Howitt, Alfred William

P000507 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, Christine Moje updated 2026-05-05 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000507b.htm person Howitt Alfred William CMG DSc(Hon) FRGS AACR2 17 April 1830 7 March 1908 Place of Birth Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England Place of Death Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia Anthropologist Naturalist Explorer Botanical collector Geologist Botanist Alfred Howitt, a colonial public servant, anthropologist and botanist, undertook broad anthropological research into Aboriginal culture and society. Influenced by the evolutionary hypotheses of the era and anthropological theory, he published widely on kinship and marriage. In 1861 he was asked to lead the first expedition to recover the remains of Bourke and Wills, which the party found at Coopers Creek. During his field research he collected botanical specimens and named and collected a type of Eucalyptus. He is commemorated in species of several genera; Ferdinand von Mueller named Acacia howittii (1893) for Alfred Howitt, who collected the type. The National Herbarium of Victoria holds over 1,300 of Howitt's specimens. 1859 1859 Career event - Led an expedition to discover pastoral land near Lake Eyre 1861 1861 Career event - Led the first expedition to recover the remains of Burke and Wills 1861 1861 Career event - Called to give evidence to the Burke and Wills Commission 1863 1889 Career position - Police Magistrate and warden of the goldfields, Gippsland 1882 1882 Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus howittiana F. Muell. Was named for Alfred W. Howitt 1888 Career event - Original [founding] member, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1889 1896 Career position - Victorian Secretary of Mines 1891 1891 Career position - President, Section E (Ethnology and Anthropology), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1891 1891 Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus muelleriana A.W.Howitt 1894 1894 Award - Honorary Member, Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers 1896 1901 Career position - Audit Commissioner and Member of the Public Service Board, Victoria 1898 1898 Career position - President, Section E (Ethnology and Anthropology), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1903 1903 Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales 1904 1904 Award - Mueller Medal, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1904 1904 Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus neglecta Maiden. Howitt was collector of the type or syntype 1904 1907 Career position - President, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1929 1929 Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus paradoxa Maiden & Blakely. Howitt was collector of type or syntype material 1934 1934 Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus obliqua L'Herit. var. discocarpa Blakely. Howitt was collector of type or syntype material 1938 1938 Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus baxteri (Benth.) Maiden & Blakely var. pedicellata Maiden & Blakely. Howitt collected the type or syntype Fison, Lorimer (1832 - 1907) Howitt, Godfrey (1800 - 1873)

Godfrey Howitt was the uncle of Alfred Howitt

Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (1893 - )

Honorary Member 1894

National Herbarium of Victoria (1896 - )

The Herbarium holds over 1,300 Howitt specimens

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

Original [founding] member 1888 - ; President, Section E (Ethnology and Anthropology) 1891 and 1898; President 1904 - 1907

Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales (1878 - )

Awarded the Medal 1903

Mueller Medal, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (1904 - 2006)

Awarded the Medal by the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1904

Wikidata

VIAF - Virtual International Authority File

Howitt, A W (18300417-19080307)

