Charles Fraser (botanist)
Encyclopedia
Charles Fraser or Frazer (1788 – 22 December 1831) was Colonial Botanist of New South Wales
from 1821 to 1831. He collected and catalogued numerous Australia
n plant
species
, and participated in a number of exploring expeditions. He was a member of the Stirling expedition of 1827, and his report on the quality of the soil was instrumental in the decision to establish the Swan River Colony
.
, Perthshire
, Scotland
in 1788. He worked as a gardener until enlisting as a soldier in the 56th Regiment on 8 June 1815. He served in the East Indies
before arriving in Sydney
on board the convict
ship Guildford on 8 April 1816. There, his skills as a horticulturalist
were recognised, and he was appointed superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens
, a position that he would hold until his death. In November 1816, Fraser was transferred to the 46th Regiment. He again transferred regiments in August 1817, this time to the 48th Regiment of Foot. On 6 January 1821, Fraser was discharged from the army and formally appointed Colonial Botanist, a position that he had been holding informally at least since 1819.
's expeditions: his 1817 expedition to the Lachlan River
and Bathurst
, his 1818 expedition into north-eastern New South Wales, and his 1819 expedition in the areas of Port Macquarie
and Hastings River
. He visited Tasmania
in 1820, and in 1826 visited Tasmania, New Zealand
and Norfolk Island
.
on the Swan River expedition of 1827, an expedition to explore the Swan River
on the west coast of Australia
, and assess its suitability as a site for a new British
settlement. The expedition arrived in the area on board HMS Success
on 4 March. After surveying the coastal waters off the Swan, Stirling and Fraser briefly reconnoitred the lower reaches of the River on the 7th. The following day, Stirling led a party of 18 men in two boats, in exploring up the Swan River. With Stirling and Frederick Garling
, Fraser climbed Mount Eliza
, becoming the first Europeans to do so. At the present-day site of Perth
, Stirling named a feature near Heirisson Island
Point Fraser in Fraser's honour, and about a mile upstream Fraser discovered a fresh water brook and lagoon that were named Clause's Brook and Clause's Lagoon respectively, in honour of fellow explorer Frederick Clause
. The party camped at Clause's Brook, and the following morning three Noongar
s approached Fraser while he was alone in the camp, angrily gesturing for him to leave.
By 14 March the party had traced the Swan River to its junction with Ellen Brook, where the boats could go no further. Stirling then split the party into three groups, each to explore in a different direction. Fraser's group was sent in an eastward direction, where they discovered "many curious and interesting Botanical specimens and a lump of granite from the ridge". Each group having returned to the junction of the Swan with Ellen Brook, the party returned down the Swan River, arriving back at the ship on the 18th.
At the conclusion of the expedition, Fraser wrote a glowing report of the quality of the soil in the area. The report, which Statham-Drew has described as "euphoric", states: "In giving my opinion of the Land seen on the Banks of Swan River, I hesitate not in pronouncing it superior to any I ever saw in New South Wales east of the Blue Mountains...." Together with Stirling's effusive report on the naval, strategic and geological qualities of the area, the reports were instrumental in convincing the British Colonial Office
to establish the Swan River Colony
, and provided impetus to the period of excessively favorable publicity that has been labelled "Swan River mania
".
In reality the soils of the area are quite poor, and Fraser would later be heavily criticised for the inaccuracy of his report. Analyses of the expedition reports has shown that the party explored only within the narrow strip of rich alluvial soil
that occurs near the Swan River, and thus they were unaware of the infertile grey sand that constitutes most of the sand plain. It has also been argued that Fraser's assessment of the fertility of the soil would have been influenced by the greenness and apparent health of the native plants, a method that would have had some validity in England, but has little validity in Australia where the vast majority of plants are adapted to dry, infertile soils. Finally, Appleyard (1979) speculates that "the question must be asked: had the persuasive Stirling unduly influenced - not maliciously but seductively by his boundless enthusiasm - Charles Fraser to pen words that did little credit to his professional and administrative standing?"
