Thomas Pennington Lucas (13 April 1843 – 15 November 1917), also known as T.P. Lucas, was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
-born
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 ...
n medical practitioner,
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 ...
, author, philosopher and
utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...
nist.
Early life
Lucas was born in
Dunbar
Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
to Samuel Lucas, a Wesleyan Methodist minister, and Elizabeth Broadhurst. Lucas inherited from his father a love of natural history and a lifelong determination to reconcile his strong religious beliefs with his scientific convictions, as evidenced in many of his books. Because his father was often on the move to new postings, taking his family with him, Thomas was educated at
King Edward VI Grammar School at Stratford-on-Avon, Helston Grammar School, Cornwall, and
New Kingswood School in Bath.
Move to Australia
Having developed
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, in 1876 Thomas Lucas migrated 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 ...
, Australia where he set up a medical practice. His three living children joined him there in 1879 after being cared for by his brother,
Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas
Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas (7 May 1853 – 10 June 1936) was an English-born schoolmaster, scientist and publisher who lived in Australia for over fifty years, and became the most renowned writer on Algae after William Henry Harvey
Early li ...
. Arthur followed him to Melbourne in 1883 and became a well known biologist and schoolmaster in his own right.
Lucas and his family moved to
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, Queensland in 1886. His medical practice was first set up in central Brisbane, moving in the early 1890s to
South Brisbane
South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 14,292 people.
Geography
South Brisbane is on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, bounded to the nor ...
. Later he relocated to
Acacia Ridge
Acacia Ridge is a southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Acacia Ridge had a population of 7,486 people.
Geography
Acacia Ridge is south of the central business district. It is within the local government are ...
south of Brisbane, then finally to New Farm in inner north Brisbane from 1911 until Lucas's death.
A firm believer in the medicinal properties of
pawpaws, Thomas Lucas developed and marketed Lucas' Papaw Ointment, which is still produced by Lucas's descendants from a location at Beaudesert Road, Acacia Ridge. In 2009 as part of the
Q150
Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia
...
celebrations, the Lucas' Pawpaw Ointment was announced as one of the
Q150 Icons
The Queensland's Q150 Icons list of cultural icons was compiled as part of Q150 celebrations in 2009 by the Government of Queensland, Australia. It represented the people, places and events that were significant to Queensland
Queensland ...
of Queensland for its role as an iconic "innovation and invention".
Scientist
In 1882 Thomas Lucas founded 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, ...
. During his lifetime he collected a large number of butterfly and moth specimens, some of which eventually found their way into the possession of the
South Australian Museum
The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultur ...
.
Lucas was a member of various learned societies including 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 ...
, 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 ...
, the
Royal College of Surgeons
The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...
, and the
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...
in England; and the
Linnean Society of New South Wales
The Linnean Society of New South Wales promotes ''the Cultivation and Study of the Science of Natural History in all its Branches'' and was founded in Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) in 1874 and incorporated in 1884.
History
The Society succ ...
, the
Royal Society of Queensland
The Royal Society of Queensland was formed in Queensland, Australia in 1884 from the Queensland Philosophical Society, Queensland's oldest scientific institution, with royal patronage granted in 1885.
The aim of the Society is "Progressing scie ...
, and the Natural History Society of Queensland.
Author
Thomas Lucas published a number of books during his lifetime, mostly on non-fiction topics. Some however were works of fiction; they include ''The Curse and its Cure'', comprising two novels bound and published together in 1894, ''The Ruins of Brisbane in the Year 2000'' and ''Brisbane Rebuilt in the Year 2200''. These novels are believed to be the first to be published anywhere that use Brisbane as their setting.
Personal life
Lucas was married three times:
# to Mary Frances Davies from 1868 until her death in 1875 at age 30. They had six children, of whom three survived: Thomas Pennington (born 1869), Arthur Henry (1871) and Celia Juliana (1874);
# to Mary Bradbury Ironside from 1878 until her death in 1888. She too bore six children, of whom only one, Eunice Sarah (born 1886), survived beyond infancy;
# to Susan Draper from 1889 until Thomas's death. They had no children.
After being confined to his room for nearly two weeks, Lucas died in his home in Brisbane aged 73.
References
Bibliography
*Bill Metcalf
Dr Thomas Pennington Lucas: Queensland Scientist, Author, Doctor, Dreamer and Inventora
Griffith Research OnlineBright Sparcs at
Melbourne University
The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Thomas Pennington
1843 births
1917 deaths
Australian general practitioners
Australian naturalists
British emigrants to Australia
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
People from Dunbar
19th-century Australian inventors
Australian company founders
People educated at Kingswood School, Bath