William Turner: Meet the Father of British Botany

William Turner: Meet the Father of British Botany

From Fabulous Folklore with Icy by Icy Sedgwick

June 13, 2026 · 19 min

About this episode

This episode explores the contributions of William Turner to herbalism and botany, particularly his role in making herbal knowledge accessible in English.

Herbalism has seen a boom of interest in recent years as people seek to find closer relationships with nature and create ways to supplement their wellbeing. The practice has a long history all over the world, with many cultures offering their own uses for the plants and trees that grew in their region. Having such a plethora of plant material available called for the introduction of the herbal; a book collecting plants and their uses into one place. Yet books require one simple thing - the ability to read. India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China all kept records about the use of plants. In Europe, many early herbals were written in Latin, putting them beyond the reach of ordinary people. Until William Turner came along and changed the game by writing one in English. Let’s go to meet him in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the blog post with all the images and references here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/william-turner/ Buy Vitalist Herbcraft here: https://school.rowanandsage.com/courses/vitalistherbcraft?affcode=437598_3qokpyep Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous…

People in this episode

Host: Icy Sedgwick

Topics covered

  • herbalism
  • botany
  • history
  • nature
  • wellbeing

Keywords

  • William Turner
  • herbalism
  • botany
  • herbals
  • plant uses

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fabulous Folklore, Rowan and Sage, Patreon, Substack, Ko-fi

Books & works: Vitalist Herbcraft

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