on Bowles to the [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]].{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Walters|2001|Buchan|2007}} Much of his spare time was spent studying at the Kew Gardens.{{sfn|Prance|2001}}

The only break from this employment was the [[World War II|war years]] 1941–1946, leaving his assistant Ms.Miss Cardew as acting librarian.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} Initially Stearn served as an [[air raid warden]], before [[enlisting]]. As a [[conscientious objector]], he could not serve in a [[combatant]] role, but was accepted into the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) [[RAF Medical Services|Medical Services]], as he had previously worked with the [[St John Ambulance Brigade]]. He served in the RAF in both England, and Asia (India and Burma, where he worked in [[military intelligence|intelligence]], and was awarded the [[Burma Star]]). While there he undertook studies of [[Indo-Malayan]] and [[Sikkim]]-[[Himalaya]]n tropical vegetation,{{sfn|Festing|1978}} carried out [[botanical explorations]], taught biology to troops and began work on his ''Botanical Latin''.{{efn|"When I had to sit for hour after hour, day after day, staring at the sky from a Royal Air Force ambulance awaiting planes which, fortunately rarely crashed, I filled in time by extracting the descriptive epithets from a series of Floras lent me by the Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society in the hope of producing some day an etymological dictionary of botanical names"{{sfn|Stearn|1992|p=vi}}}} His wartime observations led to collaborative publications such as ''An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal'' (1978–1982),{{sfn|Hara et al.|1978–1982}} ''Beautiful Indian Trees'' (2nd ed. 1954),{{sfn|Blatter|Millard|1954}} as well as works on [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] species of ''Allium''.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Heywood|2002|Stearn|1994}} On returning from the war, Stearn and his new wife, Eldwyth Ruth Stearn, were obliged to live in the Lindley Library for a while till they found a more permanent home, due to the acute housing shortage in London.{{sfn|Barker|2001}}{{sfn|Elliott|2002}}

From the Lindley Library, Stearn (''see [[#1950Image|1950 Photograph]]'') moved to the Botany Department at the [[British Museum of Natural History|Natural History Museum]], [[South Kensington]]{{efn| The Natural History Museum was then still called the British Museum (Natural History).}} in 1952, and by the time he retired in 1976, he was the Senior Principal Scientific Officer there. He had now achieved his aim of becoming a research scientist, despite lack of formal qualifications, enabling him to spend more of his time collecting and studying plants.{{sfn|Barker|2001}} During this time the museum was undergoing steady expansion, with new staff and programmes. At the museum he was put in charge of Section 3 of the General Herbarium (the last third of the [[Dicotyledons]] in the [[Bentham & Hooker system]], i.e., [[Monochlamydae]]){{efn|The system by which the herbarium was arranged when the museum's collections were moved from [[Bloomsbury]] to [[Kensington]] in 1881.}} and [[floristic]] treatment of the regions of Europe, Jamaica, the United States, Australia and Nepal, including work on the museum's ''Flora of Jamaica''{{sfn|Fawcett|Rendle|1910–1939}} and the Nepal flora he started work on during the war.{{sfn|Hara et al.|1978–1982}}{{sfn|Robson|2001}} Seven volumes of the ''Flora of Jamaica'' had appeared prior to the Second World War. Although the project was revived after the war, and Stearn carried out six months of [[field work]] in Jamaica, it never came to fruition; no further volumes appeared. In Jamaica, Stearn followed in the footsteps of Sir [[Hans Sloane]] (1660–1753), whose collection had been left to the Natural History Museum.{{sfn|Barker|2001}}<ref name=FrodinJamaica/> Stearn's generic work at the museum concentrated on ''Allium'',{{sfn|Stearn|1978}} ''[[Lilium]]'' and ''[[Peony|Paeonia]]''.{{sfn|Times|2001}} He continued to travel widely, with field work in Europe (particularly Greece), Australia, and the United States,{{sfn|Barker|2001}} and published 200 papers during his twenty-four24 years at the museum, and although the library was not his responsibility, he spent much time there adding written notes to many of the critical texts.{{sfn|Humphries|2002}}

