William Edward Trevithick

William Edward Trevithick (1899 Kells, County Meath - 1958) was an Irish botanical illustrator who contributed some 60 botanical plates to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. Belvoir Castle Trevithick was born while his father, William Edward Roberts Trevithick (1858–1929), was a gardener to Lord Headfort in his great estate near Kells. W. E. R. Trevithick was head gardener from 1912 to 1929 and established Headfort's arboretum. The younger William Edward Trevithick was a gardener at Headfort House from the age of 13, followed by employment at Belvoir Castle, next at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, and finally (beginning in 1920) at Kew, where he worked in the herbarium. He eventually left his position at Kew and became a commercial artist.

Trevithick produced illustrations for Flora of West Tropical Africa by John Hutchinson and John McEwen Dalziel, Flora Malesiana, and Curtis's Botanical Magazine.

He served in World War I, later worked as a commercial artist after starting his own advertising company in the 1930s. His artwork was for Rolls-Royce and C.C. Wakefield and Co Ltd., the latter producing Castrol motor oil. His work featured on the covers of Flight International Magazine and Airplane. Being an enthusiastic aviator, he qualified as a pilot and became a member of the Royal Aero Club.