[1] He was trained by William Aiton, a protege of Sir Joseph Banks and was Curator of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Cambridge, from 1790 until his death.
[2][3] His most important work was Hortus Cantabrigiensis, first published in 1796 but with several later, much expanded, editions.
[4] A copy was given to the Library of the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University in 1895.
[1] A memorial to James Donn, exists on St Edward the Martyr's church in Cambridge.
[6] A grandson was the English composer William Sterndale Bennett.