Willis, James Hamlyn (1910 - 1995)

Summary

James Willis is one of Australia's most renowned and beloved botanists and authors. He was taxonomic botanist at the National Herbarium within the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, from 1937 to the end of his career in 1972. Willis received many honours including those from the Australian Institute of Horticulture, the Society for Growing Australian Plants, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the National Trust of Australia, and the Royal Society of Victoria's Research Medal. He was educated at the Victorian School of Forestry in Creswick (Dip.For.) and at the University of Melbourne (BSc, DSc). He is commemorated in Eucalyptus willisii Ladiges, Humphries & Brooker (1938) as well as species in several other genera. In a extensive publishing career Willis issued over 400 books and articles, including the milestone Handbook to plants in Victoria which was based on his considerable knowledge of the Victorian flora. Willis's wife Mavis was an enthusiastic participant in his many field trips. The National Herbarium of Victoria holds nearly 19,000 specimens collected by Willis, and awards the J. H. Willis Studentship annually.

Details

Chronology

1930 - 1939

Career position - Forests Commission Field Officer in Victoria

1939 - 1947

Career position - Assistant, National Herbarium of Victoria

1947 - 1961

Career position - Botanist, National Herbarium in Victoria

1948 - 1951

Career position - Editor, Victorian naturalist

1954

Taxonomy event - Co-author of Eucalyptus aromaphloia L.D.Pryor & J. H. Willis

1955 - 1967

Career position - Editor, Muelleria

1958 - 1959

Career position - Australian Botanical Liaison Officer, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

1960

Award - Australian Natural History Medallion

1961 - 1972

Career position - Assistant Government Botanist, National Herbarium

1970 - 1971

Career position - Acting Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens and the National Herbarium

1972

Life event - Retired

1973

Award - Royal Society of Victoria Medal for Excellence in Scientific Research (jointly)

1983

Taxonomy event - Honoured with Eucalyptus willisii Ladiges, Humphries & Brooker

1995

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to botany particularly in the field of Australian flora

Related entries

Archival resources

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

• Records of James Hamlyn Willis, 1804 - 1996; Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. 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

• Willis, J. H., Fuhrer, B. A. and Rotherham, E. R., Flowers and plants of Victoria (Terrey Hills, N.S.W.: Reed, 1975), 304 pp. Details
• Willis, J. H.; Forbes, S. J.; and Ross, J .H., Supplement to A handbook to plants in Victoria, volumes I and II (Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1988), 76 pp. Details
• Willis, James H., A handbook to plants in Victoria. Volume 1: Ferns, conifers and monocotyledons, vol. 1 of 2 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1962), 448 pp. Details
• Willis, James H., A handbook to plants in Victoria. Volume 2: Dicotyledons, vol. 2 of 2 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), 832 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Howie-Willis, Ian, 'Willis, James Hamlyn (Jim) (1910 - 1995), botanist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 896-7, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/willis-james-hamlyn-jim-21444. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Nicholls, William Henry (1885-1951), Orchidologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 23-24. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110025b.htm. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Baron von Mueller's Travels in the Australian Alps, 1853-61' in The Scientific Significance of the Australian Alps: The Proceedings of the First Fenner Conference on the Environment, Roger Good, ed. (Canberra: Australian Alps Liaison Committee, 1989), pp. 381-382. Details
• Willis, J. H.; and Cohn, Helen M., 'Botanical exploration of Victoria' in Flora of Victoria, Foreman, D. B. and Walsh, N. G., eds, vol. 1 (Melbourne: Inkata Press, 1993), pp. 61-79. Details

Conference Papers

• Willis, J. H., 'Melbourne: a Focal Point for Early Botanical Activity', 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. 1-4.. Details

