Brown, Robert (1773 - 1858)

Summary

Robert Brown was one of the most important botanists in the discovery and publication of the Australian flora. He studied medicine in Edinburgh (but did not graduate) before being appointed botanist in H.M.S. Investigator under the command of Matthew Flinders for a journey to explore the waters around New Holland. Scientific companions on the voyage included collector Peter Good and natural history artist Ferdinand Bauer. Investigator embarked in July 1801 and reached the southwest of New Holland in December, and Port Jackson in May 1802. The continuation of the voyage, the circumnavigation of the continent, was curtailed when the poor condition of the ship discovered. Flinders's return to the United Kingdom for a replacement ship was seriously impeded by shipwreck (in which a large portion of Brown's specimens were lost), and imprisonment on the Ile de France. Remaining in New South Wales, Brown collected throughout the colony, often in company with local collectors such as George Caley, and made an extended visit to Van Diemen's Land. In company with Bauer, Brown returned to the United Kingdom in 1805 in the refurbished Investigator. On his return Brown published a number of pioneering works on Australian botany. These included Prodromus florae novae hollandiae et insulae van-diemen (1810), which was notable for following the natural classification system of French botanist Antoine de Jussieu, and Supplementum primum prodromi floræ novae hollandiae(1830). His "General remarks, geographical and systematical, on the botany of terra australis" was published in Flinders's account of the Investigator voyage. Brown's other notable research included recognition of the distinction between gymnosperms and angiosperms; the discovery of what is now termed Brownian motion; the first classification of the family Proteaceae; and works on pollination, the application of palynology to systematics, the cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming. For ten years after his return to the United Kingdom, Brown was Librarian to Joseph Banks; and, after Banks's death, curator of his herbarium including following its transfer to the British Museum. Brown was Keeper of the Museum's Botanical Department for over 20 years until his death, and had a long association with the Linnean Society. The endemic Australian plant genus Brunonia (Goodeniaceae) was named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

1791? - 1793?

Life event - Studied medicine in Edinburgh

1794

Life event - Enlisted in the Fifeshire Regiment of Fencibles

1795 - 1800

Career position - Commissioned Surgeon's Mate with the Fifeshire Regiment of Fencibles

1801 - 1805

Career position - Naturalist in H.M.S. Investigator

1803 - 1804

Life event - Visited Van Diemen's Land (6 months)

1803 - 1805

Life event - In New South Wales

1805 - 1810

Career position - Clerk, Librarian and Housekeeper to the Linnean Society

May 1805 -

Life event - Departed New South Wales with Ferdinand Bauer in H.M.S. Investigator for the United Kingdom

October 1805 -

Life event - Arrived in the Port of Liverpool, United Kingdom

1810

Career position - Prodomus florae novae hollandiae et insulae van-diemen published

1810 - 1820

Career position - Librarian to Joseph Banks

1810 - 1858

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1820

Career position - Bequeathed a life interest in Banks's collections

1822 - 1858

Award - Foreign Member, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

1822 - 1858

Award - Fellow, The Linnean Society of London (FLS)

1827

Career position - Banks collection transferred to the British Museum

1827 - 1851

Career position - Correspondent, Royal Institute of the Netherlands

1827 - 1858

Career position - Keeper of the Banksian Herbarium, British Museum

1828

Career position - Vice-President, Linnean Society, London

1837 - 1858

Career position - Keeper of the Botanical Department, British Museum

1849 - 1853

Career position - President, Linnean Society, London

1849 - 1858

Award - Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

1851 - 1858

Award - Foreign member, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

1853 - 1858

Career position - Vice-President, Linnean Society, London

1876

Event - Personal herbarium acquired by the British Museum

1913

Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus brownii Maiden & Cambage (1913) was named in his honour.

