Bot at 12:33, 31 October 2022

2022-10-31T12:33:13Z

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{{Short description|Explorer and plant collector (1898–1967)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Frank Ludlow, George Sherriff and Frederick Williamson.jpg|thumb|[[Frank Ludlow]], George Sherriff and [[Frederick Williamson]], 1933 in [[Gangtok]], [[Sikkim]]]]
Major '''George Sherriff''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}} (1898–1967) was a Scottish explorer and [[plant collector]].<ref name="JSTOR Global Plants">{{Cite journal|title=JSTOR Global Plants: Sherriff, George (1898-1967)|jstor=000153980|website=[[JSTOR]]}}</ref>

==Biography==
Born in [[Larbert]], he was educated at [[Sedbergh School]] and attended the [[Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]]. In 1918 he took a commission in the [[Royal Garrison Artillery]], fighting in France. After the close of the First World War, in which he was injured, he was posted to [[Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Nowshera]], then in [[British India]], during the [[Waziristan campaign (1919–20)|Waziristan campaign]] of 1919–1920.<ref name="CHG">{{cite web|title=Plant-hunters with direct connections to Cluny|url=http://www.clunyhousegardens.com/plant_collectors.html|website=[[Cluny House Gardens]]|accessdate=10 August 2016}}</ref> From 1927 to 1931 he served as the British [[vice-consul]] in [[Kashgar]], [[Chinese Turkestan]], under the consul general [[Frederick Williamson]].<ref name=ODNB>{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36065 |title=Sherriff, George |author=Mabberley, D.J. |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/36065 }}</ref>

In Kashgar he met the naturalist [[Frank Ludlow]], and between 1933 and 1938 the two made several expeditions into the [[Himalaya]]n regions of [[Tibet]] and [[Bhutan]], collecting thousands of specimens, many of which were new to science. He joined the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] on the outbreak of the Second World War, serving in Assam. In 1943 he was appointed to lead the British Mission in [[Lhasa]], taking over from Ludlow. The two men undertook further plant hunting expeditions in remote parts of Tibet, with their last expedition to Bhutan in 1949. Many of the specimens collected by Sherriff are held in the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]], London. In 1947 he was appointed [[OBE]], and in 1948 was awarded the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Victoria Medal of Honour]].<ref name=ODNB/> On returning to Britain in 1950, Sherriff bought the estate of [[Ascreavie]] in Angus, where he cultivated a collection of Himalayan plants, described as having "outstanding horticultural value".<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=GDL00030|desc=ASCREAVIE (removed)|access-date=12 April 2019}}</ref> He served on Angus County Council from 1952 to 1966.

Sherriff's papers are held by the [[Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh|Royal Botanic Garden]] of [[Edinburgh]].<ref name="Collectors at RBGE (E)">{{cite web|title=Collectors at RBGE (E)|url=http://www.rbge.org.uk/science/herbarium/about-the-collections/collectors|publisher=[[Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh]]|accessdate=10 August 2016|archive-date=9 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109074421/http://www.rbge.org.uk/science/herbarium/about-the-collections/collectors|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherriff, George}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:Scottish botanists]]
[[Category:Royal Garrison Artillery officers]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Plant collectors]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]

George Sherriff - Revision history

Bot at 12:33, 31 October 2022