Walking with the Ancestors - William Withering

The Flower Withers

Despite his seemingly boundless energy for scientific investigation, Withering suffered from persistent ill health for much of his later life, having initially self-diagnosed his own tuberculosis in 1783. It seemed that even illness provided him with a degree of inspiration, for he developed a form of air conditioning in his home at Edgbaston Hall to maintain a consistent room temperature of 65 degrees throughout the winter! Although he could not practice medicine in the final years of his life, Withering was still able to prepare a third edition of his great Botanical work in 1796 before finally succumbing to tuberculosis in 1799 aged 58.