Journal Articles

• 'James Hamlyn Willis: a biographical sketch [includes list of publications]', Muelleria, 3 (2) (1975), 69-88. Details
• Aston, H. I., 'Obituary: Dr James Hamlyn Willis A.M. 28 January 1910-10 November 1995', Muelleria, 10 (1996), 21-5. Details
• Cohn, Helen M., 'Mary White and James Willis archives', Botanic magazine, 7 (1997), 31-2. Details
• Jack, Christopher, 'James Hamlyn Willis: a True Conservationist', Australasian Science, 19 (9) (1998), 48. Details
• May, T. W., 'James Hamlyn Willis (1910 1995); a mycological appreciation', Australasian mycological newsletter, 15 (1) (1996), 3-7. Details
• Salkin, A. I., 'Short History of the Discovery and Naming of Banksias in Eastern Australia: Part 7, James Hamlyn Willis and Alexander George', The Victorian naturalist, 99 (4) (1982), 136-139. Details
• Tropea, Rachel, 'Jim Willis: a Lifelong Passion for Botany', Australasian Science, 22 (3) (2001), 46. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Ferdinand von Mueller: Nestor of Australian Botany', Australian Journal of Science, 10 (1948), 136-140. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Botanical pioneers in Victoria - III', Victorian naturalist, 66 (7) (1949), 123-8. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Botanical pioneers in Victoria - II', Victorian Naturalist, 66 (6) (1949), 103-9. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Botanical pioneers in Victoria - I', Victorian naturalist, 66 (5) (1949), 83-9. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'First lady recipient of Natural History Medallion - Mrs Edith Coleman', The Victorian naturalist, 67 (5) (1950), 99-100. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'A botanical retrospect (F.N.C.V., 1880-1950)', The Victorian naturalist, 67 (1950), 65-70. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Vale, William Henry Nicholls (July 23, 1855 - March 10, 1951)', The Victorian naturalist, 67 (1951), 2541-3. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'William Henry Nicholls', Wild life, 1951 (1951), 456-8. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Death of Dr. Charles Stanford Sutton', The Victorian naturalist, 67 (1954), 121. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'P. N. S. Bibby (1907-55)', The Victorian naturalist, 72 (1955), 99-100. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'The passing of a great orchidologist (Rev. H. M. R. Rupp, 1872 - 1956)', The Victorian naturalist, 73 (5) (1956), 105-10. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Robert Brown's Collectings in Victoria', Muelleria, 1 (1956), 51-54. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Thomas Stephen Hart (1871-1960)', The Victorian naturalist, 77 (1960), 111-14. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'The passing of a great plantsman: James Wales Audas', The Victorian naturalist, 77 (1961), 273-5. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Botanical Science in Victoria 100 Years Ago', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 73 (1961), 41-45. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'The Botany of the Victoria Exploring Expedition (September 1860-June 1861) and of Relief Contingents from Victoria (July 1861-Noveber 1862)', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 75 (1962), 247-268. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Latest two recipients of the Australian Natural History Medallion', The Victorian naturalist, 81 (6) (1964), 192-3. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Late Raleigh Adelbert Black (1880-1963) and his Private Herbarium', Muelleria, 1 (3) (1967), 233-238. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'William Hunter (1893-1971): Doyen of East Gippsland Botanists', The Victorian naturalist, 88 (4) (1971), 88-91. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Vale, Norman Arthur Wakefield', The Victorian naturalist, 90 (4) (1973), 103-105. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'The late Patrick Francis Morris (1896-1974)', The Victorian naturalist, 91 (1974), 205-6. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Richard Wallace Bond (1914-1976) - an appreciation', The Victorian naturalist, 94 (2) (1977), 75. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'Alexander Hugh Chisholm, OBE, CMZS., C.F.A.O.U. (1890-1977). An Appreciation', The Victorian naturalist, 94 (5) (1977), 188-190. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'The First Century of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria', The Victorian naturalist, 97 (3) (1980), 93-106. Details
• Willis, J. H., 'A tribute to the late Frederick Stanley Colliver', The Victorian naturalist, 109 (5) (1992), 191. 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

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/75240843. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6135471. Details
• 'Willis, J H (1910-1995)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-617062. Details
• Tropea, Rachel, Barnes, Andrea and Anderson, Fay, James Hamlyn Willis Guide to Records, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, December 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/will/will.htm. Details

See also

• Hall, Norman, Botanists of the Eucalypts: short biographies of people who have named eucalypts, whose names have been given to species or who have collected type material (Melbourne: CSIRO, 1978), 101 pp. Details
• Kruta, V. et al., Dr. John Lhotsky : the turbulent Australian writer, naturalist and explorer Melbourne (Melbourne: Australia Felix Literary Club, 1977), 176 pp. Details
• May, T. W., 'From fungs to Fungimap: fungi and the FNCV', The Victorian naturalist, 122 (6) (2005), 319-26. Details
• Willis, J. H., Botanical Pioneers in Victoria, vol. 66 ([Melbourne]: [Brown Prior Anderson], 1949), 19 pp. Details