Lower, Oswald Bertram (1863 - 1925)

Summary

Oswald Lower was an entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. By profession a pharmacist, for over 30 years he owned the Barrier Ranges Apothecaries in Broken Hill. However much of his spare time was devoted to the study of Australian insects, especially those found in South Australia (particularly in the semi-arid zone), and around Broken Hill. He established a reputation as one of Australia's most important lepidopterists, describing hundreds of species of moths and butterflies. Assisting him were his brother, who sent specimens from around Pinnaroo, South Australia, and his sister Ida who curated his collection. A wide range of people sent him specimens, including school teacher Edward Guest from the Mt Lofty Ranges, George Barnard from central Queensland and Mabel Hobler from south-east Queensland. With Edward Meyrick he published landmark papers on some of Australia's most complex insect families. In other papers he reported on the Lepidoptera collected on both the Elder and Horn Scientific Exploring Expeditions. Lower's collection of over 40,000 specimens, acquired by the museum of the South Australian Institute in 1892 and 1927, formed the basis of the museum's entomological collections. Many of these specimens are from locations now degraded or lost. The moth genus Loweria (Geometridae) was named in his honour.

Details

Chronology

1884 - 1888

Career position - Practiced as apothecary in Adelaide

1888 - ?

Career position - Member, Royal Society of South Australia

1888 - 1925

Career position - Owner Barrier Ranges Apothecaries in Broken Hill

1891 - ?

Career position - Member, Linnean Society of New South Wales

1892 - ?

Career position - Fellow, Entomological Society of London

1892

Life event - Sold large collection of foreign butterflies and moths (40 drawers) to South Australian Institute

1906 - ?

Career position - Fellow, Zoological Society of London

1920

Career position - Foundation Member, Barrier Field Naturalists Club

1927

Life event - South Australian Institute purchased the rest of his collection

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• 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

• Lower, O. B., 'Lepidoptera' in Report on the Work of the Horn Expedition to Central Australia, pt ii, Zoology, Spencer, B., ed. (London: Melbourne: Dulau and Co.; Melville, Mullen and Slade, 1896), pp. 249-53. Details

Journal Articles

• Lower, O. B., 'Scientific results of Elder Exploring Expedition: Lepidoptera', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia (1892), 10-5, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35803466. Details
• Lower, O. B., 'The Lepidoptera of Broken Hill, New South Wales, pt IV', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 42 (1918), 226-39. Details
• McQuillan, Peter B., Williams, Ted and Camilleri, Jenny, 'Oswald Bertram Lower (1864 - 1925): a South Australian pioneer in the discovery of Australia's biodiversity', Historical records of Australian science, 35 (1) (2024), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR22015. Details
• Meyrick, E., and Lower, O. B., 'Revision of the Australian Hesperiadae', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 26 (1902), 38-129. Details
• Meyrick, E., and Lower, O. B., 'Revision of the Australian Psychidae,', Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 31 (1907), 192-208. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7108097. Details
• 'Lower, Oswald Bertram (1863-1925)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475441. Details

See also

• Carter, H. J., 'Presidential address', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 51 (1927), i-xxix. Details