Credit: The Royal Society
    Image number: RS.2678

    Portrait of Colin Milne

    Date
    1804
    Sitter
    Colin Milne (1743 - 1815, British ) , Botanist
    Creator
    William Holl (1771 - 1838, British) , Engraver
    After
    John Russell (1745 - 1806, British) , Painter
    Object type
    Image reference
    Material
    Technique
    Subject
    Biology
       > Botany
    Description
    Half-length portrait of Colin Milne in an oval frame, surmounted with flowers and leaves. Milne is shown in dark clerical robes with a white squared collar. He is seen holding a copy of his Botanical Dictionary in his right hand, with his head turned slightly towards his right. The post-nominal initials on the inscription have been crossed out, as he was not elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

    Below the portrait is an illustration of Greenwich Hospital, which Milne founded in 1783 as the Kent Dispensary. The hospital is seen from across the river with a number of ships also included and two male figures present in the foreground.

    Inscribed below portrait: ‘THE REVD DR COLIN MILNE, F.R.S.[crossed out] / Author of the Botanical Dictionary.’ Inscribed below illustration: ‘A view of Greenwich Hospital.’ ‘Russell, R.A. Portrait Painter to their Majesties, pinxt.’ ‘Holl sculpt.’ ‘London, Published for Dr Thornton, 1804.’

    Colin Milne (c.1743-1815), Scottish clergyman and botanist, was not a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was proposed for election in 1779, but was not successful.

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