- John MacGillivray
John MacGillivray (
December 18 ,1821 –June 6 ,1867 ) was born inAberdeen ,Scotland , the son ofornithologist William MacGillivray .MacGillivray took part in three of the Royal Navy's surveying voyages in the Pacific. In 1842 he sailed as naturalist on board HMS "Fly", despatched to survey the
Torres Strait ,New Guinea , and the east coast ofAustralia , returning to England in 1846.In the same year he was appointed as
naturalist on the voyages of HMS "Rattlesnake" (CaptainOwen Stanley ), collecting inAustralia n waters atPort Curtis ,Rockingham Bay ,Port Molle ,Cape York ,Gould Island ,Lizard Island andMoreton Island inQueensland ,Port Essington (Northern Territory ) and visitingSydney (New South Wales ) on several occasions. The expedition was inHobart ,Tasmania , in June 1847 and also surveyed inBass Strait , and on the southern coast ofNew Guinea and theLouisiade Archipelago . On this series of voyages his most notable achievement was to make records of the aboriginal languages of the peoples he encountered. His account of the voyages was published in London.In 1852 he deserted his sick wife and his children in London, and sailed for Australia. T.H. Huxley found his consumptive wife down to her last shilling, and raised £50 to send her and the children back to Australia where her parents could look after her. She died two weeks from Sydney (Desmond 1994 p217).
MacGilllivray's journey on HMS "Herald" was also doomed to failure. The ship visited
Lord Howe Island , New South Wales,Dirk Hartog Island andShark Bay ,Western Australia . On this expedition he was accompanied by Scots naturalistWilliam Grant Milne . MacGillivray left the voyage early in 1855, having been dismissed by the captainHenry Mangles Denham . He had become a hopeless drunkard, and when he died, alone in a squalid hotel room, the records noted 'mother and father unknown' (Desmond 1994).MacGillivray died in Sydney, New South Wales, on 6 June 1867. He is commemorated in the name of the
Fiji Petrel "Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi".ee also
*
Henry Mangles Denham
*William Grant Milne References
* Desmond, Adrian. "Huxley: the Devil's Disciple". Joseph, London 1994.
* MacGillivray, John. "Narrative of the voyage of HMS Rattlesnake". 2 vols, Boone, London 1852.
* Orchard A.E. 'A History of Systematic Botany in Australia', in "Flora of Australia" Vol 1, 2nd ed, ABRS, 1999.)External links
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** gutenberg|no=12433|name=Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Volume 1
** gutenberg|no=12525|name=Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Volume 2
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