George Clifford III
George Clifford III | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age Amsterdam, Dutch Republic |
| Died | 1760-04-10 Heemstede, Dutch Republic |
| Occupation(s) | Financier, director of the Dutch East India Company, botanist, horticulturist |
| Known for | Patronage of Carl Linnaeus; Hortus Cliffortianus; extensive botanical garden at Hartekamp |
George Clifford III (born 7 January 1685 in Amsterdam, died 10 April 1760 in Heemstede) was an affluent Dutch financier and a director within the Dutch East India Company. He is distinguished for his passion for botany and horticulture.
His summer residence, Hartekamp, situated near Haarlem in Heemstede, contained an extensive assortment of plants. Clifford employed the Swedish botanist Carl von Linné ("Carl Linnaeus"), who resided there from 1736 to 1738 to compose Hortus Cliffortianus (1737), a seminal botanical publication, featuring illustrations by Georg Dionysius Ehret.
Clifford’s lineage traces back to his grandfather, George Clifford I, an Englishman who moved from Stow to Amsterdam around 1640 and founded a prominent Anglo-Dutch trading and banking family. The Cliffords rose to prominence as influential figures in Amsterdam’s financial community.
Prior to Clifford’s acquisition in 1709 from Johan Hinlopen, the Hartekamp garden was already recognized. Under Clifford's stewardship, the garden's collection of exotic plants expanded greatly. He constructed four heated greenhouses to cultivate tropical species acquired worldwide through his commercial connections. Additionally, Clifford provided seeds to botanist Herman Boerhaave, whose nearby garden at Oud Poelgeest was reachable via the Haarlem-Leiden canal (Leidsevaart).
In 1736, Clifford achieved acclaim for successfully growing the first indoor banana tree, which led to his collaboration with Linnaeus. Numerous plants from Clifford's collection were incorporated into Linnaeus’s Species Plantarum (1753).
Upon his death in 1760, Clifford bequeathed the banking enterprise to his sons George IV (1708-1757), Jan (1710-1772), Henry (1711-1787), while the estate passed to Pieter (1712-1788). The Clifford banking house ultimately failed in 1772, and by 1788 Hartekamp was no longer in family hands. Since then, the garden deteriorated and currently functions as a school campus.
Herbarium
The herbarium assembled by Clifford was purchased by Joseph Banks in 1791 and subsequently transferred to the British Museum of Natural History, where it has been digitized for online access.
Most specimens remain mounted on the original paper from their preservation period; some were remounted using paper typical of the British Museum. The labels display varying handwriting styles, including those penned by Clifford himself. A notable feature is the use of labels shaped as urns—a unique practice found exclusively in Dutch herbaria of that time—with several urn designs utilized.
See also
- Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné)
- Johannes Burman
- Herman Boerhaave
- Hartekamp
- Musa Cliffortiana [de]
- Hortus Cliffortianus
- Dutch East India Company