Fraser was to bear most of the blame with the Swan River colonists for the misinformation that they received. In a thinly veiled attack on Fraser, Eliza Shaw wrote "that man who reported this land to be good deserves hanging nine times over". A naval officer stationed at the Swan River wrote that Fraser's report was so "highly coloured" that it was inevitable that people coming to the colony would be disappointed. John Morgan indirectly criticised Fraser with his comment that botanists are no more capable of assessing land for farming purposes than farmers are capable of discussing "the merits and character of an extraordinary shrub". Finally, in December 1832, Robert Lyon
wrote of the "unpardonable sin of Fraser": that he did not state the extent of good land in the area.
on an expedition that connected the Moreton Bay
settlement with the Darling Downs
, via Cunninghams Gap. Later that year he was sent by the Governor to collect plants and establish a public garden at Brisbane
.
Charles Fraser died on 22 December 1831. He had collected and catalogued hundreds of Australian plants. According to Hall (1978), more than thirty plant species were named after him, including species in the genera Acacia
, Boronia, Allocasuarina
, Dysoxylum
, Dryandra
, Ficus
, Hakea
, Lomatia
, Marsdenia
, Persoonia
, Sophora
and Swainsona
.
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
from 1821 to 1831. He collected and catalogued numerous Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, and participated in a number of exploring expeditions. He was a member of the Stirling expedition of 1827, and his report on the quality of the soil was instrumental in the decision to establish the Swan River Colony
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
.
Early life and army career
Charles Fraser was born in Blair AtholBlair Athol
Blair Athol may refer to several places:*Blair Athol, South Australia*Blair Athol, New South Wales, Australia*Blair Atholl, ScotlandIn sport:*Blair Athol was a British thoroughbred racehorse...
, Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in 1788. He worked as a gardener until enlisting as a soldier in the 56th Regiment on 8 June 1815. He served in the East Indies
Indies
The Indies is a term that has been used to describe the lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the present India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and also Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Malaysia and...
before arriving in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on board the convict
Convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...
ship Guildford on 8 April 1816. There, his skills as a horticulturalist
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
were recognised, and he was appointed superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia, are the most central of the three major botanical gardens open to the public in Sydney....
, a position that he would hold until his death. In November 1816, Fraser was transferred to the 46th Regiment. He again transferred regiments in August 1817, this time to the 48th Regiment of Foot. On 6 January 1821, Fraser was discharged from the army and formally appointed Colonial Botanist, a position that he had been holding informally at least since 1819.
Explorations
From 1817, Fraser travelled extensively as a field collector. He was a member of three of John OxleyJohn Oxley
John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of English colonisation.October 1802 he was engaged in coastal survey work including an expedition to Western Port in 1804-05...
's expeditions: his 1817 expedition to the Lachlan River
Lachlan River
- Course :The river rises in the central highland of New South Wales, part of the Great Dividing Range, 13 km east of Gunning. Its major headwaters, the Carcoar River, the Belubula River and the Abercrombie River converge near the town of Cowra. Minor tributaries include the Morongla Creek...
and Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
, his 1818 expedition into north-eastern New South Wales, and his 1819 expedition in the areas of Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie, New South Wales
Port Macquarie is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, located about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The city is located on the coast, at the mouth of the Hastings River, and has an estimated population of 44,313....
and Hastings River
Hastings River
The Hastings River is a large river on the Mid North Coast of the Australian state of New South Wales that empties into the Tasman Sea, a branch of the South Pacific Ocean, at Port Macquarie....
. He visited Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
in 1820, and in 1826 visited Tasmania, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
.