Related entries

Archival resources

JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia

• Robert Brown - Records, 1801 - 1802, LBWA/497A; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Robert Brown - Records, 1801 - 1805, mfm G 10022; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• Robert Brown - Records, 1802, MS 1182; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Smith, Ailie; Moje, Christine; Rigby, Rebecca, The Study of Australian Eucalypts, eScholarship Research Centre, 2013, http://www.eoas.info/eucalypts/index.html. Details

Books

• Bauer, Ferdinand, Ferdinandi Bauer Illustrationes florae Novae Hollandiae, sive, Icones generum quae in Prodromo florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen descripsit Robertus Brown (Londini: Veneunt apud auctorem, 10 Russel Street, Bloomsbury, 1813), 15 pp. Details
• Brown, R., Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen (Londini: typis R. Taylor et socii, 1810). Details
• Brown, R., Supplementum primum prodromi floræ Novae Hollandiae (Londini: Typis Ricardi Taylor, 1830), 40 pp. Details
• Brown, Robert, General remarks, geographical and systematical, on the botany of terra australis (London: W. Bulmer printer, 1814), 81 pp. Details
• Brown, Robert: edited by Bennett, John J., The miscellaneous works of Robert Brown, 2 & atlas vols (London: Ray Society, 1966-8). Details
• Flinders, Matthew, A voyage to terra australis : undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in His Majesty's ship the Investigator [etc], 2 vols (London: G. and W. Nicol, 1814). Details
• Hewson, Helen J., Brunonia Australis: Robert Brown and his Contribution to the Botany of Victoria (Canberra: Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, 2002), 51 pp. Details
• Mabberley, D. J., Jupiter Botanicus: Robert Brown of the British Museum (Braunschweig: Verlag von J. Cramer, 1985), 500 pp. Details
• Mabberley, David J.; and Moore, David T., The Robert Brown handbook: a guide to the life and work of Robert Brown (1773 - 1858), Scottish botanist (Glashütten, Germany: Koeltz, 2022), 624 pp. Details
• Pybus, Cassandra, A very secret trade: the dark story of gentlemen collectors in Tasmania (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2024), 318 pp. https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Cassandra-Pybus-Very-Secret-Trade-9781761066344. Pages 86-98, 140. Details
• Sturt, Charles, Narrative of an expedition into Central Australia, performed under the authority of Her Majesty's government, during the years 1844, 5, and 6: together with a notice of the province of South Australia in 1847, 2 vols (London: T. and W. Boone, 1849). Details
• Vallance, T. G.; Moore, D.T.; and Groves, E. W., Nature's Investigator: the Diary of Robert Brown in Australia, 1801-1805 (Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study, 2001), 666 pp. Details
• Wrigley, J.; and Fagg, M., Eucalypts: a Celebration (Crows Nest Australia: Allen & Unwin, 2010), 344 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Burbidge, N. T., 'Brown, Robert (1773-1858), botanist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 166-167. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010149b.htm. Details
• Edwards, Phyllis, 'Botany of the Flinders voyage' in Plants and man in Australia, Carr, D. J.; and Carr S. G.M., eds (Sydney: Academic Press, 1981), pp. 139-66. Details
• Groves, Eric W., 'Procrastination of unpredictable circumstances? The handling of Robert Brown's collections in London' in Matthew Flinders and his Scientific Gentlemen: the Expedition of HMS Investigator to Australia, 1801-05, Wege, Juliette, ed. (Perth: Western Australian Museum, 2006), pp. 129-41. Details
• Mabberley, D. J., 'Robert Brown, 1773-1858' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details
• Moore, David T., 'Robert Brown on HMS Investigator 1801 - 1805: an overview of the natural history collecting localities' in Matthew Flinders and his scientific gentlemen: the expedition of HMS Investigator to Australia, 1801-05, Wege, Juliette, ed. (Perth: Western Australian Museum, 2006), pp. 49-65. Details

Conference Papers

• Grandison, R., 'Retracing the Route Taken by Robert Brown and Company in a Portion of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia', in History of Systematic Botany in Australasia: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the University of Melbourne, 25-27 May 1988 edited by Short, P.S. (Melbourne: Australian Systematic Botany Society, 1990), pp. 105-108.. Details

