Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Jameson, William (1815-1882)
JAMESON, WILLIAM (1815–1882), botanist, born at Leith in 1815, went to the high school at Edinburgh, and then proceeded to study medicine at the university, where his uncle, Robert Jameson [q. v.], occupied the chair of natural history during half a century. Having passed his examinations in 1838, he was appointed to the Bengal medical service, and on his arrival at Calcutta he was temporarily installed as curator of the museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. After serving at Cawnpore, in 1842 he was appointed superintendent of the Saharunpore garden, in succession to Dr. Hugh Falconer. He energetically advocated the cultivation of tea in British India, and under the patronage of the governor-general, Lord Dalhousie, he succeeded in procuring plants and distributing them in various parts of India. To his services the subsequent development of Indian tea-planting was largely due. He retired on 31 Dec. 1875, and came home, where he died 18 March 1882.
[Proc. Linn. Soc. 1882–3, p. 42; Proc. Bot. Soc. Edinb. xiv. (1882) 288–95.]