Hilda Gladys Geissmann was a self-taught naturalist and nature photographer. Many of her specimens were greatly prized because of their rarity, beauty or quality and are housed in museums and herbariums throughout Australia and in the USA.
Edith Coleman was a naturalist who wrote prolifically on a wide range of animals and published in both scientific journals and the popular press.
Geraldine Sewell collected plant specimens in Western Australia between 1886 and 1891 around Mount Caroline ; over 300 specimens are in the National Herbarium of Victoria.
Wildflower enthusiast and environmental activist
Sarah Carter collected botanical specimens largely from the Upper Hunter River region of New South Wales. Over 300 of Carter’s specimens are in the National Herbarium of Victoria.
In 1893, she published the first Australian Garden Guide written by a woman, “The Flower Garden in Australia. A book for Ladies and Amateurs”.
Between 1880 and 1890 she collected plant specimens around Wentworth and along the Murray and Darling Rivers. The National Herbarium of Victoria holds over 350 of her specimens, as well as some collected by her daughter Lucy Edith Holding (1873 – 1919).
Emma Oakden collected botanical specimens in eastern Tasmania, particularly in the Launceston district, in the 1880s. Over 250 specimens are in the National Herbarium of Victoria.
Ellen Biddulph collected plant specimens in central Queensland in the 1890s, sending them to the Victorian Government Botanist for identification. The National Herbarium of Victoria holds nearly 400 of her specimens.
Over 250 of Spencer’s botanical specimens are in the National Herbarium of Victoria.