May 1945 The Queensland Naturalist 
117 
THE LATE HENRY TRYON 
By C. W. Holland. 
On 15th November, 1943, Mr. Henry Try on, one of 
the founders of the Queensland Naturalists’ Club, died at 
Brisbane in his 87th year. Excluding Dr. A. Jefferis 
Turner, the well-known entomologist, he was the last of 
the pioneer naturalists of Queensland. 
Mr. Try on was the son of the late Henry Carley Tryon, 
of Tollmarsh House, Buckfortleigh, Devon, England, and 
a cousin of the late Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon, 
K.C.B., and Lord Tryon, formerly Postmaster-General of 
the United Kingdom. After some early training in the 
naval service, he went to New Zealand. From thence he 
came to Queensland, where he spent over 50 years in the 
service of the State. His first appointment was to the 
scientific staff of the Queensland Museum. Later he was 
appointed to the Department of Agriculture and Stock, 
with the title of Government Entomologist and Vegetable 
Pathologist. 
Although primarily an entomologist, he had a deep 
knowledge of many branches of natural history. His brain 
seemed to contain veritable text-books of zoology and 
botany, and, indeed it would to-day be hard to find anyone 
with a more all-round knowledge of these subjects. Dur- 
ing his long service in the Department he carried out valu- 
able work in economic entomology, in addition to that in 
other scientific fields. Most of this work was accomplished 
in somewhat cheerless quarters in the basement of the 
Department where, when not engaged in the field he was 
available to the public with his advice. He would identify 
a specimen submitted to him almost before it was placed on 
the table, and would send his visitor away with a few notes 
on it written there and then. 
Mr. Tryon ’s services to the sugar industry alone were 
of great value. In 1896 he visited New Guinea, and as a 
result new varieties of sugar-cane were brought to Queens- 
land, including the valuable one known as Badilla. He had 
earlier (in 1885) shown his interest in New Guinea by 
raising subscriptions in Queensland to enable IT. 0. Forbes 
to continue and complete explorations in that country. 
In 1884 he helped to establish the Royal Society of 
Queensland, of which he was the first Hon. Secretary. Two 
