Guide to the Papers of Allan Cunningham (as filmed by the AJCP), October 1814-May 1839

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Summary

Collection number:

M692

Creator:

Cunningham, Allan, 1791-1839

Extent:

3 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series. : Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

'Journal of the Proceedings of Mr James Bowie and Mr Allan Cunningham' 1814-15 with continuations by Cunningham to 1819

Letters 1817-19 to Sir Joseph Banks and W.T. Aiton

Lists of seeds and specimens 1816-22

Draft 1822 entitled 'Original MS of Appendix to P.P. King's "Survey"

Correspondence between Cunningham and Robert Brown 1822-39

Further lists of specimens collected and plants observed by Cunningham 1819-27

Biographical / Historical:

Botanist and explorer. Arrived in Australia in 1816 and joined John Oxley on his expedition to the Lachlan River. In 1817, 1820 and 1821 sailed with Capt. P.P. King on voyages to Western and Northern Australia. In 1827 he discovered the Darling Downs in Queensland.

Allan Cunningham (1791-1839) was born in London and educated at a private school in Putney. In 1808 he took up a position at the Kew Herbarium as clerk to William Aiton, the Superintendent of the Royal Gardens. In 1814, on the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks, he was appointed a botanical collector and along with James Bowie was sent to Rio de Janeiro. They spent two years collecting plants in Brazil and despatching them to the Royal Gardens at Kew.

Cunningham was then sent to New South Wales and he arrived in Sydney in December 1816. He rented a cottage in Parramatta and began his botanical searches in the vicinity of the town. In April 1817, at the suggestion of Governor Macquarie, he joined John Oxley and George Evans on their expedition west of the Blue Mountains. In five months he collected about 450 plant species. In December 1817 he became the naturalist on the cutter Mermaid, commanded by Lieutenant Phillip King, on the first of his surveying voyages to the northern and western coasts of Australia. Between 1819 and 1822 he accompanied King on three further voyages on the Mermaid and the Bathurst.

For the next eight years Cunningham made numerous journeys to many parts of New South Wales, including the Hunter Valley, Liverpool Plains, the Illawarra, Wellington Valley, the Darling Downs and Moreton Bay. He also visited New Zealand and Norfolk Island. He returned to England in 1831 and spent some time arranging his collections at the Kew Herbarium and writing papers for publication.

Cunningham's brother Richard was appointed colonial botanist in Sydney in 1832. Following his death in 1835, Alan Cunningham was offered the position and he returned to Sydney in 1837. He resigned after a few months and resumed the occupation of botanical collector. He spent several months in New Zealand in 1838. He hoped to join Captain John Wickham on HMS Beagle, but his health was steadily worsening. He died in Sydney.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.