Person

Anderson, Robert Henry (1899 - 1969)

Born
12 March 1899
Cooma, New South Wales, Australia
Died
17 August 1969
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Botanic gardens director and Botanist

Summary

Robert Anderson was a botanist who joined the National Herbarium of New South Wales in 1921. Much of his early work involved providing routine plant identifications and advice to farmers. In 1945 he was appointed both Chief Botanist and Curator of the Herbarium and Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. This situation was made difficult by the rigid administrative and financial separtion of the two institutions, even though they situated together. Anderson built up the staff of the Herbarium, including the appointment of a field collector, and started the Herbarium's first scientific journal, Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium. He also stemmed the decline of the Gardens. Anderson's taxonomic research was mostly on the family Chemopodiaceae. His collections are in the Herbarium.

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Details

Chronology

1921 - 1936
Botanical assistant, National Herbarium of New South Wales
1925 - 1966
Lecturer in forestry, University of Sydney
1936 - 1945
Botanist and Curator, National Herbarium of New South Wales
1940 - 1941
President, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1945 - 1960
Director, Royal Botanic Gardens of New South Wales
1945 - 1960
Chief Botanist and Curator, National Herbarium of New South Wales
1960 - 1964
Director and Chief Botanist, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
1966 - 1969
Honorary Fellow, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science
1966 - 1969
Honorary Secretary, Linnean Society of New South Wales

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Books

  • Anderson, R. H., Tree planting on the farm (Sydney: Government Printer, 1931), 73 pp. Details
  • Anderson, R. H., The trees of New South Wales (Sydney: Government Printer, 1932), 244 pp. Details
  • Anderson, R. H., An ABC of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney (Sydney: Government Printer, 1965), 86 pp. Details
  • Gilbert, Lionel, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney: a History 1816-1985 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1986), 224 pp. Details

Book Sections

Journal Articles

  • Froggatt, Walter W., 'The Curators and Botanists of the Botanic Gardens, Sydney.', Royal Australian Historical Society, xviii (III) (1932), 101-133. Details

See also

  • Fagg, Murray, Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators, Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH), 2010, http://www.anbg.gov.au/bot-biog/index.html. Details
  • Maiden, J. H., Sydney Botanic Gardens: biographical notes concerning the officers in charge, 4 vols (Sydney: The Gardens, 1902-1903). 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, 42 (1908), 60-132. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 30 April 2024

EOAS ID: biogs/P007373b.htm

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