Alfred James Ewart, FRS (12 February 1872 – 12 September 1937) was an

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Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Early life and education

Ewart was born in Toxteth Park,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England, second son of Edmund Brown Ewart, B.A. and his wife, Martha ''née'' Williams. He was educated at the Liverpool Institute and

University College, Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, then graduated with a Ph.D. from

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

and D.Sc. from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Career

Ewart was a demonstrator of botany at Liverpool, and subsequently Science Master at

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...

, and lecturer on botany at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, where he was for a time deputy professor. In 1905 Ewart was appointed Professor of Botany at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. He had already completed a laborious and useful piece of work, his translation of

Wilhelm Pfeffer Wilhelm Friedrich Philipp Pfeffer (9 March 1845 – 31 January 1920) was a German botanist and plant physiologist born in Grebenstein. Academic career He studied chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Göttingen, where his instructors incl ...

's treatise on ''The Physiology of Plants'', the first volume of which was published in 1900, the second in 1903, and the third in 1906. He had also published ''First Stage Botany'' (1900), ''New Matriculation Botany'' (1902), of which many impressions were subsequently published under the title ''Ewart's Elementary Botany; On the Physics and Physiology of Protoplasmic Streaming in Plants'' (1903), and ''Rural Calendar'' (1905). In 1906, Ewart became the foundation chair of botany and plant physiology at the

. For the next 15 years Ewart was also the government botanist. In 1909, in collaboration with James Richard Tovey, who conducted the field research, he published a useful work on ''The Weeds, Poison Plants and Naturalized Aliens of Victoria'', and in 1917, in collaboration with Miss Olive B. Davies. ''The Flora of the Northern Territory''. At the university Ewart had no separate building and for many years shared the biology school building with Sir Baldwin Spencer. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

a separate department for botany was built. In 1927 Ewart was asked by the government to prepare a new ''Flora of Victoria'' which, with some assistance from other scientists, was completed and published in 1930. Other works not already mentioned include a ''Handbook of Forest Trees for Victorian Foresters'' (1925), and many papers in scientific journals, some of which were reprinted as pamphlets. Ewart was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1922. Ewart was president of Section D (Biology) of the

Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British As ...

meeting in Melbourne in 1921, and of Section M (Botany) at

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in 1926.

Personal

Ewart married twice, firstly to Florence Maud Donaldson, a violinist and composer of ability, in 1898 and secondly to Elizabeth Bilton in 1931. There were two sons of the first marriage. Ewart died suddenly on 12 September 1937.

References

Bibliography

* *T. C. Chambers,
Ewart, Alfred James (1872 - 1937)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 8, MUP, 1981, pp 448–450. Retrieved on 17 October 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ewart, Alfred James 1872 births 1937 deaths 19th-century British botanists English emigrants to Australia 20th-century Australian botanists Botanists active in Australia Fellows of the Royal Society Leipzig University alumni University of Melbourne faculty Scientists from Liverpool People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys