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Who's Who at KewWe have chosen 34 of the people who have shaped Kew's history - including famous architects, plant hunters, scientists, landscape designers, engineers, artists, gardeners and royalty - to depict in a colourful nine metre wide theatrical flat on display in the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew for the 2006 How Kew Grew festival. Painted by theatrical scenery specialist Magnus Irvin. Click on a face to find out who they are. You can also take our interactive tour to see more detail.
William Aiton (1731-1793)In 1759 the Royal Gardens at Kew became 'Botanic', when William Aiton was employed by Princess Augusta to manage her new 'Physick Garden' of plants with scientific and medicinal value. Aiton is considered to be the first Curator. He is pictured holding Aitonia capensis (now Nymania capensis), a South African evergreen shrub named in his honour. 
Princess Augusta (1719-1772)Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales, the founder of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is commemorated by the Princess of Wales Conservatory. Married to Prince Frederick and mother of King George III, she inspired ambitious collecting and cultivation, and commissioned breathtaking landscaping. 
Joseph Banks (1743-1820)Sir Joseph Banks was scientific advisor to King George III and unofficial Director of Kew. He had sailed with Captain Cook on the Endeavour and sponsored many expeditions undertaken by himself and others to the benefit of Kew. Asked to ship the Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) to the West Indies, he chose William Bligh to captain the Bounty. Famously, plants and captain alike were cast adrift in the ensuing mutiny. 
William Bean (1863-1947)Horticulture had been in William Jackson Bean's family for three generations and he carried the sum of their knowledge yet further. During the 25 years it took him to compile his definitive book Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles he became an international authority. Bean was Curator at Kew from 1922-1929. 
George Bentham (1800-1884)George Bentham was widely known for his Handbook of the British Flora, not least by the generation of students who coloured in the line drawings by Walter Fitch. 
Capability Brown (1715-1783)It is not by chance that one of the most enchanting landscape features of Kew Gardens should be the Rhododendron Dell, for it was contrived - as the Hollow Walk - by the master of the English Landscape style himself, Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. Designed as a respite from the flatness of the Thames alluvial plain, it also matched his landscaping across the river at Syon House. 
Decimus Burton (1800-1881)Although he hadn't completed the expected tour of Europe's ancient ruins as part of his architectural training, Decimus Burton mastered the classical revival styles and won many public commissions. The Palm House, the Temperate House and the Main Gate are his most notable structures at Kew. 
Lord Bute (1713-1792)With his knowledge and enthusiasm, John Stuart, the 3rd Earl of Bute sustained and encouraged his royal patrons' interest in their gardens. Lord Bute was instrumental in helping Princess Augusta to continue enhancing the gardens at Kew after the untimely death of her husband Prince Frederick. 
William Chambers (1722-1796)One of very few architects to actually have seen oriental and Chinese buildings at first hand, Sir William Chambers, FRS quickly gained an advantage over contemporaries, and received many commissions for exotic buildings including the Pagoda at Kew. 
Queen Charlotte (1744-1818)Queen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was married to King George III and bore him 15 children. She enjoyed long summers in residence at 'little Kew in the country', and died in Kew Palace. 
Mark Chase (1951-)Professor Mark Chase pioneered techniques for analysing large numbers of DNA sequences. He is currently leading a research team at Kew with the mammoth task of determining the genetic relationships among all flowering plants. 
Peter Crane (1954-)Professor Sir Peter Crane became Director of Kew in 1999. He has successfully steered the Gardens through a period of great change and development, and Kew and Wakehurst are now enjoyed by almost two million visitors a year. 
Allan Cunningham (1791-1839)Allan Cunningham was an indefatigable plant-hunter sent by Joseph Banks to 'uncivilised Australian terrain',where lack of water and unpredictable Aboriginal tribes constantly added to the challenge of expeditions. 
Walter Fitch (1817-1892)Of Kew's many illustrators, Walter Hood Fitch was the most prolific, producing 10,000 published drawings. His efficiency, and his close association with William Hooker and Joseph Hooker as friend and collaborator, resulted in rapid publication of the most recent botanical discoveries. 
Prince Frederick (1707-1751)Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales was the initiator of the botanical direction of Kew. His position and wealth allowed him to pursue his ambitious plans, and he did so with fervour until his sudden death. Then it was lamented that 'gardening and planting have lost their best friend and encourager'. 
King George III (1738-1820)To escape from insidious politics, colonial rebellions, wars, irresponsible progeny and quack doctors, King George III retreated to his gardens at Kew, which offered the tranquillity and regularity he needed for peace of mind even during his bouts of illness. Here he relaxed as 'Farmer George'. 
Joseph Hooker (1817-1911)Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, son of William Hooker and his successor as the second official Director (1865-1885), concluded his father's vision for Kew. Joseph Hooker is remembered for the spectacular species of rhododendrons he collected from Sikkim in the Himalayas. 
