Froggatt, Walter Wilson (1858 - 1937)

Summary

Walter Froggatt was one of Australia's foremost entomologists. His early career was as collector on the New Guinea Exploring Expedition, for William J. Macleay, and for the Sydney Technological College. In 1896 he was appointed Government Entomologist with the New South Wales Department of Mines and Agriculture (later Agriculture) where his responsibilities included investigations of insect pests and the diseases they caused. Such was his expertise that he undertook studies for other jurisdictions including the Victorian and Queensland governments and those of the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides. He was outspoken (and a lone voice) in his opposition to the introduction of cane toads to Australia to control cane beetles. Froggatt was a prolific writer on Australian entomology both in scientific journals and for the general public. His book Australian insects (1907) was the first general textbook on Australian entomology. Later books included works on timber borers and Australian spiders, and introductory texts for children. Froggatt was active in scientific societies serving as president of several and being a member of Council of the Linnean Society of New South Wales for over 40 years. His collection of insect specimens was purchased by the Commonwealth Government. The Froggatt Award (sometimes called the Biosecure Australia Award) was awarded by the by the Invasive Species Council from 2003 to 2006, with presentations resuming in 2015, to people who have made major contributions to protecting Australia from invasive pests. The endemic insect genus Froggattisca (Myrmeleontidae: Neuoptera) was named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

June 1885 - December 1885

Career position - Zoological Collector and Entomologist, New Guinea Exploring Expedition

1886

Career position - Collector for William J. Macleay in northern Queensland

1886 - 1937

Career position - Member, Linnean Society of New South Wales

1887 - 1888

Career position - Collector for William J. Macleay in northwestern Western Australia

1888 -

Career event - Original [founding] member, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science

1889 - 1896

Career position - Collector and Assistant, Sydney Technical College

1891

Career position - Founding member, Naturalists' Society of New South Wales

1896 - 1908

Career position - Government Entomologist, New South Wales Department of Mines and Agriculture

1908 - 1923

Career position - Government Entomologist, New South Wales Department of Agriculture

1910- -

Career position - Founding Member, Gould League of Bird Lovers of New South Wales

1910- -

Career position - Member of Council, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales

1911 - 1913

Career position - President, Linnean Society of New South Wales

1911 - 1921

Career position - Lecturer, University of Sydney

1912

Career position - President, Wildlife Society of New South Wales

1919 - 1920

Career position - President, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales

1921 - 1932

Career position - Foundation Councillor (Zoology), Australian National Research Council

1923 - 1927

Career position - Forest Entomologist, Forestry Commission of New South Wales

1931 - 1937

Award - Fellow, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales

1934

Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus froggattii Blakely was named in his honour

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Australian Botanists - Biographies, MS 064; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

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
• New Guinea Exploration Expedition - Records, June 1885 - November 1885, ML MSS 1090; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Walter Wilson Froggatt - Records, 1887 - 1888, ML DOC 2222; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

Powerhouse Museum

• Walter Wilson Froggatt - Records, 1890 - 1931, MRS 4, 5, 202, 89; Powerhouse Museum. 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

• Froggatt, Walter W., Australian insects (Sydney: William Brooks, 1907), 449 pp. Details
• Froggatt, Walter W., Forest insects and timber borers (Sydney: Government Printer, 1927), 107 pp. Details
• Froggatt, Walter, W., Australian spiders and their allies (Sydney: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 1934), 123 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

• 'Froggatt, Walter Wilson (1858-1937)' in Australian Encyclopaedia, Chisholm, Alec H., ed., vol. 4 (Sydney: Grolier, 1965), pp. 220-221. Details
• McDonald, D. I., 'Froggatt, Walter Wilson (1858-1937), entomologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 8: 1891 - 1939 Cl-Gib, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1981), pp. 591-592. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080608b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• A. B. W. [ie Arthur B. Walkom], 'Walter Wilson Froggatt, 1858-1937 (Memorial series, no. 8)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 67 (1/2) (1942), 77-81. Details
• Froggatt, W.W., 'A Naturalist in Kimberley in 1887', Australian Naturalist, 9 (1934), 69-82. Details
• Froggatt, Walter W., 'The Curators and Botanists of the Botanic Gardens, Sydney.', Royal Australian Historical Society, xviii (III) (1932), 101-133. Details
• Stead, D. G., 'Walter Wilson Froggatt, F.R.Z.S., 1858 - 1937', Australian naturalist, 10 (1937), 1-17. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q3565925. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/5310989. Details
• 'Froggatt, Walter W (1858-1937)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-632619. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Kosciusko State Park Trust', in State Records Archives Investigator, The State Records Authority of New South Wales, http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=\Agency\4123. 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
• Prince, J. H., The first one hundred years of the Royal Zoological Society of N.S.W. 1879 - 1979 (Sydney: Royal Zoolgical Society of New South Wales, 1979), 81 pp. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details
• Wilson, K.L., 'William Bauerlen - a 'Circumspect and Zealous' Collector', 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. 97-104.. Details