Melbourne Botanic Gardens (1846 - 1958)

Summary

The Melbourne Botanic Gardens was established in 1846 on a site of nearly 2 hectares south of the Yarra River near the centre of Melbourne. Its purpose was to provide a pleasure garden for the growing metropolis. By the end of the century it had expanded in area to 36 hectares. Ferdinand Mueller was the third Director from 1857 to 1873 while concurrently Victorian Government Botanist in charge of the Botanical Museum of Melbourne. He was responsible for establishing the scientific dimension of the Gardens' activities as a place to trial introduced plants and inform the public of the botanical world. The fourth Director, William Guilfoyle, transformed the Gardens into a landscape in the 'picturesque' style, creating sweeping lawns and panoramic vistas, and making extensive use of subtropical plants. In 1925, with the appointment of William Laidlaw as Director and Government Botanist, the National Herbarium of Victoria (formerly the Botanical Museum of Melbourne) and the Gardens were joined again, having been separated in 1873. The Gardens received a Royal warrant in 1958, becoming the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

Details

The Gardens was under these colonial and State Government Departments:
1846 - 1857 Chief Secretary's Department
1857 Board of Lands and Works
1857 - 1867 Chief Secretary's Department
1867 - 1872 Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey
1872 - 1873 Department of Agriculture (subordinate to the Department of Crown Lands and Survey until 1890)
1873 - 1925 Chief Secretary's Department
1925 - 1958 Department of Crown Lands and Survey.

The senior officer of the Gardens has been styled Curator, Superintendent, Overseer and Director; between 1857 and 1873, and 1921 and 1958, the Director was concurrently the Victorian Government Botanist:
1846 - 1849 John Arthur (Curator)
1849 - 1857 John Dallachy (Superintendent and Overseer)
1857 - 1873 Ferdinand Mueller
1873 - 1909 William Guilfoyle
1909 - 1924 John Cronin
1924 - 1925 William Laidlaw
1925 - 1941 John Rae
1941 - 1957 Alexander Jessep
1957 - 1958 Richard Pescott.

Related entries

Timeline

 1846 - 1958 Melbourne Botanic Gardens
       1958 - Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

Published resources

Books

• Cunningham, Sophie; and Wilmoth, Peter, Wonder: 175 years of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (Richmond, Vic.: Hardie Grant Books, 2021), 246 pp. Details
• Pescott, R. T. M., W. R. Guilfoyle 1840-1912: the master of landscaping (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1974), 153 pp. Details
• Pescott, Richard Thomas Martin, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne: a history from 1845 to 1970 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1982), 212 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Cohn, Helen M., 'The historic landscape of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne' in A garden for all seasons: an artist’s view of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Graham, A. M., ed. (North Ryde, N.S.W.: Craftsman House, 1998), pp. 32-40. Details

Journal Articles

• Aitken, Richard, 'Picturesque but instructive: William Guilfoyle's first decade at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens', Australian garden history, 7 (4) (1996), 6-18. Details
• Brown-May, Andrew, 'Indifference, audacity and disobedience: landscape and nuisances in Mueller's Botanic Gardens, 1850s - 1870s', Botanic magazine, 7 (1997), 42-53. Details
• Cohn, Helen M.; Maroske, Sara, 'Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne: a Select Annotated Bibiliography', Victorian Historical Journal, 67 (1) (1996), 167-174. Details
• Maroske, S., 'The queen of aquatics: Victoria amazonica', Australian garden history, 3 (5) (1992), 3-6. Details
• Maroske, S.; and Brown-May, A., 'Horticultural embellishments: public conferment from the Melbourne Botanic Garden, 1870', Australian garden history, 4 (4) (1993), 8-14. Details
• Watson, Darren, 'Thumbing through Mr Neate's notebook: the history of an historical source', Botanic magazine 7:26-30, 7 (1997), 26-30. Details