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Allan Cunningham (botanist)
Encyclopedia
Allan Cunningham was an English
botanist
and explorer, primarily known for his travel
s in New South Wales
to collect plant
s.
, Surrey
, the son of Allan Cunningham (Head Gardener at Wimbledon Park
House), who came from Renfrewshire
, Scotland, and his English wife Sarah (nee Juson/Jewson nee Dicken). Allan Cunningham was well educated at a Putney
private school, Reverend John Adams
Academy and then went into a solicitor's office (a Lincoln's Inn Conveyancer). He afterwards obtained a position with William Townsend Aiton
superintendent of Kew Gardens
, and this brought him in touch with Robert Brown
and Sir Joseph Banks
.
with James Bowie
between 1814 and 1816 collecting specimens. On 28 September 1816 he sailed for Sydney
where he arrived on 20 December 1816. He established himself at Parramatta
. Among other explorations, he joined John Oxley
's 1817 expedition beyond the Blue Mountains to the Lachlan
and Macquarie
rivers and shared in the privations of the 1,200 miles (1,930 km) journey. He was able to collect specimens of about 450 species and gained valuable experience as an explorer. He also climbed Mount Keira
.
on 21 January 1818. Though their stay was short many interesting specimens were found, but the islands on the west coast were comparatively barren. Towards the end of March the Goulburn Islands
on the north coast were reached, and there many new plants were discovered. They reached Timor
on 4 June 1818 and turning for home arrived at Port Jackson
on 29 July 1818. Cunningham's collections during this voyage included about 300 species.
Shortly after his return Cunningham made an excursion in the country southerly from Sydney, and towards the end of the year he made a voyage to Tasmania arriving at Hobart
on 2 January 1819. He next visited Launceston
and though often finding the botany interesting, he found little that was absolutely new, as Brown had preceded him. In May he went with King in the Mermaid on a second voyage to the north and north-west coasts. On this occasion they started up the east coast and Cunningham found many opportunities for adding to his collections. One of these was after the ship reached the mouth of the Endeavour River
(the site of modern Cooktown) on 28 June 1819.
The circumnavigation of Australia was completed on 27 August when they reached Vernon Island in Clarence Strait. They again visited Timor and arrived back in Sydney on 12 January 1820. The third voyage to the north coast with King began on 15 June, but meeting bad weather the bowsprit was lost and a return was made for repairs. Sailing again on 13 July 1820 the northerly course was followed and eventually the continent was circumnavigated. Though they found the little vessel was in a bad state when they were on the north-west coast, and though serious danger was escaped until they were close to home, they were nearly wrecked off Botany Bay
. The Mermaid was then condemned and the next voyage was on the Bathurst which was twice the size of the Mermaid. They left on 26 May 1821, the northern route was chosen, and when they were on the west coast of Australia it was found necessary to go to Mauritius
to refit, where they arrived on 27 September 1821. They left after a stay of seven weeks and reached King George Sound on 24 December 1821. A sufficiently long stay was made for Cunningham to make an excellent collection of plants, and then turning on their tracks the Bathurst sailed up the west coast and round the north of Australia. Sydney was reached again on 25 April 1822. Cunningham's A Few General Remarks on the Vegetation of Certain Coasts of Terra Australis, will be found in King's Narrative of a Survey, etc.
on 14 October 1822 and returned to Parramatta in January 1823. His account of about 100 plants met with will be found in Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales, edited by Barron Field
, 1825, under the title "A Specimen of the Indigenous Botany . . . between Port Jackson and Bathurst".
In 1823 Cunningham set out from the upper Hunter River
to explore inside the Great Dividing Range
, discovering the Darling Downs. With five men and five horses, he set out from Bathurst to explore from the Cudgegong River as far as Liverpool Plains
. He examined the Cudgegong
and Goulburn River
s. On 2 June, he discovered Pandora's Pass opening out a fair and practicable road to Liverpool Plains. He returned to Bathurst by the Cudgegong on 27 June 1823. Cunningham gave the name to the area now known for the Canning Downs
property.
Cunningham also undertook an expedition to what is now Canberra
in 1824. He travelled with three convicts, three horses and a cart and he travelled via Lake Bathurst
, Captains Flat and the valley in which flows the Queanbeyan River
. Poor weather prevented him from continuing his journey south.
