William Keble Martin

The Rev. William Keble Martin (9 July 1877, Radley - 26 November 1969, Woodbury) was a British botanist and botanical illustrator, known for his "Concise British Flora in Colour".

The "Concise British Flora" was published in May 1965 when Reverend William Keble Martin was 88. The book was the result of sixty years’ meticulous fieldwork and exquisite painting skills, and became an immediate best-seller. He completed over 1,400 paintings in colour and many black and white drawings before the book was finally published.

Keble Martin was the grandson of Dr George Moberly, headmaster of Winchester and later Bishop of Salisbury. He was also connected to John Keble of the Oxford Movement. His father was appointed as the Rector of Dartington, near Totnes, when William was 14 years old. He was educated at Marlborough, and went up to Christ Church, Oxford in 1896 to read Greek Philosophy and Botany. He trained for the church at Cuddesdon Theological College. After ordination, he worked in industrial parishes in the north and Midlands and, in World War One, as a chaplain in France. In 1921 he was offered the benefice of Haccombe and Coffinswell in Devon and in 1934 became the incumbent at Great Torrington. He retired in 1949 at the age of 72, but continued to work in the church.

He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1928, and later edited with G.T. Frazer a comprehensive "Flora of Devon" (1935). In June 1966 he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Exeter University. Four of his designs for an issue of wild flower stamps were accepted by the Royal Mail and issued in April 1967. He published his autobiography, "Over the Hills" shortly before he died in 1969 at the age of 92 at Woodbury.

Bibliography

*"A History of the Ancient Parish of Wath-upon-Dearne" (1920)
*"The Concise British Flora in Colour" (with a foreword by The Duke of Edinburgh), Ebury Press/ Michael Joseph (1965)
*"Over The Hills" (autobiography), Michael Joseph (1968)