Ronald Campbell Gunn

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For other people named Ronald Campbell, see Ronald Campbell (disambiguation).

Statue of Ronald Campbell Gunn, City Park – Launceston, Tasmania

Ronald Campbell Gunn, FRS, (4 April 1808 – 13 March 1881) was a South African-born Australian botanist and politician.

Early life

Gunn was born at

72nd Regiment, and his wife Margaret, née Wilson. Gunn accompanied his father to Mauritius, the West Indies, and Britain where he was educated. Gunn was given an appointment in the Royal Engineers at Barbados, but left there in 1829 to go to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), where he obtained the position of superintendent of convict barracks at Hobart
Town.

Career

In 1830 Gunn became superintendent of convicts for North Tasmania at

Circular Head. From there he visited Port Phillip and Western Port and also traveled much in Tasmania. He became assistant police magistrate at Hobart Town in 1838, and in 1839 private secretary to Sir John Franklin and clerk of the executive and legislative councils. In 1841 he gave up these appointments to take charge of the estates of William Effingham Lawrence, and spent much time investigating the flora of Tasmania. But his interests were not confined to botany; he became a general scientist and made collections of mammals, birds, reptiles and mollusca, for the British Museum
.

Taking up the study of

Linnean Society in 1850, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society
, London, in 1854.

Gunn was a first-rate botanist and general scientist. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, who dedicated his Flora Tasmaniae to Gunn, and another Tasmanian botanist, William Archer (1820–74), speaking of Gunn in his Introductory Essay said: ‘There are few Tasmanian plants that Mr Gunn has not seen alive, noted their habits in a living state, and collected large suites of specimens with singular tact and judgment. These have all been transmitted to England . . . accompanied with notes that display remarkable powers of observation, and a facility for seizing important characters in the physiognomy of plants, such as few experienced botanists possess’.

Although so competent, Gunn published little. With

Gunnia
, and many species.

The standard author abbreviation Gunn is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[4]

References

  1. ^ Levine, Stephen (13 July 2012). "Capital city – A new capital". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  2. ^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1897). "Wellington Provincial District". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District. Wellington. Retrieved 14 May 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ "Ronald Campbell Gunn". Members of the Parliament of Tasmania. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  4. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Gunn.

External links

 

Tasmanian Legislative Council
Preceded by Member for Launceston
1855–1856
Served alongside: Adye Douglas 		Abolished
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