Died 1908 | Alma mater Trinity College, Dublin | |
 | ||
Fields Natural history, Botany Books Flora of the County Donegal, Or, List of the Flowering Plants and Ferns with Their Localities and Distribution - Scholar's Choice Edition Known for Exploration, Climbing, Walking | ||
Henry Chichester Hart MRIA FLS (1847-1908) was an Anglo-Irish botanist and explorer. Hart was also interested in Elizabethan literature, and he edited numerous plays for the Arden Shakespeare for Methuen's Standard Library.
Contents
Early life
He was the son of Sir Andrew Searle Hart and his wife Frances MacDougall, daughter of Sir Henry MacDougall, Q.C., of Dublin. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, with a B.A. in experimental and natural science.
Botany and exploration
From the age of 17, Hart conducted a botanical survey of Donegal (lasting until 1898), which led to his publication Flora of the County Donegal, widely regarded as his most important botanical work. The publication was destroyed during a fire as part of the 1916 Easter Rising.
Whilst a student at university, Hart, accompanied by Sir Frederick Cullinan, walked from Terenure to Lugnaquilla, in the Wicklow Mountains - a total of 75 miles - and back in 24 hours, making a record at the time. Hart left Terenure at 10.58pm on 20 June 1886 and arrived back at 10.48pm the next evening.
In 1875-1876, Hart accompanied Sir George Strong Nares as a naturalist on his British Arctic Expedition. He was also a naturalist on the Palestine Exploration Fund's 1883-1884 expedition to Palestine.
Personal life
In 1887, he married Edith Susan Anna Donelly (1852-1901), daughter of William Donnely, C.B., L.L.D, of Dublin. They had two daughters and divorced in 1897.
Publications
- On the botany of the British polar expedition of 1875-6, (1880).
- On the botany of Sinai and South Palestine, (1885).
- Flora of Howth, (Hodges, Figgis, 1887).
- The animals mentioned in the Bible, (Religious Tract Society, 1888).
- Flora of the County Donegal, (Sealy, Bryers and Walker ; 1898).
The standard author abbreviation Hart is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.