Following his retirement on 30 November 1976, he continued to work, both at the museum and at the [[Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew]], where his home at 17 High Park Road, Kew Gardens, [[Richmond, London|Richmond]] (''see [[#17HPR|image]]''), gave him access to the herbarium and library, a short bicycle trip away.{{sfn|Festing|1978}} Indeed, 35 percent% of his total publications appeared in the quarter century of his retirement.{{sfn|Nelson|Desmond|2002}} He was commissioned to write a history of the museum for its centenary (1981),{{sfn|Stearn|1981}} although he did so with some difficulty, due to deadlines and budget constraints.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Walters|2001|Iltis|2001}} The task, which took three years, was made more difficult for him by the museum's decision to censor his critical comments.{{sfn|Humphries|2002}} He continued his association with the Lindley Library all his life, being an active committee member{{sfn|Barker|2001}} and regularly attended [[Chelsea Flower Show|RHS flower shows]] even after he was barely able to walk.{{sfn|Times|2001}}

As a student of the classics he was passionate about [[Greece]], its mountains and plants (such as ''Paeonia''){{sfn|Stearn|Landström|1991}} and all things Greek, both ancient and modern.{{sfn|Stearn|1976a}} The Stearns had formed a friendship with [[Constantine Goulimis]] and [[Niki Goulandris|Niki]] and Angelos Goulandris, founders of the [[Goulandris Museum of Natural History]]{{sfn|GMNH|2016}} in [[Kifissia]], Athens. Stearn first met the Goulandris' in 1967, and offered practical help with their museum. He also stayed with them when he and his wife visited Greece.{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}} Niki Goulandris illustrated both ''Wild Flowers of Greece'' that Goulimis and Stearn wrote in 1968,{{sfn|Goulimis|Stearn|1968}} as well as his ''Peonies of Greece'' (1984).{{sfnm|1a1=Barker|1y=2001|2a1=Stearn|2a2=Davis|2y=1984}}<ref name=Haines/> The latter work typified Stearn's encyclopedic approach, including topics such as mythology and herbalism in addition to taxonomy.{{sfn|Mathew|2002}} Stearn then took on the editorship of ''Annales Musei Goulandris'',<ref name=Annales/> the scientific journal of the museum (1976–1999), succeeding [[Werner Greuter]], the first editor, having been instrumental in getting the journal launched in 1973.{{sfn|Prance|2014}}{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} Eldwyth Ruth Stearn took on the job of compiling the indexes. When he retired from this position he was 88, and was succeeded by John Akeroyd.{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}}{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006}} He was a liberal contributor to the journal, and during this time he and Eldwyth Ruth Stearn undertook their translation of ''The Greek Plant World in Myth, Art, and Literature'' (1993).{{sfnm|Daily Telegraph|2001|Walters|1992b|Baumann|1993}}

Stearn was a member of the Linnean Society{{efn|namedNamed after the 18th-century Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus}} for many years, becoming a fellow as early as 1934. He served as botanical curator 1959–1985, council member 1959–1963 and as vice-president 1961–1962 and president 1979–1982,{{sfn|Walters|2001}}{{sfn|The Linnean Society|1976|p=299}} producing a revised and updated history of the society in 1988.{{sfn|Gage|Stearn|1988}} He also served as president of the [[Garden History Society]] and the [[Ray Society]] (1975–1977). The Royal Horticultural Society had made him an honorary fellow in 1946 and in 1986 he became a vice-president. Stearn became a member of the [[Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland]] (BSBI) in 1954,{{sfn|BSBI|2016}} joining the Maps Committee the following year to prepare their ''[[Atlas of the British Flora]]'' (1962).{{sfn|Perring|Walters|1962}}{{sfn|Robson|2001|p=124}} He remained on that committee till 1968, when it became the Records Committee. For 40 years he was the BSBI referee for ''Allium''.{{sfn|Robson|2001}} While at the Lindley Library, he became a founding member of the [[Society for the Bibliography of Natural History]] (later, the Society for the History of Natural History) in 1936, was one of its most active publishing members based on his cataloguing work at the library,{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} and published a history of the society for their 50th anniversary in 1986.{{sfn|Festing|1978}}{{sfn|Stearn|2007}} Other societies on which he served include the [[British Society for the History of Science]] (vice-president), the [[British Society for the History of Medicine]] (Council), the [[Garden History Society]] (president 1977–1982){{sfn|Festing|1978}}{{sfn|Barker|2001}} and was a corresponding member of the [[Botanical Society of America]].<ref name=BSA/>

