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John Gilbert (14 March 1812 – 28 June 1845) was an English naturalist and
explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
. Gilbert is often cited in the earliest descriptions of many Australian animals, many of which were unrecorded in European literature, and some of these are named for him by those authors. Gilbert was sent to the newly founded
Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...
and made collections and notes on the unique birds and mammals of the surrounding region. He later joined expeditions to remote parts the country, continuing to make records and collections until he was killed during a violent altercation at
Mitchell River (Queensland) The Mitchell River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the Atherton Tableland about northwest of Cairns and flows about northwest across Cape York Peninsula from Mareeba to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The ...
on the
Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...
.


Early life

John Gilbert was born on 14 March 1812 in
Newington Butts Newington Butts is a former hamlet, now an area of the London Borough of Southwark, that gives its name to a segment of the A3 road running south-west from the Elephant and Castle junction. The road continues as Kennington Park Road leading to ...
, south London, England and was christened on 25 October 1812 at Spa Fields Lady Huntingdons,
Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redisco ...
, London. His father was William and his mother Ann, who were from nearby villages in Kent. Gilbert was a
taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...
for the
Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...
, where he met
John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...
. Gould had recruited Gilbert, four years his junior, to work there. But 18 months later, Gilbert was sacked for being absent without leave.


Australian expeditions

Gilbert travelled to Australia in 1838 with the Goulds and their young nephew Henry William Coxen. Gilbert was paid 100 pounds per annum plus expenses, but he was expected to account meticulously for every penny and to keep his expenses as small as possible. Gould and Gilbert reached
Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
on the ''Parsee'' on 19 September 1838. Both worked in
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
for a few months. The party landed in Hobart, Tasmania in September, and in January, Gilbert and Gould traveled overland together to Launceston. Gould decided they should separate, and sent Gilbert off on 4 February 1839 to the
Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...
, assuring him that he would look after all his personal possessions which were still in Hobart. Gilbert was instructed to collect as many specimens as possible, then meet up again in Sydney, where Gould would wait for him until the end of April the following year. He worked mostly in the vicinity of
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 ...
, gathering specimens for Gould for 11 months. Gilbert disembarked from the ship ''Comet'' on 6 March 1839 at
Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
, the port of the colony in its first decade. He met Francis Armstrong within a few days, who was acquainted with the
Nyungar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
peoples of the region, and began to make collections in the area around the Swan River and
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
. His arrival began a period of ornithological research that saw large number of his specimens described and depicted by the Goulds, many of which were "discovered", the field notes that accompanied these gave details of birds of the west that allowed inclusion in their ambitious publication. Meanwhile, Gould returned to Hobart, where his wife Elizabeth awaited him. They lived in style with their servants in Government House. Taking one servant with him, Gould visited New South Wales and was made welcome by his wife's family, the Coxens and other wealthy landlords. He returned to Hobart just in time for the birth of his seventh child (a son they named Franklin Tasman). Almost immediately, Gould set off again, this time for South Australia, where he met the Governor and accompanied
Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...
on his expedition to the Murray Scrubs. When he returned to Hobart, the Goulds travelled together to New South Wales, where Elizabeth's brothers lived. Gould collected many birds and mammals, some of which were new to science. The Goulds left for England on 9 April. When Gilbert arrived in Sydney on 30 April, he found his employer gone. To rub salt in his wound, his trunk had been ransacked and many of the possessions that Gould had promised to protect, had been stolen. Gilbert had provided Gould with thousands of specimens of every description, from quadrupeds to insects, from shells to crustacea, from plants to reptiles, but mainly and most importantly, birds and eggs. He had provided Gould with over 60 new species of birds, including the extinct paradise parrot which he first discovered in the
Darling Downs 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 the major regions of Queensland. The name was generall ...
in June 1844. Gilbert travelled by boat to
Port Essington Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remote ...
, north of where Darwin is today. There, he collected, among many other things, a beautiful, newly discovered finch and returned with it to Gould in England. there he found his employer mourning his wife, Elizabeth, who had died after the birth of their eighth child. She was just 37. Gould named the finch after his wife, so Elizabeth is remembered today in this gorgeous little bird, called not Elizabeth's finch, but more cryptically, the ''Gouldian finch''. As Elizabeth was the illustrator of all the works, not her husband, Gould then needed to recruit other artists to finish the work that Elizabeth had tirelessly begun. Gilbert soon returned to Australia to collect again for Gould. He discovered the paradise parrot and thought it 'without exception the most beautiful of the whole tribe I have ever yet seen in Australia.' He begged Gould to name it after him, saying, 'I know of no species that would delight me more to see ''gilbertii'' attached to than this beautiful bird.' Gould declined, saying he did not like naming species after people, and anyway, he had just recently named another species after him. Apparently, Gould saw no contradiction in this explanation and though the paradise parrot is now extinct, Gilbert is remembered in the Gilbert's ''whistler''. Naming the Gilbert's whistler was one of Gould's rare ornithological mistakes. He had already named the eastern race of the same bird, calling it the 'unadorned thickhead', perhaps giving some indication of what he thought of the bird. By convention, the first name stands, so today the scientific name is ''Pachycephalia inornata''. But while technically speaking, the name Gilbert's whistler refers just to the western race of the bird, the name is used universally today for the species. Gould also honoured Gilbert when naming two animals that Gilbert had collected for him from the dense heath in the south-west of Western Australia,
Gilbert's dunnart Gilbert's dunnart (''Sminthopsis gilberti'') is a recently discovered dunnart, described in 1984. The length from snout to tail being of which the head and body are and the tail . The hind foot size is , the ear length is and with the weight ...
and
Gilbert's potoroo Gilbert's potoroo or ngilkat (''Potorous gilbertii'') is Australia's most endangered marsupial, the rarest marsupial in the world, and one of the world's rarest critically endangered mammals, found in south-western Western Australia. It is a ...
. Gilbert collected specimens of 432 birds, including 36 new species from Western Australia, and 318 mammals, including 22 species not previously known in the west. By the end of January 1844, he was back in Sydney, and during the next six months worked his way to the
Darling Downs 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 the major regions of Queensland. The name was generall ...
in
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...
. The Coxen family who settled the Darling Downs region were related by marriage; Gould's wife Elizabeth (née Coxen) was sister to Charles and Stephen, and aunt to Henry William Coxen. The families allowed Gould and Gilbert to stay on their properties to collect fauna and flora of the district.


