Respected author who devoted a lifetime to the natural world

South Gloucestershire naturalist John Leonard Knapp, born in the mid-18th century, was the David Attenborough of his time, raising concerns over deforestation, over-population, loss of natural habitat and the decline of species and even climate change. Now Sir George White explains how he not only came to write Knapp's biography, but to include with it a fifth enlarged edition of Knapp's celebrated work, which has never been published before.

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AMONG the ancient deeds of my home are numerous related documents. One of these caught my eye three years ago. It was an affidavit, written in 1850 by a Bristol solicitor, Arthur Knapp.

In it, Knapp explained that he and his father, John Leonard Knapp had moved to Alveston in southern Gloucestershire in 1813 and formed a friendship with the family who lived at my house.

I had heard it said that John Knapp was a distinguished naturalist and it intrigued me to think that he had been a regular visitor.

Out of curiosity, I looked him up online and found very little. So I began the research that led to my newly-published biography, Gilbert White's Disciple.

John Knapp was born in 1767 in Buckinghamshire, the third son of a wealthy clergyman. His eldest brother was heir presumptive to his family's estate and was educated with that in mind.

His second brother was heir apparent to his father's parish and was again expensively educated.

John was not. He was sent in late childhood to serve in the Royal Navy.

Extreme seasickness however, which resulted in a tear in his oesophagus, saw him put ashore. Having no future mapped out for him and little wealth compared to his brothers, he developed a burning ambition to prove himself their intellectual equal.

John Knapp was born with a passion for natural history and so decided to make his name in that subject. He acquired a pony and travelled throughout Britain, finding, identifying and drawing native grasses in their natural state.

This had never been done comprehensively before and Gramina Britannica, the magnificently illustrated book that he created, was a publication of considerable importance because it allowed the improvement of farmland, through the introduction of more productive fodder.