Stearn was appointed Sandars Reader in Bibliography, University of Cambridge in 1965 and from 1977 to 1983 he was visiting professor at Cambridge University's Department of Botany, and also Visitingvisiting Professorprofessor in Botanybotany at [[Reading University]] 1977–1983, and then Honorary Research Fellow (1983–).{{sfnm|Heywood|2002|Walters|2001|Daily Telegraph|2001}} He was also a fellow of the [[Institute of Biology]] (1967) and was elected an Honorary Fellow of [[Sidney Sussex College]], Cambridge in 1968.{{sfn|Prance|2014}}

William Stearn was the author of nearly 500 publications, including his autobiography.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1a2=Desmond|1y=2002|2a1=The Linnean Society|2y=1976|3a1=The Linnean Society|3y=1992}}{{efn|Publications are numbered consecutively from 1 (1929) to 499 (1999).{{sfn|Iltis|2001}}}} These included monographs, partial floras, books on botanical illustration, scholarly editions of historical botanical texts, dictionaries, bibliographies and botanical histories.{{sfn|Times|2001}}

At the Botanic Garden he developed a special interest in ''[[Vinca]]'', ''Epimedium'', ''[[Hosta]]'' and ''[[Symphytum]]'', all of which he published monographs on.{{sfn|Avent|2010|p=10}} A series of botanical publications followed,{{sfn|The Linnean Society|1976}} starting with a new species of ''[[Allium]]'' (''[[Allium cyathophorum|A. farreri]]'' Stearn, 1930).{{sfn|Stearn|1930}}{{efn|In 1950 he came to realise this was not a separate species but a [[variety (botany)|variety]] of ''Allium cyathophorum'' and thus renamed it ''Allium cyathophorum'' var. ''farreri'' (Stearn) Stearn.<ref name=WCLAcyfa/>{{sfn|Stearn|1955a}}}} Stearn repeatedly returned to the genus ''Allium'', and was considered a world expert on it; many species bear his name.{{sfn|Robson|2001}}{{sfn|Mathew|2002}}{{efn|Stearn produced 21 publications on ''Allium''}} 1930 would also see his first bibliographic work, on the botanist [[Reginald Farrer]],{{sfn|Stearn|1930a}}{{sfn|Nelson|Desmond|2002|pp=144,146,148}} whom he named ''Allium farreri'' after,{{sfn|Nelson|Desmond|2002|pp=144,146,148}} and also described ''[[Rose|Rosa farreri]]'' (1933){{sfn|Stearn|1933}} and other species named after Farrer. It was while he was compiling Farrer's works in 1930 that he came across the latter's work, ''The English Rock-Garden'' (1919){{sfn|Farrer|1919}} and its account of Barren-worts (''Epimedium''), and kindled a lifetime interest in the [[genus]].{{sfn|Rix|2003}} From 1932, he produced a series of papers on this genus,{{sfn|Nelson|Desmond|2002|pp=144–146}} studying it at Cambridge, Kew and Paris. It became one of the genera which he was best known, and many [[species]] of which now bear his name.{{sfn|Avent|2010}}{{sfn|Rix|2003}} ''Epimedium'' and the related [[woodland]] [[perennial]] ''[[Vancouveria]]'' ([[Berberidaceae]]) would be the subject of his first [[monograph]] (1938){{sfn|Stearn|1938}} and were genera to which he would return at the end of his life.{{sfn|Stearn|2002a}} At the time the taxonomy of this genus was very confused, and with the help of the Cambridge Herbarium he obtained specimens from all over Europe to produce a comprehensive monograph.{{sfn|Prance|2001}} The work was so thorough that it was mistakenly considered a doctoral thesis by other botanists. He also began a series of contributions to the catalogue of the Herbarium, together with Gilmour and Tutin.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} With [[John Gilmour (botanist)|John Gilmour]] he issued two [[exsiccata]]-like works ''Herbarium flora Cantabrigiense'' and ''Sertum Cantabrigiense exsiccatum'' (1933).<ref name="Triebel & Scholz 2001-2024">Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany.</ref>

