William West (botanist)

William West FLS
William West
Born	(1848-02-22)22 February 1848 Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	14 May 1914(1914-05-14) (aged 66) Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Resting place	Scholemoor Cemetery, Bradford
Children	George Stephen West
Scientific career
Fields	Pharmacology; microscopy; botany; freshwater algae; ecology of cryptogams; phytoplankton of rivers and lakes
Institutions	Bradford Technical College
Author abbrev. (botany)	West, 1848–1914
Signature

William West, FLS (22 February 1848 – 14 May 1914) was an English pharmacist, botanist, microscopist and writer, particularly noted for his studies of freshwater algae. His sons, both botanists, were William West Jr with whom he did fieldwork, and George Stephen West with whom West co-wrote botanical publications for more than 20 years.

West was born in Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was the son of a cloth-dresser and a dressmaker, and his training as a pharmacist was probably via an apprenticeship in a chemist shop, which would have involved the study of plants. For most of his life, West ran his own pharmacy in Bradford. He was self-trained in botany, and for some years he ran a microscopy partnership with Jean Claudius Tempère, selling slides.

In 1881 West published his first academic paper, "Bryological Notes". For much of his writing career, he collaborated with his son George Stephen, writing papers for journals, and publishing books. Research for that work involved travelling all over the British Isles. Bradford Technical College hired him as a biology lecturer, and he held that position until his retirement. He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, a president of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, and a member of the British Association.

West married and had three children. He was buried in Scholemoor Cemetery, Bradford, with many students and friends following his funeral cortège.