Spencer, Jessie (née Hubbard)   (1859 - 1936)

Born in Dubbo, NSW, 1859; died in Qld in 1936.

Apparently the eldest of six children, to Daniel Hubbard (d.1895) and Mary Anne née Ward. The family moved to Bourke around 1864. In 1876, Jessie married a drover and station manager, Charles George Spencer (1846-1910), in Bourke. The Spencer family was involved in pastoral and associated industries around Roma in Qld, and Barraba in NSW. Jessie and Charles had at least seven children in various NSW and Qld locations, suggesting a peripatetic life.

Jessie collected MEL specimens (as 'Mrs C.G. Spencer') at Thargomindah, 1884-1885; and Albany Downs, Cunnamulla, 'Elmina Station', Eulo, Roma, Southport, and west of Thargomindah between the Bulloo and Paroo Rivers, 1885.

She collected the type of Sida spenceriana F.Muell. (1885), which was named for her (as 'Mrs F. Spencer').

Jessie's husband may also have collected MEL specimens (as 'C.G. Spencer').

Adolph Wuerfel, an orchardist at Dubbo, (who also collected for Mueller) probably forwarded Jessie's specimens to Mueller.

Jessie died in Qld in 1936 in her 77th year.

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]