Biographical entry Brown, Robert (1773 - 1858)

Summary

Robert Brown was naturalist on the Mathew Flinders expedition of 1801 to 1803. After the trip he settled in New South Wales where he collected botanical specimens and in Van Diemen's Land (1803 to 1805). He published various works on the flora of Australia, including his book Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae v.1 (1810). Brown is also recognised as the discoverer of the process of molecular agitation which has since been called 'Brownian movement' in his honour. He actually trained as a doctor at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland before the Flinders expedition, but did not graduate.

Details

Events

1795 - 1800

Career position - Commissioned Surgeon's Mate with the Fifeshire Regiment of Fencibles

1801 - 1805

Career position - Naturalist on the Matthew Flinders expedition on the Investigator

1805 - 1810

Career position - Clerk, Librarian and Housekeeper to the Linnean Society

1810

Career position - Prodomus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen published

1810 - 1820

Career position - Librarian to Joseph Banks

1820

Career position - Bequeathed a life interest in Banks's collections

1827

Career position - Banks collection transferred to the British Museum

Archival resources

JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia

• Robert Brown - Records, 1801 - 1802, LBWA/497A; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Robert Brown - Records, 1801 - 1805, mfm G 10022; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• Robert Brown - Records, 1802, MS 1182; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Hewson, Helen J., Brunonia Australis: Robert Brown and his Contribution to the Botany of Victoria, Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Canberra, 2002, 51 pp. Details
• Mabberley, D. J., Jupiter Botanicus: Robert Brown of the British Museum, Verlag von J. Cramer, Braunschweig, 1985, 500 pp. Details
• Vallance, T. G., Moore, D.T. and Groves, E. W., Nature's Investigator: the Diary of Robert Brown in Australia, 1801-1805, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 2001, 666 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Burbidge, N. T., 'Brown, Robert (1773-1858), botanist', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 1, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 166-167. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010149b.htm. Details
• Mabberley, D. J., 'Robert Brown, 1773-1858', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details

Conference Papers

• Grandison, R., 'Retracing the Route Taken by Robert Brown and Company in a Portion of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia', in Short, P.S. (ed.), History of Systematic Botany in Australasia: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the University of Melbourne, 25-27 May 1988, Australian Systematic Botany Society, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 105-108. Details

Journal Articles

• Benson, Douglas; Howell, Jocelyn, 'In the Footsteps of Robert Brown', Australian Garden History, vol. 14, no. 3, 2002, pp. 11-14. Details
• Blake, S. T., 'Some Pioneers in Plant Exploration Classification', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of Queensland, vol. lxvi, no. 1, 1954, pp. 1-19. Details
• Burbridge, Nancy, 'Robert Brown's Australian Collecting Localities', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, vol. lxxx, 1955, pp. 229-233. Details
• Giblin, R.W., 'Flinders, Baudin and Brown at Encounter Bay', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1929, pp. 1-6. Details
• Giblin, R.W., 'Robert Brown at Port Dalrymple', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1929, pp. 25-32. Details
• Grandison, Ralph, 'The Overland Route and Collecting Localities of the Robert Brown Party to Mt Brown 10^th and 11^th March 1802', South Australian Geographical Journal, vol. 99, 2000, pp. 23-35. Details
• Hurburgh, Marcus, 'Robert Brown: Botanist [1773-1858]', Tasmanian Tramp, vol. 24, 1982, pp. 35-38. Details
• Kantvilas, G., 'A Brief History of Lichenology in Tasmania, Australia', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, vol. 117, 1983, pp. 41-52. Details
• Keighery, Greg and Gibson, Neil, 'The Influence of Robert Brown on Western Australian Botany', Australian Garden History, vol. 14, no. 3, 2002, pp. 5-8. Details
• Kellermann, Jurgën, 'Robert Brown's Contribution to Rhamnaceae Systematics', Telopea, vol. 10, no. 2, 2004, pp. 515-524. Details
• Kennedy, K., 'Botanists in Australia: Robert Brown', Townsville Naturalist, vol. 4, 1963, pp. 5-8. Details
• Maiden, J.H., 'Robert Brown, the Botanist.', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. ii, 1907, pp. 87-89. 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 Tasmanian Botanists', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1909, pp. 9-29. Details
• Maiden, J.H., 'Records of Queensland Botanists', Australasian Association for Advancement of Science, vol. xii, 1909, pp. 373-383. Details
• Moore, D.T. and Beasley, M.A., 'The Botanical Manuscripts of Robert Brown', Archives of Natural History, vol. 24, no. 2, 1997, pp. 237-280. Details
• Osborn, T. G. B., 'Robert Brown (1773-1858).', Australian Journal of Science, vol. 21, 1958, pp. 127-130. Details
• Salkin, A. I., 'Short History of the Discovery and Naming of Banksias in Eastern Australia: Part 4, The Abbe Antonia Jose Cavanilles, Robert Brown and Franz W. Sieber', Victorian Naturalist, vol. 98, no. 5, 1981, pp. 191-194. Details
• Webb, Joan B., 'George Caley - Robert Brown's Collecting Partner', Australian Garden History, vol. 14, no. 3, 2002, pp. 15-16. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Robert Brown's Collectings in Victoria', Muelleria, vol. 1, 1956, pp. 51-54. 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, 'Brown, Robert', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1285888. Details