Daniel Bunce

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Daniel Bunce (* 1813 at Rickmansworth , Hertfordshire , England ; † 1872 in Geelong , Victoria , Australia ) was a trained gardener and botanist . He took part in Ludwig Leichhardt's second expedition from 1846 to 1847.

Early life

Little is known about his early life. Bunce emigrated to Hobart in Tasmania in 1833 . In Launceston he opened a nursery Denmark Hill . In 1839 he went to Port Phillip . From there he came to the Western Port , where he studied the languages ​​of the local Aborigines intensively . He started a nursery in St Kilda.

Expeditions

The expedition with Bunce, led by Ludwig Leichhardt, failed after five months. After the expedition, Leichhardt commented positively about Bunce in a letter and invited him to participate in his third expedition in 1848, which Bunce refused. In 1850 Bunce published a report on this research trip in a newspaper in Melbourne , in which he criticized Leichhardt in terms of content, but cautiously, in individual aspects of his behavior. Leichhardt could no longer counter these allegations, as he was missing on his third Australian expedition in 1848.

After the expedition, Bunce followed the course of the Murray River to the coast and explored the Gippsland .

Professional

In 1849 he applied to be the director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne and Adelaide Botanic Gardens . Since these applications were unsuccessful, he worked as a mine director at Bendigo , where he also described the flora in the area. In 1858 he was hired as director of the Geelong Botanical Gardens .

Personal

Bunce was married three times. His second wife was a daughter of John Batman . Four of his children died from a diphtheria epidemic within three days.

Writings and works

  • Language of the Aborigines of the Colony of Victoria, and other Australian Districts; with parallel translations and familiar specimens in dialogue as a guide to Aboriginal Protectors, and others engaged in ameliorationg their condition (Geelong 1851).
  • Manual of Practical Gardenin (1837) (second and third editions): Australian Manual of Horticulture (Melbourne 1850 and 1851).
  • Twenty-Three Years' Wanderings in the Australia and Tasmania, Including Travels with Dr Leichhardt (Geelong 1857), also published under the title Australasiatic Reminiscences of Twenty-Three Years, Wanderings (Melbourne 1857) and Travels with Leichhardt (Melbourne 1859).
  • Guide to the Linnaean System was never published.
  • Hortus Tasmaniensis was printed, but it was not delivered due to severe criticism. The only copy is in the National Library in Canberra .

He also published numerous articles in professional journals.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e adb.anu.edu.au : Roy A. Holden: Daniel Bunce (1813-1872) , in English, accessed on May 18, 2013
  2. ↑ leichhardt.sub.uni-goettingen.de (PDF; 125 kB): Biographical overview , accessed on May 18, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Bunce, Daniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British explorer and botanist in Australia
DATE OF BIRTH 1813
PLACE OF BIRTH Rickmansworth , Hertfordshire , England
DATE OF DEATH 1872
Place of death Geelong , Victoria , Australia