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Research dossier · Science & Nature

Henry de Ponthieu

British plant collector

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 23, 2024
Entity authorityQ5730789 ↗
Source-derived summary

Henry de Ponthieu (14 February 1731 – 10 December 1808) was a London merchant of Huguenot ancestry who collected fish and plant specimens from the West Indies for botanist Joseph Banks. The orchid genus Ponthieva was named by botanist Robert Brown in his honour.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Henry de Ponthieu” as british plant collector. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Henry, Ponthieu and British.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1731, 1808—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1731-02-14. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Henry, Ponthieu and British providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Henry de Ponthieu”, the useful work is to connect “british plant collector” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 23, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q5730789. VIAF identifies the subject as 4256165272388510690008. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1731 and 1808.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

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Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Henry de Ponthieu”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Henry de Ponthieu primary sources, Henry de Ponthieu archive and Henry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Henry de Ponthieu” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.