Theophilus Houlbrooke

Rev Theophilus Houlbrooke FRSE LLB (1745–1824) was a British minister remembered mainly as an amateur botanist. He served as President of the Liverpool Athenaeum from 1809 until 1813, and was Vice President of the Botanic Gardens in Liverpool. He resigned his living in order to become a Unitarian.

Life

He was born in Lichfield in Staffordshire in 1745. Around 1785 he left the Church of England to join the Unitarians.

In 1792 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his contributions to botany. His proposers were Sir James Hall, John Playfair and Andrew Coventry. He served as President of the Liverpool Athenaeum from 1809 until 1813. It was reported that Houlbrooke, described as a friend of Joseph Priestley, had resigned his living to become tutor to the children of William Rathbone, a Quaker abolitionist.

His will, of January 1824, is held by the National Archives at Kew.