Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria |
First arrived in Sydney, New South Wales, in September 1838. Visited
New Zealand (Bay of Plenty and central North Island) from 5 February until
April 1839, and again in 1840, and Moreton Bay, Queensland, in 1841, before
returning to England in 1843. He returned to Sydney in 1844, travelling
from there to New Zealand in the same year and Tahiti in 1845. First Director
of Botanic Gardens, Sydney, and Government Botanist, 1 September 1847-January
1848. Commissioner of Crown Lands, Wide Bay, Queensland (then N.S.W.) from
1848. Collected extensively, and published the first account of the Bunya
Pine (Araucaria bidwillii). He sent many living plants and seeds
to various gardens in England, including Kew, and advised William Macarthur,
among others, on the introduction of plants to the colony of New South
Wales. He was also an accomplished plant hybridiser. His herbarium is lodged
at K, with other material in B, L, MEL and MO.
Biographical materials assembled by V.Crew are in BRI.
Commemorated in Bidwillia, Acacia, Araucaria, Brachyglottis, Cyrtandra, Hyptiandra, Tephrosia etc
Specimens mainly at K, also at B, L, MEL,MO, NSW
Extracted from: A.E.Orchard (1999) A History of Systematic Botany in Australia, in Flora of Australia Vol.1, 2nd ed., ABRS. [consult for source references]