Richard Austin Bastow (14 May 1839 – 14 May 1920) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

naturalist and bryologist. R.A. Bastow was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, the son of a scholarly parson

James Austin Bastow A Bible dictionary is a reference work containing encyclopedic entries related to the Bible, typically concerning people, places, customs, doctrine and Biblical criticism. Bible dictionaries can be scholarly or popular in tone. The first dictio ...

. He was educated at The Royal Grammar School. In 1862 he eloped with Catherine Broadbent to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Austin Bastow, his son, was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

in 1867. Bastow and his wife returned to England because of her mother's delicate health. After her death, they decided to emigrate to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

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 ...

, where in 1884 he became Town Surveyor in

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 ...

. He had 5 children, 2 dying young, the other three were a son, Austin and 2 daughters, Dorothea Kate and Daisy Winifred. Richard and Catherine were buried in the Booroondara General Cemetery,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

In Tasmania, Bastow became interested in

bryology Bryology (from Greek , a moss, a liverwort) is the branch of botany concerned with the scientific study of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). Bryologists are people who have an active interest in observing, recording, classifying or ...

. His definitive work, ''Mosses of Tasmania'', was published in

in 1886. Other significant works followed over the years. His last paper was ''Victorian Hepaticae'' in 1914, the pioneer paper in the field for that Australian state In 1888 Bastow moved to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, arriving aboard the ''Mangana'' on 13 March. In Victoria he initially worked privately but later became an employee of the Public Works Department until his retirement. Bastow found self-employment a task he was not suited to and being employed allowed him the time he felt he needed to follow his true passion "seaweeds and mosses". He was largely responsible for the original

Fish Market. In Victoria he continued with his field work and enthusiastic presentation of papers at the Field Naturalists Club and Royal Society of Victoria. He was a Fellow of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

between 1885 and 1889 After his death, his son Austin donated to the National Museum of Melbourne his collection of more than 10,000 molluscs. His main collection is in the Melbourne Herbarium. Other collections are in the

Museum of Victoria Museums Victoria is an organisation which operates three major state-owned museums in Melbourne, Victoria: the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum. It also manages the Royal Exhibition Building and a storage faci ...

. The following species are named after Bastow: :'' Cyclostrema bastowi'' :'' Orbitestella bastowi'' :'' Daphnella bastowi'' :'' Asperdaphne bastowi''

Notes

References

Museum of Victoria
*Australasian Bryological Newsletter, Number 40, June 1999. *Victorian Nature, Sept. 1914. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastow, Richard 1839 births 1920 deaths Bryologists Australian naturalists People educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne