Beauglehole, Alexander Clifford (1920 - 2002)

Summary

Alexander Beauglehole, a Victorian farmer, established a private herbarium of over 60,000 specimens collected during botanical surveys of various areas of Victoria. This herbarium was donated to the National Herbarium of Victoria. He also collected and studied bees, birds and bone deposits in caves.

Details

Born Gorae West, near Portland, Victoria, 1920. Worked on and later took over his parents' mixed farm until 1968. Soon after leaving school he began a botanical survey of the Portland area, increasing the known flora in the area by over 300 to 770; discovered new species of orchids 1940s; collection and study of bees 1950s; survey of bone deposits in caves in south west Victoria 1950s and '60s; organised the collection of storm-washed birds from Discovery Bay 1951-63; studied non-vascular plants; extensive botanical trips to Central, North and West Australia 1960s; full scale botanical survey of the Grampians 1967, the first official financial recognition of his work and the first full scale research undertaken in Australia on the grid system; made comprehensive plant lists for several National Parks in Victoria; survey of the shires of Portland and Glenelg for the Land Conservation Council of Victoria ca 1970. Has had species of bees, wasps, marine algae, orchids, trigger plants and marsh-flowers named after him. Australian Natural History Medallion 1971.

Chronology

1971

Award - Australian Natural History Medallion, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria

1984

Award - Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of service to botany, conservation and ornithology

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Alexander Clifford Beauglehole - Records, 1941 - 1969, MS 069; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Western Australia Herbarium

• Alexander Clifford Beauglehole - Records, 1974 - 1978, 58(047) Bea; Western Australia Herbarium. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

Books

• Baeuglehole, A. C., The distribution and conservation of vascular plants in the South Gippsland area, Victoria (Portland, Vic.: Western Victorian Field Naturalists Clubs Association, 1984), 90 pp. Details
• Beauglehole, A. C., The distribution and conservation of vascular plants in the Melbourne area, Victoria (Portland. Vic.: Western Victorian Field Naturalists Clubs Association, 1983), 156 pp. Details
• Beauglehole, A. C., The distribution and conservation of vascular plants in the Gippsland Lakes hinterland area, Victoria (Portland, Vic.: Western Victorian Field Naturalists Clubs Association, 1985), 98 pp. Details
• Beauglehole, A. C., The distribution and conservation of vascular plants in the Wimmera area, Victoria (Portland, Vic.: A.C. & H.M. Beauglehole, 1987), 87 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Ross, J. H., 'Alexander Clifford Beauglehole OAM (26 January 1920 - 19 January 2022', Muelleria, 16 (2002), 71-9. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q16744919. Details
• 'Beauglehole, A C (1920-2002)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-619219. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Beauglehole, Alexander Clifford - Ms 69', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms069.html. Details

See also

• Fagg, Murray, 'Beauglehole, Alexander Clifford (1920 - 2002)', Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators, Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH), 2010, https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/beauglehole-a-c.html. Details