Baxter, William  (? - 1836)

An English gardener who visited Australia collecting seeds and plants for British nurserymen. Collected on Kangaroo Island, South Australia (1822-1823), and possibly again in South Australia along the south coast in 1829. Later he collected along the southern coast of Western Australia (1823-1825, 1828-1829) at King George Sound, Cape Arid and Lucky Bay for nurserymen and private individuals. He also collected at Twofold Bay, New South Wales, and at Wilsons Promontory, Victoria (1826). His last expedition in 1828-1829 to Western Australia was arranged by Charles Fraser, in part to collect material for the Sydney Botanic Gardens, New South Wales, but the two disagreed over division of the material on his return. His collections are housed at BM and K, with a few duplicates at CGE, DBN, FI, MO and NY.  

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]

Sometimes given as Bagster; first name sometimes given as Robert; initial 'D.' in some citations is short for Latin Dominus (— Mr). Gardener to Comtesse de Vandes.

In 1820s visited Australia to collect plants for private firms such as John McKay of Clapton, as well as Sydney Botanic Gardens. Collected on south coast of W.A. (C.Pasley, C. Arid, Lucky Bay) & Kangaroo Is., S.A., in 1823 [possibly sailed, at least on returntrip, on Newcastle], again in 1828—29 [on Lucy Annie, dep. Sydney c. 25 Nov.1828, Arrived King George Sound 22 Dec; explored inland to Stirling Ra.; left on Prince of Denmark 19 July 1829, probably collected again at Cape Arid on return trip, Arrived Sydney 7 Sept.] (see letters in Maiden 1909a). In 1826 visited TwofoldBay, NSW, & Wilsons Promontory, Vic. Probably returned to Britain late1829.

Specimens mainly at BM, K, some at BRI, CGE, DBN, E, Fl, GH,MEL, MO, NSW, NY, PERTH.

Commemorated in Baxteria, Acacia, Astroloma, Casuarina, Banksia, Dryandra, Grevillea, Isopogon, Hakea, Kunzea, Prostanthera etc.

Source: George, A.S. (2009) Australian Botanist's Companion, Four Gables Press, WA. [consult for source references]

NOTE ALSO:
'William Baxter (fl. 1792-1832), botanical collector'
by E. Charles Nelson
Australasian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 175 (June 2018) p.17-32
( https://asbs.org.au/newsletter/pdf/18-june-175.pdf )