Wilson, Francis Robert Muter (1832 - 1903)

Born 15 Mar 1832 in Scotland, UK; died 12 Jun 1903 (aged 71) in Kew, Victoria, Australia.

He was Minister in Charge of the Presbyterian Church at Kew, Victoria, from 1877 to 1897.

He collected prolifically in eastern Australia, from Tasmania to Brisbane, and on Lord Howe Island. In addition to Australian and New Hebrides lichens, he personally collected at Matlock, Derbyshire, England, in August, 1884.

During the years 1887-1900 he published twenty papers on his lichen collections, describing many species and subspecies as new to science.

His main collection was donated to the National Herbarium of Victoria, Melbourne, and a duplicate collection was purchased by the National Herbarium of New South Wales.

In 1907, the bulk of the Melbourne collection was packed into a large crate, described by Alfred J.Ewart, then Government Botanist of Victoria, as weighing over one hundredweight and sent to Giocomo Albo at the University of Messina, Sicily.
It was unfortunately either lost at sea or landed at the wrong European port, as it was never heard of again.
This was a great loss to Australian lichenology, as many of Wilson's type collections were in the crate. Fortunately Albo had previously received a small parcel containing a number of type specimens; these were eventually returned to Melbourne. The major part of the Wilson herbarium now extant is the duplicate collection in the National Herbarium of NSW.

Source: Willis, J.H. (1949) Botanical pioneers in Victoria-II. Victorian Naturalist 66:103-109
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/208266373/francis-robert_muter-wilson
Flora of Australia Volume 54, Lichens - Introduction, Lecanorales 1, AGPS, Canberra (1992) p.6
Portrait Photo: https://victoriancollections.net.au/collections?q=francis%20robert%20muter%20wilson,%20presbyterian,%20minister,%20edinburgh,%20kew,%20moderator

Following is a list of his papers, for which I am indebted to Mr. E. Cheel:-

“Notes on a Few Victorian Lichens” (Vict. Nat., iv., 83, 1887);
“Descriptions of two New Lichens, and a List of Additional Lichens New to Victoria (ib., v., 19, 1888);
“An Hour on a Coral Island, by a Student of Lichenology” (ib., v., 141, 1888);
“A Hunt for Lichens in East Gippsland, Victoria” (ib., vi., 57, 1889);
“An Additional List of Lichens New to Victoria” (ib., vi., 60, 1889);
“A Description of Forty-one Victorian Lichens New to Science” (ib., vi., 61, 1889);
“An Additional List of Lichens New to Victoria” (ib., vi., 76 [sic; 77], 1889);
“Notes on Lichens in New South Wales” (Proc. Roy. Soc. Q., vi., 85, 1889);
“List of Lichens Found in New South Wales” (ib., vi., 89 1889);
“Notes on a Remarkable Growth in Connection with a New Species of Sticta, with Description of both” (ib., vii., 8, 1889);
“Lichens from the Victorian Alps” (Vict. Nat. vi., 178, 1890);
“Lichens from Western Australia” (ib., vi., 180, 1890);
“Australian Lichenology” (Trans. A.A.A.S., ii., 549, 1890);
“A List of Queensland Lichens New to Science” (Bailey’s Botany Bulletin, No. 7, 28, 1891);
“On Lichens Collected in Victoria, Australia” Journ. Linn. Soc. (Botany), xxviii., 353, 1891);
“The Climate of Eastern Tasmania as Indicated by its Lichen Flora” (Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasmania, 131, 1892);
“Tasmanian Lichens” (ib., 133, 1892);
“The Lichens of Victoria, Part. i. “(Proc. Roy Soc. Victoria, vol. v., 2nd Series, 141, 1892);
“On Mr. Robert Hall’s Collection of Lichens from Kerguelen Island” (Vict. Nat., xv., 41, 1898);
“Lichenes Kerguelenses a Roberto Hall, Anno 1898, Prope Royal Sound in Kerguelen insula lecti, et in Herbario Nationali, Melbourniensi, depositi” (Mem. de L’Herbier Boissier, No. 18, 87, 1900)

Source: Maiden, J.H. (1908). Records of Victorian Botanists. Victorian Naturalist 25:101-117 [the entry for F.R.M.Wilson is on p. 116]

Collecting localities for 'Wilson, F.R.M.' from AVH (2025)

Data from 2,142 specimens