Bailey, Frederick Manson

(Source: Flora Malesiana ser. 1, 1: Cyclopaedia of collectors)

(Source: Flora Malesiana ser. 1, 5: Cyclopaedia of collectors, Supplement I)

Born: 1827, Hackney, Middlesex, England. Died: 1915, Brisbane, Queensland.

career:

Went with his family to Australia in 1838; he settled at Brisbane in 1861 and was appointed Colonial Botanist of Queensland in 1881. In 1898 he accompanied His Exc. Lord Lamington and Sir Hugh M. Nelson on a tour of inspection of British New Guinea.

He is the author of many systematic publications on the flora of Queensland.¹

He was commemorated in Acacia baileyanus F.Mueller.

Collecting localities:

Tour with Lord Lamington,² 1898. East New Guinea: Port Moresby (Apt. 25), Tauko Isl.; Mt Werirata (26); Port Moresby (27); Tupuselei and Kapa-Kapa (28); Vatorata and Arema (29); Dedele (30); Dufaure Isl. (May 1); Samarai (3); Milne Bay (4); Mita and Awaima (5); Dogura (6), following the NE. coast to Phillips Harbour; Porlock Bay (7); mouth of the Mambare (8), going up the river till Tamata Station and past it; back at the mouth of the Mambare (11); mouth of the Gira, going upstream (14) till Tabara (16); mouths of the Ope and Kumusi rivers; Bafara (19); mouth of the Musa, going upstream; Port Hennessey (23); Jasa-Jasa (25); Dogura (26); Samarai.

In June 1897 he made a 3-week-trip by boat visiting the Goode, Hammond, and Turtle Islands and especially Thursday Island.³

collections:

Herb. Brisbane [BRI]; specimens of new species were sent to Herb. Kew [K].⁴

After his own statement the equipment for drying plants on board the ‘Metric England’ was very poor; owing to that he brought only few duplicates, but made copious notes on the living plants.

literature:

(1) ‘Handbook on the Ferns of Queensland’ (1874) ; ‘The Queensland Flora’ (1899-1905, 6 parts); several small papers in Queensl. Agric. Journ. 1898-1914 and in Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensl. 1899 and 1903.

(2) cf. Ann. Rep. Br. N.G. for 1897/98, Victoria 1899, p. 42-45 and 131-133; ‘Visit to British New Guinea’ (report by the right honourable Sir H.M. Nelson on his ... ) (Queensland, Brisbane 1898).

(3) F.M. Bailey: ‘Notes on the vegetation of New Guinea’ (Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensl. 14, 1899, p. 14-20; extract in Gard. Chron. 18992, p. 218-219); ‘A few words about the flora of the islands of Torres Straits and the Mainland about Somerset’ (Rep. 7th Meeting Australas. Ass. Adv. of Sci. Sydney 1898, p. 423-447; incl. enumeration of Thursday Island plants).

(4) F.M. Bailey: ‘Names of easily recognised plants observed by Lord Lamington’s party during New Guinea trip’ (in ‘Report of visit to Br. N. G.’ l.c. sub 2, Brisbane 1898, p. 31-32); ‘Contributions to the flora of New Guinea’ (Queensl. Agric. Journ. 3, 1898, p. 154-162, 201-203, 282-283; in Ann. Rep. Br. N. G. for 1897/98,1899, p. 137-145).

It is not clear whether the material described in Queensl. Agric. Journ. 1899, p. 41, belongs to his own collection.

biographical data:

Kew Bull. 1915, p. 356-357; Gard. Chron. 1915², p. 136 + portr.; Journ. Bot. 1915, p. 275-276; Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. 1915/16, p. 55-56; Vict. Naturalist 32, 1915, p. 52; in Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensl. 28, 1916, + bibliogr.; in Biogr. Index Britten & Boulger, 2nd ed. by Rendle, 1931; Backer, Verkl. Woordenb., 1936; Proc. R. Soc. Queensl. 61, 1950, p. 105-114.

photo gallery: