active 1618 William Lawson

William Lawson was an English cleric and gardening writer, probably born in 1553 or 1554, and he served as vicar of Ormesby in Yorkshire from 1583. Sources describe him as both a diligent religious man and a keen gardener whose writing grew out of long personal experience.

He is best known for A New Orchard and Garden, first published in 1618, along with The Country Housewifes Garden. The books offered practical advice on planting, grafting, herbs, and household gardening, especially for northern England, and Lawson said the work came from forty-eight years of experience. Later editions and reprints helped keep the book in circulation for many decades.

Modern accounts note that these were Lawson's only published works, but they were influential and widely read. What still stands out is the tone: useful, observant, and full of pleasure in the work of cultivating an orchard and garden.