Person

Gilbert, Lionel Arthur (1924 - 2015)

OAM

Born
8 December 1924
Burwood, New South Wales, Australia
Died
28 January 2015
Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Science historian and Teacher

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)
1997
Award - Honorary Fellow, Royal Australian Historical Society
2001
Award - Centenary Medal
2006
Award - Fellow, Federation of Australian Historical Societies
2008
Award - Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of New England

Related Corporate Bodies

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)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 52-53. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010051b.htm. Details
  • Gilbert, L. A., 'Bauer, Ferdinand Lukas (1760-1826)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), p. 73. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010068b.htm. Details
  • Gilbert, L. A., 'Considen, Dennis (-1815)' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 242-243. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010230b.htm. 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. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020421b.htm. 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. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030336b.htm. 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. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040061b.htm. 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. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040068b.htm. 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. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A040193b.htm. 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. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090166b.htm. Details
  • Gilbert, L. A., 'Howard, Amos William (1848-1930)' 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. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090375b.htm. 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. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110489b.htm. 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. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120327b.htm. 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. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9660110006.htm. 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

Theses

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

Helen Cohn

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