Biographical entry Wilson, John Bracebridge (1828 - 1895)

Summary

John Bracebridge Wilson migrated to Australia in 1857 to teach. Within four months, he was third-in-charge at the Geelong Church of England Grammar School. In June 1860 / 1861 the school folded, so Wilson and his colleague Thomas Hutton rented some neighbouring cottages and continued to teach about forty of the students. This little 'High School' proved to be very successful and when the new Geelong Grammar School was opened c1862, Wilson was appointed its Headmaster. He also kept up his scientific interests, completed a Master of Art at the University of Melbourne and became a well known marine biologist. He wrote several scientific articles and collected widely. Many of his specimens were donated to the Royal Society of Victoria and the British and Australian museums.

Details

Events

1852

Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA) completed at the University of Cambridge, UK

24 November 1857

Life event - Migrated to Australia (Melbourne)

1858 - 1859

Career position - Third Master of Geelong Church of England Grammar School

1859 - c. 1861

Career position - Second Master of Geelong Church of England Grammar School

c. 1861

Life event - Geelong Church of England Grammar School closed down due to financial troubles

c. 1862 -

Career position - Headmaster of the (new) Geelong Grammar School

1876

Education - Master of Arts (MA) completed at the University of Melbourne

1882

Award - Fellow of the Linnean Society, London (FLS)

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Australian Botanists - Biographies, MS 064; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Timbertop, Geelong Grammar School

• John Bracebridge Wilson - Records; Timbertop, Geelong Grammar School. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Brown, P. L., 'Wilson, John Bracebridge (1828-1895), headmaster and naturalist', in Bede Nairn (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 6, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1976, pp. 417-418. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060449b.htm. Details

Edited Books

• Forster, Honore (ed.), The Cruise of the "Gipsy": the Journal of John Wilson, Surgeon on a Whaling Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 1839-1843, Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, Washington, 1991, 500 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Maiden, J.H., 'Records of Victorian Botanists', Victorian Naturalist, vol. 25, 1908, pp. 101-117. Details
• Willis, J.H., 'Botanical Pioneers in Victoria', Victorian Naturalist, vol. 66, 1949, pp. 83-89; 103-109; 123-107. Details

Online Resources

• 'Wilson, John Bracebridge', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1470948. Details

See also

• Science and the making of Victoria, with Royal Society of Victoria, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/smv/scripts/smv-dynindex.php3?EID=P000194. Details
• Caught & Coloured: Zoological Illustrations from Colonial Victoria, 2006, http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/caughtandcoloured/. Details