Ronald Campbell Gunn
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n 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 politician.
Early life
Gunn was born at Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
, (now South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
), the son of William Gunn, lieutenant in the 72nd Regiment
72nd Regiment of Foot
The 72nd Highlanders was a British Army Highland Infantry Regiment of the Line raised in the late 18th Century in Scotland for service against the French...
, and his wife Margaret, née Wilson. Gunn accompanied his father 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...
, the West Indies, and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
where he was educated. Gunn was given an appointment in the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
at Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, but left there in 1829 to go to Van Diemen’s Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
(now Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
), where he obtained the position of superintendent of convict barracks 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...
Town.
Career
In 1830 Gunn became superintendent of convicts for North Tasmania at LauncestonLaunceston, 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...
. In 1831 Gunn became acquainted with an early Tasmanian botanist, Robert William Lawrence
Robert William Lawrence
Robert William Lawrence , first-born son of William Effingham Lawrence, was born and educated in England. In 1825 he arrived in Van Diemen’s Land...
(1807-1833), who encouraged his interest in botany and placed him in touch with Sir William Jackson Hooker
William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker, FRS was an English systematic botanist and organiser. He held the post of Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University, and was the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He enjoyed the friendship and support of Sir Joseph Banks for his exploring,...
and Dr Lindley, with whom he corresponded for many years. In 1836 Gunn was appointed police magistrate at Circular Head
Circular Head
The Circular Head Council is a Local Government Area of Tasmania. It covers the far north-west corner of the state mainland.The major centres of the municipality are Smithton, on the north coast; Stanley, east of Smithton; and Marrawah on the west coast...
. From there he visited Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
and Western Port
Western Port
Western Port, is sometimes called "Western Port Bay", is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in Victoria. Geographically, it is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island. Contrary to its name, it lies to...
and also traveled much in Tasmania. He became assistant police magistrate 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...
Town in 1838, and in 1839 private secretary to Sir John Franklin
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
and clerk of the executive and legislative councils. In 1841 he gave up these appointments to take charge of the estates of William Effingham Lawrence
William Effingham Lawrence
William Effingham Lawrence was an English colonist to America, the son of Captain Effingham Lawrence, a merchant with houses in London, Liverpool and New York. Previous generations of Lawrences had settled in the American colonies but returned to England after the War of Independence...
, and spent much time investigating the flora of Tasmania. But his interests were not confined to botany; he became a general scientist and made collections of mammals, birds, reptiles and mollusca, for the British Museum
British 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...
.
Taking up the study of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, Gunn was employed by the government to report on mining fields, and also on the general resources of the colony. In 1864 Gunn was appointed a commissioner for selecting the seat of government at 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...
. Subsequently he became recorder of titles at 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...
, holding this position until 1876 when he retired owing to ill health. Gunn died at Newstead, near Launceston, after a long illness, on 13 March 1881. He became a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1850, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in 1854.
Gunn was a first-rate botanist and general scientist. Sir William Jackson Hooker
William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker, FRS was an English systematic botanist and organiser. He held the post of Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University, and was the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He enjoyed the friendship and support of Sir Joseph Banks for his exploring,...
, who dedicated his Flora Tasmaniae to Gunn, and another Tasmanian botanist, William Archer
William Archer
William Archer may refer to:* William S. Archer , U.S. Senator and Representative from Virginia* William Archer Irish naturalist and microscopist especially interested in Protozoa and Desmids...
(1820-74), speaking of Gunn in his Introductory Essay said: ‘There are few Tasmanian plants that Mr Gunn has not seen alive, noted their habits in a living state, and collected large suites of specimens with singular tact and judgment. These have all been transmitted to England . . . accompanied with notes that display remarkable powers of observation, and a facility for seizing important characters in the physiognomy of plants, such as few experienced botanists possess’.
Although so competent, Gunn published little. With Dr. John E. Gray
John Edward Gray
John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....
, he was responsible for a paper "Notices accompanying a Collection of Quadrupeds and Fish from Van Diemen's Land", and he was the author of a few papers on the geology and botany of that island. When private secretary to Sir John Franklin
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
he assisted in founding, and was editor of, the Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science, which recorded papers read at government house. From these beginnings sprang the Royal Society of Tasmania
Royal Society of Tasmania
The Royal Society of Tasmania was formed in 1844.The RST was the first Royal Society outside the United Kingdom. It started as the "Tasmanian Society" formed by Sir John Franklin assisted by Ronald Campbell Gunn....
. The Tasmanian Journal was succeeded by the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land, in which some of Gunn's few papers appeared. He was much liked and respected and may be ranked as the most eminent of Tasmanian botanists. Gunn died on 13 March 1881 at Newstead House and was buried in the Presbyterian cemetery, Launceston. Gunn is commemorated by the genus Gunnia and many species.