David Taylor Fish

File:The grave of David Taylor Fish, Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg

David Fish was born at Old Scone, Scotland, United Kingdom on 25 September 1824. He was younger brother to Robert Fish (1808–1873), also a gardener and horticulturalist.{{sfn|Desmond|1994|p=247}}

He followed in the footsteps of David Douglas -- also from Scone -- from whom he would have learnt much and acquired a desire to study plants as well as grow them.The Head Gardeners, Toby Musgrave Around 1838, while a teenager, Fish began working as an apprentice at Scone Palace under James Dodds.[https://archive.org/details/gardenerschronic31875lond/page/654/mode/2up "British Gardeners—XVIII: David T. Fish"], The Gardeners' Chronicle, May 22, 1875, p. 655. From 1842 to 1845 he worked at Putteridge Bury, under his brother and then was head gardener at various manor houses and estates, including Hardwick House in Suffolk,{{sfn|Desmond|1994|p=247}} where he remained for many years, starting in 1855. Following his time there, Fish was primarily a lecturer and writer. He retired to Edinburgh in 1896.[https://archive.org/details/gardenerschronic329lond/page/288/mode/2up "Obituary"], The Gardeners' Chronicle, May 4, 1901, p. 288.

Fish died at age 76 on 22 April 1901 at his home, 12 Fettes Row in Edinburgh Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1900/01 in Edinburgh's New Town. He is buried in Warriston Cemetery in north Edinburgh. The grave is broken but remains wholly legible.

Fish married Lucie Coldworth (d.1928).Grave of D T Fish, Warriston Cemetery

He was father to David Sydney Fish (1881–1912) who became a gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh then to Alexandria in Egypt, where he died. He was an orchid collector and also a horticultural author.{{cite web|url=http://atom.rbge.info/index.php/david-sydney-fish;isaar|title=Fish, David Sydney (1881-1912) - RBGE Archive|website=atom.rbge.info|accessdate=2018-01-28}}

• Cherry and Medlar (1881)
• Pear (1881)
• Chrysanthemum (1881)
• Cassell's Popular Gardening editor 1884-6
• The Peach and Nectarine
• Bulbs and Bulb Culture (1884)

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• {{cite encyclopedia

| title = FISH, David Taylor

| encyclopedia = Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers

| editor-last = Desmond

| editor-first = Ray

| date = 1994

| location = London

| publisher = Taylor & Francis

| isbn = 0-85066-843-3

| page = 247

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=thmPzIltAV8C&pg=PA247

}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, David Taylor}}

Category:1824 births

Category:1901 deaths

Category:19th-century Scottish botanists

Category:Scottish non-fiction writers

Category:People from Scone, Perth and Kinross

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