Congratulations Professor Anya Reading!
RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.
RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.
Dr Joseph Dalton Hooker of Kew Gardens in London built his reputation as a botanist, to a large extent, on his publication of the floras of the southern ocean, namely his The Botany of The Antarctic Voyage of HM Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror, in the Years 1839 1843, a set of books that contains Flora Antarctica, Flora Novae Zelandiae and Flora Tasmaniae. Although Hooker had visited all of these places on the voyage and collected a substantial number of botanical specimens for his research, he alone could not have assembled the comprehensive herbarium needed for such a wide-ranging set of flora. To aid him in this endeavour, Hooker relied on an enthusiastic group of colonial correspondents and collectors. He regarded the specimens, and the information about them, sent by the colonial correspondents as belonging to the metropolitan centre at Kew. However, as these correspondents gained botanical knowledge, in particular William Archer, Ronald Campbell Gunn and William Colenso, they clamoured for recognition of their expertise, something Hooker was not always willing to bestow.
William Archer, Joseph Dalton Hooker, natural history, botany, Flora Tasmaniae, Ronald Campbell Gunn, William Colenso, Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, papers & proceedings, Australia
Published Papers
The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.
On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
