House, Frederick Maurice (1865-1936)

Born at ‘Privett’, Alverstoke, England, on 16 July 1865 and died at Gnowangerup, W.A., on 13 July 1936.  

After qualifying in medicine at St Thomas’s, London, he migrated to Western Australia in 1891.  With the exception of exploration and war service he was a Government medical officer in various country areas from 1 January 1892 to 31 December 1918, after which he retired to his stud sheep farm at Gnowangerup; there he specialized in the breeding of merinos.  

He was naturalist with the Government exploring party, under the 1eadership of F. S. Brockman (1901), to the far north of Western Australia between latitudes 14-17�S.  Apart from the discovery of a large area of pastoral country, collections were made of the fauna and flora of the area and photographs taken of Aboriginal cave paintings.  On this expedition Dr House discovered the black grass wren (Amytornis housei); he is also commemorated in Mt House, which was named in his honour by Frank Hann, the explorer.

He is honoured in the name Eucalyptus houseana (W. V. Fitzg.) Maiden (1916)