Cunningham had long wished to visit New Zealand
and on 28 August 1826 he was able to sail on a whaler. He was hospitably received by the missionaries in the Bay of Islands
, was able to do much botanical work, and returned to Sydney on 20 January 1827. Accounts of his work in New Zealand will be found in Hooker's Companion to the Botanical Magazine, 1836, and Annals of Natural History, 1838 and 1839.
Cunningham returned to the Moreton Bay penal colony in 1828, setting off from Brisbane with Patrick Logan
, Charles Fraser
and five men to find Mount Warning
and to discover Cunningham's Gap
which he did, on 24 July. The peaks on either side of the gap were also named, Mount Cordeaux
and Mount Mitchell. After exploring the McPherson Range
area, Cunningham travelled on the right hand side of the Gap whereas the highway
today runs on the lefthand side from the small township of Aratula. Spicer's Gap
which runs parallel to Cunningham's Gap was actually the pass first identified by Cunningham in 1827. After its rediscovery by Henry Alphen in 1847, Spicer's Gap was used as a stagecoach
route. In 1829, Cunningham explored the Brisbane River
.
to travel abroad to collect plants for Kew Gardens. In 1831 he returned to England, but went back to Australia as Government Botanist in 1837, resigning in the following year finding that he was required to grow vegetables for government officials. He died in Sydney on 27 June 1839, of consumption and his remains were reinterred in an obelisk within the Royal Botanic Gardens
in Sydney in 1901.
. He also takes high rank among Australian explorers
, for though his parties were small in number and comparatively poorly equipped, his courage, resourcefulness, and knowledge, enabled him to achieve what he set out to do, and his journeys opened up much country for settlement.
Some of Australia's plants: Araucaria cunninghamii
(hoop pine), Archontophoenix cunninghamiana
(Bangalow palm), Banksia cunninghamii, Bauhinia
cunninghamii, Casuarina cunninghamiana
(river sheoak), Centipeda cunninghamii (old man weed), Ficus
cunninghamii, Medicosma cunninghamii (bone wood), Nothofagus cunninghamii (myrtle tree, Tasmania), Pennantia cunninghamii (brown beech), and Polyosma cunninghamii commemorate Allan and his brother Richard
, a botanist. The Cunningham Highway
is named in honour of Allan. The genus Alania was created by Endlicher in Cunningham's honour.
The Australian federal seat of Cunningham
, which stretches from Port Kembla in the south of Wollongong to Heathcote
in Southern Sydney
, was named after him in honour of his being the first European explorer to visit the Illawarra region
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and explorer, primarily known for his travel
Travel
Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...
s in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
to collect plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s.
Early life
Cunningham was born in WimbledonWimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, the son of Allan Cunningham (Head Gardener at Wimbledon Park
Wimbledon Park
Wimbledon Park is an urban park in Wimbledon and the suburb south and east to which it lends its name. It is the second largest park in the London Borough of Merton and also gives its name to Wimbledon Park tube station. To the immediate west of the park resides the All England Lawn Tennis and...
House), who came from Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
, Scotland, and his English wife Sarah (nee Juson/Jewson nee Dicken). Allan Cunningham was well educated at a Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
private school, Reverend John Adams
John Adams (educational writer)
John Adams was a Scottish compiler of books for young readers.-Biography:Adams was born at Aberdeen about 1750. Having graduated at the university there, he obtained a preaching license, and coming to London was appointed minister of the Scotch church in Hatton Garden...
Academy and then went into a solicitor's office (a Lincoln's Inn Conveyancer). He afterwards obtained a position with William Townsend Aiton
William Townsend Aiton
William Townsend Aiton was a Scottish botanist.He brought out a second and enlarged edition of the Hortus Kewensis in 1810–1813, a catalogue of the plants at Kew Gardens, the first edition of which was written by his father William Aiton...
superintendent of Kew Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
, and this brought him in touch with Robert Brown
Robert Brown (botanist)
Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...
and Sir Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
.
Brazil and New South Wales
On Banks' recommendation, Cunningham went to BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
with James Bowie
James Bowie (botanist)
-Life:Bowie was born in London, and entered the service of the Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1810. In 1814 he was appointed botanical collector to the gardens, with Allan Cunningham...
between 1814 and 1816 collecting specimens. On 28 September 1816 he sailed for Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
where he arrived on 20 December 1816. He established himself at Parramatta
Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
. Among other explorations, he joined John Oxley
John Oxley
John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of English colonisation.October 1802 he was engaged in coastal survey work including an expedition to Western Port in 1804-05...
