Jones, William Thomas (Bill)   (1908 - 1970)

Bill Jones was an outdoor man all his life.

He lived throughout eastern Australia, from Victoria to New Guinea.

He Was a timber cutter, a bullock driver and a professional fisherman. He spent long periods in forestry plantations and nurseries.

All his life he was a keen naturalist and had a vast practical knowledge of natural history.

In later life he was employed with the CSIRO Drug Plant Survey Section. His job of collecting specimens took him all over the place, camping out in all weathers.

Bill had a hide like leather and mosquitoes and sand-flies didn't worry him in the least. This was a tremendous asset in one of the fields where Bill is an expert – coastal mangrove swamps.

Although Bill Was completely self-taught, he rubbed shoulders with distinguished scientists on equal terms.

In 1963 he led a team of leading world plant chemists around the forests of North Queensland.

As well as having a vast knowledge of natural history, Bill was a talented musician and his banjo always accompanied him when he went bush, even in the inaccessible parts of Cape York Peninsula.

Bill was also an expert photographer and a good writer.

(Extracted from an introduction to junior readers in 'Wildlife' magazine, December, 1963, page 20)

Source: Extracted from:
Wildlife magazine, Vol.1 No.3, Wildlife Preservation Soc. Qld, Jacaranda Press, Brisbane, December, 1963, page 20.
Portrait Photo: Wildlife, December, 1963, page 20.

Collecting localities for 'Jones, W.T.' from AVH (2025)

Data from 4,027 specimens