John Goldie (botanist)
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John Goldie was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

-born botanist and author. He is credited with recording the existence of fourteen plant species previously unknown to science.

He was born in Kirkoswald
Kirkoswald
-Places:England*Kirkoswald, Cumbria, a civil parish and village in the District of EdenScotland*Kirkoswald, South Ayrshire, a village in South Ayrshire council area...

, the son of William Goudie and Janet McClure. Goldie apprenticed as a gardener and was employed at the Glasgow Botanic
Garden. In 1815, he married Margaret Smith, the daughter of a local botanist and florist. In 1817, Goldie was able to raise enough money to voyage to North America to collect botanical samples. Unfortunately, his first three shipments of collected materials were lost at sea en route to Scotland. In 1819, Goldie returned safely home with specimens intact. In 1822, he published Description of some new and rare plants discovered in Canada in 1819. Goldie travelled to St. Petersburgh in Russia in 1824, where he helped establish a new botanical garden. Goldie returned there in 1830. Goldie established his own nursery business during the same period with the object of providing additional income for his family. In 1844, he moved his family to Ayr, Ontario
Ayr, Ontario
The village of Ayr, Ontario, Canada is a settlement located within the Township of North Dumfries in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Southwestern Ontario...

, where he rented land and later purchased a farm. The family also constructed and operated a number of mills. Goldie later died there at the age of 92.

The fern Aspidium goldianum, later Dryopteris goldiana
Dryopteris goldiana
Dryopteris goldiana or Goldie's wood fern is a fern native to the Northeastern United States and adjacent areas of Canada.It can grow larger than any other native North American Dryopteris species. Specimens are known with fronds six feet tall.It is one of the parents of the hybrids Dryopteris...

, was named in his honour.

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