James Robert Gowen (1784–1862) was an amateur English botanist and horticulturist, who was secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) from 1845 to 1850, treasurer until 1855, a landowner in the Wairau Valley in 1848,[1] was still paying rates in Nelson in 1862[2] and was a director of the New Zealand Company from 1840[3] to 1854.
[4] He was a lay member of the Lunacy Commission from 1842 to 1844[5] and patron of the Nelson Agricultural and Horticultural Society in 1845.
At the request of Gowen, Carton's Rhododendron, a variety bred in 1825 was named after the gardener, by Professor John Lindley.
[10] Gowen Cypress, a Monterey conifer, was named after him by the RHS foreman, George Gordon, in 1849.
The 1851 Census recorded a James Robt Gowen, who was 65 years old, unmarried and born in Bath.