Person

MacMahon, Philip John (1857 - 1911)

Born
13 December 1857
Sandyford, Dublin, Ireland
Died
12 April 1911
Maryborough, Queensland, Australia
Occupation
Botanic gardens director and Horticulturist

Summary

Philip MacMahon was a horticulturist who received his training at the nursery firm of Dickson and Sons in Cheshire and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, before being appointed Curator of the Botanic Gardens in Hull, United Kingdom. He came to Australia in 1888. Appointed Curator of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in 1889, MacMahon revitalised the Gardens despite being hampered by few resources and a devastating flood in 1893. Many of his plantings were of indigenous plants, augmented by exotic species sourced through his international seed exchange program. MacMahon did much to popularise horticulture with his writings and lectures to the public and school children. In 1905 he became Director of Forests for the Queensland Government, in which role he pursued his long-standing interest in the propagation of trees and timber conservation. At the time of his death he was working on an inventory of Queensland timber reserves.

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Details

Chronology

1881 - 1882
Career position - Gardener, at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
1882 - 1887
Career position - Curator, Hull Botanic Gardens, United Kingdom
1888
Life event - Arrived in Victoria
1889 - 1905
Career position - Director, Brisbane Botanic Gardens
1905 - 1911
Career position - Director of Forests, Queensland Government

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Harrison, J., 'MacMahon, Philip John (1857-1911)' in Australian dictionary of biography: supplement 1580 - 1980, with a name index to the Australian dictionary of biography to 1980, Christopher Cunneen, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2005), pp. 255-6. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macmahon-philip-john-13072. Details
  • Holzworth, P., 'Early Queensland forestry: George Board and Philip MacMahon' in Australia's ever-changing forests V: proceedings of the fifth National Conference in Australian Forest History, Dargavel, J. Gaughwin, D. and Libbis, D, eds (Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, 2002), pp. 342-56. Details

Journal Articles

  • Dowe, J.L. (2017)., 'Philip John MacMahon (1857-1911) and the palm collection in the old Brisbane Botanic Gardens', Palms and cycads, 135 (2017), 14-24. Details
  • Dowe, John Leslie, 'Philip John MacMahon: Brisbane Botanic Gardens curator 1889 - 1905 and his vision of Brisbane as a "City of palms"', Queensland History Journal, 23 (8) (2018), 507-21. Details
  • Harrison, Jennifer, 'An Irish horticulturist in Queensland: the Philip MacMahon story', Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 16 (1) (1996), 31-7. Details

Resources

See also

  • Aitken, Richard and Looker, Michael eds, The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2002), 700 pp. pp. 392-3. Details
  • Griggs, P. D., 'Creating shady places: street tree-planting in Queensland towns and cities', Queensland History Journal, 22 (6) (2014), 441-5. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 31 July 2018, Last modified: 6 December 2022

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