George Bass (1771 - 1803)

Born Aswarby, Lincolnshire, England, 30 Jan. 1771; died 1803 (disappeared at sea)

While more renowned for his explorations, Bass continued the tradition of other naval surgeons serving in Australia such as John White, Denis Considen and Archibald Menzies in being a keen observer and collector of Australian natural history curiosities.  He too forwarded to Banks those items which survived his arduous voyages:  

"In this voyage of fourteen weeks I collected those few plants upon Van Diemen's Land which had not been familiar to me in New South Wales, and have done myself the honour of submitting them to your inspection."
 

Extracted from: R.M.&W.R. Baker  (1990) Botanical Contributions Overlooked... , in History of Systematic Botany in Australasia., ASBS, P.S. Short Ed. [consult for source references]

Surgeon, Royal Navy. Sailed in HMS Reliance to NSW, 1795.

Collected in Van Diemen's Land in Nov.-Dec. 1798 during voyage (7 Oct. 1798-12 Jan. 1799) with M.Flinders in Norfolk (including an ascent of Mt Wellington). After returning to England in 1800, he sailed again to NSW & Pacific as a trader; disappeared after leaving Sydney on 5 Feb. 1803.

Journal of explorations with Flinders held at Mitchell Library. Published paper on wombat, black swan & albatross.

Source: George, A.S. (2009) Australian Botanist's Companion, Four Gables Press, WA. [consult for source references]