ALLAN CUNNINGHAM
BOTANIST (1791-1839)
PEN AND INK PORTRAIT BY
PHILLIP PARKER KING 1817
FROM THE COLLECTION OF
THE STATE LIBRARY OF NSW
MITCHELL LIBRARY
WELCOME!
The Allan Cunningham Project
The Allan Cunningham Project is made up of several parts, all with the same aim, which is to document accurate information related to Allan Cunningham (botanist and explorer 1791 - 1839) and make it accessible via the internet.
Keeping a record of what he witnessed, discovered and documented will ensure that our generation and future generations will have access to historical information related to the Australian landscape and its flora between 1816, when he first arrived in Port Jackson and 1839 when he closed his eyes for the last time.
When seeking to
understand the colonial past of Australia, Allan Cunningham's story is one to
experience. As you travel through it you will discover that he was a person
who knew many of the characters who populated the Australian colony in its early days. As you get to know him you will also meet them. He participated in many of the events that shaped his world, most importantly for us, he saw the pristine Australian wilderness in its natural state and wrote about it, leaving a treasure trove of information for those that followed and cared to know what it looked like and what grew there.
His beliefs were firmly grounded in
the philosophy of the British Enlightenment resulting in his dedication to the
pursuit of knowledge resulting in a precious collection of botanical specimens
that still exist in the herbariums of the world.
When Allan applied for the position of Botanical Collector in 1814, he wrote a postscript on the application which states quite clearly how he intended to live his life:
“it is a love of plants and to search for them in their
wild state, and a wish to make myself useful in the
capacity of a collector . . . it shall be the highest ambition
of my life to exert myself in the perform[ance] of the
requisite duties that constitute a collector, so that the
Royal collection at Kew may exceed all other collections
in the riches of new, beautiful and desirable plants.”
Many wonderful resources are planned for The Allan Cunningham Project in the future. Keep returning every few months when you will find more enhancements providing you with a deeper understanding of why the 19th century plant explorer, Allan Cunningham, dedicated his life to science.
THE ALLAN CUNNINGHAM PROJECT includes the following:
"THE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ALLAN CUNNINGHAM"
BY ROBERT HEWARD
FLS
Published in 1842 by his friend and fellow botanist Robert Heward and
Transcribed & Converted to Web Enhanced Text by J&DChallenor 2007
"EARLY EXPLORERS IN AUSTRALIA"
BY IDA LEE
FRGS and Hon FRAHS
Published by Methuen & Co Ltd of London 1925
Transcribed to eText by Project Gutenburg Australia 2003
Converted to Web Enhanced Text by J&DChallenor 2009
THE ALLAN CUNNINGHAM PLANT INDEX.
An index of the plants mentioned in
Robert Heward's 1842 Biographical Sketch and
Ida Lee's "Early Explorers in Australia"
.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A list of books, journals, articles and documents
upon which Allan Cunningham's story is based.
BLOG
A series of articles recording a journey gaining
knowledge of the botanist explorer, Allan Cunningham.
FUTURE PLANS
FOR THE ALLAN CUNNINGHAM PROJECT
The Allan Cunningham Project is a web-based historical resource, educational and entertaining, dedicated to documenting accurate information related to Allan Cunningham, botanist and explorer 1791-1839. His story is a "hub" (similar to six degrees of separation) from which we can learn about life, botany and the wilderness at the beginning of the 19th century in Colonial Australia between 1814 and 1840. The idea that drives this project is the expectation that it will become an important educational web-based resource.
It is the intention of this project to publish on the internet, all articles, journals, reports, letters, botanical references, portraits, maps and images sourced from items written by Allan Cunningham and other people related to his story. The web site content will be enhanced with web design techniques, deep URL linking, images and indices which will make the information more accessible and enjoyable for the reader. Many of the items are treasures stored in the vaults of the Mitchell Library in Sydney.
The web-site is currently hosted by www.artuccino.com however I am hopeful that The Allan Cunningham Project may eventually be attached to an Australian Federal or State government website to ensure its longevity and will be expanded over the years with the assistance of volunteers i.e. "The Friends of Allan Cunningham".
Meanwhile we, here at Artuccino, will continue enhancing and expanding The Allan Cunningham Project as we have for the last five years.
Listed below are some of the items that will be incorporated into The Allan Cunningham Project in the future:
BOOKS, JOURNALS, ARTICLES AND LETTERS written by Allan Cunningham or others related to his story:
JOURNALS OF TWO EXPEDITIONS by John Oxley1820
NARATIVE OF A SURVEY by Captain Phillip Parker King c1820
Extracts for Allan Cunningham’s Journals
Letters related to Allan Cunningham, to and from:
Sir Joseph Banks, “father of Australia”
Phillip Parker King, Admiral
John Oxley, Explorer
Hannibal Macarthur, pastoralist
Patrick Leslie, pioneer of the Darling Downs
Governors Macquarie, Brisbane, Darling, Bourke and Gipps
Robert Heward Botanist
Robert Brown Botanist
Jules Dumont d'Urville French Explorer
Emel’yan Korneyev, Russian Artist
Fedor Shtein, Russian Naturalist
Rev. William Colenso, Botanist New Zealand
Richard Cunningham, Botanist and brother to AC
Allan Cunningham Senior, Head Gardener at Wimbledon House
and many more items of correspondence.
The Australian Quarterly Journal for January and April, 1828.
The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol . II., p. 99, 1832 ; and
Proceedings of the Geological Society of London, Vol. II., p, 109, 1834-5
OTHER additions and enhancements planned:
A PLANT INDEX for all plants referred to in the above mentioned publications
with links to the original text and from there the reader can identify the source
locality of the plant. It will be a wonderful resource for those interested in the
history of Australian indigenous (native) plants.
A BIBLIOGRAPHY: A list of all books and reference material related to Allan Cunningham
Many wonderful resources are planned for The Allan Cunningham Project. Keep returning every few months when you will find more enhancements providing you with a deeper understanding of why the 19th century plant explorer, Allan Cunningham, dedicated his life to science. Use his story as a "hub" (similar to six degrees of separation) you will learn about life in Colonial Australia at the beginning of the 19th century.
