Charles French (10 September 1842 – 21 May 1933) was an Australian

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

and plant/seed collector who made significant contributions to

economic entomology Economic entomology is a field of entomology, which involves the study of insects that benefit or harm humans, domestic animals, and crops. Insects that pose disadvantages are considered pest (organism), pests. Some species can cause indirect damag ...

. French was the first economic entomologist in Australia and served as Government Entomologist in Victoria from 1889.

Early life

French was born in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the son of John French (died 1848) and Ellen, née Tucker. Ellen remarried and the young French moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

with his family in 1852. For some years he worked as a gold digger in Bendigo. They settled in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, a suburb of Melbourne.

Career

French became interested in natural history and was apprenticed to a nurseryman at James Scott's nursery, Hawthorn. French became a manager of Burgie's nursery in East Melbourne (South Yarra nurseries) where he later met

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

, director of the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land w ...

. In 1865 Mueller appointed French as a plant propagator to the staff at the Gardens. In 1873 William Guilfoyle was appointed curator of the Gardens and French was placed in charge of

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

propagation in the nursery complex. French had resumed his interest in insects in 1860. In 1874 he co-authored an article on timber-boring insects which appeared in the annual report of the Department of Agriculture. This is considered the first publication on economic entomology in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. In 1889 French was appointed first Victorian government entomologist and in 1891 published Part I of his ''A Handbook of the Destructive Insects of Victoria''. He suggested the use of nicotine (tobacco water) to control woolly aphids in planting material. Four further parts were published by 1911. A sixth part was completed but not published until the rediscovery of his manuscript in 2011. French was also the author of some pamphlets, and papers by him were published in the ''Victorian Naturalist'' and other journals. In 1907 he attended the International Conference of Entomologists in London.

Late life and legacy

French retired in 1908 and was succeeded by his son, Charles Hamilton French. He was a foundation committee-member of the

Field Naturalists Club of Victoria The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) is an Australian natural history and conservation organisation. The club is the oldest of its kind in Australia and is unique in having existed continuously since its foundation. Since its founding, ...

in 1880. It grew into a flourishing organization and remained a great interest to French during a long retirement. French was a fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

of London, of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

of England and of the Society of Isis, Dresden, Germany. French died in Malvern, Melbourne, on 21 May 1933; he was survived by his third wife, a son and daughter from the first marriage and a daughter from his second marriage.

Works

*''Handbook of the destructive insects of Victoria''; Volumes I-V 1891–1911; (Volume VI, with text and coloured plates, was prepared but never published.)

References

Other sources

* E. E. Pescott, ''The Victorian Naturalist'', July 1933; ''The Cyclopedia of Victoria'', 1903; ''The Argus'', Melbourne, 23 May 1933. * J. H. Willis, ''Botanical Pioneers in Victoria'' (Melbourne, 1949); R. T. M. Pescott, History of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne (manuscript, privately held). {{DEFAULTSORT:French, Charles 1842 births 1933 deaths People from Lewisham Australian entomologists Scientists from Melbourne English emigrants to colonial Australia British emigrants to the Colony of Victoria