Biography

Australian entomologist and botanist. Walter Froggatt was born in on 13 June 1858 in Blackwood, Victoria, to English parents from Yorkshire. He grew up in Bendigo, where he developed an interest in the natural world, encouraged by his friend Richard Nancarrow. Froggatt began a career on the land in north-west Victoria but in 1880 followed the goldrush to Mount Brown (near Malprinka, New South Wales) and Queensland, travelling along the Flinders River. All the while he spent his leisure time studying insects and collected botanical and zoological specimens, which he sent to botanists Ferdinand von Mueller and Charles French.

Thanks to these efforts and his growing knowledge, von Mueller recommended Froggatt as an assistant entomologist and zoological collector on the 1885 New Guinea expedition of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (New South Wales branch). His work (including taxidermy) was praised by the expedition's chief scientist, J.W. Haacke and in 1886 he was elected to the Linnean Society of New South Wales, proposed by William Macleay. Macleay subsequently recruited Froggatt as a collector for his private museum, which saw him travel from Queensland in 1886 to Kimberley in 1887-1888. His first contribution to the NSW Linnean Society's Proceedings was an article on the "Natives of West Kimberley".

After a period visiting museums and universities in Europe, Froggatt's next position was as an assistant and geological collector for the Technological Museum in Sydney, where he collaborated with curator J.H. Maiden on Maiden's historical account of Sydney Botanic Gardens, while in 1891 he was a founding member and president of the Naturalists' Society of New South Wales. In 1890 he married Anne Lewis.

A decade after his first appointment as a natural history collector, Froggatt joined the Department of Mines and Agriculture as an entomologist. He became an expert on agricultural pests, publishing hundreds of articles in the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales and the Australian Forestry Journal, in addition to his work in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales and popular pieces for newspapers.

He was commissioned to study pests of coconut palms in the Solomon Islands in 1901 and palm leaf beetle in 1902. Travelling overseas in 1907-1908 he investigated fruit flies and other pests for the governments of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, and in 1911 he began lecturing on entomology at the University of Sydney, before retiring from the Department of Agriculture in 1923. He did not stop working, however, but continued as a forest entomologist for the Forestry Commission, completing reports on timber borers and other pests, before once more retiring in 1927, selling his personal collections to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. He continued to write, however, producing a series of nature books for children in 1933.

Froggatt served as the NSW Linnean Society's president (1911-1913) and also became a member of the Linnean Society of London. He was a council member of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales (a fellow from 1931) and a founder member of the Australian Wattle League, the Gould League of Bird Lovers of New South Wales and the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia. He published six books, his 1907 Australian Insects being the first comprehensive textbook on the country's entomology. Froggatt died at his home in Croydon, Sydney, in 1937, survived by his wife and three children, one of whom (John Lewis) was an enotomologist in New Guinea. Among the plant species named after him is Eucalyptus froggattii Blakely, which he first collected at Bendigo, New South Wales.

Sources:
N. Hall, 1978, Botanists of the Eucalypts: 57
D.I. McDonald, 1981, "Froggatt, Walter Wilson (1858-1937)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, 8: 591-592
D.G. Stead, 1937, "Walter Wilson Froggatt, F.R.Z.S., 1858-1937", Australian Naturalist, 10: 1-7.

Biography

Australian entomologist and botanist. Walter Froggatt was born in on 13 June 1858 in Blackwood, Victoria, to English parents from Yorkshire. He grew up in Bendigo, where he developed an interest in the natural world, encouraged by his friend Richard Nancarrow. Froggatt began a career on the land in north-west Victoria but in 1880 followed the goldrush to Mount Brown (near Malprinka, New South Wales) and Queensland, travelling along the Flinders River. All the while he spent his leisure time studying insects and collected botanical and zoological specimens, which he sent to botanists Ferdinand von Mueller and Charles French.

Thanks to these efforts and his growing knowledge, von Mueller recommended Froggatt as an assistant entomologist and zoological collector on the 1885 New Guinea expedition of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (New South Wales branch). His work (including taxidermy) was praised by the expedition's chief scientist, J.W. Haacke and in 1886 he was elected to the Linnean Society of New South Wales, proposed by William Macleay. Macleay subsequently recruited Froggatt as a collector for his private museum, which saw him travel from Queensland in 1886 to Kimberley in 1887-1888. His first contribution to the NSW Linnean Society's Proceedings was an article on the "Natives of West Kimberley".

After a period visiting museums and universities in Europe, Froggatt's next position was as an assistant and geological collector for the Technological Museum in Sydney, where he collaborated with curator J.H. Maiden on Maiden's historical account of Sydney Botanic Gardens, while in 1891 he was a founding member and president of the Naturalists' Society of New South Wales. In 1890 he married Anne Lewis.

A decade after his first appointment as a natural history collector, Froggatt joined the Department of Mines and Agriculture as an entomologist. He became an expert on agricultural pests, publishing hundreds of articles in the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales and the Australian Forestry Journal, in addition to his work in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales and popular pieces for newspapers.

He was commissioned to study pests of coconut palms in the Solomon Islands in 1901 and palm leaf beetle in 1902. Travelling overseas in 1907-1908 he investigated fruit flies and other pests for the governments of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, and in 1911 he began lecturing on entomology at the University of Sydney, before retiring from the Department of Agriculture in 1923. He did not stop working, however, but continued as a forest entomologist for the Forestry Commission, completing reports on timber borers and other pests, before once more retiring in 1927, selling his personal collections to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. He continued to write, however, producing a series of nature books for children in 1933.

Froggatt served as the NSW Linnean Society's president (1911-1913) and also became a member of the Linnean Society of London. He was a council member of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales (a fellow from 1931) and a founder member of the Australian Wattle League, the Gould League of Bird Lovers of New South Wales and the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia. He published six books, his 1907 Australian Insects being the first comprehensive textbook on the country's entomology. Froggatt died at his home in Croydon, Sydney, in 1937, survived by his wife and three children, one of whom (John Lewis) was an enotomologist in New Guinea. Among the plant species named after him is Eucalyptus froggattii Blakely, which he first collected at Bendigo, New South Wales.

Sources:
N. Hall, 1978, Botanists of the Eucalypts: 57
D.I. McDonald, 1981, "Froggatt, Walter Wilson (1858-1937)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, 8: 591-592
D.G. Stead, 1937, "Walter Wilson Froggatt, F.R.Z.S., 1858-1937", Australian Naturalist, 10: 1-7.