Swan River expedition
Early in 1827 Fraser was appointed to accompany Captain (later Admiral Sir) James StirlingJames Stirling (Australian governor)
Admiral Sir James Stirling RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. His enthusiasm and persistence persuaded the British Government to establish the Swan River Colony and he became the first Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Western Australia...
on the Swan River expedition of 1827, an expedition to explore the Swan River
Swan River (Western Australia)
The Swan River estuary flows through the city of Perth, in the south west of Western Australia. Its lower reaches are relatively wide and deep, with few constrictions, while the upper reaches are usually quite narrow and shallow....
on the west coast of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and assess its suitability as a site for a new British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
settlement. The expedition arrived in the area on board HMS Success
HMS Success (1825)
HMS Success was an Atholl-class 28-gun sixth-rate wooden sailing ship notable for exploring Western Australia and the Swan River in 1827 as well as being one of the first ships to arrive at the fledgling Swan River Colony two years later, at which time she ran aground off Carnac Island.- History...
on 4 March. After surveying the coastal waters off the Swan, Stirling and Fraser briefly reconnoitred the lower reaches of the River on the 7th. The following day, Stirling led a party of 18 men in two boats, in exploring up the Swan River. With Stirling and Frederick Garling
Frederick Garling
Frederick Garling was an English attorney and solicitor, and was one of the first solicitors admitted in Australia and was regarded as the first senior solicitor of the second Supreme Court established in the colony of New South Wales, which is now a State of Australia...
, Fraser climbed Mount Eliza
Mount Eliza, Western Australia
Mount Eliza is a hill which overlooks the city of Perth, Western Australia and forms part of Kings Park. It is known as Kaarta gar-up and Mooro Katta in the local Noongar dialect....
, becoming the first Europeans to do so. At the present-day site of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Stirling named a feature near Heirisson Island
Heirisson Island
Heirisson Island is an island in the Swan River in Western Australia at the eastern end of Perth Water . The city of Perth and the Town of Victoria Park are linked by The Causeway which is actually two bridges which span the two foreshores and the island...
Point Fraser in Fraser's honour, and about a mile upstream Fraser discovered a fresh water brook and lagoon that were named Clause's Brook and Clause's Lagoon respectively, in honour of fellow explorer Frederick Clause
Frederick Clause
Dr. Frederick Rushbrook Clause was a naval surgeon who became an early explorer in Western Australia. He painted the only picture of the Swan River published prior to the establishment of the Swan River Colony....
. The party camped at Clause's Brook, and the following morning three Noongar
Noongar
The Noongar are an indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast...
s approached Fraser while he was alone in the camp, angrily gesturing for him to leave.
By 14 March the party had traced the Swan River to its junction with Ellen Brook, where the boats could go no further. Stirling then split the party into three groups, each to explore in a different direction. Fraser's group was sent in an eastward direction, where they discovered "many curious and interesting Botanical specimens and a lump of granite from the ridge". Each group having returned to the junction of the Swan with Ellen Brook, the party returned down the Swan River, arriving back at the ship on the 18th.
At the conclusion of the expedition, Fraser wrote a glowing report of the quality of the soil in the area. The report, which Statham-Drew has described as "euphoric", states: "In giving my opinion of the Land seen on the Banks of Swan River, I hesitate not in pronouncing it superior to any I ever saw in New South Wales east of the Blue Mountains...." Together with Stirling's effusive report on the naval, strategic and geological qualities of the area, the reports were instrumental in convincing the British Colonial Office
Colonial Office
Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department* Office of Insular Affairs - the American government agency* Reichskolonialamt - the German Colonial Office...
to establish the Swan River Colony
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
, and provided impetus to the period of excessively favorable publicity that has been labelled "Swan River mania
Swan River mania
Swan River mania refers to the period of high immigration to the Swan River Colony in Western Australia due in large part to exaggerated claims in the British press of riches to be found in the "land of promise"...
".
In reality the soils of the area are quite poor, and Fraser would later be heavily criticised for the inaccuracy of his report. Analyses of the expedition reports has shown that the party explored only within the narrow strip of rich alluvial soil
Alluvium
Alluvium is loose, unconsolidated soil or sediments, eroded, deposited, and reshaped by water in some form in a non-marine setting. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles of sand and gravel...
that occurs near the Swan River, and thus they were unaware of the infertile grey sand that constitutes most of the sand plain. It has also been argued that Fraser's assessment of the fertility of the soil would have been influenced by the greenness and apparent health of the native plants, a method that would have had some validity in England, but has little validity in Australia where the vast majority of plants are adapted to dry, infertile soils. Finally, Appleyard (1979) speculates that "the question must be asked: had the persuasive Stirling unduly influenced - not maliciously but seductively by his boundless enthusiasm - Charles Fraser to pen words that did little credit to his professional and administrative standing?"
