Fred Humphreys

Frederick William "Fred" Humphreys (11 November 1907 – 3 September 1967) was an Australian government official and an amateur photographer and botanist whose work culminated in the posthumous publication of The Banksia Book, a book on Banksia. He discovered Banksia grossa in the Stirling Range in 1967.^[1]

Life and career

Humphreys was born in Kalgoorlie. He attended University of Western Australia, where he participated in track and running events. He graduated with a Diploma in Commerce in 1934. He took a position with the Commonwealth Public Service in Immigration and Social Services. He later returned to Western Australia as State Director of Social Services.^[2]

Both Humphreys and his wife Evelyn were keen members of the Wildflower Society of Western Australia. Author Alex George said Humphreys conceived the idea of a series of popular books on plants such as Banksias, Dryandras, and Verticordias, and endeavoured to photograph every species of Banksia.^[3] However, he died before he could accomplish this. His enthusiasm prompted George to finish a book on banksias, after the conclusion of his monograph "The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)".^[3] Humphreys donated his slides of flowers to the Western Australian Herbarium and the Australian National Botanic Gardens.^[2]

At the time of his death the Social Services Department was located in the building which bore his name, Humphreys House.^[2] The F.W. Humphreys Perpetual Trophy at UWA is named in his honor.^[2] American botanist Sherwin Carlquist named a triggerplant from the Great Victoria Desert, Stylidium humphreysii, in his honour in 1969.^[4]

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