John Tradescant the Elder was far from your average gardener. Born in the 1570s, likely in Suffolk, England, he blossomed into a renowned naturalist, collector, and a trailblazing traveller. His horticultural journey took root as the head gardener for Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, at Hatfield House. His knack for garden design flourished, leading to grand projects like the gardens at Salisbury House and St Augustine's Abbey.

By 1623, he was cultivating royal favour, serving George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and even King Charles I. Tradescant's passion for plants took him on adventurous expeditions to Russia, the Levant, and Algiers, collecting a trove of natural history and ethnographic curiosities. These treasures filled his Lambeth home, "The Ark," paving the way for England's first public museum, the Musaeum Tradescantianum.