's 1817 expedition beyond the Blue Mountains to the Lachlan
Lachlan River
- Course :The river rises in the central highland of New South Wales, part of the Great Dividing Range, 13 km east of Gunning. Its major headwaters, the Carcoar River, the Belubula River and the Abercrombie River converge near the town of Cowra. Minor tributaries include the Morongla Creek...
and Macquarie
Macquarie River
The Macquarie River is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales. Its headwaters rise in the central highlands of New South Wales near the town of Oberon. The river travels generally northwest past the towns of Bathurst, Wellington, Dubbo, Narromine, and Warren to the Macquarie Marshes...
rivers and shared in the privations of the 1,200 miles (1,930 km) journey. He was able to collect specimens of about 450 species and gained valuable experience as an explorer. He also climbed Mount Keira
Mount Keira
Mount Keira is a 464 metre high mountain lying 4 kilometres northwest of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Its distinctive shape and proximity to Wollongong make it a major local landmark. It is noted for the views of the city from the popular summit lookout and its history of...
.
Sea voyages
Cunningham traveled as the ship's botanist aboard HMS Mermaid under Phillip Parker King from 1817 to 1820. The Mermaid, was of only 85 tons, but sailing on 22 December 1817 they reached King George SoundKing George Sound
King George Sound is the name of a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Located at , it is the site of the city of Albany.The sound covers an area of and varies in depth from to ....
on 21 January 1818. Though their stay was short many interesting specimens were found, but the islands on the west coast were comparatively barren. Towards the end of March the Goulburn Islands
Goulburn Islands
The Goulburn Islands are a group of small islands and islets in the Arafura Sea off the coast of Arnhem Land in Northern Territory of Australia. The largest islands are the North and South Goulburn Islands. The Warruwi Aboriginal people are the traditional owners of the Goulburn Islands....
on the north coast were reached, and there many new plants were discovered. They reached Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
on 4 June 1818 and turning for home arrived at Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
on 29 July 1818. Cunningham's collections during this voyage included about 300 species.
Shortly after his return Cunningham made an excursion in the country southerly from Sydney, and towards the end of the year he made a voyage to Tasmania arriving at Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
on 2 January 1819. He next visited Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
and though often finding the botany interesting, he found little that was absolutely new, as Brown had preceded him. In May he went with King in the Mermaid on a second voyage to the north and north-west coasts. On this occasion they started up the east coast and Cunningham found many opportunities for adding to his collections. One of these was after the ship reached the mouth of the Endeavour River
Endeavour River
The Endeavour River on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia, was named in 1770 by Lt. James Cook, R.N., after he was forced to beach his ship, HM Bark Endeavour, for repairs in the river mouth, after damaging it on Endeavour Reef...
(the site of modern Cooktown) on 28 June 1819.
The circumnavigation of Australia was completed on 27 August when they reached Vernon Island in Clarence Strait. They again visited Timor and arrived back in Sydney on 12 January 1820. The third voyage to the north coast with King began on 15 June, but meeting bad weather the bowsprit was lost and a return was made for repairs. Sailing again on 13 July 1820 the northerly course was followed and eventually the continent was circumnavigated. Though they found the little vessel was in a bad state when they were on the north-west coast, and though serious danger was escaped until they were close to home, they were nearly wrecked off Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
. The Mermaid was then condemned and the next voyage was on the Bathurst which was twice the size of the Mermaid. They left on 26 May 1821, the northern route was chosen, and when they were on the west coast of Australia it was found necessary to go to Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
to refit, where they arrived on 27 September 1821. They left after a stay of seven weeks and reached King George Sound on 24 December 1821. A sufficiently long stay was made for Cunningham to make an excellent collection of plants, and then turning on their tracks the Bathurst sailed up the west coast and round the north of Australia. Sydney was reached again on 25 April 1822. Cunningham's A Few General Remarks on the Vegetation of Certain Coasts of Terra Australis, will be found in King's Narrative of a Survey, etc.
Exploration of eastern Australia
In September 1822 Cunningham went on an expedition over the Blue Mountains and arrived at BathurstBathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
on 14 October 1822 and returned to Parramatta in January 1823. His account of about 100 plants met with will be found in Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales, edited by Barron Field
Barron Field (author)
Barron Field was an English-born Australian judge and poet.-Early life:Field was the second son of Henry Field, a London surgeon and apothecary, and Esther, née Barron. Barron Field was educated as a barrister and was called to the Inner Temple on 25 June 1814...
