James Bateman (horticulturist)

He created the famous gardens at Biddulph with the aid of his wife Maria and his friend and painter of seascapes Edward William Cooke.

He sponsored expeditions to Mexico and South America enabling collectors to gather rare specimens.

Walter Hood Fitch, (1817–1892)...was employed by Bateman to create the paintings for his magnificent orchid books...exceedingly rare, A Monograph of Odontoglossum, is composed of thirty large scale hand-coloured lithographs.

"[6] He created the famous gardens at Biddulph with the aid of his botanist wife Maria and his friend and painter of seascapes Edward William Cooke.

On 24 April 1838, he married Maria Sybilla, third daughter of Rowland Egerton Warburton and sister of Peter Egerton Warburton; they had three sons, John, Rowland, and Robert (a notable painter), and a daughter, Katherine, who married Ulrick Ralph Burke.