After moving to London, Stearn produced a steady output of publications during his years at the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library (1933–1952). These covered a wide range of topics from bibliography to plant nomenclature, taxonomy and garden plants, with a particular emphasis on ''Vinca'', ''Epimedium'' and ''[[Lilium]]''.{{sfn|Stearn|1986}} Within two years of joining the library in 1933, he had produced his first major monograph, ''Lilies'' (1935),{{sfn|Woodcock|Coutts|1935}} in collaboration with [[Drysdale Woodcock]] and John Coutts.{{sfn|Mathew|2002}}{{efn|''Lilies'' was published under Woodcock and Coutts' names but was largely written by Stearn.{{sfn|The Linnean Society|1976|p=300}}{{sfn|Mathew|2002}} The copy in the Lindley Library belonged to Fred Stoker of the RHS Lily Committee, who had reviewed it. In it he wrote "Nominally by H Drysdale Woodcock KC and J Coutts VMH...but principally by W. T. STEARN whose text I have read in great part".{{sfn|Elliott|2007}}}} This text, in an expanded and revised edition, as Woodcock and Stearn's ''Lilies of the World'' (1950){{sfn|Woodcock|Stearn|1950}} became a standard work on the [[Liliaceae]] ''[[sensu lato]]''.{{sfn|Mathew|2002}} While at the library he also continued his collaboration with his Cambridge colleagues, publishing catalogues of the Herbarium collections,{{sfn|Gilmour|Stearn|1932}} including the ''Catalogue of the Collections of the Herbarium of the University Botany School, Cambridge'' (1935).{{sfnm|Heywood|2002|Festing|1978|Walters|1992b}} The second task imposed on him at this time involved the RHS role in maintaining revision of the [[International Code of Botanical Nomenclature]] (''see'' [[#Botanical taxonomy|Botanical taxonomy]]).

[[File:Makers of British botany, Plate 14 (John Lindley).png|thumb|upright|[[John Lindley]], {{circa|1865|lk=on}}|alt=Portrait of John Lindley {{c. |1865}}]]

William Stearn wrote extensively on the history of botany and horticulture,{{sfn|Stearn|1986}}{{sfn|Stearn|1965}} from [[Ancient Greece]] to his own times. He collected together [[J. E. Raven]]'s 1976 J. H. Gray Lectures,{{efn|[[Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge|Faculty of Classics]] lectures at Cambridge, named for the [[Revd.]] Canon Joseph Henry Gray (1856–1932), a classical scholar at [[Queens' College, Cambridge|Queens' College]]{{sfn|Raven|2000}}}} editing and annotating them as ''Plants and Plant Lore in Ancient Greece'' (1990).{{sfn|Stearn|1990a}}{{efn|Later enlarged and reissued as a book{{sfn|Raven|2000}}}} In 1993, he and Eldwyth Ruth Stearn translated and expanded Baumann's ''{{lang|de|Die griechische Pflanzenwelt in Mythos, Kunst und Literatur''}} (1986) as ''The Greek Plant World in Myth, Art, and Literature''.{{sfn|Baumann|1993}}

Stearn compiled a major work on the life of John Lindley{{sfn|Stearn|1999a}} and produced an edited version of the classic book on [[herbals]] by [[Agnes Arber]],{{sfn|Arber|1986}} one of the influences of his Cambridge years, and whose obituary he would later write for ''The Times''.{{sfn|Stearn|1960}} He also wrote a number of histories of the organisations he worked with{{sfn|Stearn|1981}}{{sfn|Gage|Stearn|1988}} as well as a number of introductions and commentaries on classic botanical texts such as [[John Ray]]'s ''{{lang|la|Synopsis methodica stirpium Britannicarum''}} (1691),{{sfn|Ray|1724}}{{efn|Ray's ''{{lang|la|Synopsis methodica stirpium Britannicarum''}} of 1691 was for long a major source of information on British plants, and an important source for Linnaeus' [[#Flora Anglica|later work]] on this subject}} together with historical introductions to reference books, including Desmond's ''Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists'' (1994).{{sfnm|Prance|2001|Robson|2001}}<ref name=Desmond/>

In his ''Botanical Gardens and Botanical Literature in the Eighteenth Century'' (1961), Stearn provides some insight into his interpretation of botanical history: <

{{blockquote>|The progress of botany, as of other sciences, comes from the interaction of so many factors that undue emphasis on any one can give a very distorted impression of the whole, but certainly among the most important of these for any given period are the prevailing ideas and intellectual attitudes, the assumptions and stimuli of the time, for often upon them depends the extent to which a particular study attracts an unbroken succession of men of industry and originality intent on building a system of knowledge and communicating it successfully to others of like mind.{{sfn|Stearn|1961}}</blockquote>}}

