Griffith , William , 1810-1845 , botanist

William Griffith was born in Ham Common, near Petersham, Surrey, on 4 March 1810. He was apprenticed to a surgeon in the West End of London, and completed his medical studies at University College, London, where he attended classes in botany by J Lindley. He continued his studies in anatomy under Charles Mirbel in Paris and in medical botany at the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 1832 he was appointed as an assistant surgeon with the East India Company and left for Madras.

Griffith was first based on the coast of Tenasserim, but in 1835 he was transferred to the Bengal presidency and served as botanist in an expedition exploring Assam. Between 1835 and 1841, he made many adventurous and dangerous journeys across the Company's territories and collected many specimens. He explored the Indian territory from Sadiya to Ava, then from Assam to Ava and Rangoon. In 1837 he was appointed surgeon to the embassy to Bhutan. In 1839 he was in Quetta, attached to the army of the Indus and penetrated into the eastern part of Afghanistan.

Griffith was appointed to Malacca as civil assistant surgeon in 1841, but recalled to Calcutta the following year to act as superintendent for the Royal Botanic Garden. He seized this opportunity to introduce his own concepts of a botanical garden and rearranged the plants according to a natural classification. At the end of 1844 the superintendent resumed his post and Griffith left Calcutta for Malacca. Shortly after his arrival, in January 1845, he contracted hepatitis and died on 9 February 1845. He was buried in Malacca. In September 1844 he had married Miss Emily Henderson. He was a friend of Sir W J Hooker and regularly sent specimens to Kew Gardens.

Griffith published very little in his lifetime, as he preferred to gather data for what he intended to be a comprehensive account of the Indian flora on a geographical basis. After his death, Griffiths' papers, which were not in a fit state for publication, were edited by his friend J McClelland, a geologist, and published by the East India Company.