Biographical entry Drummond, James (c. 1786 - 1863)

Summary

James Drummond was born in late 1786 or early 1787 and was an avid botanist and plant collector. He was curator at Ireland's Cork Botanical Gardens from 1808, before migrating to Australia in 1829. Drummond worked as the Western Australian Government's naturalist. He was also appointed superintendent of the government gardens. He went on numerous expeditions across Western Australia where he collected thousands of seeds and plants for export to England. Today his plant specimens are found in herbaria across the world. He named several of Western Australia's native species and 119 specimens have been names after him. His father Thomas Drummond, was a gardener on the
Fotheringham estate at Inverarity.

Details

Prior to arriving in Australia, James Drummond was curator of the Cork Botanical Gardens, an associate of the Linnean Society and had published several papers on Irish plants. In 1829 he, together with his wife and six children, accompanied Captain Stirling to Western Australia on the ship Parmelia. Drummond was appointed Government Naturalist, but worked more in the role of botanist. The position was without pay. He was also appointed superintendent of the government gardens, and received a salary of £100. From 1835, Drummond began collection plant specimens and seeds to export to England. Hundreds of new species were named from his collections. These expeditions lead him to travel much of Western Australia's southern lands. Together with his sons, especially Johnston, and other botanists (including John Gilbert) he collected over 3500 specimens. Drummond also discovered that some local plants were in fact poisonous to livestock resulting in large stock losses.

In July 1845 Drummond's son Johnston was killed during an expedition at Moore River. This caused James Drummond to give up collecting. However 15 months later he was awarded an honorarium from the Queen's Bounty for his services to botany. This inspired Drummond to begin collecting again until 1855 when he was too old to continue.

post-ADB contributions made by Mr Charles Nelson

Events

1787

Life event - Baptised on 8 January 1787

1808 -

Career position - Curator of the Cork Botanical Gardens, Ireland

1810

Career position - Associate of the Linnean Society

1829

Life event - Arrived in Australia (Western Australia) on the Parmelia

August 1839

Career position - Expedition for 1st collection at Rottnest Island

1840

Career position - Expedition for 2nd collection at Albany and Cape Riche

1841 - 1844

Career position - Pioneered the Victorian Plains

1843

Career position - Expedition for 3rd collection at Sterling Ranges and Albany

1846

Award - Queen's Bounty Honorarium awarded for services rendered to botanical science

1846 - 1847

Career position - Expedition for 4th collection at Sterling Ranges, Cape Riche, Salt River and West Mount Barren

1847 - 1848

Career position - Expedition for 5th collection at Mount Caroline and Albany

1850 - 1851

Career position - Expedition for 6th collection at Champion Bay

Related entries

Archival resources

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

• James Drummond - Records, 1840 - 1860, LBWA/3; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details
• James Drummond - Records, 1946 - 1960, ACC 2275A; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details

Royal Western Australian Historical Society

• James Drummond - Records, 1784 - 1863; Royal Western Australian Historical Society. Details

Western Australia Herbarium

• James Drummond - Records, 1839 - 1848, 58.007(941) Dru; Western Australia Herbarium. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Erickson, Rica, 'Drummond, James (1784-1863), botanist and plant collector', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 1, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 325-326. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010309b.htm. Details
• Fisher, Clemency Thorne, 'James Drummond, bap.1787-1863', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details

Journal Articles

• Nelson, E. Charles, 'James and Thomas Drummond: their Scottish origins and curatorships in Irish botanic gardens (ca 1808­ca 1831)', Archives of Natural History, vol. 17, no. 1, 1990, pp. 49-65. Details
• Perry, D. H., 'In the Footsteps of James Drummond with Charles Austin Gardner', Western Australian Naturalist, vol. 11, no. 8, 1971, pp. 178-180. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Drummond, James', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1469957. Details