Daniel Hanbury

author

Daniel Hanbury

1825–1875

A Victorian botanist and pharmacologist, he helped turn the study of medicinal plants into a careful scientific discipline. He is best remembered for combining business experience at Allen & Hanbury's with serious research into the origin and quality of drugs made from plants.

1 Audiobook

Pharmacographia

Pharmacographia

by Friedrich A. (Friedrich August) Flückiger, Daniel Hanbury

About the author

Born in Clapham on 11 September 1825, Daniel Hanbury came from a Quaker family connected with pharmacy and joined the family firm, Allen & Hanbury's, while still young. Alongside business work, he developed a deep interest in botany and the study of medicinal substances, building a reputation for careful observation and wide knowledge of plant-based drugs.

Hanbury became an important figure in nineteenth-century pharmacology through his research, collecting, and writing. His best-known book, Pharmacographia, written with Friedrich A. Flückiger, brought together detailed information on major medicinal drugs of vegetable origin used in Britain and India and became a landmark reference work.

He was also active in learned scientific circles, including the Pharmaceutical Society and the Linnean Society. Daniel Hanbury died on 24 March 1875, but his work continued to shape the serious study of medicinal plants long after his lifetime.