Superintendents

Superintendents of the University Parks

University Parks has appointed a Superintendent since 1866. The superintendent deals with the day-to-day running and development of the Parks. They also manage the team of gardeners that maintain the University Parks and over 200 other green spaces across the city.

The first Superintendent of University Parks was William Baxter (1816 – 1890). Baxter first worked as Superintendent of the Oxford Botanic Garden and held the position at University Parks until shortly before his death.

William Baxter succeeded his father (also William Baxter 1787 – 1871) as Superintendent of the Botanic Garden, a role appointed to him in 1813. William Baxter (senior) wrote British Phaenogamous Botany or Figures and Descriptions of the Genera of British Flowering Plants, which was published in six volumes between 1834 and 1843.