Mabberley, Plant introduction and hybridisation in colonial NSW 
541 
Plant introduction and hybridisation in 
colonial New South Wales: the work of 
John Came Bidwill, Sydney's first director 
D.J. Mabberley 
Abstract 
Mabberley, D.j. (Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford 0X1 3PN;and Rijksherbarium, 
University of Leiden) 1996. Plant introduction and hybridisation in colonial New South Wales: the work 
of John Came Bidwill, Sydney's first director. Telopea 6(4): 541-562. A brief biography of J.C. Bidwill, 
the first Director of the Sydney Gardens, based in part on previously unpublished manuscript 
sources preserved at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and in the Mitchell Library Sydney, is presented. 
Bidwill's scientific impact is assessed and there is an appendix of plants named after him; the 
hitherto unplaced Bidwillia is perhaps referable to Trachyandra (Asphodelaceae). 
Introduction 
'He is, besides being an excellent botanist, a man of general science, a very skillful 
horticulturist' — William Macarthur on J.C. Bidwill, 17 September 1847 (Macarthur 
Papers 37(B) Sir William Macarthur Letterbook 4 viii 1844-7 vi 1850 f. 296, A2933-2 
Mitchell Library). 
In celebrating Lawrie Johnson, here his interest in the history of botany, it is perhaps 
of some value to examine the career of one of his predecessors as Director of the 
Sydney Gardens — the first holder of that title, John Came Bidwill (1815-1853) — as 
it highlights a number of features of nineteenth-century colonial life and attitudes. 
Although Bidwill is commemorated in the technical name for the well known bunya- 
bunya pine. Araucaria bidwillii, as well as in the name of a Sydney suburb, he has 
perhaps so far been rather little-appreciated as a botanical and horticultural pioneer, 
while even his name is spelled wrongly in the names of the most commercially 
significant plants purporting to commemorate him. 
Having stumbled on a previously unlisted binomial commemorating Bidwill some 
years ago (Mabberley 1978) and more recently had cause to ascertain the correct 
name for the single species of the remarkable Australian endemic family Akaniaceae 
(Gadek et al. 1992), which turned out to be Akaiiia bidzvillii (Mabberley 1989: 707), 
I became interested in the career of their little-known eponymous hero and here 
set down my findings to date. The following must be seen as merely amplifying 
the standard secondary sources (especially Herbert (1966) and references therein) 
through the examination of the rich MSS holdings at the Mitchell Library, Sydney, 
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and elsewhere. However, a full assessment of Bidwill's 
short life can only be made after appraisal of other MSS sources. Moreover the 
significance of his hybridisation experiments can only be evaluated by those expert 
in the genetics of the groups concerned. In addition. Professor R. Clough of Double 
Bay NSW is investigating further Bidwill's hybridising work in Australia and has 
had the opportunity to delve into aspects of his life not covered here. 
