Francis Houssemayne "Frank" du Boulay (24 January 1837 – 12 January 1914) was an Australian musician and naturalist.

History

Du Boulay was born in

Sandgate, Kent Sandgate is a village in the Folkestone and Hythe Urban Area in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. It had a population of 4,225 at the 2001 census.Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

around 1858, and settled at Minnanooka station,

Champion Bay Champion Bay is a coastal feature north of Geraldton, Western Australia, facing the port and city between Point Moore and Bluff Point. Champion Bay was named by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of , who surveyed the area in April 1840. He named i ...

, near

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

, with his brother Arthur Houssemagne du Boulay, who married Caroline Emily Josephine Howard in 1867. He began collecting insects there, also in Victoria around 1869; Cooktown and Rockhampton around 1870, and in northern New South Wales and Sydney. Du Boulay was a talented pianist and concertina player, and was prominent at concerts in Melbourne, 1872–1876 including

Robert Sparrow Smythe Robert Sparrow Smythe (13 March 1833 – 23 May 1917) was an Australian journalist, newspaper editor/owner and theatrical manager. Biography Early life and education Smythe was born as Robert Smith on 13 March 1833 at 124 Regent Street (ex Gr ...

's Exhibition Concert Company, with singers Mrs Smythe (Amelia Elizabeth Bailey, soprano), Samuel Lamble (basso), and

Mary Ellen Christian Mary Ellen Christian (1848 – 31 May 1941) was a Canadian-born contralto, best known as a teacher of singing in Australia, founder of the Garcia school of singing at Potts Point, a suburb of Sydney. History Christian was born in Quebec, of Englis ...

(contralto). His interest in bugs and beetles never waned; he was a member of the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria. He moved to

Beechworth, Victoria Beechworth is a town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,290. Beechworth's many historical buildings are well pr ...

, around 1888, and soon was immersed in the music scene; he helped organise a concert in aid of the public library and Burke Museum, contributing a

fantasia Fantasia may refer to: Film and television * ''Fantasia'' (1940 film), an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney ** '' Fantasia 2000'', a sequel to the 1940 film * ''Fantasia'' (2004 film), a Hong Kong comedy film * ''Fantasia'' (201 ...

on themes from ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' played on a symphonion. He was also a skilled player on the

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African ...

and "carillon" (

tubular bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the Percussion instrument, percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the soun ...

). Around 1904 he left Beechworth for

Beverley, Western Australia Beverley is a town in the Wheatbelt (Western Australia), Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, south-east of the state capital, Perth, between York, Western Australia, York and Brookton, Western Australia, Brookton on the Great Southern Highway ...

, where he taught music for many years, and died on 12 January 1914.

Recognition

His collection of paintings of

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

in two volumes, is held by the National Museum, Melbourne. The species '' Chaetodontoplus duboulayi'' and ''

Melanotaenia duboulayi ''Melanotaenia duboulayi'', the crimson-spotted rainbowfish, less commonly known as the Duboulay's rainbowfish, is a species of freshwater fish endemism, endemic to coastal eastern Australia, although ''M. duboulayi'' has also been kept as an aqu ...

'' were named for him, though both are fishes.

Family

Du Boulay married Mary Jane Lawrance (c. 1850 – 13 September 1940). on 25 May 1879 They had two sons and four daughters, listed as Edgar, William, Amy, Leila, Margaret and Isabel: *Edgar (born 6 November 1880) married Marjorie Preston on 23 April 1918. *William Lawrance (frequently reported as Lawrence) du Boulay (17 March 1882 – 28 July 1955) was a fine violinist. He never married. *daughter 9 July 1883 *daughter 3 June 1886 *daughter 18 August 1891 Two daughters had notable marriages: *Margaret "Madge" du Boulay married Edward Tours Hamersley (born 1869), son of Edward Hamersley, junior at

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Edward Wittenoom Sir Edward Horne Wittenoom Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (12 February 1854 – 5 March 1936) was an Australian politician who served intermittently in the Western Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Cou ...

on 22 December 1924.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Boulay, Francis 1837 births 1914 deaths Australian naturalists Australian accordionists Australian natural history illustrators

External links

Francis du Boulay's hand-painted ''Coleoptera''