Peter Collinson

Peter Collinson FRS (January 1694 – 11 August 1768) was an English gardener, botanist and horticulturist. A Fellow of the Royal Society and an avid gardener, Collinson served as the middleman for an international exchange of scientific ideas in Georgian era London. Life and work Born the son of a London woollen draper, Collinson entered his father's business and developed an interest in botany. His family belonged to the Gracechurch Street Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (i.e. Quakers). In October 1728, Collinson wrote to Sir Hans Sloane, President of the Royal Society, about strange events in Kent and on 7 November 1728, he was proposed for Fellowship of the Society. Collinson supported the struggle of Thomas Coram, William Hogarth, and others to establish a charitable institution that would welcome babies abandoned by their mothers. A royal charter to start the Foundling Hospital was granted by George II on 17 October 1739. The charter lists Collinson as a founding governor.