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William was a banker from Darlington whose passion for hybridising daffodils revolutionised daffodil breeding. In 1865 he raised two cultivars, \u2018Emperor\u2019 and \u2018Empress\u2019 that were among the first triploid daffodils (with three sets of chromosomes) to be raised in the UK.<\/p>\n
This higher chromosome count (normal diploid daffodils have two sets: one male; one female), conferred both greater size and vigour and amazed growers. When William\u2019s son Henry first showed these daffodils to the editor of The Gardener\u2019s Chronicle he almost fell off his seat in amazement.<\/p>\n
But William\u2019s greatest achievement came some years later when he raised the UK\u2019s first tetraploid daffodil, with four sets of chromosomes. This bi-coloured daffodil boasted an impressive 12.5cm- diameter flower atop a 60cm stem.<\/p>\n
William died in 1869 before he could see the bloom from the final-stage of his hybridisation, but when his son Charles saw the daffodil his father had provisionally called \u2018Weardale\u2019 in full bloom he re-named it \u2018Weardale Perfection\u2019.<\/p>\n
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