Person
Scott, Herbert Hedley (1866 - 1938)
- Born
- 15 August 1866
London, England - Died
- 1 March 1938
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia - Occupation
- Museum curator and Naturalist
Summary
Herbert Scott was Curator of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, for over 40 years from 1897. After moving to Tasmania in 1889, he quickly became involved in natural history activities, writing for local newspapers and helping to establish a microscopical society. From his earliest days in Launceston his circle of natural history friends included mineralogist William Petterd and geologist William Twelvetrees. As Curator, in which role he was much respected, he believed that museums had an important educative role. Working largely single-handedly, he performed every role from arranging exhibits to (in the early days) cleaning. Scott also found time to undertake research, largely on the vertebrates of Tasmania, particularly Cetaceae and extinct species. His co-author for many of his publications was Clive Lord of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart. In 1934 Scott was awarded the Royal Society of Tasmania Medal.
Details
Chronology
- 1887
- Life event - Migrated to New Zealand
- 1889
- Life event - Settled in Tasmania
- 1897 - 1938
- Career position - Curator, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania
- 1934
- Award - Royal Society of Tasmania Medal
Related entries
Children
Colleague
Archival resources
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Community History Collection
- Herbert Hedley Scott - Records, 1897 - 1938; Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Community History Collection. Details
Published resources
Books
- Lord, Clive E. and Scott, H. H., A synopsis of the vertebrate animals of Tasmania (Hobart: Oldham, Beddome and Meredith, 1924), 340 pp. Details
- Scott, H. H., Monograph of Nototherium tasmanicum (Hobart: Government Printer, 1915), 47 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Plomley, N. J. B., 'Scott, Herbert Hedley (1866-1938), museum curator' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), p. 546, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/scott-herbert-hedley-8368. Details
Journal Articles
- Scott, H. H., 'The extinct Tasmanian emu', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1931 (1931), 108-10. Details
- Scott, H. H. and Lord, Clive E., 'Studies of Tasmanian Cetaceae, part 4: Delphinus delphis', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1920 (1920), 1-10. Details
- Scott, H. H. and Lord, Clive E., 'Tasmanian giant marsupials', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1925 (1925), 1-4. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21539034. Details
- 'Scott, H H (1866-1938)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-628568. Details
McCarthy, G.J. and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 29 July 2025
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