Alison Marjorie Ashby
Alison Ashby | |
---|---|
Born | Alison Marjorie Ashby 7 February 1901 North Adelaide,Adelaide,South Australia |
Died | 12 August 1987 Victor Harbor,South Australia | (aged 86)
Known for | botanical artist and plant collector |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Botany |
Author abbrev. (botany) | A.M.Ashby |
Alison Marjorie AshbyMBE(7 February 1901 – 12 August 1987) was an Australianbotanical artistandplant collector.
Early life
[edit]Ashby was born inAdelaide,South Australiaas a youngest daughter of four children, of aproperty developerandnaturalistEdwin Ashbyand his South Australian-born wife Esther Maria, née Coleman. In 1902, the family moved to aBlackwoodfarming property called Wittunga situated at the foot of theAdelaide Hills,which later became theWittunga Botanic Garden.Ashby was mainly educated at home since she was handicapped byshyness,badstutterandhypothyroidism.Encouraged by her father, she took an interest in native plants and began paintingwildflowers.[1]
Career
[edit]From 1944, after both her parents had died, Ashby began to make longer trips tocollect plantsas specimens for variousherbariaand also topropagatefrom seeds and cuttings. She was an active member of the South Australian branch of theSociety for Growing Australian Plants.From 1963 to 1977, she made regular car journeys each year to collect and illustrate plants, driving toSouthwest Australiain the winter and to theAustralian Alpsin the summer. In 1972, she moved toVictor Harborand died in 1987.[1]
Ashby's inherited section of her family's Wittunga property was donated to theNational Trust of South Australiain 1957 and became the 32 haWatiparinga Reserve.Her 1500 botanical paintings were mostly donated to theSouth Australian Museumand are now held in theState Herbarium.Plants named in her honour includeAcacia ashbyaeandSolanum ashbyae.[1]
Honours and awards
[edit]- MBE(1960)
- Australian Natural History Medallion(1975)
References
[edit]- ^abcRobertson, Enid (2007)."Ashby, Alison Marjorie (1901–1987)".Australian Dictionary of Biography.Vol. 17. Canberra: National Centre of Biography,Australian National University.ISBN978-0-522-84459-7.ISSN1833-7538.OCLC70677943.Retrieved29 May2014.
- ^International Plant Names Index.A.M.Ashby.
- 1901 births
- 1987 deaths
- Australian illustrators
- Flower artists
- Plant collectors
- Australian women illustrators
- Australian women scientists
- Artists from Adelaide
- 20th-century Australian botanists
- 20th-century Australian painters
- 20th-century Australian women artists
- 20th-century women scientists
- Australian collectors
- Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Australian painter stubs