Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Watkins, George
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
George Watkins was born at Hereford in England, and migrated to Brisbane in 1867. From about 1867 to 1886 he worked as a dispenser at the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum on Stradbroke Island. He then opened a pharmacy in Queen Street, Brisbane, and ran this till 1916. He was interested in botany The Strangler Fig, Ficus Watkinsiana, was named after him. In about 1912 he travelled to Java and brought back several botanical specimens, including a bamboo which was planted (and has since been removed) on the Brisbane River bank opposite the Regatta Hotel. The other botanical specimens were planted on the road to Mt Cootha, near the Botanical Gardens.