Benjamin Samuel Williams (1824–90)

Gardener to the Warner family at Hoddeston. Partner with Robert Parker in a nursery at Seven Sisters Road, Holloway, London, 1854–61; subsequently moved to Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloway. A specialist on orchids, he was the author of the popular work The orchid grower’s manual (1852), which was the first successful manual giving instructions for the cultivation of orchids.