Trove

'Howitt, Alfred William', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Howitt, Alfred William Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Journal Article: Alfred William Howitt Alfred William Howitt 1969 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 82 1 3-5 Parliamentary paper: Report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into and report upon the circumstances connected with the sufferings and death of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, the Victorian explorers Burke and Wills Commission Report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into and report upon the circumstances connected with the sufferings and death of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, the Victorian explorers Melbourne John Ferres, Government Printer 1862 Book: The native tribes of south-east Australia Howitt, A.W. The native tribes of south-east Australia London MacMillan & Co. 1904 Journal Article: The Eucalypts of Gippsland (with plates) Howitt, Alfred William The Eucalypts of Gippsland (with plates) 1890-1891 Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria 2 1 81-166 Edited Book: Terrible hard biscuits: A reader in Aboriginal history Chapman, Valerie C; Read, Peter Terrible hard biscuits: A reader in Aboriginal history St Leonards, New South Wales Allen & Unwin 1996 Journal Article: Alfred William Howitt: Scientific Pioneer in Colonial Victoria Wardlaw, Judy Alfred William Howitt: Scientific Pioneer in Colonial Victoria 1997 Victorian Historical Journal 68 1 79-83 Journal Article: Achievement in Isolation: A. W. Howitt, Pioneering Investigator of Metamorphism in Australia Vallance, T. G. Achievement in Isolation: A. W. Howitt, Pioneering Investigator of Metamorphism in Australia 1986 Earth Sciences History 5 1 39-49 Book: Aborigines and Europeans in Western Victoria Corris, P. Aborigines and Europeans in Western Victoria Canberra 1968 Journal Article: Howitt and Fison Frazer, J. G. Howitt and Fison 1909 Folk-Lore 20 Book: The Aborigines of Victoria : with notes realating to the habits of the natives of other parts of Australia and Tasmania [Vol.2] Smyth, R. Brough [also Chauncy, Philip; Bidley, William; Le Souef, Albert A. C. ; Howitt, Alfred W.; Davis, John Moore; Locke, William; Greeves, Augustus F. A.; G. B. Halford.] The Aborigines of Victoria : with notes realating to the habits of the natives of other parts of Australia and Tasmania [Vol.2] Melbourne Government Printer 1878 Book Section: Howitt, Alfred William (1830-1908), explorer, natural scientist and pioneer authority on Aboriginal culture and social organization Stanner, W. E. H. Howitt, Alfred William (1830-1908), explorer, natural scientist and pioneer authority on Aboriginal culture and social organization Melbourne Melbourne University Press 1972 Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J Douglas Pike 432-435 Book: Land, labour, and gold : or, Two years in Victoria with visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's Land. Volumes I and II Howitt, William Land, labour, and gold : or, Two years in Victoria with visits to Sydney and Van Diemen's Land. Volumes I and II Sydney Sydney University Press 1972 Journal Article: Notes on the Occurrence of Eucalyptus maculata in East Gippsland Howitt, Alfred William Notes on the Occurrence of Eucalyptus maculata in East Gippsland 1898 The Victorian naturalist 13 150-1 Journal Article: Notes on the metamorphic rocks of the Omeo District, Gippsland Howitt, A. W. Notes on the metamorphic rocks of the Omeo District, Gippsland Sydney Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1889 Report of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1 206-222 Journal Article: On the Occurrence of Eucalyptus pulberulenta in Victoria Howitt, Alfred William On the Occurrence of Eucalyptus pulberulenta in Victoria Sydney Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1898 Report of the seventh meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 7 517 - 522 Journal Article: On some Australian ceremonies of initiation Howitt, A. W. On some Australian ceremonies of initiation 1884 Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society 13 4 432-59 Journal Article: Alfred William Howitt Spencer, W. B. Alfred William Howitt 1908 The Victorian naturalist 24 181-9 Book: Come wind, come weather : a biography of Alfred Howitt Walker, Mary Howitt Come wind, come weather : a biography of Alfred Howitt Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press 1971 Journal Article: The Howitts in Australia Howitt, M. E. B. The Howitts in Australia 1913 Victorian Historical Magazine 3 1 1-24 Book: Southern anthropology: a history of Fison and Howitt's Kamilaroi and Kurnai Gardner, Helen and McConvell, Patrick Southern anthropology: a history of Fison and Howitt's Kamilaroi and Kurnai New York Palgrave Macmillan 2015 Journal Article: Expanding the Howitt way: Alfred Howitt in Victoria McComb, Sandra Expanding the Howitt way: Alfred Howitt in Victoria 2017 La Trobe Library Journal 99 6-23 Resource: The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller Home, R. W.; Lucas, A.M.; Maroske, Sara, Sinkora, D.M.; Voigt, J.H.; and Wells, M. [eds] The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller Melbourne, Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne 2023 Book: Line of blood : the truth of Alfred Howitt Horne, Craig Line of blood : the truth of Alfred Howitt Melbourne Melbourne Books 2023 Review: Victorian historical journal Mountford, Benjamin 2024 Victorian historical journal 95 2 432-3 Book: Dictionary of Australian biography Serle, Percival Dictionary of Australian biography Sydney Angus & Robertson 1949 Journal Article: Records of Victorian Botanists Maiden, J. H. Records of Victorian Botanists 1908 The Victorian naturalist 25 101-117 Book Section: Talking into the Wind: Collectors on the Cooper River, 1890-1910 Nobbs, Chris Talking into the Wind: Collectors on the Cooper River, 1890-1910 Carlton Melbourne University Press 2009 The Makers and Making of Indigenous Australian Museum Collections Peterson, Nicolas, Allen, Lindy and Hamby, Louise 206-34 Book: Botanists of the Eucalypts: short biographies of people who have named eucalypts, whose names have been given to species or who have collected type material Hall, Norman Botanists of the Eucalypts: short biographies of people who have named eucalypts, whose names have been given to species or who have collected type material Melbourne CSIRO 1978

Source used to compile entry

Book: The moth hunters: Aboriginal prehistory of the Australian Alps Flood, Josephine M. The moth hunters: Aboriginal prehistory of the Australian Alps Canberra Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies 1980 Resource: Science and the making of Victoria Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre Science and the making of Victoria 2001 Alfred William Howitt - Records National Herbarium, Melbourne Alfred William Howitt - Records MSS M11 1879 - 1889 Letters by Howitt, from Sale, Victoria, to F. Mueller about Gippsland plants and their identification with some references to Herbarium specimens 1879 and 1889. Alfred William Howitt - Records State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection Alfred William Howitt - Records 1850 - 1906 Astronomical notes 1857-59; diary and astronomical observations 1860; diary 1862-63; 11 notebooks, diaries, letterbooks and fieldbooks, as well as notes and observations as a member of the Burke and Wills Relief Expedition 1861-62; notes on the Dieri tribe with covering letters 1906; letters to family in England; correspondence with; letters from Daisy Bates, L. Fison, J. Fraser, E.N. Miller, W.B. Spencer and E. von Guerard; overall dates 1850-1906 [9 boxes]. 9 boxes 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 Eucalyptus muelleriana A.W.Howitt (1891), Yellow Stringybark, detail of bark Eucalyptus muelleriana A.W.Howitt (1891), Yellow Stringybark, detail of bark 23 January 2013 Gavan McCarthy, Christine Moje, Ailie Smith

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