out in 1848 according to On the Laying Out, Planting and managing of Cemeteries. Marriage to Jane Webb In 1830, when Loudon was 47 years old, he asked a friend to invite the anonymous author of The Mummy! Or a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century to lunch. He had recently reviewed and admired the inventions in this novel in an article published in his Gardener's Magazine. Set in 2126 AD, it is an early example of science fiction. England had become an absolute monarchy and it featured an early Internet, espresso machines, and air-conditioning. The author turned out to be Jane Webb who, having been left penniless at 17 by the death of her father, had turned to writing as a profession. They married seven months later and had a daughter, Agnes, who later married the solicitor and political agent Markham Spofforth from 1858 until her death in 1863. Loudon loved the fantastical and his wife's expression of it. Their marriage not only symbolized a mutual admiration of one another's minds, but a number of innovations in the world of gardening. Through her marriage, Jane Loudon encountered her husband's work and decided to create her own guides to make gardening more accessible to young women. The Loudons were considered the leading horticulturalists of their day, and their circle of friends included Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray. Death and legacy Design of the municipal cemetery at Southampton was Loudon's final project. Despite advanced lung cancer, he corrected the final proofs for his latest encyclopaedia. He travelled to Bath to inspect the site for another cemetery; and then to Oxford to see a client. On his return to London, his doctor told him that he was dying; he died, penniless and in debt, in the arms of his wife in December 1843. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. A plaque jointly commemorating the Loudons was erected at their former home, 3 Porchester Terrace, Bayswater in 1953, by London County Council. References Further reading Encyclopædia Britannica (2012) John Claudius Loudon Dumbarton Oaks (1980) John Claudius Loudon and the early nineteenth century in Great Britain. Dumbarton Oaks Trustees for Harvard University Elizabeth B. Rogers (2001). Landscape Design: A Cultural and Architecture History. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. External links John Claudius Loudon on gardenvisit.com Botanists with author abbreviations Scottish botanists British pteridologists Scottish gardeners 1783 births 1843 deaths Burials at Kensal