William Hooker (1785-1865)Sir William Jackson Hooker was the first official Director of Kew (1841-1865). He founded the Library and the Museum of Economic Botany and commissioned the Palm House. 
John Hutchinson (1884-1972)"From potting shed to Fellow of the Royal Society" is John Hutchinson's autobiographical epitaph. The post-war public appreciated his Common Wild Flowers buying 250,000 copies in its first year. Hutchinson was Keeper of Museums 1936-1948. He is shown pressing some specimens during a pause in collecting. 
Tony Kirkham (1957-)Tony Kirkham, Head of the Arboretum, and currently Kew's most active plant collector, is shown speaking into a microphone coming out of a Hydrangea species from Asia. You may recognise him from the BBC TV series A Year at Kew. He will also be presenting a new series, The Trees That Made Britain, which starts on 15 September. 
Lady Gardeners (1898)In 1895 the first lady gardeners at Kew had to put up with considerable derision over their vocation and the attire that went with it. For 'they gardened in bloomers'!
Francis Masson (1741-1805)Kew's first official collector of live plants, Francis Masson brought us over 1,000 species including the first geraniums and mesembryanthemums. The cycad Encephalartos altensteinii (pictured) he brought to Kew in 1775 still thrives in the Palm House. 
Ronald Melville (1903-1985)Dr Ronald Melville is best known for his work during the Second World War. On his advice, British children and adult volunteers harvested many tonnes of rosehips for teas, soups and syrups. The effective use of rosehip to supplement diets with much needed vitamin C was primarily due to Melville's research. 
William Nesfield (1793-1881)First fighting wars, then painting watercolours, William Andrews Nesfield went on to become a highly acclaimed garden landscaper and designer of parterre gardens. The grand Vistas from the Palm House and Pagoda are still the most prominent features of the Kew landscape, defining the structure of the gardens. Nesfield was also responsible for the grand parterre gardens around the Palm House, the Palm House Pond, and the overall layout of the Arboretum. 
Marianne North (1830-1890)Marianne North was an independent woman, remarkable in her time for having travelled the globe in order to satisfy her passion for recording the world's flora with her paintbrush. 
Ghillean Prance (1937-)Professor Sir Ghillean Tolmie Prance, a former Director of Kew (1988-1999). He came to Kew from the New York Botanical Garden. He is shown holding the woody fruit of the Brazil Nut (Bertholletia excelsa). Although robust and heavy, its survival depends upon a delicate web of ecological interdependencies uncovered by his research. 
John Simmons (1937-)John Simmons started as a trainee gardener in the Arboretum and rose to become one of our youngest ever Curators in 1972. 
John Smith (1798-1888)John Smith presided over the transition of Kew from private Royal Gardens to national Botanic Gardens. Through his efficient management, botanic knowledge and complete devotion, he saved the gardens from the threat of being abandoned. 
Matilda Smith (1854-1926)Serving both art and science is the plight of the botanical artist, 'often having to paint hay, yet breathe into it life and detail'. In over 2,300 illustrations made for Kew in more than thirty years, mastery of this craft is signified by the initials "M.S." - Matilda Smith. 
Richard Spruce (1817-1892)Dr Richard Spruce collected extensively for Kew in the Amazon and in the Andes. He is shown holding a large piece of bark from a Cinchona tree, from which quinine is extracted for treating malaria. Quinine has been used for this purpose since the 1600s and is still effective against synthetic drug-resistant strains today. 
William Thiselton-Dyer (1843-1928)Kew's scientific prowess increased greatly under the Directorship of Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1885-1905). His strong academic background and unfaltering leadership secured both scientific work and new facilities of world renown. When the Temperate House was finally completed in 1899, it was the largest glasshouse in the world. 
Richard Turner (1798-1881)Experience and expertise in working with iron in the shipbuilding industry and designing glasshouses in his native Ireland made Richard Turner the natural choice of engineer to work with Decimus Burton in designing the curvilinear and spacious shape of the Palm House. His innovation of counter-stressed braces of wrought iron inside cast iron sleeves holds the Palm House together to this day. 
Queen Victoria (1819-1901)Queen Victoria donated land at the west corner of Kew Green on which the Main Gate was built to welcome the public to Kew. To mark her Diamond Jubilee, she also presented Queen Charlotte's Cottage Grounds. 
Ernest Wilson (1876-1930)The famous plant hunter Ernest Henry Wilson collected extensively in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, bringing back stunning species including magnolias and the 'Wilson 50' Kurume azaleas. He most wished to be remembered for bringing us the Handkerchief Tree (Davidia involucrata). He introduced more plants - over 1,000 - to western horticulture than any other collector.
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