, 1825, under the title "A Specimen of the Indigenous Botany . . . between Port Jackson and Bathurst".
In 1823 Cunningham set out from the upper Hunter River
Hunter River
The Hunter River is a major river in New South Wales, Australia. The Hunter River rises in the Liverpool Range and flows generally south and then east, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Newcastle, the second largest city in New South Wales and a major port....
to explore inside the Great Dividing Range
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
, discovering the Darling Downs. With five men and five horses, he set out from Bathurst to explore from the Cudgegong River as far as Liverpool Plains
Liverpool Plains
The Liverpool Plains is a geographical area and Local Government Area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales.The Shire was formed on 17 March 2004 by the amalgamation of Quirindi Shire with parts of three other shires: Parry, Murrurundi and Gunnedah.- Main towns :* Quirindi* Ardglen*...
. He examined the Cudgegong
Cudgegong River
The Cudgegong River is a tributary of the Macquarie River in New South Wales. It rises near Rylstone and flows generally north-west past Mudgee it flows past the edge of Gulgong and then into Lake Burrendong which is created by Burrendong Dam on the Macquarie River. Windamere Dam on the Cudgegong...
and Goulburn River
Goulburn River
Goulburn River may refer to:* Goulburn River , Australia* Goulburn River , Australia...
s. On 2 June, he discovered Pandora's Pass opening out a fair and practicable road to Liverpool Plains. He returned to Bathurst by the Cudgegong on 27 June 1823. Cunningham gave the name to the area now known for the Canning Downs
Canning Downs
Canning Downs was the first residential establishment built by a white person on the Darling Downs in Queensland, Australia. It is located a short drive from the town of Warwick and originally extended south east to Killarney and the McPherson Range...
property.
Cunningham also undertook an expedition to what is now Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
in 1824. He travelled with three convicts, three horses and a cart and he travelled via Lake Bathurst
Lake Bathurst (New South Wales)
Lake Bathurst is a lake 27 km south-east of Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. The Aboriginal name for the lake was Bundong. It is a shallow lake that can vary in area from a few square kilometers to up to ten square kilometres, depending on the inflow and evaporation rates...
, Captains Flat and the valley in which flows the Queanbeyan River
Queanbeyan River
The Queanbeyan River is a tributary of the Molonglo River and part of Murray-Darling Basin. The river is 70 kilometres in length and the river catchment is 96,000 hectares in size...
. Poor weather prevented him from continuing his journey south.
Cunningham had long wished to visit New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and on 28 August 1826 he was able to sail on a whaler. He was hospitably received by the missionaries in the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
, was able to do much botanical work, and returned to Sydney on 20 January 1827. Accounts of his work in New Zealand will be found in Hooker's Companion to the Botanical Magazine, 1836, and Annals of Natural History, 1838 and 1839.
Patrick Logan
Captain Patrick Logan was the commandant of the Moreton Bay penal colony from 1826 until his death in 1830. He is thought to have been killed by Aboriginal Australians who objected to him entering their lands...
, Charles Fraser
Charles Fraser (botanist)
Charles Fraser or Frazer was Colonial Botanist of New South Wales from 1821 to 1831. He collected and catalogued numerous Australian plant species, and participated in a number of exploring expeditions...
and five men to find Mount Warning
Mount Warning
Mount Warning is a mountain west-south-west of Murwillumbah, near the border with Queensland in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia...
and to discover Cunningham's Gap
Cunningham's Gap
Cunninghams Gap is a pass over the Great Dividing Range between the Darling Downs and the Fassifern Valley in Queensland, Australia. The Gap is the major route over the Scenic Rim. The Cunningham Highway was built to provide road transport between the two regions.It is situated in Main Range...
which he did, on 24 July. The peaks on either side of the gap were also named, Mount Cordeaux
Mount Cordeaux
Mount Cordeaux is a mountain near Brisbane, Australia. It lies to the immediate north of Cunninghams Gap in the Main Range National Park. It is known to the Aboriginal People as Niamboyoo and rises 1,135 m....
and Mount Mitchell. After exploring the McPherson Range
McPherson Range
The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border between the states of New South Wales and Queensland. Further west of the...
area, Cunningham travelled on the right hand side of the Gap whereas the highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
today runs on the lefthand side from the small township of Aratula. Spicer's Gap
Spicer's Gap
Spicers Gap lies 100 km west of Brisbane, Australia, and was the original route over the Great Dividing Range in the area around Brisbane. Today it is included in Main Range National Park and is a popular destination for campers and bushwalkers...
which runs parallel to Cunningham's Gap was actually the pass first identified by Cunningham in 1827. After its rediscovery by Henry Alphen in 1847, Spicer's Gap was used as a stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
route. In 1829, Cunningham explored the Brisbane River
Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in south east Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay. John Oxley was the first European to explore the river who named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane in 1823...
