Biographical entry Bidwill, John Carne (1815 - 1853)

Summary

John Carne Bidwill was Director of the Sydney Botanic Gardens and Government Botanist for a brief period in 1847-48, when by a misunderstanding the Colonial Office gave the position to Charles Moore. He then established a Botanic Garden at Tinana, QLD.

Details

Born Exeter, England, 1815. Died Tinana (now a suburb of Maryborough), Queensland, 16 March 1853. Arrived Sydney 1838; joined a commercial firm; explored and collected botanical specimens New Zealand 1839, 1840; Kew 1841-44; Tahiti 1845-46; director of Sydney Botanic Gardens and government botanist 1847-48; commissioner of crown lands at Wide Bay 1848-53; established a botanic garden at Tinana. The genus Bidwillia and some twelve species of native Australian and New Zealand plants commemorate his name.

Archival resources

Queensland Herbarium

• John Carne Bidwill - Records, 1815 - 1853; Queensland Herbarium. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Herbert, D. A., 'Bidwill, John Carne (1815-1853)', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 1, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 98-99. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010092b.htm. Details
• Tucker, Jane, 'John Carne Bidwill, 1815-1853', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details

Journal Articles

• 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

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Bidwill, John Carne', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-792940. Details