Jim Willis

James Hamlyn Willis (January 28, 1910–November 10, 1995) was an Australian botanist.

Early life and education

Willis was born in Stanley in northwest Tasmania. During his childhood he avidly explored the coastline and nearby heathlands and bush, developing an interest in nature. Willis's family returned to Melbourne, where he attended Melbourne High School and graduated in 1927

He received a diploma in forestry at the Victorian School of Forestry, Creswick from 1928 to December 1930 on a scholarship. From 1931 to 1937 , Willis worked as a forest officer in central Victoria and the Dandenong Ranges with the Victorian Forests Commission.

Jim Willis's botanical collections and observations extend over a long period, from his early days in Tasmania, and then during his long period with the Forests Commission, first as a student at the Victorian School of Forestry, Creswick, and later as a field officer. Willis 'researched and published not only on flowering plants but on lower plant groups also, particularly mosses and fungi. He was a man of prodigious energy, with an enormous capacity for work... his activities continued unabated after his retirement.... was a prolific correspondent and avid reader, with a full realisation of the importance of history in taxonomy. His botanic interests extended beyond taxonomy, He prepared floristic lists for local areas, published descriptive accounts of vegetation, and was an early voice for conservation. Exotic plants also received his attention and his total revision of E.E. Lord's book "Shrubs and Trees for Australian Gardens" for its fifth edition (1982) is a notable contribution in this field'. (Aston, Helen I., Muelleria 9:1-4 1996, p.3)

In all, Willis published just over 880 works, including books, scientific and popular papers, pamphlets, essays and reviews. 'In his taxonomic role, Willis described 42 new plant species himself, and a further 22 species with co-authors, besides describing several new plant varieties and publishing many new nomenclature combinations... His "A Handbook to Plants in Victoria", Volume 1 (1962; 2nd edition 1970), and Volume 2 (1973), marked a milestone for Victorian botany... ' was a work based largely on Willis's own meticulously gathered, first hand observations'. (Aston, p.3)

Willis gave his time and knowledge equally to amateur and professional alike. 'He would identify piles of specimens for enquirers and no one was ever made to feel that they were intruding on his time. His popularity as a clear, fluent and erudite public speaker was enormous and he was always in demand for lectures to scientific and community groups. For these he had thousands of colour transparencies, all neatly labelled and catalogued according to subject matter. Topics covered were as diverse as his many interests. He was an active member of some 16 botanically oriented organizations... [and] would often travel far afield throughout Victoria to speak to local groups or lead them on field excursions' (Aston, p.3). Willis was also active in the Uniting (former Methodist) Church in New Street Brighton as a lay preacher and sometime choir member.

Career Summary

*1910 Born in Oakleigh, Victoria
*1913-1924 Lived in Stanley, north west Tasmania
*1924-1927 Moved to Melbourne, attended Melbourne High School
*1927-1930 Diploma of Forestry at the School of Forestry at Creswick, Victoria
*1931-1937 Forest Officer in central Victoria and the Dandenong Ranges with the Victorian Forests Commission
*1937-1940 Bachelor of Science (Hons), University of Melbourne
*1937-January 1972 Taxonomic Botanist at the National Herbarium of Victoria, Melbourne
*1958-1959 Australian Botanical Liaison Officer at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, United Kingdom
*1961 Assistant Government Botanist
*1970-1972 Acting Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne (last fifteen months of service).
*1974 Doctorate of Science, University of Melbourne

Australian Expeditions

*1938 The Victorian Alps
*1940s East Gippsland
*August - September 1947 Russell Grimwade Expedition (Western Australia)1950s Victoria
*November 1950 Recherche Archipelago, Western Australia
*April 1954 Tasman Peninsula
*September 1965, July 1966, May-June 1974 - Central Australia
*July-August 1974 the Kimberley and Hamersley Ranges, Western Australia
*July 1979 and July 1980 - Central Australia
*May - June 1984 Far north Kimberley
*June-July 1984 Kakadu, Katherine Gorge, and Melville Island.

Overseas Trips

*1958-1959 visited most of the botanical institutions in the United Kingdom, and several on the European continent; and spent three weeks in the United States including central California.
*January-February 1968, October 1975, and October-November 1982 New Zealand
*July-August 1970, July-August 1975, and August 1979 Papua New Guinea
*1972 British Isles, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland
*1978 Europe
*1984 Sri Lanka, Spain, Portugal, France and the Channel Islands, and Europe.
*April 1986 China.

Awards

*1960 Australian Natural History Medallion
*1973 Royal Society of Victoria's Silver Medal
*January 1974 Honorary Fellow, Faculty of Science Monash University
*May 1976 Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (Honoris Causa)
*November 1989 Honorary Life Member, Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens
*September 1990 Australian Institute for Horticulture's Award of Excellence
*November 1991 Australian Conservation Foundation Honorary Life Membership
*1993 National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Certificate of Honour
*June 1995 Member of the Order of Australia.

Memberships

*Active member of sixteen botanically oriented organisations, including Royal Society of Victoria,
*Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (joined 1932),
*The Society for Growing Australian Plants
*National Trust of Australia (Victoria),
*Victorian National Parks Association,
*Geelong Field Naturalists' Club,
*Native Plants Preservation Society of Victoria,
*The David Stead Wildlife Research Foundation (NSW).

Publications

Published works extend to over 880 works, that is books, pamphlets, essays, scientific and popular papers and reviews, including:-

*1941, 1950, 1957 & 1963 Victorian Toadstools and Mushrooms
*1956 Editor of first three editions of the National Herbariums research journal "Muelleria"
*1962 & 1973 authored A Handbook to Plants in Victoria, Volume I (Ferns, Conifers, Monocotyledons) and Volume II (Dicotyledons) published in 1962 and 1973 respectively.
*Until its replacement by the multi-authored, four volume publication Flora of Victoria (Inkata Press, Melbourne, 1993), the ‘Handbook’ was widely regarded as the definitive text on Victorian flora.
*1968, 1973 & 1980 G.R. Cochrane, B.A. Fuhrer, E.R. Rotherdam, J.&M. Simmons, and J.H. Willis, *Flowers and Plants of Victoria and Tasmania
*1982 Revision of E.E. Lords Shrubs and Trees for Australian Gardens (5th edition).