# Thomas Cheeseman

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Cheeseman
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Cheeseman.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cheeseman
> Source revision: 1287819486
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

English-born New Zealand botanist (1846–1923)

For other people named Thomas Cheeseman, see [Thomas Cheeseman (disambiguation)](/source/Thomas_Cheeseman_(disambiguation)).

Thomas Cheeseman FLS FZS FNZInst. Cheeseman c. 1910s Born Thomas Frederick Cheeseman (1845-06-08)8 June 1845 Hull, Yorkshire, England Died 15 October 1923(1923-10-15) (aged 77) Auckland, New Zealand Education Parnell Grammar School St John's College Spouse Rosetta "Rose" Keesing ​ ​ (m. 1889)​ Children 2 Awards Hector Memorial Medal Linnean Medal Scientific career Fields Botany Institutions Auckland Museum Author abbrev. (botany) Cheeseman Relatives William Joseph Cheeseman (brother) Clara Cheeseman (sister) Ellen Cheeseman (sister) Emma Cheeseman (sister) Signature

**Thomas Frederick Cheeseman** [FLS](/source/Fellow_of_the_Linnean_Society_of_London) [FZS](/source/Fellow_of_the_London_Zoological_Society) FNZInst. (8 June 1845 – 15 October 1923)[1][2] was a New Zealand [botanist](/source/Botanist). He was also a [naturalist](/source/Naturalist) who had wide-ranging interests, such that he even described a few species of [sea slugs](/source/Sea_slug) (marine [gastropod](/source/Gastropod) [molluscs](/source/Mollusc)).

## Biography

Cheeseman was born at [Hull](/source/Kingston_upon_Hull), in [Yorkshire](/source/Yorkshire) on 8 June 1845, the eldest of five children.[3] He came to New Zealand at the age of eight with his parents on the *Artemesia*, arriving in Auckland on 4 April 1854. He was educated at [Parnell Grammar School](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parnell_Grammar_School&action=edit&redlink=1) and then at [St John's College, Auckland](/source/St_John's_College%2C_Auckland). His father, the Rev. Thomas Cheeseman, had been a member of the old [Auckland Provincial Council](/source/Auckland_Provincial_Council).[1]

Cheeseman started studying the flora of New Zealand, and in 1872 he published an accurate and comprehensive account of the plant life of the [Waitākere Ranges](/source/Wait%C4%81kere_Ranges).[1] In 1874, he was appointed Secretary of the [Auckland Institute](/source/Royal_Society_Te_Ap%C4%81rangi) and Curator of the [Auckland Museum](/source/Auckland_Museum), which had only recently been founded. For the first three decades, Cheeseman was the only staff member who worked at the museum, other than the museum's janitor.[3] Under his curatorship, the museum's collections were formed. His botanical studies were valuable not just academically, but were of importance to [agriculture](/source/Agriculture), [horticulture](/source/Horticulture), and [forestry](/source/Forestry). He published papers almost every year until his death.

When Cheeseman's research began, the botany of New Zealand was quite poorly known. Cheeseman made many collecting trips including areas such as the [Nelson Provincial District](/source/Nelson_Province), the [Kermadec](/source/Kermadec_Islands) and [Three Kings Islands](/source/Three_Kings_Islands), and the area from [Mangōnui](/source/Mang%C5%8Dnui) to the far north. He sometimes travelled with his friend Mr. J. Adams, of the [Thames High School](/source/Thames_High_School), after whom he named the species *[Senecio adamsii](/source/Brachyglottis#Diversity)* and *[Elytranthe adamsii](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elytranthe_adamsii&action=edit&redlink=1)*.[1]

Cheeseman also visited [Polynesia](/source/Polynesia). He published in the *[Transactions of the Linnean Society](/source/Transactions_of_the_Linnean_Society)* a full account of the flora of [Rarotonga](/source/Rarotonga), the chief island of the [Cook Islands](/source/Cook_Islands).[1]

Hundreds of bird specimens added to Auckland Museum's collections by Cheeseman were shot by his younger brother, William Joseph, and their labels bear the tag "W.J.C." The museum could not afford a taxidermist, but Cheeseman's sister [Emma](/source/Emma_Cheeseman) learnt the skill and prepared many of the specimens. Her initials "E.C." appear.on the backs of many labels.[4] His two other sisters, [Ellen](/source/Ellen_Cheeseman), a watercolour painter and botanist, and [Clara](/source/Clara_Cheeseman), a novelist, also accompanied him on field trips.[5]

Cheeseman married Rosetta Keesing, of a notable Jewish family of Auckland city, in November 1889.[4] Together, they had two children: Dorothy (later Dorothy Grant-Taylor) and Guy.[3] Cheeseman died on 15 October 1923.[3] Cheeseman's archives are held at the Auckland Museum.[3]

## Bibliography

Out of his 101 papers and books, twenty-two are on [zoological](/source/Zoological) or [ethnological](/source/Ethnological) subjects, as opposed to botany.[1]

