EJEBoris894787 at 13:37, 23 February 2026

2026-02-23T13:37:20Z

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{{Short description|British botanist (1885–1958)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
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| name = Frank Kingdon-Ward
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| birth_name = Francis Kingdon Ward
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1885|11|06|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Withington]], Lancashire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1958|04|08|1885|11|06|df=y}}
| death_place =
| resting_place = [[Grantchester]], England
| occupation = [[Botanist]], explorer, plant collector and author
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| period =
| genre = Natural history
| subject = Plants
| movement =
| notableworks = ''On the Road to Tibet''
| spouses = Florinda Norman-Thompson (m. 1923), Jean Macklin (m. 1947)
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| children =
| relatives = [[Harry Marshall Ward]] and Selina Mary Ward
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'''Francis Kingdon-Ward''', born '''Francis Kingdon Ward''' [[OBE]], (6 November 1885 in [[Withington]],<ref>[https://www.withingtoncivicsociety.co.uk/kingdon-ward.pdf A Withington Plant Collector]; Withington Civic Society</ref> Lancashire – 8 April 1958) was an English [[botanist]], explorer, plant collector and author. He published most of his books as '''Frank Kingdon-Ward''' and this hyphenated form of his name stuck, becoming the surname of his wives and two daughters. It also became a [[pen name]] for his sister [[Winifred Mary Ward]] by default.

==Biography==
[[File:Rhododendron wardii var puralbum.jpg|thumb|''Rhododendron wardii'' var. ''puralbum'', a naturally occurring white-flowered variety of the yellow-flowered species named for Frank Kingdon-Ward]]
[[File:Siroi Lily.jpg|thumb|Shirui lily, ''Lilium mackliniae'']]
Son of [[Harry Marshall Ward]] and Selina Mary Ward, née Kingdon; he went on around 25 expeditions over a period of nearly fifty years, exploring [[Tibet]], North Western China, [[Myanmar]] and [[Assam]] (in Northeastern [[India]]).<ref>Based on his 25 published books. Some expeditions blurred into each other, hence the ambiguity about the exact number of expeditions.</ref> In Myanmar he met and conducted some research into forestry and plants in the country with native botanist [[Chit Ko Ko]]. Among his collections were the first viable seed of ''[[Meconopsis betonicifolia]]'' ([[Himalayan blue poppy]], first discovered by [[Delavay|Pére Delavay]]),<ref>''Land of the Blue Poppy''</ref> ''[[Primula]] florindae'' (giant cowslip, named after his first wife Florinda, ''née'' Norman-Thompson)<ref name="works">His published works, as listed above</ref> and ''[[Rhododendron]] wardii'', a yellow flowered species.<ref name="works"/>

A species of Asian lizard, ''[[Pseudocalotes kingdonwardi]]'', is named in his honor.<ref>[[Species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]]; [[species:Michael Watkins|Watkins, Michael]]; [[species:Michael Grayson|Grayson, Michael]] (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Kingdon-Ward, p. 141).</ref> He is also commemorated in [[Ward's trogon]], ''Harpactes wardi''.

He survived many accidents on his expeditions including hunger, extreme weather, slope slides and cliffhangers, becoming lost, roughing it with little shelter, altercations with indigenous Asians,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kingdon Ward |first=F. |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.2447/ |title=Plant Hunting on the Edge of the World |date=1930 |publisher=[[Victor Gollancz]] |location=London}}</ref> and impalement. During an expedition in Assam, he was close to the epicentre of an [[1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake|earthquake]] (registering 8.6 on the [[Richter magnitude scale]]) on 15 August 1950.<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Kingdon-Ward | first=F. | date=1953 | title=The Assam Earthquake of 1950 | journal=The Geographical Journal | jstor=1791200 | volume=119 | issue=2 | pages=169–182 | doi=10.2307/1791200| bibcode=1953GeogJ.119..169K }}</ref>

In 1923 he moved to [[Hatton Gore]], a big house on the east side of Hatton Road, [[Hatton, London]]; the site of the house is now under the east end of [[London Heathrow Airport]]. He built there a big [[rockery]] looking like a bend in a river ravine in the Himalayas.<ref>page 52, Sherwood, Philip. (2009) ''Heathrow: 2000 Years of History''. Stroud: The History Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7509-5086-2}}</ref> He sold the house due to a loss that he made running a [[plant nursery]] business.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.french4tots.co.uk/kingdon-ward/fkw-timeline.html|title=Frank Kingdon-Ward timeline of events in his life.|work=french4tots.co.uk}}</ref>

He was married twice, first to Florinda Norman-Thompson on 11 April 1923; later, to [[Jean Rasmussen|Jean Macklin]], on 12 November 1947,<ref name="lyte">''Frank Kingdon-Ward, Last of the Great Plant Hunters'', Charles Lyte (1989)</ref> to whom he remained married until his death.

