William Baxter (born 1787 - died between 1830 and 1836) was an English gardener who collected in Australia on behalf of English nurserymen and private individuals. He had developed his horticultural reputation as gardener to the Comtesse de Vandes in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

, London, many of the plants he had nurtured being used for illustrations in ''

Curtis's Botanical Magazine ''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''. Each of the issue ...

''. He was the first privately financed plant collector to be sent to Australia, his mission being to collect seeds and roots for the London seedsman F. Henchman.Clough, 2002. ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens''. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. p. 79. Baxter's collections were made at

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

(1822–1823), the southern coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

(1823–1825), at

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 ...

Cape Arid Cape Arid National Park is a national park located in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is situated east of Esperance and lies on the shore of the south coast from the eastern end of the Recherche Archipelago. The bay at its east ...

and

Lucky Bay Lucky may refer to: *An adjective of luck Lucky may also refer to: Film and television * '' Lucky: No Time for Love'', a 2005 Hindi-language romance starring Salman Khan, Sneha Ullal, and Mithun Chakraborty * ''Lucky'', a 2005 short film by Avi ...

Twofold Bay Twofold Bay is an open oceanic embayment that is located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The bay was named by George Bass, for its shape of two bights. The northern bight is called Calle Calle Bay; while the southern ...

, and

Wilsons Promontory Wilsons Promontory, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria. South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nearb ...

, Victoria (1826). The final expedition to Western Australia (1828–1829) was arranged by Charles Fraser. On his return they disagreed about the distribution of the collected material. Baxter's name is commemorated in epithets, such as species '' Hakea baxteri'' R.Br., and ''

Eucalyptus baxteri ''Eucalyptus baxteri'', commonly known as brown stringybark, is a medium-sized tree that is endemic the south-east of Australia. It has rough, stringy bark to the thinnest branches, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, green to yellow flower bud ...

'', and the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Baxteria'' was named in his honour. He is thought to have died about 1836. The main part of his collections are held at Kew and the British Museum. Material supplied by Baxter's expedition was propagated at the

Clapton Nursery The Clapton Nursery also known as Mackay's Clapton Nursery and later Low's Clapton Nursery was a plant nursery established in the early 19th century by John Bain Mackay in Upper Clapton, London, and noted for its introductions of Australian and S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, William Botanical collectors active in Australia 1830s deaths English gardeners 19th-century English people English emigrants to colonial Australia 1787 births

See also

References