Joseph Paxton

Joseph Paxton, a farmer's son, trained as a gardener and was working at the Horticultural Society's garden in Chiswick when the Duke of Devonshire made him head gardener at Chatsworth at 23. Building glasshouses there, including one for the giant Amazon water lily whose ribbed leaves inspired his roof structure, led directly to his design for the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851.