Of Stearn's writings on Linnaeus, the most well known is his edition of the 1753 ''{{lang|la|[[Species plantarum]]''}}, published in [[facsimile]] by the [[Ray Society]] in 1957,{{sfn|Ray Society|2017}} for which he wrote both a 176-page introduction and an appendix.{{sfn|Linnaeus|1753}}<ref name=RayLinnaeus/>{{efn|Volume 1 (1957) ''An introduction to the Species plantarum and cognate botanical works of Carl Linnaeus'', pp.&nbsp;1–176. Volume 2 (1959) ''An appendix to the Species plantarum of Carl Linnaeus'', pp.&nbsp;1–147 includes notes on the illustrations by Stearn with an index to species and genera{{sfn|Desmond|2002}}}} Concerned that Linnaeus' methods were imperfectly understood by his contemporaries, Stearn wrote that his introduction "provided concisely all the information about his [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]]' life, herbaria, publications, methodology etc. which a botanical taxonomist needs to know". ''The Times'' stated that no other botanist possessed the historical knowledge and linguistic skills to write, what is considered one of the classic studies of the Swedish naturalist and a highpoint of 20th century botanical scholarship. Subsequently, Stearn became a recognised authority on Linnaeus.{{sfn|Times|2001}} Stearn produced similar introductions to a number of other editions of Linnaeus' works, including ''{{lang|la|[[Genera Plantarum]]''}},{{sfn|Linnaeus|1754}} ''{{lang|la|[[Mantissa plantarum altera|Mantissa plantarum]]''}}{{sfn|Linnaeus|1767–1771}} and ''{{lang|la|{{vanchor|Flora Anglica}}''}}.{{sfn|Desmond|2002}}{{efn|In 1973 Stearn produced an edited work for the Ray Society dealing with the flora of the British Isles.<ref name=RayLinnaeusGrufberg/> This consisted of two works, the posthumous third edition of John Ray's ''{{lang|la|Synopsis methodica stirpium Britannicarum''}} (1724),{{sfn|Ray|1724}} together with Linnaeus' ''{{lang|la|Flora Anglica''}} (1754){{sfn|Linnaeus|Grufberg|1754}} which was based on the former work{{sfn|Stearn|1973a}}}} Later, he would produce a [[anniversary|bicentenary]] guide to Linnaeus (1978) for the Linnean Society.{{sfn|Prance|2014}}{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}}{{sfn|Stearn|Bridson|1978}}

Motivated by his interest in botanical history and taxonomy, Stearn devoted a considerable part of his output to botanical bibliography, including numerous papers and catalogues establishing the exact publication dates of books on natural history, particularly from the early nineteenth century, including [[William Herbert (botanist)|William Herbert]]'s work on [[Amaryllidaceae]] (1821, 1837){{sfn|Stearn|1952}}{{sfn|Festing|1978}}{{sfn|Goodwin|Stearn|Townsend|1962}} and complete bibliographies of botanists such as John Gilmour (1989).{{sfn|Stearn|1989a}} At the RHS library he transformed the minimalist card indexing by introducing British Museum rules and adding extensive bibliographic information.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} He quickly realised that one of the major deficits in contemporary taxonomic nomenclature was a lack of precise dates of all the names, and set about rectifying this over a fifteen-year period, resulting in 86 publications, which was a major step in stabilising nomenclature. The importance of this lay in the rules of [[botanical nomenclature]], which gives [[botanical names]] priority based on dates of publication.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} He considered his most important contribution in this regard to be his elucidation{{sfn|Stearn|1937}} of the dating of the early 19th century collection of studies of [[Canary Islands]] [[flora]] by [[Philip Barker-Webb|Webb]] and [[Sabin Berthelot|Berthelot]] (1836–1850).{{sfn|Webb|Berthelot|1836–1850}} Another important work from this period was on [[Étienne Pierre Ventenat|Ventenat]]'s ''{{lang|fr|Jardin de la Malmaison''}} (1803–1804), also published in the new ''[[Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History]]''.{{sfnm|Stearn|1939|Ventenat|1803–1804}}{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} In a number of instances his contributions to others' work went unacknowledged, particularly when he was younger, even though his introductions (often with the title "Revised and enlarged by W. T. Stearn") could be as lengthy as the texts they preceded.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Heywood|2002|Mathew|2002}}{{efn|Such as [[F. C. Stern]]'s ''A Study of the Genus Paeonia'' (1946){{sfn|Heywood|2002}}{{sfn|Stern|1946}}}} His contributions to botanical bibliography and in particular the correct interpretation of historical texts from Linnaeus to Arber are considered of central importance to the field of taxonomy.<ref name=Stafleu851/>

