Person
Lucas, Thomas Pennington (1843 - 1917)
- Born
- 13 April 1843
Dunbar, Scotland - Died
- 15 November 1917
New Farm, Queensland, Australia - Occupation
- Entomologist and Physician
Summary
Thomas Lucas practiced medicine in Melbourne and Brisbane while also pursuing his interest in entomology, particularly Lepidoptera. He assembled a large collection of butterflies, mostly from Queensland, much of which is now in the South Australian Museum. Included in this collection were many specimens acquired from Roland Illidge. Lucas's attempt to become Chief Entomologist at the Queensland Museum foundered on professional disagreements with local entomologists. As a physician Lucas was considered somewhat eccentric. He argued against surgery and germ theory, and was not shy of making his views known. Convinced of the efficacy of pawpaw extract for treating a range of medical conditions, he manufactured a pawpaw ointment that is still being produced by his descendants. Lucas's publications include entomological papers, medical books and tracts, and dystopian novels.
Details
Chronology
- 1861 - 1917
- Career position - Member, Linnean Society of London
- 1870
- Education - Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries, London
- 1870
- Education - Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh
- 1871
- Education - Member, Royal College of Surgeons, London
- 1871 - 1878
- Career position - Practiced medicine in Herefordshire and London
- 1877
- Life event - Migrated to Melbourne, Victoria
- 1877 - 1885
- Career position - Medical practitioner, Melbourne, Victoria
- 1880
- Career position - Founding Member, Field Naturalists Club of Victoria
- 1881 - 1917?
- Career position - Member of the Linnean Society of New South Wales
- 1886 - 1911
- Career position - In private practice in Brisbane and South Brisbane, Queensland
- 1887 - 1917?
- Career position - Member, Royal Society of Queensland
- 1893
- Career position - President, Natural History Society of Queensland
- 1911
- Career event - Opened his private Vera Papaw Hospital in New Farm, Brisbane
- 1914
- Career position - Sacred Songs and Nature Pieces book of poetry published in Brisbane (Edwards, Dunlop & Co.)
Related entries
Sibling
Published resources
Books
- Lucas, Thomas Pennington, Sacred Songs and Nature Pieces (Brisbane: Edwards, Dunlop & Co., 1914). 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
- Thearle, M. John, 'Dr T. P. Lucas and the Paw Paw - "the most wonderful tree in the world"' in "Outpost medicine": Australasian studies on the history of medicine: Third National Conference of the Australian Society of the History of Medicine, Hobart, February 1993, Atkins, Susanne, Kirkby, Kenneth, Thomson, Philip and Pearn, John, eds (Hobart: University of Tasmania and the Australian Society of the History of Medicine, 1994), pp. 45-63. Details
Journal Articles
- Metcalf, William J., 'Dr Thomas Pennington Lucas: Queensland scientist, author, doctor, dreamer and inventor', Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 19 (5) (2006), 788-804. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q3525470. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/91997456. Details
- 'Lucas, Thomas P (18430413-19171115)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-495765. Details
See also
- Moulds, M. S., 'The history of Australian butterfly research and collecting' in The biology of Australian butterflies, Kitching, R. L., Scheermeyer, E., Jones, R. E. and Pierce, N. E., eds (Melbourne: CSIRO Publications, 1999), pp. 1-24. Details
Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education