Peter Good

Peter Good (date of birth unknown, died 12 June 1803) was the gardener assistant to botanist Robert Brown on the voyage of HMS Investigator under Matthew Flinders,[1] during which the coast of Australia was charted, and various plants collected.

Biography

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Good had worked as a foreman at Kew Royal Gardens, during which time he had assisted botanist Christopher Smith in transporting a shipment of English plants to Calcutta.[2] He was working as a kitchen gardener at Wemyss Castle, Scotland, when Joseph Banks offered him the appointment as gardener to Brown, at a salary of £105 a year.[3]

The voyage

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Good made an extensive seed collection during the voyage, and also collected plant specimens for both his own and Brown's collections. He died of dysentery in Sydney Cove,[4] and his plant collection was incorporated into Brown's. Brown immensely admired his work ethic, and named the plant genus Goodia in his honour.[5] Banksia goodii (Good's Banksia) is also named after him.

See also

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Works

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  • Journal of Peter Good, Gardener on Matthew Flinders' Voyage to Terra Australis, 1801–03, Stationery Office Books, September 1981, ISBN 0-11-983258-5

Reference section

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Notes

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  1. ^ From the Ends of the Earth, Christian Lamb, Christian Lamb, 2004, ISBN 1-903071-08-9 p 40
  2. ^ The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks, Neil Chambers (ed), World Scientific, 2000, ISBN 1-86094-204-0 p 369
  3. ^ The Life of Matthew Flinders, Miriam Estensen, Allen & Unwin, 2003, ISBN 1-74114-152-4 p 147
  4. ^ Vallance, T.G., Moore, D.T. & Groves, E.W. 2001. Nature's Investigator The Diary of Robert Brown in Australia, 1801-1805, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, (pp.409-410) ISBN 0-642-56817-0
  5. ^ The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Robert Jameson, William Jardine and Henry Darwin Rogers, A. and C. Black, 1858 p333

References

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  • Estensen, Miriam (2002). The life of Matthew Flinders. Allen & Unwin.

Further reading

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  • Good, Peter (1981). Edwards Phyllis I. (ed.). The journal of Peter Good: gardener on Matthew Flinders voyage to Terra Australis 1801–03. Library of Australian History.
  • Vallance, T.G., Moore, D.T. & Groves, E.W. (2001). Nature's Investigator: The Diary of Robert Brown in Australia, 1801-1805. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)ISBN 0-642-56817-0
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