Promoted by Professor [[Jan van Steenis]], whose citation mentioned, ''[[inter alia]]'', Stearn's "remarkable rise to a lofty scientific level by exploiting with energy, perseverance, caution and a rare combination of talent and character&nbsp;– under difficult and often disheartening circumstances.{{sfn|Festing|1978|p=410}} At which occasion he delivered the lecture "The Influence of Leyden on Botany in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries"{{sfn|Stearn|1962}}}} Cambridge (Sc.D.{{nbsp}}1967), and [[Uppsala University|Uppsala]] (Fil.Dr.{{nbsp}}1972).{{sfn|Prance|2001}}{{sfn|Walters|2001}} He was the Masters Memorial Lecturer, Royal Horticultural Society in 1964. In 1976, the Linnean Society awarded him their Gold Medal{{efn|Stearn was the last recipient of this medal under this name. It is no longer made of gold and is now called the [[Linnean Medal]], and not to be confused with the rarely awarded [[Linnean Gold Medal]]{{sfn|Gage|Stearn|1988}}}}<ref>{{Cite journal|date=December 1976|title=The Linnean Gold Medal|journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=8|issue=4|pages=356–357}}</ref> for his contributions to Linnean scholarship{{sfn|Linnaeus|1753}} and taxonomic botany.{{sfn|The Linnean Society|1976|p=299}}{{sfn|Manton|1976}} In 1985, he was the [[Wilkins Lecturer]] of the [[Royal Society]], entitled ''[[John Wilkins|Wilkins]], John Ray, and Carl Linnaeus.''{{sfn|Stearn|1986a}} In 1986, he received the Founder's Medal of the Society for the History of Natural History and in 1993, he received the [[Adolf Engler|Engler]] Gold Medal from the [[International Association for Plant Taxonomy]].<ref name=IAPTGold/>{{efn|At the XVth International Botanical Congress, Yokohama, Japan 29 August 1993{{sfn|Iltis|2001}}}} The Royal Horticultural Society awarded him both their [[Veitch Memorial Medal]] (1964) and [[Victoria Medal of Honour]] (VMH, 1965). In 2000, he received the [[Asa Gray Award]], the highest honour of the [[American Society of Plant Taxonomists]].{{sfn|Iltis|2001}} Stearn was appointed a [[Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[1997 Birthday Honours]] for services to horticulture and botany.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54794 |date=13 June 1997 |page=9 |supp=y}}</ref>

<ref name=Desmond>{{harvnb|Desmond|1994|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=thmPzIltAV8C&pg=PR13# Historical Introduction pp.&nbsp;xiii–xix]}}</ref>

*{{cite book|editor1-last=Boisset|editor1-first=Caroline|title=Lilies and related plants. 2007–2008 75th Anniversary Issue|date=2007|publisher=Royal Horticultural Society Lily Group|location=London|isbn=978-1-902896-84-7|url=http://www.rhslilygroup.org/75thAnniversary_LR.pdf|access-date=14 March 2017|archive-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417110650/http://www.rhslilygroup.org/75thAnniversary_LR.pdf|url-status=dead}}

*{{cite book|last1=Bowles|first1=Edward Augustus|author-link=Edward Augustus Bowles|title=A handbook of Crocus and Colchicum for gardeners|date=1952|orig-date=1924|publisher=Van Nostrand|location=London|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eN05AAAAMAAJ}}{{efn|group=Bibliography|Index by W. T. Stearn, pp.&nbsp;213–222<ref group=Bibliography>{{harvnb|The Linnean Society|1976}}
</ref>}}

*{{cite journal|last=Avent|first=Tony|author-link=Tony Avent|title=An overview of ''Epimedium''|journal=[[The Plantsman]]|date=March 2010|pages=10–17|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/publications/magazines/the-plantsman/2010-issues/march/an-overview-of-epimedium|access-date=1 December 2016|archive-date=23 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923104448/https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/publications/magazines/the-plantsman/2010-issues/march/an-overview-of-epimedium|url-status=dead}}

