George Caley

{{Short description|English botanist and explorer in Australia (1770–1829)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2014}} {{Infobox scientist | name = George Caley | birth_date = {{Birth date|1770|06|10|df=y}} | birth_place = Craven, Yorkshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1829|05|23|1770|06|10|df=y}} | death_place = London, England | occupation = Botanist and explorer | known_for = ''Caleana'', ''Grevillea caleyi'', ''Viola caleyana'', ''Banksia caleyi'', and ''Eucalyptus caleyi'' Discovery of Mount Banks, Australia | author_abbrev_bot = '''Caley''' | patrons = Sir Joseph Banks | workplaces = Kew Gardens }} '''George Caley''' (10 June 1770 – 23 May 1829) was an English botanist and explorer, active in Australia for the majority of his career.

==Early life== Caley was born on 10 June 1770<ref name="dab">{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=George|Last=Caley|shortlink=0-dict-biogCa-Ch.html#caley1|accessdate=2 October 2008}}</ref> in Yorkshire.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=R. Else |date=27 May 1939 |title=The Man from Kew: George Caley in Australia. 130th Anniversary |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17590136?searchTerm=%22george%20caley%22 |access-date=19 May 2026 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |pages=13}}</ref> His father was a horse dealer.<ref name="dab" /><ref name=":0" /> Caley attended the Free Grammar School at Manchester and began working for his father.<ref name="dab" /> He taught himself botany<ref name="dab" /> by studying William Withering's ''Botanical Arrangement'' (1787–92). He got himself a job at Kew Gardens<ref name="dab" /><ref name=":0" /> and spent more time with associates at the Manchester School of Botanists. He started corresponding with Sir Joseph Banks<ref name=":0" /> in 1795.<ref name="dab" />

Caley emigrated to Sydney arriving on 15 April 1800.<ref name="dab" /><ref name=":0" /> He was employed by Banks as a botanical collector and lived in Parramatta in a cottage provided by the government.<ref name="dab" /><ref name=":0" /> Caley travelled to Western Port, the Cow Pastures region, Norfolk Island and Hobart.<ref name="dab" /> He also travelled to Cataract River, which he named, the Blue Mountains, Mount Tomah, and Mount Banks, which he named for Banks.<ref name=":0" /> In 1804, he made a report to New South Wales Governor Philip Gidley King entitled "''A'' ''Journey to Ascertain the Limits or Boundaries of Vaccary Forest''".<ref name="dab" />

In 1810, he returned to England.<ref name="dab" /><ref name=":0" /> Caley married in 1816.<ref name="dab" /> Around 1816, he became the curator of the St Vincent botanic gardens, a role in which he served until 1822.<ref name="dab" /> Later, he returned to England.<ref name="dab" />

== Death and legacy == Caley died in England on 23 May 1829.<ref name="dab" /><ref name=":0" /> He was 59.<ref name=":0" /> He had been predeceased by his wife.<ref name="dab" /> The couple had no children.<ref name="dab" />

A memorial to him was unveiled on the Blue Mountains, 150 years after he climbed Mount King George.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 Oct 1954 |title=George Caley Memorial |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18452446?searchTerm=%22george%20caley%22 |access-date=19 May 2026 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |pages=5 |via=Trove}}</ref>[[File:Duck off Elvina.JPG|thumb|right|240px|''Caleana'', the Flying Duck Orchid, named after George Caley]]

==Botanical name== This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation '''Caley''' when citing a botanical name.<ref>{{cite book|last = Brummitt|first = R. K.|author2=C. E. Powell|title = Authors of Plant Names |publisher = Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |year = 1992 |isbn = 1-84246-085-4}}</ref> He is recognised in several place names, including a Reserve name and bushland pavilion name at Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden in St Ives, and in the orchid genus ''Caleana'' and the species ''Grevillea caleyi'', ''Viola caleyana'', ''Banksia caleyi'', and ''Eucalyptus caleyi''.<ref>Webb, J., (2002), ‘Caley, George’, in R. Aitken and M. Looker (eds), ''Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens'', South Melbourne, Oxford University Press, p. 124.</ref> A George Caley Society was formed in Saint Ives (New South Wales) in 2019.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * Webb, J. B., (2003), ‘George Caley – Robert Brown’s collecting partner’, ''Australian Garden History'', 15 (1), pp. 15–16.

Additional sources listed by the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'': :''Historical Records of New South Wales'', vols 3-6; J. Cash, ''Where There's a Will there's a Way, or Science in the Cottage'' (London, 1873); J. H. Maiden, ''Sir Joseph Banks'' (Sydney, 1909); J. H. Maiden, ‘George Caley, Botanical Collector in NSW’, ''Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales'', 14 (1904); R. Else-Mitchell, ‘George Caley: His Life and Work’, ''Journal and Proceedings'' (Royal Australian Historical Society), vol 25, part 6, 1939, pp 437–542; L. A. Gilbert, Botanical Investigation of Eastern Seaboard Australia, 1788-1810 (M.A. thesis, University of New England, 1962); manuscript catalogue under G. Caley (State Library of New South Wales); G. Caley letters (State Library of New South Wales)

==External links== * [http://www.infobluemountains.net.au/history/crossing_cal.htm Account of Caley's attempt to cross the Blue Mountains]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caley, George}} Category:English explorers Category:1770 births Category:1829 deaths Category:Botanists with author abbreviations Category:Botanists active in Australia Category:Explorers of Australia Category:People from the Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Category:18th-century English botanists Category:19th-century English botanists