Person

Carter, Herbert James (1858 - 1940)

Born
23 April 1858
Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
Died
16 April 1940
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Entomologist and Teacher

Summary

Herbert Carter, a schoolmaster, was an active collector and entomologist with a particular interest in Coleoptera (beetles and weevils). He was noted for his meticulous taxonomy and the usefulness of his keys. In retirement he was an honorary entomologist to the Australian Museum and published about 60 papers on entomological subjects. His publications included the descriptions of over 50 new genera and 1,200 species in the Tenebrionidae, Buprestidae, Cistelidae, Dryopidae, Cerambycidae and Colydiidae, and formed the basis of future studies of these sections of the Australian fauna. Gulliver in the bush (1933) was his account of numerous collecting expeditions with some of the leading naturalists in New South Wales. Carter's collections were dispersed to the National Museum of Victoria by purchase in 1923/5; the Australian Museum received hundreds of specimens including types in 1936; and after his death the CSIR Division of Economic Entomology received nearly 23,000 specimens in 5,500 species together with his correspondence and notes.

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Details

Chronology

1881
Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Cambridge
1882
Life event - Migrated to New South Wales
1882 - 1901
Career position - Assistant (later Senior) Mathematics Master, Sydney Grammar School
1902 - 1914
Career position - Principal and owner, Ascham girls school, Edgecliff, Sydney, New South Wales
1905 - 1907
Career position - Council Member, Australian Naturalists' Society of New South Wales
1907 - 1909
Career position - Vice-President, Australian Naturalists' Society of New South Wales
1914
Life event - Retired
1914? - 1940?
Career position - Honorary Entomologist, Australian Museum
1920 - 1939
Career position - Fellow, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1925 - 1926
Career position - Joint Editor with A. W. Jose, The Australian encyclopaedia (Sydney, 1925-26)
1925 - 1926
Career position - President, Linnean Society of New South Wales
1931 - 1940
Career position - Fellow, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • Angus & Robertson - Records, 1824 - 1933, ML MSS 314; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Arthur Wilberforce Jose - Records, 1919 - 1925, A7273; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
  • Herbert James Carter - Records, 1927 - 1940, ML MSS 1772; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Carter, H. J., Gulliver in the bush: wanderings of an Australian entomologist (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1933), 234 pp. Details
  • Musgrave, A., Bibliography of Australian entomology, 1775-1930: with biographical notes on authors and collectors (Sydney: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 1932), 380 pp. Details

Book Sections

Journal Articles

  • A. B. W. [ie Arthur B. Walkom], 'Herbert James Carter, 1858-1940 (Memorial series, no. 9)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 68 (3/4) (1959), 91-94. Details
  • Blair, K. G., 'H. J. Carter', Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, 76 (1940), 159. Details
  • Carter, H. J., 'Presidential address', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 51 (1927), i-xxix. Details
  • H. J. C. [ie H. J. Carter], 'William Aitcheson Haswell, 1854-1925 (Memorial series, no. 1)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 53 (4) (1928), 485-498. Details
  • H. J. C. [ie Herbert J. Carter], 'Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas, 1853-1936 (Memorial series, no. 7)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 62 (3/4) (1937), 243-252. Details
  • H. J. C. [ie Herbert J. Carter] and W. R. B. [ie William R. Browne], 'Tannatt William Edgeworth David, 1858 - 1934 (Memorial series, no. 6)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 61 (5/6) (1936), 341-57. Details
  • McKeon, K. C., 'An important donation to the Museum', Australian Museum Magazine, 6 (1936), 54. Details
  • McKeon, K. C., 'Herbert James Carter', Australian Museum Magazine, 7 (1940), 167-8. Details
  • Zeck, E. H., 'Herbert James Carter 1858 - 1940', Australian Naturalist, 10 (1941), 273-4. Details

Resources

See also

  • Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details
  • Upton, M. S., A Rich and Diverse Fauna: the history of the Australian National Insect Collection 1926 - 1991 (Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, 1997), 386 pp. Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023

EOAS ID: biogs/P000940b.htm

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