Thomas Frederic Cheeseman

Thomas Frederick Cheeseman (* 1846 in Hull, † October 15, 1923 ) was a New Zealand botanist and naturalist who had a broad interest in natural history.

Biography

Cheeseman was born 1846 in Hull, Yorkshire, but came with his parents to New Zealand when he was eight years old. He was a student at the Parnell Grammar School and then at St. John 's College, Auckland. His father, Reverend Thomas Cheeseman, was a member of the old District Council of Auckland.

Cheeseman began the study of the flora of New Zealand. In 1872 he published an accurate and comprehensive account of the flora of the Waitakere Ranges. In 1874 he became secretary of the institute Auckland and curator of the Auckland Museum, where he oversaw the museum's collections. His botanical studies were of great importance to science as well as for agriculture, horticulture and forestry. He published until his death almost every year works.

As Cheeseman began research, the flora of New Zealand, little was known. Cheeseman made ​​many collecting trips, including the Nelson Provincial District, the Kermadecinseln, the Three Kings Islands and in the area of Mangonui in the north. He often traveled with his friend Mr. J. Adams.

Cheeseman also visited Polynesia. He has published in the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London with a full report on the flora of Rarotonga, the main island of the Cook Islands.