Sir Hans Sloane

Sir Hans Sloane

This morning Carol Kirkwood, the weather presenter on BBC, broadcast from the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, the second oldest botanical garden in Britain.

The reference to the garden brought to mind its association with a famous Ulster-Scot from Killyleagh, Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753).  He was the son of Alexander Sloane and the family had come across to Ulster from Ayrshire in Scotland.

Sloane Square, Hans Place and Hans Crescent were all named after him as was Hans Sloane Square in his native Killyleagh.

He is remembered as a physician, naturalist and collector who provided the foundation of the British Museum.  He was also physician to Queen Anne, King George I and King George II.

In 1713 he purchased the Manor of Chelsea, which he leased to the Society of Apothecaries, and this initiated the golden age of the Chelsea Physic Garden.

Hans Sloane statue in Killyleagh