*{{cite journal|last=Wyman|first=Donald|author-link=Donald Wyman|title=The new International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants|journal=[[Arnold Arboretum|Arnoldia]]|date=26 December 1956|volume=18|issue=12|pages=63–68|url=http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1958-18--the-new-international-code-of-nomenclature-for-cultivated-plants.pdf|access-date=2 January 2017|archive-date=5 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505151406/http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1958-18--the-new-international-code-of-nomenclature-for-cultivated-plants.pdf|url-status=dead}}

*{{cite book|last=Cox|first=Paul Alan|author-link=Paul Alan Cox|title=Introduction|pages=xv–xxv|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aC0TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR15|isbn=978-0-19-856934-3|year=2003|publisher=OUP Oxford }}, in {{harvtxt|Linnaeus|2003}}

*{{cite journal|last1=Iltis|first1=Hugh H.|author-link=Hugh Iltis|title=William T. Stearn—Recipient of the 2000 Asa Gray Award|journal=[[Systematic Botany]]|date=January 2001|volume=26|issue=1|pages=1–4|jstor=2666651|doi=10.1043/0363-6445-26.1.1|doi-broken-date=31 DecemberJanuary 20222024}}

*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=List of publications of John S. L. Gilmour|journal=[[Plant Systematics and Evolution]]|year=1989a|volume=167|issue=1–2|pages=109–112|doi=10.1007/BF00936553|bibcode=1989PSyEv.167..109S |s2cid=677643}}

*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=William T.|title=Flower artists of Kew: botanical paintings by contemporary artists|date=1990|publisher=Herbert Press in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|location=London|isbn=978-1-871569-16-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQBFAAAAYAAJ}}

*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Allium. Nectaroscordum. Nothoscordum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v11xJgWbUDcC&pg=PA50|pages=49–70|isbn=978-0-521-20108-7|year=1980|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}, in {{harvtxt|Tutin et al.|1964–1980}} vol.&nbsp;5

*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=Nandina, Ranzania, Epimedium, Vancouveria, Jeffersonia, Caulophyllum, Gymnospermium, Bongardia, Diphylleia, Podophyllum (Berberidaceae)|pages=370–371, 389–396|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKOyo9qv2HsC|isbn=978-0-521-76151-2|date=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}, in {{harvtxt|Cullen et al.|2011}} vol.&nbsp;3 (vol.&nbsp;2: pp.&nbsp;390, 410''ff'' in 2nd. ed.){{efn|group=Bibliography|Written for first edition of ''European Garden Flora'' in 1989, reprinted posthumously in second edition in 2011}}

*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=Paeonia|pages=17–23|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKOyo9qv2HsC&pg=PA445|isbn=978-0-521-76151-2|date=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}, in {{harvtxt|Cullen et al.|2011}} vol.&nbsp;4 (vol.&nbsp;2: pp.&nbsp;444''ff'' in 2nd. ed.)

* {{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=W. T.|last2=Campbell|first2=E.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=Allium|pages=231–246|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CkxWrDqtWLQC&pg=PA133|isbn=978-0-521-76147-5|ref={{harvid|Stearn|Campbell|1986}}|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}, in {{harvtxt|Cullen et al.|2011}} vol.&nbsp;2 (vol.&nbsp;1: pp.&nbsp;133–146 in 2nd. ed.)

*{{cite web|title=Cambridge University Herbarium|url=http://cambridgeherbarium.org/|publisher=Department of Plant Sciences, Cambridge University|access-date=15 December 2016|ref={{harvid|Herbarium|2016a}}|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918225918/http://cambridgeherbarium.org/|archive-date=18 September 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

*{{cite web|last1=RBMS|author-link=Rare Books and Manuscripts Section|title=Sitwell, S. Great flower books, 1700–1900 |url=https://rbms.info/scf/?scf_entries=sitwell-s-great-flower-books-1700-1900|website=Standard Citation Forms for Rare Materials Cataloging|publisher=American Library Association|access-date=30 November 2016|ref={{harvid|RBMS|2016}}|date=2013-09-12 September 2013}}

[[Category:BritishPresidents taxonomistsof the Linnean Society of London]]

[[Category:DeathsVeitch fromMemorial pneumoniaMedal in Englandrecipients]]