Biographical entry Lyell, George (1866 - 1951)

Summary

George Lyell was a junior clerk then branch head with the butter, cheese and bacon manufacturer J Bartram & Son. He left in 1890 to take up a partnership with E. Cherry & Sons – makers of butter-factory and dairy appliances. They were also Victoria's only supplier of entomological equipment. However, Lyell's interest in entomology began before then: in 1888 when he captured a Caper White butterfly in a suburban park. Over the next sixty years, Lyell built up an enormous collection of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). In 1932 he donated it to the Museum of Victoria and continued to add to it until 1951 when the specimens numbered around 45,000. He also worked tirelessly at the Museum until 1946 to integrate his specimens with the Museum's existing Lepidoptera collection. George Lyell wrote widely on his findings and his 1914 book Butterflies of Australia (with GA Waterhouse) became a classic reference book over the next twenty years. Lyell's other interests included orchids, and his collection of pressed orchids is held at the National Herbarium in Melbourne.

Details

Events

c. 1883 - c. 1890

Career position - Junior Clerk through to Head of the Dairy Machinery Branch of J. Bartram & Son in Kew, Victoria

c. 1888 -

Career position - Member of the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria

1890 -

Career position - Partnership with E. Cherry & Sons accepted

1890 - 1929

Career position - Regularly submitted articles and notes to the Victorian Naturalist

1914

Career position - Butterflies of Australia co-authored with GA Waterhouse

1932

Career position - Donated his massive butterfly and moth collection to the Museum of Victoria

Published resources

Books

• Musgrave, A., Bibliography of Australian Entomology, 1775-1930, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales., Sydney, 1932, 380 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Neboiss, A., 'Lyell, George (1866-1951), Naturalist', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 10, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1986, p. 171. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100168b.htm. Details

Online Resources

• 'Lyell, George', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1462106. Details