Irvine, Jemima Frances (née Burn)   (1822 - 1918)

Born in Scotland, 1822, died in Hobart on 17 July 1918.

The older of two children, to David Burn (?1799-1875) and Frances Maria née Eldred. Jemima and her father migrated to Tas. in 1826, where her grandmother owned the property 'Ellangowan'. Jemima's parents divorced in 1829, and in 1832 her father married Catherine née Fenton in Tas. In 1841, Jemima's father established 'Rotherwood' on the River Ouse.

In 1844, Jemima married Charles James Irvine (c.1818-1865), an officer in the Imperial service at Port Arthur, and they had twelve children.

Jemima was an artist and shell collector, and collected MEL specimens at Geographe Bay, 1888- 1889, WA (her son Charles James Irvine was a master in the Adelaide Steamship Co.). She also collected MEL specimens at 'Corona Station' near Silverton, 1889, 1891 (a property managed by her son Claude Irvine), and the Barrier Ranges, 1889-1890, NSW.

She collected types of:

Helipterum troedelii F.Muell. (1890),
Lenormandia hypoglossum J.Agardh (1890), and
Curdiea irvineae J.Agardh (1894), named for her.

Jacob Agardh identified Jemima's algal specimens for Mueller.

There are also Jemima Irvine (as 'Mrs Irvine') specimens at BM, NMW, NSW and PERTH. She died in Hobart in 1918 aged 97.

One letter from Jemima to Mueller survives.

Source: extracted from: Maroske, Sara and Vaughan, Alison (2014) 'Ferdinand Mueller's female plant collectors: a biographical register', Muelleria Vol.32 [consult for source references]
Portrait Photo: 1902, from Apendix 1 of above, from Allport Library, Tas.