Edited Books

• Wege, Juliette ed., Matthew Flinders and his scientific gentlemen: the expedition of HMS Investigator to Australia, 1801-05 (Perth: Western Australian Museum, 2006), 184 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Barker, Robyn M., 'The Botanical Legacy of 1802: South Australian Plants Collected by Robert Brown and Peter Good on Matthew Flinders' Investigator and by the French Scientists on Baudin's Géographe and Naturaliste', Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, 21 (2007), 4-55. Details
• Benson, Douglas; Howell, Jocelyn, 'In the Footsteps of Robert Brown', Australian Garden History, 14 (3) (2002), 11-14. Details
• Blake, S. T., 'Some Pioneers in Plant Exploration Classification', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of Queensland, lxvi (1) (1954), 1-19. Details
• Brown, Robert, 'On the Proteaceae of Jussieu', Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, 10 (1811), 15-226. Details
• Brown, Robert, 'Some observations on the natural family of plants called Compositae', Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, 12 (1817), 76-142. Details
• Burbidge, Nancy T., 'Robert Brown's Australian collecting localities', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 80 (1956), 229-33. Details
• Clarkson, J., 'A cautionary note on Robert Brown's collecting localities', Australian Systematic Botany Society newsletter, 57 (1988), 5-7. Details
• Davis, Michael, 'Encountering Aboriginal Knowledge: Explorer Narratives on North-east Queensland, 1770 to 1820', Aboriginal History, 37 (2014), 29-50. Details
• Edwards, P. I., 'Robert Brown (1773-1858) and the natural history of Matthew Flinders' voyage in H.M.S. Investigator, 1801-1805', Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History, 7 (4) (1976), 385-407. Details
• Giblin, R.W., 'Flinders, Baudin and Brown at Encounter Bay', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania (1929), 1-6. Details
• Giblin, R.W., 'Robert Brown at Port Dalrymple', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania (1929), 25-32. Details
• Grandison, Ralph, 'The Overland Route and Collecting Localities of the Robert Brown Party to Mt Brown 10th and 11th March 1802', South Australian Geographical Journal, 99 (2000), 23-35. Details
• Groves, E. W.; and Moore, D. T., 'A list of the cryptogams and gymnospermous plant specimens in the British Museum (Natural History) gathered by Robert Brown in Australia 1801-5', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 111 (1989), 65-102. Details
• Groves, E. W.; and Moore, D. T., 'A catalogue of plants written by Robert Brown (1773-1858) in New South Wales: first impressions of the flora of the Sydney region', Archives of Natural History, 24 (2) (1997), 281-93. Details
• Hurburgh, Marcus, 'Robert Brown: Botanist [1773-1858]', Tasmanian Tramp, 24 (1982), 35-38. Details
• Kantvilas, G., 'A Brief History of Lichenology in Tasmania, Australia', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 117 (1983), 41-52. Details
• Keighery, Greg and Gibson, Neil, 'The Influence of Robert Brown on Western Australian Botany', Australian Garden History, 14 (3) (2002), 5-8. Details
• Kellermann, Jürgen, 'Robert Brown's Contribution to Rhamnaceae Systematics', Telopea, 10 (2) (2004), 515-524. Details
• Kennedy, K., 'Botanists in Australia: Robert Brown', Townsville Naturalist, 4 (1963), 5-8. Details
• Kinnear, N. B., 'Robert Brown's zoological collections made during the voyage of "Investigator"', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, 144 (1931), 33-8. Details
• Mabberley, D. J. editor, 'Robert Brown 200 conference papers', Cunninghamia, 7 (2002), 613-69. Details
• Maiden, J. H., 'Robert Brown, the Botanist.', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, ii (1907), 87-89. Details
• Moore, D. T., 'Some aspects of the work of the botanist Robert Brown (1773-1858) in Tasmania in 1804', Tasforests, 12 (2000), 123-46. Details
• Moore, D. T., 'A synopsis of dated entries in the biological collecting notes from eastern and northern Australia made by Robert Brown (1773-1858) on the Investigator voyage of 1801-1805', Archives of Natural History, 29 (3) (2002), 383-98. Details
• Moore, D.T.; and Beasley, M.A., 'The Botanical Manuscripts of Robert Brown', Archives of Natural History, 24 (2) (1997), 237-280. Details
• Osborn, T. G. B., 'Robert Brown (1773-1858).', Australian Journal of Science, 21 (1958), 127-130. Details
• Powell, M.; and Morley, B., 'The Robert Brown material in the National Herbarium Glasnevin', Glasra, 1 (1976), 12-29. Details
• Rourke, J. P., 'Robert Brown at the Cape of Good Hope', Journal of South African botany, 40 (1974), 47-60. Details
• Salkin, A. I., 'Short History of the Discovery and Naming of Banksias in Eastern Australia: Part 4, The Abbe Antonia Jose Cavanilles, Robert Brown and Franz W. Sieber', The Victorian naturalist, 98 (5) (1981), 191-194. Details
• Stearn, W. T., 'Robert Brown', Brunonia, 1 (1977), 1-7. Details
• Vallance, T. G., 'Jupiter botanicus in the bush: Robert Brown's Australian field work, 1801-5', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 112 (1990), 49-86. Details
• Webb, Joan B., 'George Caley - Robert Brown's collecting partner', Cunninghamia, 9 (617-21) (2002). Details
• Webb, Joan B., 'George Caley - Robert Brown's Collecting Partner', Australian Garden History, 14 (3) (2002), 15-16. Details
• Wheeler, A., 'The zoological manuscripts of Robert Brown', Archives of natural history, 20 (1993), 417-24. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Robert Brown's Collectings in Victoria', Muelleria, 1 (1956), 51-54. Details
• Willis, J. H.; and Skewes, C. I., 'Robert Brown's Bass Strait journal of April/May 1802 (a transcription)', Muelleria, 1 (1956), 46-50. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q155764. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/34572082. Details
• 'Brown, Robert (1773-1858)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1285888. Details

