George Caley (10 June 1770 – 23 May 1829) was an English botanist and explorer, active in Australia for the majority of his career.
George Caley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 June 1770 |
| Died | 23 May 1829 (aged 58) London, England |
| Occupations | Botanist and explorer |
| Known for | Caleana, Grevillea caleyi, Viola caleyana, Banksia caleyi, and Eucalyptus caleyi Discovery of Mount Banks, Australia |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Kew Gardens |
| Patrons | Sir Joseph Banks |
| Caley | |
Early life
editCaley was born on 10 June 1770[1] in Yorkshire.[2] His father was a horse dealer.[1][2] Caley attended the Free Grammar School at Manchester and began working for his father.[1] He taught himself botany[1] by studying William Withering's Botanical Arrangement (1787–92). He got himself a job at Kew Gardens[1][2] and spent more time with associates at the Manchester School of Botanists. He started corresponding with Sir Joseph Banks[2] in 1795.[1]
Caley emigrated to Sydney arriving on 15 April 1800.[1][2] He was employed by Banks as a botanical collector and lived in Parramatta in a cottage provided by the government.[1][2] Caley travelled to Western Port, the Cow Pastures region, Norfolk Island and Hobart.[1] He also travelled to Cataract River, which he named, the Blue Mountains, Mount Tomah, and Mount Banks, which he named for Banks.[2] In 1804, he made a report to New South Wales Governor Philip Gidley King entitled "A Journey to Ascertain the Limits or Boundaries of Vaccary Forest".[1]
In 1810, he returned to England.[1][2] Caley married in 1816.[1] Around 1816, he became the curator of the St Vincent botanic gardens, a role in which he served until 1822.[1] Later, he returned to England.[1]
Death and legacy
edit
Botanical name
editThis botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Caley when citing a botanical name.[4] He is recognised in several place names, including a Reserve name and bushland pavilion name at Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden in St Ives, and in the orchid genus Caleana and the species Grevillea caleyi, Viola caleyana, Banksia caleyi, and Eucalyptus caleyi.[5] A George Caley Society was formed in Saint Ives (New South Wales) in 2019.
See also
editReferences
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Serle, Percival (1949). "Caley, George". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Mitchell, R. Else (27 May 1939). "The Man from Kew: George Caley in Australia. 130th Anniversary". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 13. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
- ↑ "George Caley Memorial". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 October 1954. p. 5. Retrieved 19 May 2026 – via Trove.
- ↑ Brummitt, R. K.; C. E. Powell (1992). Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 1-84246-085-4.
- ↑ Webb, J., (2002), ‘Caley, George’, in R. Aitken and M. Looker (eds), Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens, South Melbourne, Oxford University Press, p. 124.
Bibliography
edit- Webb, J. B., (2003), ‘George Caley – Robert Brown’s collecting partner’, Australian Garden History, 15 (1), pp. 15–16.
Additional sources listed by the Australian Dictionary of Biography:
- Historical Records of New South Wales, vols 3-6; J. Cash, Where There's a Will there's a Way, or Science in the Cottage (London, 1873); J. H. Maiden, Sir Joseph Banks (Sydney, 1909); J. H. Maiden, ‘George Caley, Botanical Collector in NSW’, Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, 14 (1904); R. Else-Mitchell, ‘George Caley: His Life and Work’, Journal and Proceedings (Royal Australian Historical Society), vol 25, part 6, 1939, pp 437–542; L. A. Gilbert, Botanical Investigation of Eastern Seaboard Australia, 1788-1810 (M.A. thesis, University of New England, 1962); manuscript catalogue under G. Caley (State Library of New South Wales); G. Caley letters (State Library of New South Wales)