William Horatio, the third incumbent at Lakelands, Co Cork was a bachelor and eminent gardener along with fellow bachelor William Edward GUMBLETONof Belgrove and Richard BEAMISH, his contemporaries.

He was involved in the Beamish and Crawford Brewery with Richard Pigot BEAMISH and responsible for introducing William Henry SHARMAN-CRAWFORD to the firm. A reserved and dignified man, he was described as of 'an ascetic temperament' (F.W. Burbidge Gardener's Chronicle 4 (3rd ser.) p 485, also Garden, No. 34, p. 403)

He was especially keen on growing tender shrubs and tree in greenhouses and had at Lakelands, a 'perfect arboretum .. richly planted .. with rare shrubs and trees' His planting included Himalayan and Andean specimens, such as magnolias, rhodedendrons and cordylines. The Himalayan Magnolia campbellii was in Crawford's collection and flowered at Lakelands for the first time in the British Isles. Botany Magazine, tab. 6793 (1885), cited in Crawford & E.C. Nelson's 'Irish Horticulturalists' (Journal of the Garden History Society), No. (1979), p.23. Crawford was probably best known for his Brownea species, from which he produced several hybrids, some of which he bequeathed to Kew Gardens and the National Botanical Gardens in Dublin. This genus is native ot the West Indies, and cannot be cultivated outside in Britain or Ireland. In 1876 these plants grew to such a height in Crawford's greenhouses, that he had to raise the roof. Some of thes plants were painted for gardening magazines Reproduced in Gardener's Chronicle 7th June 1873 . 777-779 by Margaret Hill, of the well known family of architects, who studied at the Cork School of Art from 1857 to 1861.

William Horatio CRAWFORD was induced to support a magnificent extension to the Cork School of Art in 1884. The extension included several purpose built galleries and entailed the renovation of nearly the entire building

An old letter book belonging to William Horatio Crawford which dates from 1853 to records private agency dealings with Captain Henry Crawford (his uncle). There is possible indication that Henry also resided at Lakelands.

Acknowledgements: Extracts/prints from the 'History of the Gallery' and information from Beamish and Crawford.