British gardener who travelled on the third voyage of Captain Cook (1776-1780) and on Captain Bligh's ill-fated 1787 trip to Tahiti. Little is known of David Nelson's early life. While working at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, he was recruited as assistant botanist on Cook's final voyage and given some rudimentary training by Joseph Banks and William Aiton. After Captain Cook had been murdered in Hawaii in February 1779, his ships continued on to Kamchatka and then stopped at Macau on their way home. Nelson brought back seeds of Rhus semialata Murr., which was said to have been introduced by Banks, from Macau.

After seven years back at Kew, Nelson was appointed as a botanist on William Bligh's mission to take breadfruit to Tahiti. On the infamous journey of HMS Bounty, Nelson was one of those set adrift by the mutinous crew. He died of exposure after reaching Timor in 1789, having spent a day botanising in the mountains. Among Nelson's discoveries were Eucalyptus obliqua L'Her., the first to be described in the genus, which he found in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). He is commemorated in the genus Nelsonia R.Br.

Sources:
E. Bretschneider, 1898, History of European Botanical Discoveries In China: 152-153
H. St. John, 1976, "Biography of David Nelson, and an account of his botanizing in Hawaii", Pacific Science, 30(1): 1-5
M.J. van Steenis Kruseman, 1985, "Cyclopedia of Collectors", Flora Malesiana, online edn:
http://www.nationaalherbarium.nl/FMCollectors/N/NelsonD.htm, accessed 13 September 2011.