Robert D. FitzGerald

Who was Robert D. FitzGerald?

Robert David FitzGerald was an Irish-Australian surveyor, ornithologist, botanist and poet. His father, also Robert David FitzGerald, was a banker, and his mother was Mary Ann, née Bell.

Whilst working as a public servant FitzGerald's private passion and ability regarding ornithology and botany became so skillful that he communicated directly with Charles Darwin regarding Australian species of plant and was referred to several times in the book The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species of 1877. He also collected orchids for the great German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller.

His extraordinary skills gave rise to a volume of work completed over seven years called Australian Orchids which J. D. Hooker another botanist, considered would be an honour to any country and to any Botanist.