P001872 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

All key entry types: Awards; Concepts; Corporate Bodies (Organisations); Cultural Artefacts; People; etc

These key entries are listed separately below with other indexes and lists.

 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 1993-10-20 human McCarthy, G.J., Rosanne Walker and Helen Cohn updated 2026-03-31 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001872b.htm person Alexander Wilfred Backhouse AACR2 4 February 1885 8 December 1965 Place of Birth Croydon, Surrey, England Place of Death Parkstone, Dorset, England Ornithologist Museum curator Wilfred Alexander was in Western Australia for only a few years but made significant contributions In the state's scientific circles in that period. In 1912 he was on board F.I.S. Endeavour off the coast of Western Australia as a collector for the Western Australian Museum. The following year he visited the Abrolhos Islands with William Dakin on the first Percy Sladen Trust Expedition. Alexander was Director of the Museum from 1915 to 1920, at a time when economic stringencies affected what the Museum could accomplish. For a large part of this time he was seconded to the Advisory Council of Science and Industry in Melbourne. He was an active member of the Royal Society of Western Australia, serving as Honorary Secretary. In Melbourne he became immersed in the activities of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union. Between 1920 and 1925 Alexander was biologist (and later Officer-in-Charge) at the Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board in Queensland. He left Australia in 1925 having laid a solid foundation for dealing with the rampant weed that was prickly pear. His subsequent career in the United Kingdon was largely spent with ornithologial organisations.. 1909 1909 Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), King's College Cambridge, UK 1910 1911 Career position - Assistant Superintendent, Cambridge Museum of Zoology, United Kingdom 1910 1911 Career position - Assistant Demonstrator in Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, University of Cambridge 1911 1911 Career position - Assistant Naturalist, Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, United Kingdom c. 1911 c. 1911 Education - Master of Arts (MA), King's College Cambridge 1912 1912 Life event - Moved to Western Australia November 1913 November 1913 Career position - Collector for the Western Australian Museum, Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the Abrolhos Islands 1914 1914 Career position - Co-Editor, Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 1914 1916 Career position - Honorary Secretary, Royal Society of Western Australia 1915 1920 Career position - Keeper of Biology, Western Australian Museum 1916 1919 Career position - Science Abstractor (on secondment), Advisory Council of Scientific and Industry 1918 Career position - Member, Checklist Committee, Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union 1920 1924 Career position - Biologist, Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board, Brisbane 1921 1921 Career position - Corresponding Fellow, American Ornithologists' Union 1923 1925 Career position - Vice-President, Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union 1924 1925 Career position - Editor, The Emu 1925 1925 Career position - Officer-in-Charge, Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board, Brisbane 1926 1926 Career position - Visiting scientist (preparing Birds of the ocean (1928), American Museum of Natural History 1929 1930 Career position - Superintendent, Tees Estuary Survey, United Kingdom 1930 1945 Career position - Director, Oxford Bird Census (later Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology), United Kingdom 1939 1965 Career position - Fellow, Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union 1945 1955 Career position - Librarian, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, United Kingdom 1947 1947 Award - Alexander Library in the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornothology named in his honour 1955 1955 Award - Tucker Medal, British Trust for Ornithology 1959 1959 Award - Union Medal, British Ornithologists' Union Dakin, William John (John) (1883 - 1950) Western Australian Museum (1891 - )

Keeper of Biology 1915 - 1920

 Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union (1910 - 1997)

Vice-President 1923 - 1925; Fellow 1939 - 1965 Vice-President 1923 - 1925; Fellow 1939 - 1965

 Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board (1919 - 1935)

Biologist 1920 - 1924; Officer-in-Charge 1924 - 1925

 Advisory Council of Science and Industry, Commonwealth of Australia (1916 - 1920)

Science Abstractor 1916 - 1919

Wikidata

VIAF - Virtual International Authority File

 Alexander, Wilfred Backhouse (18850204-19651208)

Trove

 'Alexander, Wilfred Backhouse', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Alexander, Wilfred Backhouse Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Edited Book: A Biographical register 1788-1939 : notes from the name index of the Australian Dictionary of biography. Volume 1: A-K Gibbney, H. J.; and Smith, Ann G. A Biographical register 1788-1939 : notes from the name index of the Australian Dictionary of biography. Volume 1: A-K Canberra Australian Dictionary of Biography 1987 Journal Article: The vertebrate fauna of Houtman's Abroholos (Abrolhos Islands), Western Australia Alexander, W. B. The vertebrate fauna of Houtman's Abroholos (Abrolhos Islands), Western Australia 1922 Journal of the Linnean Society, London: zoology 34:457-86 34 457-86 Journal Article: Birds of the Swan River district Alexander, W. B. Birds of the Swan River district 1921 Emu 20 3 149-68 Book: Natural enemies of prickly pear and their introduction into Australia Alexander, W. B. Natural enemies of prickly pear and their introduction into Australia Melbourne Government Printer 1925 Book: The prickly pear in Australia Alexander, W. B. The prickly pear in Australia Melbourne Executive Committee of the Advisory Council of Science and Industry 1919 Journal Article: The history of zoology in Western Australia, part 3: 1829 - 1840 Alexander, W. B. The history of zoology in Western Australia, part 3: 1829 - 1840 1918 Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 3 37-69 Journal Article: The history of zoology in Western Australia, part 1: discoveries in the 17th century Alexander, W. B. The history of zoology in Western Australia, part 1: discoveries in the 17th century 1915 Journal of the Natural History and Science Society of Western Australia 5 49-64 Journal Article: Obituary: Mr. Richard Helms Alexander, W. B. Obituary: Mr. Richard Helms 1914 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia 49 Journal Article: History of Zoology in Western Australia. Part II. 1791-1829 Alexander, W. B. History of Zoology in Western Australia. Part II. 1791-1829 1914 Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 1 83-149 Journal Article: Obituary: Wilfred Backhouse Alexander, 1885 - 1965 Adams, J. K. Obituary: Wilfred Backhouse Alexander, 1885 - 1965 1966 Ibis 108 2 188-9 Journal Article: W. B. Alexander: Obituary D. L. S. [ie Serventy, D. L.] W. B. Alexander: Obituary 1967 Western Australian Naturalist 10 6 139-148 Resource: Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators Fagg, Murray Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH) 2010 Book: The Origins of CSIRO: Science and the Commonwealth Government, 1901-1926 Currie, George; Graham, John The Origins of CSIRO: Science and the Commonwealth Government, 1901-1926 Melbourne CSIRO 1966 Book Section: A history of ornithology at the Western Australian Museum Johnstone, R. E. A history of ornithology at the Western Australian Museum Cambridge, Mass. Nuttall Ornithological Club 2008 Contributions to the History of Australasian Ornithology Davis, William E.; Recher, Harry E.; Boles, Walter E.; and Jackson, Jerome A. 165-98 Book: The Flight of the Emu: a Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001 Robin, Libby The Flight of the Emu: a Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001 Melbourne Melbourne University Press 2001 Wilfred Backhouse Alexander - Records Western Australian Museum Wilfred Backhouse Alexander - Records D.A2/76 1911 - 1920 Museum Section B Archives file D.A2/76 labelled 'Personal - W.B. Alexander' c1911-20 (see list under Directorate Files). 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