Many of Cheeseman's botanical publications paved the way for the publication of a complete *Flora* of New Zealand. In 1906 he produced the *[Manual of the New Zealand Flora](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Manual_of_the_New_Zealand_Flora),* illustrated by his sister Clara Cheeseman.[6][7] In 1914 he, Hemsley, and [Matilda Smith](/source/Matilda_Smith) created *Illustrations of the New Zealand Flora* (1914).[8] In some of his publications, Cheeseman speculated as to the possible origins of the New Zealand sub-Antarctic flora. He also had written an early paper on the naturalised plants of the Auckland Provincial District. Some of his early papers were about the pollination of certain species.[1]

As well as his botanical research, Cheeseman developed the Auckland Museum, including what is probably the most extensive collection extant illustrating [Māori ethnology](/source/M%C4%81ori_culture). He donated his own [herbarium](/source/Herbarium) of the [flowering plants](/source/Flowering_plant) and vascular [cryptogams](/source/Cryptogam) to the Auckland Institute.[1]

He published 83 articles in the *[Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand](/source/Transactions_and_Proceedings_of_the_Royal_Society_of_New_Zealand)*.

Cheeseman also named ten sea snails, half of which have become synonyms. Eight marine species were named *cheesemanii* after him.[9]

## Membership

Cheeseman was a Fellow of the [Linnean Society of London](/source/Linnean_Society_of_London) (FLS), and the [Zoological Society](/source/Zoological_Society_of_London) (FZS). He was made a Corresponding Membership of the [Botanical Society of Edinburgh](/source/Botanical_Society_of_Edinburgh), and awarded the Gold [Linnean Medal](/source/Linnean_Medal) of the Linnean Society, the botanical equivalent to a Nobel Medal, in 1923.[10]

He served as the President of the [New Zealand Institute](/source/Royal_Society_Te_Ap%C4%81rangi) from 1911 to 1913.[3] In 1918, he was awarded the [Hector Memorial Medal](/source/Hector_Memorial_Medal) and Prize, and in 1919 he was made an original Fellow of the New Zealand Institute (FNZInst.).[1]

The standard [author abbreviation](/source/List_of_botanists_by_author_abbreviation_(A)) Cheeseman is used to indicate this person as the author when [citing](/source/Author_citation_(botany)) a [botanical name](/source/Botanical_name).[11]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-obit_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-obit_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-obit_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-obit_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-obit_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-obit_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-obit_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-obit_1-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-obit_1-8) Cockayne, Leonard (14 December 1923). ["Thomas Frederic Cheeseman, 1846–1923"](http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_54/rsnz_54_00_000150.html). *Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand*. **54**. W.A.G. Skinner, Govt. Printing Office: xvii–xix – via [National Library of New Zealand](/source/National_Library_of_New_Zealand).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Goulding, Jeanne H.](/source/Jeanne_Hannington_Goulding) (1996). ["Cheeseman, Thomas Frederick"](https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3c14/cheeseman-thomas-frederick). In [Orange, Claudia](/source/Claudia_Orange) (ed.). *Dictionary of New Zealand Biography*. Vol. 3. Auckland, N.Z.: [Auckland University Press](/source/Auckland_University_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781869402006](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781869402006).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-CheesemanOverview_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-CheesemanOverview_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-CheesemanOverview_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-CheesemanOverview_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-CheesemanOverview_3-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-CheesemanOverview_3-5) Gill, B.J.; Collett, M.R.; Lorimer, Elizabeth (2019). ["An overview of the archived papers of T.F. Cheeseman, Auckland Museum's curator from 1874 to 1923"](https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/research/publications/records/vol54/cheeseman-papers). *[Papahou: Records of the Auckland Museum](/source/Papahou%3A_Records_of_the_Auckland_Museum)*. **54**: 1–20. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.32912/RAM.2019.54.1](https://doi.org/10.32912%2FRAM.2019.54.1). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1174-9202](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1174-9202). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [26850634](https://www.jstor.org/stable/26850634). [Wikidata](/source/WDQ_(identifier)) [Q104783370](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104783370).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Gill_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Gill_4-1) Gill, Brian (2012). *The owl that fell from the sky: stories of a museum curator*. Awa Press. pp. 57–63. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-877551-13-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-877551-13-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Thomas Cheeseman (1846–1923) | NZETC"](http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-SamEarl-t1-body1-d14-d3.html). *nzetc.victoria.ac.nz*. Retrieved 21 May 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Penelope Grant-Taylor Great Grand Daughter family papers

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Cheeseman, Thomas Frederick (1906). [*Manual of the New Zealand flora*](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/12003). Wellington, New Zealand: J. Mackay, Govt. Printer. Retrieved 9 October 2017 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Cheeseman, Thomas Frederick; [Hemsley, William Botting](/source/William_Hemsley_(botanist)); [Smith, Matilda](/source/Matilda_Smith) (1914). [*Illustrations of the New Zealand flora*](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/12029). Wellington, New Zealand: John Mackay, Govt. Printer. Retrieved 9 October 2017 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["WoRMS – World Register of Marine Species"](http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxlist). *www.marinespecies.org*. Retrieved 9 October 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Mr. Cheeseman Honoured"](https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19230526.2.71). *The Auckland Star*. Vol. 54, no. 124. 26 May 1923. p. 7.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [International Plant Names Index](/source/International_Plant_Names_Index). [*Cheeseman*](https://www.ipni.org/search?q=author%20std%3ACheeseman).

