P000141 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 1993-10-20 human Gavan McCarthy and Helen Cohn updated 2026-03-31 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000141b.htm person Schomburgk Moritz Richard AACR2 Schomburgk, Richard Moritz 5 October 1811 24 March 1891 Place of Birth Freyburg, Saxony, Germany Place of Death Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Botanist Botanic gardens director Richard Schomburgk was the second Director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens from 1865 to 1891. He was apprenticed as a gardener in Meresburg and did national service in the Royal Guard, before accompanying his older brother Robert on a 4-year expedition to British Guiana . On returning home, Richard published an account of his travels, Reisen in Britisch Guiana (1847/8), earning himself an international reputation. Because of state of political uncertainty in Prussia, he left in 1848 with 180 fellow members of a colonisation society. He arrived in Adelaide in 1849 and, with his younger brother Otto, started farming near Gawler. On becoming Director, Schomburgk embarked on a program of improvement. He planted avenues of trees; established experimental plots for pasture grasses and other useful plants; created display gardens; built a number of glasshouses including that for famous Victorian waterlily (Victoria amazonica); and established the Museum of Economic Botany. Schomburgk was successful in balancing the horticultural, educational, recreational and scientific aspects of the Gardens. He also maintained good relations with local nursery trade and scientific organisations. 1840 1844 Career position - Botanist and historian for the Prussian government, British Government and Royal Geographical Society expedition to British Guiana (led by his brother Robert) 1847 1848 Publication - "Reisen in Britisch Guiana in den Jahren 1840 - 1844", published in Leipzig 1849 1849 Life event - Arrived in Adelaide 1849 1865 Life event - Farming at Buchsfelde, near Gawler, with his brother Otto 1865 1865 Career event - Elected as a Member, Adelaide Philosophical Society 1865 1891 Career position - Director, Adelaide Botanic Gardens 1881 1881 Career event - Established the Museum of Economic Botany in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 1888 1888 Career event - Original [founding] member, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science Adelaide Philosophical Society (1853 - 1880)

Elected as a Member 1865

 Museum of Economic Botany, Adelaide Botanic Gardens (1881 - )

Founded the Museum 1881

 Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Colony and State of South Australia (1855 - )

Director 1865 - 1981

 Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (1888 - 1930)

Original [founding] member 1888 -

Wikidata

VIAF - Virtual International Authority File

 Schomburgk, Richard (18111005-18910324)

