P007589 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 2025-01-30 human Helen Cohn updated 2026-03-31 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P007589b.htm person Somerville Janet AACR2 24 May 1887 27 October 1969 Place of Birth Lilydale, Tasmania, Australia Place of Death Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Teacher Plant collector Science historian Janet Somerville began teaching after finishing school, firstly in small schools and later in the Wellington Square Practising School, Launceston, and the Princes Street School, Hobart. She started university studies while in Launceston, graduating BSc in 1940 while on the staff of the Hobart Teacher's College. On retiring in 1958 as Supervisor of Nature Study at the Tasmanian Department of Education, she became an Honorary Research Associate with the Department of Botany at the University of Tasmania, with responsibility for the herbarium then on loan from the Museum. Somerville was a keen botanist. In her excursions into the Tasmanian bush she was often accompanied by Winifred Curtis, the pair having met in 1939. Botanical specimens collected by Somerville are now in the Tasmanian Herbarium, and proved invaluable to Curtis and her co-author Dennis Morris in preparing The student's flora of Tasmania for publication. Somerville was a keen member of the Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club. She published a number of papers on Tasmanian natural history from 1944, including in the Club's magazine, but her major work on the botanical history of Tasmania from 1642 to 1820 was unfinished at the time of her death. It was published in 2006, edited by botanists at the Tasmanian Herbarium. The Janet Somerville Prize was instigated in 2013 by her sister-in-law, Anne Somerville, so that Janet might be remembered as a gifted field naturalist and to encourage excellence in studies in plant science. 1937 1937 Career event - Appointed to staff of Teacher's College, Hobart 1940 1940 Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Tasmania 1957 1963 Career position - Honorary Curator, Tasmanian Herbarium 1958 1958 Career event - Retired as Supervisor of Nature Study, Tasmanian Department of Education 1958 1969? Career position - Honorary Research Associate, Department of Botany, University of Tasmania Curtis, Winifred (1905 - 2005) Tasmanian Herbarium (1976 - )

Honorary Curator 1957 - 1863; the Herbarium holds more than 2,800 specimens collected by Somerville

 The University of Tasmania (1890 - )

Honorary Research Associate, Department of Botany 1958 - ?1969

 'Somerville, Janet', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Somerville, Janet Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Book Section: The vegetation [of Tasmania] Curtis, W. and Somerville, J. The vegetation [of Tasmania] Hobart Government Printer 1949 Handbook for Tasmania : prepared for the members of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science on the occasion of its Meeting held in Hobart, January 1949 Cerutty, Leonard [51] Journal Article: Boomer Marsh: a preliminary botanical and historical survey Curtis, W. and Somerville, J. Boomer Marsh: a preliminary botanical and historical survey 1948 Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1947 151-7 Book Section: Littlejohn, Robert (1756-1818), gardener Somerville, Janet Littlejohn, Robert (1756-1818), gardener Melbourne Melbourne University Press 1967 Australian dictionary of biography, volume 2: 1788 - 1850 I-Z Douglas Pike 120 Journal Article: The Royal Society of Tasmania, 1843-1943 Somerville, J. The Royal Society of Tasmania, 1843-1943 1944 Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1943 199-222 Edited Book: Janet Somerville's Botanical History of Tasmania 1642-1820 Somerville, Janet: edited by Potts, B. M., Kantvilas, G. and Jarman, S. J. Janet Somerville's Botanical History of Tasmania 1642-1820 Hobart University of Tasmania and Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery 2006 Resource: Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators Fagg, Murray Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH) 2010