Florinda Kingdon-Ward had a brief political career which included standing as a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] candidate for Parliament at the 1950 UK General Election in [[Lewes (UK Parliament constituency)|Lewes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge50/i13.htm|title=UK General Election results: February 1950 [Archive]|work=politicsresources.net|date=12 October 2022 }}</ref>

Even towards the end of his career he was still active, his greatest "swansong" plant was probably ''[[Siroi lily|Lilium mackliniae]]'', found jointly with his second wife after whom it is named. At age 68 he climbed to over 1,730–2,590 metres (5,680–8,500 ft) above sea level in the [[Ukhrul district]] of Manipur, India (near the boundary of Myanmar to the east) and was still discovering new species of plants on his last expedition in 1956,<ref name="works"/> including ''[[Roscoea australis]]'', the most southerly representative of its genus.<ref name=Cowl82>{{Citation |last=Cowley |first=E.J. |year=1982 |title=A revision of ''Roscoea (Zingiberaceae)'' |journal=Kew Bulletin |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=747–777 |jstor=4117918 |doi=10.2307/4117918|bibcode=1982KewBu..36..747C }}</ref>

He was made an [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] in 1952.<ref name ="ODNBKingdonWard">{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/34327|title=Ward, Francis [Frank] Kingdon-}}</ref>

Frank Kingdon-Ward died on 8 April 1958 aged 72. He had suffered a stroke and went into a coma from which he never recovered.<ref name="lyte"/> He was buried in the [[churchyard]] at [[Grantchester]].

==Published works==
He wrote 25 books, mostly accounts of his expeditions. The titles, dates and publishers are as follows:
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008884100 ''On the Road to Tibet''] (1910) Shanghai Mercury Ltd. Shanghai
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001258791 ''Land of the Blue Poppy''] (1913) Cambridge University Press<ref>{{cite journal|title=Review of ''The Land of the Blue Poppy: Travels of a Naturalist in Eastern Tibet'' by F. Kingdon Ward|journal=The Athenaeum|date=19 July 1913|issue= 4473|page=66|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435024898074;view=1up;seq=84}}</ref>
*''In Farthest Burma'' (1921) Seeley Service and Co<ref>{{cite journal|title=Review of ''In Farthest Burma'' by Captain F. Kingdon Ward|author=Davies, H. R.|journal=The Geographical Journal|date=September 1921 |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=230–232 |doi=10.2307/1780494|jstor=1780494|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031940060;view=1up;seq=278|url-access=subscription}}</ref> (reprinted by Orchid Press, Thailand; 2nd rev edition (Jan 2005) {{ISBN|978-974-524-062-9}})
*''Mystery Rivers of Tibet'' (1923) Seeley Service and Co (reprinted by Cadogan Books, 1986 {{ISBN|0-946313-52-0}})
*''From China to Hkamti Long'' (1924) Edward Arnold and Co
*''The Romance of Plant Hunting'' (1924) Edward Arnold and Co
*''Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges'' (1926) Edward Arnold and Co
*''Rhododendrons for Everyone'' (1926) The Gardener's Chronicle Ltd
*''Plant Hunting on the Edge of the World'' (1930) Victor Gollancz (reprinted 1974, Theophrastus)
*''Plant Hunting in the Wilds'' (1931) Figurehead (Pioneer series)
*''The Loom of the East'' (1932) Martin Hopkinson Ltd
*''A Plant Hunter in Tibet'' (1934) Jonathan Cape (reprinted by White Orchid, Thailand (2006) {{ISBN|978-974-524-087-2}})
*''The Romance of Gardening'' (1935) Jonathan Cape
*''Plant Hunter's Paradise'' (1937) Jonathan Cape
*''Assam Adventure'' (1941) Jonathan Cape
*''Modern Exploration'' (1945) Jonathan Cape
*''About This Earth'' (1946) Jonathan Cape
*''Commonsense Rock Gardening'' (1948) Jonathan Cape
*''Burma's Icy Mountains'' (1949) Jonathan Cape (reprinted by White Orchid, Thailand; 2nd edition (2006) {{ISBN|978-974-524-084-1}})
*''Rhododendrons'' (1949) Latimer House
*''Footsteps in Civilization'' (1950) Jonathan Cape
*''Plant Hunter in Manipur'' (1952) Jonathan Cape
*''Berried Treasure'' (1954) [[Ward Lock & Co|Ward Lock and Co. Ltd.]] London and Melbourne
*''Return to the Irrawaddy'' (1956) Andrew Melrose
*''Pilgrimage for Plants'' (1960) George C. Harrap and Co. Ltd

==Notes==
{{botanist|Kingdon-Ward|Kingdon-Ward, Frank}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Frank Kingdon-Ward's own works, as listed above
* ''Frank Kingdon-Ward – Last of the Great Plant Hunters'', Charles Lyte (1989), John Murray Publishers Ltd, {{ISBN|978-0-7195-4735-5}}
* [http://www.french4tots.co.uk/kingdon-ward/fkw-timeline.html Frank Kingdon-Ward, timeline of events. 1885–1958]

==External links==
*[http://www.french4tots.co.uk/kingdon-ward/index.php Biography of Frank Kingdon-Ward], french4tots.co.uk
*Oliver Tooley, [https://www.plantexplorers.com/explorers/biographies/kingdon-ward/frank-kingdon-ward.htm Francis (Frank) Kingdon-Ward (1885-1958)] Brief biography with much useful material not covered here
*[https://www.duncanjdsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Forgotten_Kingdon-Ward.pdf Forgotten Travellers: In the Land of the Blue Poppy] Essay on F. Kingdon Ward
*[https://drjosephrock.blogspot.com/2008/03/in-footsteps-of-frank-kingdon-ward.html In the Footsteps of Kingdon Ward: photos of the Salween river, Tibet]
*[http://www.french4tots.co.uk/kingdon-ward/fkw-timeline.html Timeline of Frank Kingdon-Ward's life]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingdon-Ward, Frank}}
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1958 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Writers from Manchester]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Veitch Memorial Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:English botanists]]
[[Category:English explorers]]
[[Category:Plant collectors]]
[[Category:English writers]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates]]

Frank Kingdon-Ward - Revision history

EJEBoris894787 at 13:37, 23 February 2026