## External links

[Scholia](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Scholia) has a profile for [**Thomas Frederick Cheeseman (Q1361590)**](https://iw.toolforge.org/scholia/Q1361590).

- Media related to [Thomas Frederick Cheeseman](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Thomas_Frederick_Cheeseman) at Wikimedia Commons

- Works by or about [Thomas Frederick Cheeseman](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Thomas_Frederick_Cheeseman) at [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource)

- Data related to [Thomas Frederic Cheeseman](https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Frederic_Cheeseman) at Wikispecies

- [1966 Encyclopedia of New Zealand](https://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/C/CheesemanThomasFrederick/CheesemanThomasFrederic/en)

- [Biography in *Botanical Discovery in New Zealand: The Resident Botanists* by W. R. B. Oliver](https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-OliResi-t1-body-d1-d1-d3.html)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States Netherlands Norway Korea Academics CiNii International Plant Names Index Artists New Zealand Artists People Trove Other Open Library 2 Te Papa (New Zealand) Yale LUX

v t e Recipients of the Hector Medal of the Royal Society of New Zealand Leonard Cockayne (1912) Thomas Easterfield (1913) Elsdon Best (1914) Patrick Marshall (1915) Ernest Rutherford (1916) Charles Chilton (1917) Thomas Cheeseman (1918) Philip Robertson (1919) Percy Smith (1920) Robert Speight (1921) Coleridge Farr (1922) George Hudson (1923) Donald Petrie (1924) Bernard Aston (1925) Harry Skinner (1926) Charles Cotton (1927) Duncan Sommerville (1928) George Thomson (1929) John Holloway (1930) William Percival Evans (1931) Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter H. Buck) (1932) John Marwick, Noel Benson (1933) Charles Ernest Weatherburn (1934) William Benham (1935) Walter Oliver (1936) John Reader Hosking (1937) Herbert Williams (1938) Arthur Bartrum (1939) Donald Macleod (1940) Harold Finlay (1941) Harry Allan (1942) Bob Briggs (1943) Johannes C. Andersen (1944) John Henderson (1945) Henry Forder (1946) Baden Powell (1947) G. H. Cunningham (1948) Robert Anthony Robinson (1949) Ernest Beaglehole (1950) Frank Turner (1951) Keith Bullen (1952) Lance Richdale (1953) Lucy Cranwell (1954) Brian Shorland (1955) Roger Duff (1956) Harold Wellman (1957) Alister McLellan (1958) Barry Fell (1959) Ted Chamberlain (1960) Harry Bloom (1961) Ralph Piddington (1962) Charles Fleming (1963) Derek Lawden (1964) Richard Dell (1965) Jack Holloway (1966) Con Cambie (1967) Gilbert Archey (1968) Doug Coombs (1969) Brian Wybourne (1970) Ira Cunningham (1971) Ted Bollard (1972) Michael Hartshorn (1973) Herbert Purves (1974) Robert Hayes (1975) Jack Dodd (1976) Cam Reid (1977) Richard Matthews (1978) Leon Phillips (1979) Graham Liggins (1980) Trevor Hatherton (1981) Roy Kerr (1982) Ray Forster (1983) Rod Bieleski (1984) Peter de la Mare (1985) Robin Carrell (1986) Jim Ellis (1987) Dan Walls (1988) Patricia Bergquist (1989) Peter Wardle (1990) Warren Roper (1991) Roger Green (1992) Dick Walcott (1993) Geoff Stedman (1994) Bob Jolly (1995) John C. Butcher (1996) Ted Baker (1997) Paul Callaghan, Jeff Tallon (1998) George Seber (1999) Peter Schwerdtfeger (2001) Ken MacKenzie (2003) Ian Witten (2005) Richard Furneaux (2006) Timothy Haskell (2007) Gaven Martin (2008) Peter Steel (2009) Grant Williams (2010) Rod Downey (2011) Margaret Brimble (2012) Richard Blaikie (2013) Marston Conder (2014) Ian Brown (2015) Stéphane Coen (2016) Sally Brooker (2017) Matt Visser (2018) Jadranka Travaš-Sejdić (2019) Eamonn O'Brien (2020) Eric Le Ru (2021) Murray Cox (2022) Niels Kjærgaard (2023) Charles Semple (2024) Christian Hartinger (2025)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thomas Cheeseman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cheeseman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cheeseman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.