| James Ebenezer Bicheno | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 January 1785 Newbury, Berkshire, England |
| Died | 25 February 1851 (aged 66) Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Botanist |
James Ebenezer Bicheno (25 January 1785 – 25 February 1851) was a British author and colonial official.
Bicheno was the son of the Rev. James Bicheno, minister of the Baptist Church in Newbury, Berkshire. He was called to the bar in 1822 but seems to have spent most of his time until 1832 in writing and natural history pursuits, especially with the Linnean Society. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May, 1827. [1]
In 1832 he left London to live at Ty Maen South Cornelly Glamorgan, where he had been one of the founders of the Maesteg Ironworks in 1826.[2] and where he was a friend of Lewis Weston Dillwyn. This investment ultimately failed and he needed to look for an income.[3]
He was appointed colonial secretary of Van Diemen's Land in September 1842. He was a keen amateur botanist and experimented with plants on his small farm on the banks of the New Town Rivulet. He had several papers on botany and natural history published in its Transactions and assisted Sir William Jardine in preparing the two volumes of Illustrations of Ornithology (Edinburgh, 1830). He lectured on botany to the Mechanics' Institute and had papers published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Tasmania.
Bicheno was a large man, and it was said that he could fit three full bags of wheat in his trousers.[4][5]
Verity Papers, Glamorgan Records Office.