Henry Doubleday

Henry Doubleday (1810–1902) was an English scientist and horticulturist of Coggeshall in Essex. He was a manufacturer of gum arabic and gelatin, and developed strains of potato and comfrey. The Henry Doubleday Research Association is named after him.

Life and works He was the son of William Doubleday and his wife Hannah Corder. His father was a shopkeeper in Coggeshall; the family were all Quakers. He lived at the same time as his cousin Henry Doubleday (1808–1875), the entomologist and ornithologist. He gained the contract with De La Rue for the supply of gum arabic for postage stamps. Gum arabic is made from imported extracts from the acacia tree. In his efforts to find a suitable material which could be grown in England he experimented with imported varieties of comfrey, though the gum produced proved to be unsuitable. The HDRA, now called Garden Organic, has since become the largest organic gardening and horticultural organisation in Europe.