P006605 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Corporate Body created 2019-10-15 human Helen Cohn updated 2025-11-20 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P006605b.htm corporateBody Melbourne Botanic Gardens Colony and State of Victoria AACR2 1846 1958 Start Place South Yarra, Victoria, Australia Location Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra, Victoria The Melbourne Botanic Gardens was established in 1846 on a site of nearly 2 hectares south of the Yarra River near the centre of Melbourne. Its purpose was to provide a pleasure garden for the growing metropolis. By the end of the century it had expanded in area to 36 hectares. Ferdinand Mueller was the third Director from 1857 to 1873 while concurrently Victorian Government Botanist in charge of the Botanical Museum of Melbourne. He was responsible for establishing the scientific dimension of the Gardens' activities as a place to trial introduced plants and inform the public of the botanical world. The fourth Director, William Guilfoyle, transformed the Gardens into a landscape in the 'picturesque' style, creating sweeping lawns and panoramic vistas, and making extensive use of subtropical plants. In 1925, with the appointment of William Laidlaw as Director and Government Botanist, the National Herbarium of Victoria (formerly the Botanical Museum of Melbourne) and the Gardens were joined again, having been separated in 1873. The Gardens received a Royal warrant in 1958, becoming the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

The Gardens was under these colonial and State Government Departments:
1846 - 1857 Chief Secretary's Department
1857 Board of Lands and Works
1857 - 1867 Chief Secretary's Department
1867 - 1872 Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey
1872 - 1873 Department of Agriculture (subordinate to the Department of Crown Lands and Survey until 1890)
1873 - 1925 Chief Secretary's Department
1925 - 1958 Department of Crown Lands and Survey.

The senior officer of the Gardens has been styled Curator, Superintendent, Overseer and Director; between 1857 and 1873, and 1921 and 1958, the Director was concurrently the Victorian Government Botanist:
1846 - 1849 John Arthur (Curator)
1849 - 1857 John Dallachy (Superintendent and Overseer)
1857 - 1873 Ferdinand Mueller
1873 - 1909 William Guilfoyle
1909 - 1924 John Cronin
1924 - 1925 William Laidlaw
1925 - 1941 John Rae
1941 - 1957 Alexander Jessep
1957 - 1958 Richard Pescott.

 French, Charles (1842 - 1933)

Propagator 1865 - 1884

 Rummel, Ludwig (1837 - 1904)

Analytical chemist at the phytochemical laboratory 1871 - 1873

 Hoffmann, George Christian (Christian) (1837 - 1917)

Analytical chemist in the phytochemical laboratory 1865 - 1871

 Mueller, Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von (1825 - 1896)

Director 1857 - 1873

 St John, Percival Reginald Harry (1872 - 1944)

Storekeeper, Seedsman and Classifier 1924 -1937

 Jessep, Alexander William (1892 - 1991)

Director and Government Botanist 1941 - 1957

 Guilfoyle, William Robert (1840 - 1912)

Director 1873 - 1909

 Dallachy, John (c. 1803 - 1871)

Overseer 1849 - 1853; Superintendent 1853 - 1857; Curator 1857 - 1861

 Arthur, John (1804 - 1849)

Curator 1946 - 1849

 Heyne, Ernst Bernhard (1825 - 1881)

Secretary to Ferdinand Mueller 1857 - 1869

 National Herbarium of Victoria (1896 - )

The Herbarium became subordinate to the Gardens in 1925

 Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, State of Victoria (1958 - ) 'Melbourne Botanic Gardens', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Melbourne Botanic Gardens Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Book: Wonder: 175 years of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Cunningham, Sophie; and Wilmoth, Peter Wonder: 175 years of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Richmond, Vic. Hardie Grant Books 2021 Journal Article: The queen of aquatics: Victoria amazonica Maroske, S. The queen of aquatics: <span style="font-style:italic">Victoria amazonica</span> 1992 Australian garden history 3 5 3-6 Journal Article: Horticultural embellishments: public conferment from the Melbourne Botanic Garden, 1870 Maroske, S.; and Brown-May, A. Horticultural embellishments: public conferment from the Melbourne Botanic Garden, 1870 1993 Australian garden history 4 4 8-14 Journal Article: Indifference, audacity and disobedience: landscape and nuisances in Mueller's Botanic Gardens, 1850s - 1870s Brown-May, Andrew Indifference, audacity and disobedience: landscape and nuisances in Mueller's Botanic Gardens, 1850s - 1870s 1997 Botanic magazine 7 42-53 Journal Article: Thumbing through Mr Neate's notebook: the history of an historical source Watson, Darren Thumbing through Mr Neate's notebook: the history of an historical source 1997 Botanic magazine 7:26-30 7 26-30 Book Section: The historic landscape of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Cohn, Helen M. The historic landscape of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne North Ryde, N.S.W. Craftsman House 1998 A garden for all seasons: an artist’s view of the Royal Botanic Gardens Graham, A. M. 32-40 Journal Article: Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne: a Select Annotated Bibiliography Cohn, Helen M.; Maroske, Sara Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne: a Select Annotated Bibiliography 1996 Victorian Historical Journal 67 1 167-174 Journal Article: Picturesque but instructive: William Guilfoyle's first decade at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens Aitken, Richard Picturesque but instructive: William Guilfoyle's first decade at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens 1996 Australian garden history 7 4 6-18 Book: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne: a history from 1845 to 1970 Pescott, Richard Thomas Martin The Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne: a history from 1845 to 1970 Melbourne Oxford University Press 1982 Book: W. R. Guilfoyle 1840-1912: the master of landscaping Pescott, R. T. M. W. R. Guilfoyle 1840-1912: the master of landscaping Melbourne Oxford University Press 1974