Thomas Knowlton (1692–1782) was an English gardener and botanist, known also for antiquarian interests.
Life
He was born at Chislehurst, Kent, the son of William Knowlton and his wife Ann Stokes. He worked in 1720 at Offaly Palace, Hertfordshire, for Sir Henry Penrice. He then superintended the botanic garden of James Sherard at Eltham, in Kent. In 1728 he entered the service of Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, at Londesborough Hall, Yorkshire, where he appears to have remained. He died in 1782 at the age of ninety.
Botanist
Knowlton gained a reputation as a botanist. He corresponded with Mark Catesby, Emanuel Mendes da Costa, and other members of the Royal Society, and impressed Sir Hans Sloane.
At Wallingfen in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Knowlton discovered the algal "moor balls", known to Linnæus as Ægagropila. He prospected for them in lake water.