Fraser was to bear most of the blame with the Swan River colonists for the misinformation that they received. In a thinly veiled attack on Fraser, Eliza Shaw wrote "that man who reported this land to be good deserves hanging nine times over". A naval officer stationed at the Swan River wrote that Fraser's report was so "highly coloured" that it was inevitable that people coming to the colony would be disappointed. John Morgan indirectly criticised Fraser with his comment that botanists are no more capable of assessing land for farming purposes than farmers are capable of discussing "the merits and character of an extraordinary shrub". Finally, in December 1832, Robert Lyon
Robert Lyon (Australian settler)
Robert Menli Lyon was a pioneering Western Australian settler who became one of the earliest outspoken advocates for Indigenous Australian rights and welfare in the colony. He published the first information on the Aboriginal language of the Perth area.-Early life:Robert Menli Lyon was born Robert...
wrote of the "unpardonable sin of Fraser": that he did not state the extent of good land in the area.
Later expeditions
In 1828, Fraser accompanied Allan CunninghamAllan Cunningham (botanist)
Allan Cunningham was an English botanist and explorer, primarily known for his travels in New South Wales to collect plants.- Early life :...
on an expedition that connected the Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay on the eastern coast of Australia 45 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
settlement with the Darling Downs
Darling Downs, Queensland
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of eleven major regions of Queensland....
, via Cunninghams Gap. Later that year he was sent by the Governor to collect plants and establish a public garden at Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.
Charles Fraser died on 22 December 1831. He had collected and catalogued hundreds of Australian plants. According to Hall (1978), more than thirty plant species were named after him, including species in the genera Acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
, Boronia, Allocasuarina
Allocasuarina
Allocasuarina is a genus of trees in the flowering plant family Casuarinaceae. They are endemic to Australia, occurring primarily in the south. Like the closely related genus Casuarina, they are commonly called sheoaks or she-oaks, they are notable for their long, segmented branchlets that...
, Dysoxylum
Dysoxylum
Dysoxylum is a flowering plant genus in the mahogany family . There are about 70 species, mainly trees, occurring from Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New Caledonia and through to other parts of the western Pacific Ocean...
, Dryandra
Dryandra
Banksia ser. Dryandra is a series of 94 species of shrub to small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It was considered a separate genus named Dryandra until early 2007, when it was merged into Banksia on the basis of extensive molecular and morphological evidence that Banksia was paraphyletic with...
, Ficus
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
, Hakea
Hakea
Hakea is a genus of 149 species of shrubs and small trees in the Proteaceae, native to Australia. They are found throughout the country, with the highest species diversity being found in the south west of Western Australia....
, Lomatia
Lomatia
Lomatia is a genus of 12 species of evergreen flowering plants in the protea family Proteaceae. Within the family, they have been placed, alone, in their own subtribe, Lomatiinae according to Johnson & Briggs 1975 classification of the family and subsequently in Flora of Australia .The genus has a...
, Marsdenia
Marsdenia
Marsdenia is a genus of plant in family Apocynaceae. It is named in honor of the plant collector and Secretary of the Admiralty, William Marsden.Species include:* Marsdenia australis* Marsdenia brachyloba* Marsdenia cavaleriei...
, Persoonia
Persoonia
Persoonia is a genus of 98 species of shrubs and small trees in the tribe Persoonioideae in the large and diverse plant family Proteaceae. In the eastern states of Australia, they are commonly known as Geebungs, while in Western Australia and South Australia they go by the common name Snottygobbles...
, Sophora
Sophora
Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The species are native to southeast Europe, southern Asia, Australasia, various islands in the Pacific Ocean, western South America, the western United States, the Southern US...
and Swainsona
Swainsona
Swainsona is a large genus of flowering plants native to Australasia. There are 85 species, all but one of which is endemic to Australia; the exception, S...
.