Biographical entry Backhouse, James (1794 - 1869)

Summary

James Backhouse was a Quaker missionary who visited Australia in 1832-8, making observations of Australian flora and fauna as well as writing about Australian society.

Details

Apprenticed to a chemist in Darlington and trained for two years in a Norwich nursery. Gave Kew two manuscript volumes of botanical recollections in Australia. Commemorated by Backhousia, a genus of a myrtaceous shrub.

Events

1816 - 1831

Career position - Nursery owner in York, UK

1832

Life event - Arrived in Australia (Hobart)

1832 - 1834

Career position - Reported on penal settlements and Aboriginal establishments in Tasmania

1835 - 1837

Career position - Collected herbarium for Kew Gardens (England?)

1835 - 1837

Career position - Reported on penal settlements and Aboriginal establishments in New South Wales, Norfolk Island and Moreton Bay

1837 - 1838

Career position - Visited Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth promoting temperance and Aboriginal protection committees

1838 - 1841

Career position - Missionary work in Africa

1841 -

Nursery Manager in York, UK

1843

Career position - A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies published in London

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• James Backhouse - Records, 1831 - 1841, B730-732; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• James Backhouse - Records, Ab 124; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• James Backhouse - Records, 1835, C393; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• James Backhouse - Records, 1831 - 1868, FM 4/3134-3148; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Linnean Society of London - Records, 1792 - 1870, FM 4/2699; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• Linnean Society of London - Records, 1790 - 1870, M596-597; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Trott, Mary Bartram, 'Backhouse, James (1794-1869)', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 1, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 45-46. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010042b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Gilbert, Lionel, 'Visit of an Early Naturalist to Victoria', Victorian Naturalist, no. 68, 1952, pp. 175-178. Details
• Maiden, J.H., 'A Century of Botanical Endeavor in South Australia', Australasian Association for Advancement of Science, vol. xi, 1907, pp. 158-199. Details
• Maiden, J.H., 'Records of Victorian Botanists', Victorian Naturalist, vol. 25, 1908, pp. 101-117. Details
• Maiden, J.H., 'Records of Australian Botanists - (a) General, (b) New South Wales', Journal and Proceedings of The Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. xlii, 1908, pp. 60-132. Details
• Maiden, J.H., 'Records of Queensland Botanists', Australasian Association for Advancement of Science, vol. xii, 1909, pp. 373-383. Details
• Willis, J.H., 'Botanical Pioneers in Victoria', Victorian Naturalist, vol. 66, 1949, pp. 83-89; 103-109; 123-107. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Backhouse, James', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-638012. Details