.
Later life
Cunningham was chosen by Joseph BanksJoseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
to travel abroad to collect plants for Kew Gardens. In 1831 he returned to England, but went back to Australia as Government Botanist in 1837, resigning in the following year finding that he was required to grow vegetables for government officials. He died in Sydney on 27 June 1839, of consumption and his remains were reinterred in an obelisk within the Royal Botanic Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia, are the most central of the three major botanical gardens open to the public in Sydney....
in Sydney in 1901.
Legacy
Cunningham was a hard worker as a botanist, and barely had time between his journeys to give evidence of his scientific prowess, though a few of his papers will be found in journals of the period. His immense collections of specimens mostly went to Kew Gardens and eventually to the British MuseumBritish Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. He also takes high rank among Australian explorers
European exploration of Australia
The European exploration of Australia encompasses several waves of seafarers and land explorers. Although Australia is often loosely said to have been discovered by Royal Navy Lieutenant James Cook in 1770, he was merely one of a number of European explorers to have sighted and landed on the...
, for though his parties were small in number and comparatively poorly equipped, his courage, resourcefulness, and knowledge, enabled him to achieve what he set out to do, and his journeys opened up much country for settlement.
Some of Australia's plants: Araucaria cunninghamii
Araucaria cunninghamii
Araucaria cunninghamii is a species of Araucaria known as Moreton Bay Pine, or Hoop Pine. Other less commonly used names include Colonial Pine, Richmond River Pine, Queensland Pine, Alloa, Ningwik, or Pien, the wood is sometimes called Arakaria)...
(hoop pine), Archontophoenix cunninghamiana
Archontophoenix cunninghamiana
Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, the Bangalow Palm or King Palm, is an Australian palm. It can grow up to and over 20 metres tall. Its flower colour is violet and the red fruits are attractive to birds. It flowers in mid-summer and has evergreen foliage...
(Bangalow palm), Banksia cunninghamii, Bauhinia
Bauhinia
Bauhinia is a genus of more than 200 species of flowering plants in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers, Swiss-French botanists....
cunninghamii, Casuarina cunninghamiana
Casuarina cunninghamiana
Casuarina cunninghamiana is a she-oak species of the genus Casuarina. The native range extends from Daly River in the Northern Territory, north and east in Queensland and eastern New South Wales.-Description:...
(river sheoak), Centipeda cunninghamii (old man weed), Ficus
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
cunninghamii, Medicosma cunninghamii (bone wood), Nothofagus cunninghamii (myrtle tree, Tasmania), Pennantia cunninghamii (brown beech), and Polyosma cunninghamii commemorate Allan and his brother Richard
Richard Cunningham (botanist)
Richard Cunningham was an English botanist who became Colonial Botanist of New South Wales and superintendent of the Sydney Botanic Gardens.-Early Life:...
, a botanist. The Cunningham Highway
Cunningham Highway
The Cunningham Highway is a National Highway in Queensland, Australia. It is named after the explorer and botanist Allan Cunningham who followed a route close to where the modern day highway runs.-Route:...
is named in honour of Allan. The genus Alania was created by Endlicher in Cunningham's honour.
The Australian federal seat of Cunningham
Division of Cunningham
The Division of Cunningham is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Allan Cunningham, a 19th century explorer of New South Wales and Queensland. It is located on the coast of New South Wales between southern Sydney and Wollongong, and...
, which stretches from Port Kembla in the south of Wollongong to Heathcote
Heathcote, New South Wales
Heathcote is a suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Heathcote is located 36 km south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire....
in Southern Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, was named after him in honour of his being the first European explorer to visit the Illawarra region
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...
.
External links
- The Allan Cunningham Project dedicated to documenting accurate information related to Allan Cunningham
- Toowoomba City Council
- Indian Academy of Sciences
- National Library of Australia
- Kew Gardens