| AdminHistory | Richard Dreyer (1763-1838) obtained his degree from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1785. His first living (1785 - c. 1823) was at Woughton-on-the-Green (near Milton Keynes), Bucks. In 1799, he moved to Bungay to become Rector of Thwaite St Mary, Norfolk, about 3 miles to the north. He remained there until his death. Dreyer was also Chaplain to Richard, 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam MA Trinity Hall 1764, FRS 1789, whose collections, at his death in 1816, were the foundation of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Dreyer became a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1817; his sponsors were all eminent botanists and entomologists. They were Thomas Jenkinson Woodward FLS 1789, who lived at Bungay until 1801; Robert Stone FLS 1790, who lived at Woodward's house and worked with him; their mutual friend, Dawson Turner FRS 1802, FLS 1797, of Great Yarmouth; John Hatchett FLS 1806, an entomologist of London; and Sir Thomas Gery Cullum FRS 1787, FLS 1790, a physician at Bury St Edmunds, and great friend and advisor of Smith's. Cullum made an annual tour about England, visiting Smith and the other friends. Indeed they were all in frequent correspondence with the President and with each other, often exchanging botanical information and plant specimens. These were sometimes 'couriered' by Robert Stone, who also took plants to the botanical artist, James Sowerby, in London. As well as the paintings, Dreyer also inserted botanical notes into the text of the Flora, proving that he enjoyed a wide acquaintanceship amongst botanists, men of letters and the clergy all over the country.
Dreyer married a Norfolk girl, Eliza Dade, 10 years his junior. She died in 1849, aged 76. There were no children. |