Biographical entry Black, John McConnell (1855 - 1951)

Summary

John McConnell Black, originally a journalist and linguist who investigated Aboriginal languages, turned to botany in the early 1900s and published "The Naturalised Flora of South Australia" (1909) and "The Flora of South Australia" (1922-29) and (2nd edition 1943-48).

Details

Born Wigtown, Scotland, 28 April 1855. Died Adelaide, 2 December 1951. MBE 1942. British Linen Co. Bank, Edinburgh; Oriental Bank, London; migrated to South Australia 1877; wheat farmer, Baroota, South Australia 1878-83; staff of the "South Australian Register"; senior reporter and editorialist, the "Advertiser" till 1903; Hansard reporter on a sessional basis until 1929; concentrated on botany from 1903; wrote "The Naturalised Flora of South Australia' (1909) and "The Flora of South Australia", published in four parts in 1922-29and revised 1939-51; honorary lecturer in systematic botany, University of Adelaide 1927. Verco Medal, Royal Society of South Australia 1930; Mueller Memorial Medal, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science 1932; Natural History Medallion, Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria 1944; W.B. Clarke Memorial Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales 1946. Active participant in the International Botanical Congress, Cambridge, 1930; president, Royal Society of South Australia 1933-34.

Related entries

Archival resources

Private hands (Andrew, M.W.)

• John McConnell Black - Records, 1855 - 1951; Private hands (Andrew, M.W.). Details

State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana

• John McConnell Black - Records, 1887 - 1957, PRG 346; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Robertson, Enid, 'Black, John McConnell (1855-1951), botanist', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 7, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1979, pp. 304-305. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070310b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Black, J. M., 'One Hundred Years of Systematic Botany in South Australia.', Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia, vol. lx, 1936, pp. xxxi-xxxiv. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Black, J M', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-620528. Details