- William Henry Harvey
William Henry Harvey (
February 5 ,1811 –May 15 ,1866 ) was an Irishbotanist who specialised inalgae . He was one of the most distinguished students of marine algae of all time.Biography
William Henry Harvey was born at Summerville near
Limerick ,Ireland , in 1811, the youngest of 11 children. His father Joseph Massey Harvey, was aQuaker and prominent merchant. William started his education at Ballitore School in County Kildare and at the age of 15 he had already established algae as his overriding interest: "To be useless, various, and abstruse is a sufficient recommendation of a science to make it pleasing to me" (Papenfuss, 1976).Papenfuss, G.F. 1976. pp.21–46. Landmarks in Pacific North American Marine Phycology. "in" Abbott, I.A. and Hollenberg, G.J. 1976. "Marine Algae of California." Stanford University Press, California. ISBN 0-8047-0867-3] After leaving school he joined the family business declining to "be a doctor or lawyer, lacking courage for the one and face for the other and application for both".Harvey was an authority on algae and
bryophyte s (mosses ), and author of "A Manual of the British Algae" (1841), "Phycologia Britannica" (4 vols., 1846–51), "Nereis Boreali-Americana." (3 parts 1852–85) and "Phycologia Australica " (5 vol., 1858–63). [http://users.ugent.be/phycology/harvey] He spent several years inSouth Africa , and was the author, withOtto Wilhelm Sonder , of the "Flora Capensis" (7 vol. in 11, 1859–1933). Harvey's main algalherbarium is inTrinity College, Dublin .Harvey's discovery in 1831 of the
moss "Hookeria laetevirens" atKillarney , new to Ireland, led to a lifelong friendship with SirWilliam Jackson Hooker , who was then Regius Professor ofBotany atGlasgow University . Hooker recognized at once the extraordinary talent of the shy young man of twenty, and lent him books. Soon afterwards Hooker invited him to contribute the section on algae to his "British Flora" (1833) as well as the section on algae for "The Botany of Captain Beechy's Voyage".In 1835 Harvey went to
South Africa aboard the vessel "Carnatic", with his brother Joseph who had been nominated as Colonial Treasurer byThomas Spring-Rice . When Joseph's health failed in the following year, William took over his duties. They left for Britain together on 14 April 1836 and Joseph died on the voyage. Back in Cape Town, and now officially Treasurer-General, William took up residence at Bishop's Court, rising before dawn every day, collecting in the mountains or sea-shore, and working on the plants at night. In March 1837 he wrote: 'I have taken so many excursions lately that I almost fear I shall earn the sobriquet of Her Majesty's pleasurer general'. In the same year he enlisted the services of Zeyher, who was inUitenhage , to collect specimens at a payment of ₤2 per 100. He developed a close friendship with Baron von Ludwig who had started his famous gardens in Cape Town, and dedicated his "Genera of South African Plants" to him. Under the patronage of Sir George Grey and with the assistance of a team of collectors and of Dr.Otto Wilhelm Sonder , he set about writing a 'Flora Capensis' in English - he lived long enough to see the first three volumes completed and published in Dublin, the third in 1865. He came home in 1842. In 1853 he made a three year voyage, visitingIndia ,Australia and theSouth Sea Islands . On his return he published further important books dealing with the botany ofNorth America and South Africa.Harvey was curator of the Trinity College [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_College_Dublin] Herbarium (TCD) [http://www.tcd.ie/Botany/herbarium.html] and Professor of Botany of the
Royal Dublin Society .His "Phycologia Britannica" was published in 1846–1851 and his publication of "Nereis Australis Or Algae of the Southern Ocean" (1847–49) along with other publications established his reputation. His "Phycologia Australica" represents one of the most important books on phycology in the 19th century. Published in five volumes between 1858 and 1863 it is the result of his extensive collecting on the Australian shores.
By the time Harvey set foot in
Western Australia he had already established himself as a leading phycologist having published several large works. He earned the title: "father of Australian Phycology". He died on 15 May 1866 atTorquay and was buried there.About 600 specimens from Ireland,
Ceylon ,Friendly Islands ,Australia andTasmania collected by Harvey are in store in theUlster Museum Herbarium (BEL), almost 90 of which are in the 5th volume of the William Thompson collection in the Ulster Museum, catalogue numbers: F8848–F8937. However his primary collection is still in the in the [http://www.tcd.ie/Botany/herbarium.html TCD Herbarium] attached to Botany School building of Trinity College. There are also collections of Harvey's specimens in: The Botany Department ofUniversity College, Cork , Ireland; West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.;National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL), Melbourne, Australia; National Herbarium of New South Wales (NSW), Sydney, Australia and the Herbarium of St. Andrews University (STA).In Harvey's era it is clear that there was much exchanging of specimens. In his Phycologia Britannica Harvey often notes the "distribution" of each species giving the name of the collector who reported the record. In the "Preface" of Vol. 1 he lists 19 people to whom he is indebted. These includes: Rev. Mr. Pollexfen and Dr.McBain for
Orkney algae, the others are: Rev. Mr.Hore, Dr.Cocks, Mr. Rohloff, Mr. Boswarva, Miss White, Miss Magdalene Turner, Miss Warren, Miss Ball, Miss (Isabella) Gifford (1823?–1891)(4), Miss Cutler (1), Mrs Gatty (1809–1873), Mrs Gulson (?–1871)(5), Mrs Hayden, Rev. Dr. Landsborough, Dr. Dickie (2), Mr. Ralfs and Mr. Cresswell. Others noted in volume 1 include: Mr. Winch, Mr. McCalla (c.1814–1849)(3), Mr. Wigg, Mr. Borrer, Miss Hutchins, Mr.John Templeton (Botanist) , Mr. T.N.Cole, Rev. Mr. Clouston, Rev. H.Davies (Mr.) Stackhouse, Mrs. Ovens, Mr. W.Backhouse, Dr. P.Neill and others. Harvey recognised Magdalene Turner's help named "Cladophora magdalenae" Harv. in remembrance of her.pecimens of some of these collectors are to be found in the Ulster Museum Herbarium (BEL)
1. Miss Cutler: BEL catalogue numbers:— F5646; F5400; F5399; F5358; F5336; F5335 and F5511.
2. Professor George Dickie (1812–1882): BEL catalogue numbers:— F2651; F2462 and F2696.
3.
William McCalla many specimens in Ulster Museum.4. Miss Isabella Gifford (1823?–1891): BEL catalogue numbers:— Ulster Museum Collection No. 15.
5. Mrs Gulson (?–1871): BEL catalugue numbers:— F5369; F5419; F5410; F5370; F5737; F5522; F5810; F5810; F5737; F5713; F5523; F5522; F5506; F5720; F5719; F5410; F5401 and F5369.
Other Collectors
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