Harvey, William Henry (1811-1866)

Irish botanist who became a leading authority on algae. He discovered several new forms of Irish flora, especially mosses, despite not having been educated in botany at university. He wrote The Genera of South African Plants while in South Africa and collected many botanical specimens, including algae and flowering plants. His description of algae was included in James Townsend Mackay's Flora Hibernica 1836.

Harvey was born in Limerick, Ireland. In 1836, he became the colonial treasurer in Cape Town, South Africa but was forced to retire 1842 due to ill health. While in South Africa he became known as a leading specialist in algae. In 1844, he was made the keeper of the herbarium at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1846, he published Phycologia Britannica, an extraordinary piece of work entirely illustrated by Harvey himself. He went to America 1849, where he lectured to large and enthusiastic audiences in Boston and Washington and obtained several new specimens while he was in Florida. He also travelled to the Southern Hemisphere, writing Phycologia Australica 1858. He was made chair of botany at Trinity College, Dublin 1856, where he died of tuberculosis.