William Paul

William Paul (1822–1905) was an English horticulturalist and writer, known for his book The Rose Garden.

Life Born at Churchgate, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, on 16 June 1822, he was second son of Adam Paul who came to London from Aberdeenshire towards the close of the 18th century and purchased the Cheshunt nursery in 1806. After education at a private school at Waltham Cross, he joined his father's business. On Adam Paul's death in 1847 the business was carried on as A. Paul & Son by William and his elder brother George. In 1860 this partnership was dissolved. William Paul & Son carried on the Waltham Cross nursery, which he had founded a year before, while George established the firm of Paul & Son at Cheshunt.

Paul served on the committee of the National Floricultural Society from 1851 until it was dissolved in 1858, when the floral committee of the Royal Horticultural Society was established. In July 1858 he joined the National Rose Society, which Samuel Reynolds Hole had just founded, and in 1866 he was one of the executive committee of twenty-one members for the major International Horticultural Exhibition. He also acted as a commissioner for the Paris Exhibition of 1867.

Death and legacy

Paul died of a paralytic seizure on 31 March 1905, and was buried in the family vault at Cheshunt cemetery. The library of old gardening books and general literature, which he collected at his residence Waltham House, was sold at Sotheby's after his death, but many volumes were bought by his son. Paul's is known today for varieties such as 'Paul's Lemon Pillar' and 'Paul's Scarlet Climber (a rose which was cultivated by William Paul -the son- in 1915).