Gilbert, Lionel Arthur (1924 - 2015)

Summary

Lionel Gilbert was a leading historian of Australian botany. After service as a radar operator during WWII, Gilbert spent 15 years teaching in New South Wales primary schools. He was the appointed to the Armidale Teachers' College as head of the history department, where he established a museum of historic resources. Following his PhD studies into the history of botany in New South Wales (1811-1880) he went on to write a history of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, biographies of eminent botanists Joseph Maiden, Hermann Rupp and William Woolls, and many articles on botanical subjects. His interest in botanical history was matched by his dedication to the history of his local area, New England in New South Wales.

Details

Chronology

1942

Award - Scholarship to Sydney teacher's College

1943

Career position - Radar operator with RAAF

1946

Career position - Teacher, Nabiac Central School

1955

Career position - Deputy Headmaster, Wauchope Primary School

1960

Career position - Headmaster, Rocky River Primary School, near Uralla

1961

Career position - Research and Information Officer, Department of External Studies, University of New South Wales

1962

Career position - Honorary Curator, Armidale City Council Folk Museum

1963

Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of New England

1963

Career position - Lecturer and Curator, Museum of Education, Armidale Teachers' College

1972

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of New England

1972

Award - Churchill Fellowship

1975

Career position - Member, New South Wales State Archives Authority

1976

Career position - Inaugural Director, Historical Resources Centre, Armidale College of Advanced Education

1981

Award - Certificate of Merit, Museums Association of Australia

1984

Life event - Retired

1988

Career position - Honorary Research Associate, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

1995

Award - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) - in recognition of service to the community as a researcher and curator of local history in the New England region

1997

Award - Honorary Fellow, Royal Australian Historical Society

1 Jan 2001

Award - Centenary Medal - for service to the community through education and local history

2006

Award - Fellow, Federation of Australian Historical Societies

2008

Award - Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of New England

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Gilbert, Lionel, William Woolls, 1814-1893: 'a Most Useful Colonist' (Canberra: Mulini Press, 1985), 138 pp. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney: a History 1816-1985 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1986), 224 pp. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel, The Orchid Man: the Life, Work and Memoirs of the Rev. H.M.R. Rupp (1872-1956) (Kenthurst (N.S.W.): Kangaroo Press, 1992), 248 pp. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel, Mr McLeay's Elizabeth Bay Garden: Plants, Privilege and Power in Sydney's Early Scientific Community (Canberra: Mulini Press, 2000), 75 pp. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel, The Little Giant: The Life and Work of Joseph Henry Maiden, 1859-1925 (Armidale, NSW: Kardoorair Press in association with the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens, 2001), 429 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Gilbert, L. A., 'Banks, Sir Joseph (1743-1820), naturalist and patron of science' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 52-53. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/banks-sir-joseph-1737. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Bauer, Ferdinand Lukas (1760-1826), botanical artist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), p. 73. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bauer-ferdinand-lukas-1754. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Considen, Dennis (-1815), surgeon' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 242-243. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/considen-dennis-1916. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Solander, Daniel (1733-1782), naturalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 2: 1788 - 1850 I-Z, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1967), pp. 456-457. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/solander-daniel-2677. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Carron, William (1821-1876), botanist and explorer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 3: 1851 - 1890 A-C, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1969), pp. 360-361. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/carron-william-3171. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'De Vis, Charles Walter (1829-1915), clergyman, zoologist and museum director' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), pp. 63-64. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/de-vis-charles-walter-3406. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Dietrich, Amalie (1821-1891), naturalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), p. 73. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dietrich-amalie-3412. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Fitzgerald, Robert David (1830-1892), surveyor and naturalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), pp. 178-179. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fitzgerald-robert-david-3527. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Hamilton, Alexander Greenlaw (1852-1941), schoolteacher and naturalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 9: 1891 - 1939 Gil-Las, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1983), pp. 173-174. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hamilton-alexander-greenlaw-6536. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Howard, Amos William (1848-1930), nurseryman and pasture improvement pioneer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 9: 1891 - 1939 Gil-Las, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1983), pp. 374-375. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/howard-amos-william-6741. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Rupp, Herman Montague Rucker (1872-1956), clergyman and botanist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 11: 1891 - 1939 Nes-Smi, Geoffrey Serle, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1988), pp. 480-481, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/rupp-herman-montague-rucker-8298. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Turner, Fred (1852-1939), horticulturalist and botanist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 12: 1891 - 1939 Smy-Z, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1990), pp. 292-293. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/turner-fred-8886. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'Kent Hughes, Ellen Mary (1893-1979), medical practitioner and alderman' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 15: 1940 - 1980 Kem-Pie, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2000), pp. 5-6. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kent-hughes-ellen-mary-10722. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel, 'Introduction' in Excursions From Berrima and a Trip to Manaro and Molonglo in the 1870s, Louisa Atkinson, ed. (Canberra: Mulini Press, 1980). Details
• Gilbert, Lionel A., 'Plants, politics and personalities in colonial New South Wales' in People and Plants in Australia, Carr, D. J. and Carr, S. G. M., eds (Sydney: Academic Press, 1981), pp. 220-58. Details

Journal Articles

• Aitken, Richard, 'Lionel Gilbert: botanical historian extraordinaire', Australian Garden History, 24 (3) (2013), 17-9. Details
• Briggs, Barbara, 'Vale Dr Lionel Gilbert OAM 2 December 1924 - 28 January 2015', Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter, 161 (2015), 51-2. Details
• Gilbert, L. A., 'The Bush and the Search for a Staple in New South Wales, 1788-1810', Records of the Australian Academy of Science, 1 (1) (1966), 6-17. https://www.publish.csiro.au/hr/HR9660110006. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel, 'Visit of an Early Naturalist to Victoria', The Victorian naturalist (1952), 175-178. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel, 'From Joseph Banks to Joseph Maiden: Towards a Scientific Botanic Garden', Historical Records of Australian Science, 11 (3) (1997), 283-310. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9971130283. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel A., 'Naturalist-Explorers of the Australian Coasts', The Victorian naturalist, 67 (July) (1950), 49-53, 77-80. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel A., 'William Carron, Botanist and Explorer, 1821-1876', Royal Australian Historical Society, xlvii (5) (1961), 292-311. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel A., 'Plants, politics and personalities in nineteenth-century New South Wales', Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 56 (1) (1970), 15-35. Details
• Gilbert, Lionel Arthur, 'Plants and Parsons in Nineteenth Century New South Wales', Historical Records of Australian Science, 5 (3) (1982), 17-32. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9820530017. Details

Resources

• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/111724637. Details
• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6555652. Details
• 'Gilbert, Lionel A (19241208-20150128)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-476385. Details

Theses

• Gilbert, L. A., 'Botanical Investigation of New South Wales 1811-1880', PhD thesis, University of New England, 1971. Details