Helms, Richard (1842 - 1914)

Born in Altona, Germany, on 12 December 1842, died in Sydney, New South Wales, on 17 July 1914.

First arrived in Australia in 1858, subsequently living in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and New Zealand, variously employed as a dentist, watchmaker, museum curator, collector, entomologist, fruit inspector and bacteriologist. As well as plants he formed extensive collections of beetles, butterflies and shells. He participated in a major collecting expedition to Mt Kosciuszko in 1888, visiting there again in 1893 and 1901, and was naturalist on the Elder Exploring Expedition to central Australia, May 1891-June 1892. The majority of the Elder Exploring Expedition specimens are now in AD, but some can also be found in A, C, CANB, G, K, M, MANCH, MEL, MO, NSW and OXF.

Extracted from: A.E.Orchard (1999) A History of Systematic Botany in Australia, in Flora of Australia Vol.1, 2nd ed., ABRS. [consult for source references]