Trove

 'Schomburgk, Moritz Richard', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Schomburgk, Moritz Richard Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Book Section: Science at the Periphery: Dr. Schomburgk's Garden Payne, Pauline Science at the Periphery: Dr. Schomburgk's Garden Honolulu University of Hawaii Press 1994 Darwin's Laboratory: Evolutionary Theory and Natural History in the Pacific Roy MacLeod and Philip F. Rehbock 239-259 Book Section: Schomburgk, Moritz Richard (1811-1891), botanist Middelmann, Raoul F. Schomburgk, Moritz Richard (1811-1891), botanist Melbourne Melbourne University Press 1976 Australian dictionary of biography, volume 6: 1851 - 1890 R - Z Bede Nairn 91-92 Book Section: "Botanical Autobiography and Vegetable Wonders": Richard Schomburgk's Botanical Reminiscences of British Guiana Dalziell, Rosamund "Botanical Autobiography and Vegetable Wonders": Richard Schomburgk's <span style="font-style:italic">Botanical Reminiscences of British Guiana</span> St Lucia University of Queensland Press 2002 To the Islands: Australia and the Caribbean McDougall, Russell 69-78 Book: The Diplomatic Gardener: Richard Schomburgk, Explorer and Botanic Garden Director Payne, Pauline The Diplomatic Gardener: Richard Schomburgk, Explorer and Botanic Garden Director North Adelaide Jephcott Press 2007 Journal Article: Dr. Richard Schomburgk's 'Naturalised Weeds' (1879) Kloot, P. M. Dr. Richard Schomburgk's 'Naturalised Weeds' (1879) 1980 Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 2 2 195-220 Book: Reisen in Britisch Guiana in den Jahren 1840 - 1844 Schomburgk, Richard Reisen in Britisch Guiana in den Jahren 1840 - 1844 Leipzig Verlagsbuchhandlung von J. J. Weber 1847-8 Journal Article: Cultivation of Perfume Plants in South Australia (From the Journal of the Society of Arts, Aug.,22,1879) Editorial (Dr. Schomburgk) Cultivation of Perfume Plants in South Australia (From the Journal of the Society of Arts, Aug.,22,1879) London J.& A. Churchill 1879 Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions 185-186 Book: Catalogue of the plants under cultivation in the Government Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia Schomburgk, Richard Catalogue of the plants under cultivation in the Government Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide Government Printer 1878 Book: The grasses of fodder plants which may be beneficial to the squatter and agriculturist in South Australia Schomburgk, R. The grasses of fodder plants which may be beneficial to the squatter and agriculturist in South Australia Adelaide Printer: William Kyffin Thomas 1874 Journal Article: Acclimatisation: the Schomburgk brothers in Australia Weigl, Engelhard Acclimatisation: the Schomburgk brothers in Australia 2003 International review of Humboldtian studies 4 7 3-13 Review: Australian Garden History Maroske, Sara 2008 Australian Garden History 19 4 17-9 Review: Historical Records of Australian Science McKinnon, Ross 2008 Historical Records of Australian Science 19 2 225-6 Review: Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter Short, Philip 2008 Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 135 36-8 Book Section: Richard Moritz Schomburgk. Second Director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden 1865-91 Payne, Pauline Richard Moritz Schomburgk. Second Director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden 1865-91 Bedford Park, South Australia Australian Association of von Humboldt Fellows 1988 The German Experience of Australia 1833-1938 Harmstorf, Ian Thesis: Dr Richard Schomburgk and Adelaide Botanic Garden 1865-91 Payne, Pauline Dr Richard Schomburgk and Adelaide Botanic Garden 1865-91 Adelaide University of Adelaide 1992 Book Section: Richard Schomburgk: explorer, natural scientist, and Botanic Garden Director Payne, Pauline Richard Schomburgk: explorer, natural scientist, and Botanic Garden Director Kent Town, S.A. Wakefield Press 2011 Germans: travellers, settlers and their descendants in South Australia Monteath, Peter 126-43 Book: The Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia: centenary volume 1855 - 1955:history, guides and catalogues of plants Adelaide Botanic Gardens The Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia: centenary volume 1855 - 1955:history, guides and catalogues of plants Adelaide Government Printer 1955 Book: Seeds of Change: an Illustrated History of Adelaide Botanic Garden Aitken, Richard Seeds of Change: an Illustrated History of Adelaide Botanic Garden Richmond Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium/Bloomings Books 2006 Journal Article: Anniversary adress Leibius, A. Anniversary adress 1891 Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 25 1-45 Journal Article: Schomburgk's chook: the entangled South Australian collections of a German naturalist Schwarz, Anja Schomburgk's chook: the entangled South Australian collections of a German naturalist 2018 Postcolonial studies 21 1 20-34 Book Section: Botany Robertson, E. L. Botany Adelaide Royal Society of South Australia 1986 Ideas and Endeavours - The Natural Sciences in South Australia C. R. Twidale; M. J. Tyler and M. Davies 101-49 Book: South Australia: its history, resources and productions Harcus, William South Australia: its history, resources and productions London S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington 1876 Journal Article: A century of botanical endeavour in South Australia Maiden, J. H. A century of botanical endeavour in South Australia Adelaide Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1908 Report of the eleventh meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science Walter Howchin 11 158-199 Edited Book: The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens Aitken, Richard and Looker, Michael The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens Melbourne Oxford University Press 2002 Resource: Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators Fagg, Murray Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH) 2010 Moritz Richard Schomburgk - Records Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium Moritz Richard Schomburgk - Records P4-2 1844 - 1976 Official letters 1865-81 [114 pages]. Minute books of the Botanic Garden Committee, while Schomburgk was Director and Secretary, No.1 pages 162-400 1865-75 and No.2 pages 1-450 1875-91 [2 bound volumes]. A large oil portrait by L. Tannert, 1883, is hung in the library stairwell. Australian Botanists - Biographies Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science Australian Botanists - Biographies MS 064 Hunt Institute Biographies. Short biographies, averaging 2 pages, of Australian botanists, botanical collectors or artists. 0.24 m, 3 boxes