John Grimshaw Wilkinson

John Grimshaw Wilkinson (6 January 1856 – 28 February 1937) was a British botanist from Leeds. He was visually impaired and was able to recognise individual plants by using his tongue to detect shape and texture. He assisted Leeds Parks Service in choosing suitable plants, and was President of the Leeds Naturalists' Club. In 1915, he was awarded an Honorary Degree by the University of Leeds. His extensive herbarium collection, compiled by his mother, is held by Leeds Museums & Galleries.

Biography Wilkinson was born on 6 January 1856 in Leeds. His father died when John was young and his mother, who was a cousin of John Atkinson Grimshaw, brought him up. As a young man, he worked as a grocer and lived in Burley, Leeds; his hobby was painting. He became visually impaired, due to neuralgia, at the age of 22.

After he lost his sight, he took up the study of botany, using his sense of touch and taste, rather than sight to recognise species. In order to learn to identify them, his mother read descriptions from botanical guides to him, which he then used to familiarise himself with the physical characteristics of specimens. He created his own field notebooks using braille. where the specimens were mounted by his mother, Theodosia. Since his knowledge of trees and other species in Yorkshire was so extensive, he advised the Leeds Corporation on the planting and labelling of trees in its parks. In recognition of the support that his mother provided for him, she was made an honorary member of the society. Much of the collection is held at Leeds Discovery Centre.