Leonard Cockayne (7 April 1855 – 8 July 1934) is regarded as New Zealand's greatest botanist and a founder of Western science in New Zealand.

Biography

He was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England where he attended Wesley College. He travelled to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1877 and shortly moved on to New Zealand where he became established as a botanist. In June 1901, he attended the first conference of horticulturists in New Zealand at

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

where he presented a paper on the plants of the Chatham Islands and advocated the establishment of experimental plant research stations in New Zealand. This helped to establish Cockayne's reputation. Cockayne was a member of the 1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition. The main aim of the expedition was to extend the magnetic survey of New Zealand by investigating the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and

Campbell Islands The Campbell Islands (or Campbell Island Group) are a group of subantarctic islands, belonging to New Zealand. They lie about 600 km south of Stewart Island. The islands have a total area of , consisting of one big island, Campbell Is ...

, but botanical, biological and zoological surveys were also conducted. The voyage also resulted in rescue of the castaways of the ''

Dundonald Dundonald may refer to: Places Canada * Dundonald, Ontario, Cramahe * Dundonald, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan * Dundonald Park, in Ottawa South Africa * Dundonald, Mpumalanga United Kingdom * Dundonald, County Down, Northern Ireland ** Dundonald ...

'' shipwreck in the Auckland Islands. Cockayne's major contributions to botany were in plant ecology and in his theories of

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

isation. In 1899 he published the first New Zealand account of successional changes in vegetation. Between 1897 and 1930 he published 49 papers in the ''

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand The ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' was a scientific journal and magazine published by the Royal Society of New Zealand. Before 1933 the society was called the New Zealand Institute, and the journal's name ...

''. He was elected Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1912 on the proposal of Sir J. D. Hooker and was awarded the

Hector Memorial Medal The Hector Medal, formerly known as the Hector Memorial Medal, is a science award given by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in memory of Sir James Hector to researchers working in New Zealand. It is awarded annually in rotation for different scienc ...

in that same year. In 1914 he was awarded the

Hutton Medal The Hutton Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society Te Apārangi to a researcher who, working within New Zealand, has significantly advanced understanding through work of outstanding scientific or technological merit. Frederick Wollaston Hu ...

by the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

, in 1928 the

Mueller Medal The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British ...

by the

Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British ...

, and in 1932 the

Veitch Memorial Medal The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize awarded annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Goal The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement ...

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 ...

. Cockayne corresponded frequently with famous botanists all over the world. This helped facilitate the publication of New Zealand papers in overseas journals. He was also instrumental in bringing visitors to New Zealand. Johannes Paulus Lotsy, the Dutch botanist, lectured on the place of hybrids in evolution. The Swedish couple

Einar Einar is a Scandinavian given name deriving from the Old Norse name Einarr, which according to Guðbrandur Vigfússon is directly connected with the concept of the einherjar, warriors who died in battle and ascended to Valhalla in Norse mytholog ...

and Greta Du Rietz stayed six months in the summer of 1926–27 collecting from the Far North to the subantarctic islands, paying special attention to

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s. The director of

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

, Sir Arthur Hill, came in 1928. Cockayne also assisted and encouraged fellow botanists in their work. He was thanked by co-authors Robert Malcolm Laing and Ellen Wright Blackwell in the preface of their classic book of New Zealand biology ''Plants of New Zealand'' for "helping us over many slippery places and for much generous assistance freely given”. He encouraged Charles Ethelbert Foweraker, later senior lecturer in botany, and sometime lecturer in charge of the Forestry School, at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

, in his career, the two men having first corresponded in 1911 when Cockayne was writing ''The Vegetation of New Zealand''; the two went together on many expeditions in Marlborough and Canterbury. In the 1929 King's Birthday Honours, Cockayne was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

, for honorary scientific services to the New Zealand government. Grave Otari-Wilton Bush

The Cockayne Reserve in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, Cockayne Memorial Garden at

Christchurch Botanic Gardens The Christchurch Botanic Gardens, located in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, were founded in 1863 when an English oak was planted to commemorate the solemnisation of the marriage of Edward VII of the Un ...

, the Cockayne Nature Walk near

Otira Otira is a small township fifteen kilometres north of Arthur's Pass in the central South Island of New Zealand. It is on the northern approach to the pass, a saddle between the Ōtira and Bealey Rivers high in the Southern Alps. A possible me ...

on the West Coast, and the Cockayne Lookout in

Ōtari-Wilton's Bush Ōtari-Wilton's Bush is a native botanic garden and forest reserve located in Wilton, New Zealand, Wilton in Wellington, New Zealand. It is New Zealand's only public botanic garden dedicated solely to the native plants of New Zealand. Overvi ...

(

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

) dedicated solely to New Zealand native plants, are all named after him. His son Alfred Cockayne also became a noted botanist.

Bibliography

''New Zealand Plants and Their Story''
1910 *''Observations Concerning Evolution, Derived from Ecological Studies in New Zealand''

1923 *''Trees of New Zealand'' (with E. Phillips Turner) *''Report on the dune-areas of New Zealand: their geology, botany and reclamation.'' *''Report on a botanical survey of Stewart Island'' * *

References

External links

the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New ZealandLeonard Cockayne: Horticulturist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockayne, Leonard 1855 births 1934 deaths British emigrants to New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand botanists Scientists from Sheffield Veitch Memorial Medal recipients New Zealand fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Wesley College, Sheffield New Zealand horticulturists New Zealand conservationists 19th-century New Zealand botanists Presidents of the Royal Society of New Zealand New Zealand Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George