George Bentham - Formative Years

Formative Years

Bentham was born in Stoke, Plymouth, on 22 September 1800. His father, Sir Samuel Bentham, a naval architect, was the only brother of Jeremy Bentham to survive into adulthood. George Bentham had neither a school nor a college education, but at an early age acquired the power of giving sustained and concentrated attention to any subject that occupied him. He also had a remarkable linguistic aptitude. By the age of seven he could speak French, German and Russian, and he learned Swedish during a short residence in Sweden when little older. At the close of the war with France, the Benthams made a long tour through that country, staying two years at Montauban, where Bentham studied Hebrew and mathematics in the Protestant Theological School. They eventually settled in the neighborhood of Montpellier where Sir Samuel purchased a large estate.

George Bentham became attracted to botanical studies by applying to them his uncle's logical methods, and not by any special interest in natural history. While studying at Angoulême he came across a copy of A. P. de Candolle's Flore française, and he became interested in the analytical tables for identifying plants. He immediately proceeded to test their use on the first plant he saw. The result was successful and he continued to apply it to every plant he came across. A visit to London in 1823 brought him into contact with the brilliant circle of English botanists. In 1826, at the pressing invitation of his uncle, he agreed to act as his secretary, at the same time entering Lincolns Inn and reading for the bar. He was called in due time and in 1832 held his first and last brief. In that same year Jeremy Bentham died, leaving his property to his nephew. Having inherited his father's estate the previous year, he was now in a position of modest independence, and able to pursue wholeheartedly his favorite studies. For a time these were divided between botany, jurisprudence and logic, in addition to editing his father's professional papers. He married Sarah Jones (1798–1881), daughter of Sir Harford Jones Brydges, on 11 April 1833.