Starting Out
Not long content with life in London, Fraser soon began to quit the mercantile counter as often as he could to watch the gardeners at work. He befriended William Forsyth who at that time had charge of the Apothecaries' Garden; through that acquaintance he would have become familiar with his predecessor Mark Catesby's travels, as some of Catesby's specimens from his travels were housed at the Chelsea Physic Garden, and Catesby's writings and engravings on the flora of the Americas were also published by the time Fraser moved to London.
Fraser took up botanical collecting and, two years after the United States of America had named itself, departed England for Newfoundland in 1780 with Admiral Campbell. Upon returning to England, he sailed again in 1783 to explore the New World with his eldest son John Jr. Fraser's early expeditions were financed by William Aiton of Kew Gardens, William Forsyth, and James Edward Smith of the Linnean Society. In the 1780s Fraser established the American Nursery at Sloane Square, King's Road, which his sons continued after his death in partnership from 1811–1817. The nursery was on the east side of the Royal Military School and extended over twelve acres.
Read more about this topic: John Fraser (botanist)
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