William Webb (1834?–1897) was a collector and trader of plants and animals, active in the region around

King George Sound King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...

Southwest Australia Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...

Biography

William Webb was born sometime around 1834 in Staffordshire, England, and emigrated to

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...

in 1862. He is thought to have partnered with another collector of the region,

George Maxwell George Maxwell (1804–1880) was a professional collector of plants and insects in Southwest Australia. The botanical specimens he obtained were used to make formal descriptions of the region's plant species. Biography He was born in England in 18 ...

, and advertised his series in local newspapers. His activity in distributing specimens to scientific collection continued into the 1890s, continuing the business after Maxwell's death in 1880. He died in 1897.

Works

Amongst the specimens provided by Webb is the 1874 collection of ''

Potorous platyops The broad-faced potoroo (''Potorous platyops'') is an extinct potoroid marsupial that was found in southwestern Australia. The first specimen was collected in 1839, and described by John Gould in 1844. Only a small number of specimens have been ...

'', the last of a small marsupial species named moda, a series of five animals forwarded and held at the

Macleay Museum The Macleay Museum at The University of Sydney, was a natural history museum located on the University's campus, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Museum was amalgamanted into Chau Chak Wing Museum, which opened in 2020. The Macleay ...

in Sydney. The botanist

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

notes the purchase of algae from a Mr Webb, assumed to be this individual, as the trader but not collector of the series found at

Israelite Bay Israelite Bay is a bay and locality on the south coast of Western Australia. Situated in the Shire of Esperance local government area, it lies east of Esperance and the Cape Arid National Park, within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and the Grea ...

. He is mentioned by J. C. Hassell as collecting in his company at Mount Manypeaks and the Torbay region west of Albany, at Nornalup, and elsewhere. Hassell gives a record of hearing the noisy scrub bird, ''

Atrichornis clamosus The noisy scrubbird (''Atrichornis clamosus'') is a species of bird in the family Atrichornithidae. It is endemic to the coastal heaths of south-western Australia (east of Albany). Description The noisy scrubbird features a dark brown coloure ...

'', a rare and elusive species with a piercing and unmistakable call.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, William People from Albany, Western Australia 1830s births 1897 deaths Zoological collectors Botanical collectors active in Australia Year of birth uncertain