Leichhardt's expedition

While Gilbert was considering which part of the continent should next be investigated,
Ludwig Leichhardt Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, (23 October 1813 – c. 1848) was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's dis ...
arrived with the other members of his expedition to
Port Essington Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remote ...
(east of Darwin, and since abandoned), and Gilbert was allowed to join the party in September 1844. In November, they decided the party was too large for the amount of provisions they had with them, and Leichhardt ruled that the two who had joined last should return. Eventually, however, it was decided that Hodgson and Caleb should return, and Gilbert remained to become later on practically the second in command of the expedition. One member of the party, a boy of 16, was too young to be of much use and the leader's treatment of the two Aboriginal members of the party was lacking in tact and consideration. A good deal of responsibility therefore fell upon Gilbert, who was the best bushman of a very mixed company. The progress made for several months was much less than was anticipated and, by May 1845, supplies of food were running very short.


Death

On 28 June 1845 at the Mitchell River near Dunbar, Queensland on the
Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...
near the
Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...
, Gilbert was killed by a flying spear when natives made a night attack on the expedition's camp, because some of their women had been molested by the two Aboriginal members of the Leichhardt party. There still exists some controversy over his death – the wound was apparently smaller than a spear, and some suggest he died from accidental shooting by one of his companions. He was buried on the spot, a tree nearby was marked, and a fire was lit over the disturbed earth to screen the grave; this, although much searched for, has not since been found.


Aftermath

Other members of the expedition received several spear thrusts but recovered. Leichhardt then turned south-westerly, skirting the gulf for a while, and reached Port Essington almost exhausted in December 1845. Leichhardt preserved Gilbert's papers and his diary, which, however, was lost for nearly 100 years before its discovery by A. H. Chisholm. Almost everything known about Gilbert is owed to Chisholm's research, which shows Gilbert as a man of much ability and fine character who had a great respect for the Aboriginal peoples.


Legacy

There is a memorial to John Gilbert in
St James' Church, Sydney St James' Church, commonly known as St James', King Street, is an Australian heritage-listed Anglican parish church located at 173 King Street, in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales. Consecrated in February 1824 and named ...
. John Gilbert's memorial at St James' church is inscribed with the Latin phrase ''Dulce et decorum est pro scientia mori'', which may be translated as "it is sweet and fitting to die for science." There is also a memorial to Gilbert at Gilbert's Lookout at
Taroom Taroom is a town in the Shire of Banana and locality split between the Shire of Banana and the Western Downs Region in Queensland, Australia. At the , Taroom had a population of 869 people. Geography The town is located on the Dawson River ...
. Various geographic features have been named after him, including: * Gilbert River, flowing into the
Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...
** Gilberton, on the Gilbert River headwaters ** Gilbert River Telegraph Station, between
Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
and Georgetown * Gilbert Range, near the Dawson Valley * Gilbert's Dome, in the
Peak Range The Peak Range is a small subrange of the Swannell Ranges of the Omineca Mountains, located on the northwest side of the junction of Toodoggone River and Finlay River in northern British Columbia, Canada. There is also a Peak Range in Central Q ...
in
Central Queensland Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coas ...
Gilbert's potoroo Gilbert's potoroo or ngilkat (''Potorous gilbertii'') is Australia's most endangered marsupial, the rarest marsupial in the world, and one of the world's rarest critically endangered mammals, found in south-western Western Australia. It is a ...
(''Potorous gilbertii'' ), a
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
, was named after him; as was Gilbert's dragon (''
Lophognathus gilberti ''Lophognathus gilberti'', Gilbert's lashtail or Gilbert's dragon, is a species of agama found in Australia. References Lophognathus Agamid lizards of Australia Taxa named by John Edward Gray Reptiles described in 1842 {{agamida ...
'' ), a species of
lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
. On 28 June 1945, to mark the centenary of Gilbert's death, wreaths of Australian wildflowers were placed on the marble memorial tablet in St James' Church in Sydney by representatives of: * the Royal Australian Historical Society of Sydney * the Royal Ornithologists' Union of Sydney * the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria * the Melbourne Bird Observers' Club In the 1980s, the
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
searched for Gilbert's grave and have marked what they believe to be the probable location.


References

* *Chisholm AH. (1966).
Gilbert, John (1810? – 1845)"
''
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 1. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp. 441–442. Accessed 22 November 2008. *Fisher CT (1985). "Two previously unpublished letters, with the correct version of a third, from John Gilbert to John Gould". ''
Australian Zoologist The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales (RZSNSW) was formed in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1879 as the New South Wales Zoological Society. A Royal Charter was granted in September, 1908, leading to a change to the current name ...
'' 22 (1): 5-14; back and front covers. *Fisher CT (1986). "A type specimen of the Paradise Parrot, ''Psephotus pulcherrimus'' (Gould, 1845)". ''
Australian Zoologist The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales (RZSNSW) was formed in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1879 as the New South Wales Zoological Society. A Royal Charter was granted in September, 1908, leading to a change to the current name ...
'' 22 (3): 10-12. *Fisher CT (1988). "An unpublished drawing of the Pig-footed Bandicoot by John Gould and H.C. Richter, with comments on museum specimens". ''
Australian Zoologist The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales (RZSNSW) was formed in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1879 as the New South Wales Zoological Society. A Royal Charter was granted in September, 1908, leading to a change to the current name ...
'' 24 (4): 205-209; plus cover plate. *


Cited sources


External links


John Gilbert: A collector extraordinaire
at the Australian Museum

in Encyclopedia of Australian Science
John Gilbert's life and collections
published on the website of World Museum, National Museums Liverpool, UK
John Gilbert's diary of the Leichhardt expedition
published on the website of World Museum, National Museums Liverpool, UK {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, John English naturalists English explorers Explorers of Australia Explorers of Western Australia English emigrants to colonial Australia 1812 births 1845 deaths