Charles Alston (botanist)

Charles Alston (1683 to 1760) was a Scottish botanist. Born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, he was apparently raised by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton. In 1715 he went to Leiden to study under the Dutch physician Hermann Boerhaave, and on his return to Scotland he became lecturer in materia medica and botany at Edinburgh and also superintendent of the botanical gardens. He was appointed Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1716 and held the post until his death in 1760. He was a critic of the system of plant classification of Linnaeus, and the tree genus Alstonia is named after him. He married first Robina Lockhart, and secondly, in 1741, Bethia Birnie, the daughter of John Birnie of Broomhill. He is buried in Canongate Kirkyard on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, immediately east of the church, and after his death his large library was auctioned in Edinburgh.