Background
William was born at Ham in March 1810.
William was born at Ham in March 1810.
After a brief stay in Madras, he was assigned as a Civil Surgeon to Tenasserim, Burma, where he studied local plants and made collecting trips to the Barak River valley in Assam. He studied under a private tutor along with brothers and even in his early days, took an interest in botany. He later went to London University where he studied under Robert Brown and Lindley.
Griffith"s botanical publications are from India and Burma. He explored various parts of Burma, traveling the rivers, including the Irrawadi as far as Rangoon. He visited the highlands of Sikkim, and the region of the Himalayas around Shimla.
Subsequently, Griffith was appointed as Civil Surgeon in Malacca, where he died of a parasitic liver disease.
In 1835 he was deputed to join Nathaniel Wallich and John McClelland on a mission to examine tea cultivation in northeastern India. The Commissioner in Assam, Jenkins, later deputed him to visit the Mishmi Hills and the Lohit valley.
He served with Major Robert Boileau Pemberton"s mission to Bhutan in 1837. When Nathaniel Wallich visited South Africa, he was made in-charge of the Calcutta Botanical Garden and also acted as Professor of Botany at the Medical College from 1842 to 1844.
On being relieved, he moved back to the Straits of Malacca, falling ill and dying of a liver disorder on 10 February 1845.
The Calcutta Journal of Natural History, produced with assistance from him ceased and the subscriptions were used by John McClelland to publish Griffith"s unpublished manuscripts. A memorial tablet was placed at the Saint George"s Cathedral in Madras. Taxa named in honour There are number of plants with specific names griffithianus, griffithia and griffithii named in honour of William Griffith.
Including.
Bulbophyllum griffithii, Euphorbia griffithii, Iris griffithii, Magnolia griffithii and Larix griffithii.
Linnean Society of London.