Reviews

• Mabberley, David J.; and Moore, David T., The Robert Brown handbook: a guide to the life and work of Robert Brown (1773 - 1858), Scottish botanist (2022)
  Clarkson, John, 'Worth delaying lunch?', Australasian Systematic Botany Society newsletter, 191, (2022), 37-8. Details
• Vallance, T. G., Moore, D.T., and Groves, E. W., Nature's Investigator: the Diary of Robert Brown in Australia, 1801-1805, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 2001, 666 pp.
  Maroske, Sara, Historical Records of Australian Science, 14 (2), (2002), 219-221. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR02011. Details

See also

• Austin, K. A., The voyage of the Investigator 1801 - 1803, Commander Matthew Flinders, R.N. (Adelaide: Rigby Limited, 1964), 223 pp. Details
• Edwards, P. I. ed., The journal of Peter Good, gardener on Matthew Flinders voyage to Terra Australia 1801-03 (London: British Museum (Natural History), 1981), 213 pp. Details
• George, Alex S., Australian botanist's companion (Kardinya, W.A.: Four Gables Press, 2009), 671 pp. Details
• George, Alex S.; and Moore, David T. eds, Peter Good: Kew's gardener with Matthew Flinders on HMS Investigator, 1801 - 1803 (Kardinya, W.A.: Four Gables Press, 2022), 280 pp. Details
• Maiden, J. H., 'Records of Australian botanists:- (a) general; (b) New South Wales', Journal and Proceedings of The Royal Society of New South Wales, 42 (1908), 60-132. Details
• Maiden, J. H., 'Records of Tasmanian Botanists', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1909 (1909), 9-29. Details
• Maiden, J. H., 'Records of Queensland Botanists', Report of the twelfth meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 12 (1910), 373-383. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15379603. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Botanical pioneers in Victoria - I', Victorian naturalist, 66 (5) (1949), 83-9. Details
• Willis, J. H., Botanical Pioneers in Victoria, vol. 66 ([Melbourne]: [Brown Prior Anderson], 1949), 19 pp. Details