Eugene Fitzalan

Eugene Fitzherbert Albini Fitzalan (1830–1911) was an Irish-born botanist in Australia. He made many botanical expedition and discovered numerous new species. He created the first botanical garden in Cairns, Queensland, now the heritage-listed Flecker Botanical Gardens.

Early life Eugene Fitzherbert Albini Fitzalan was born in Derry, Ireland. Fitzalan was awarded an official contract worth £1125 to build government housing in Port Denison (as Bowen was then known). To fulfil this contract, he employed timber workers to fell and prepare the large hoop pine found on the nearby Whitsunday Island. He oversaw the work personally and found it necessary to have his logging camp protected by a detachment of Native Police under the command of Lieut. Powell. Fitzalan chartered the schooner 'Buonaparte' to transport the timber to Port Denison. On one trip, Fitzalan loaded of prepared hoop pine and 40,000 shingles. Disagreements between Fitzalan and other local officials over the logging and building contracts saw delays to the actual construction of the buildings. As a result of Fitzalan's logging ventures in the area, several places are named after him, including Fitzalan Island and Fitzalan passage near Whitsunday Island. Fitzalan's interest in developing the area is reflected in his 1872 poem in which he envisions each of the Whitsunday Islands being owned individually by notable Bowen residents who would replace the forests with grand houses and gardens.

In December 1886 the Cairns Municipal Council came to an agreement with Eugene Fitzalan, a trained botanist, to establish an ornamental garden on a recreation reserve (now the Flecker Botanical Gardens), sufficiently attractive to entice the public. In return Fitzalan was permitted to sell refreshments (which would enhance the public appeal of the gardens) and to operate a private commercial nursery from the reserve. He was appointed caretaker of the reserve with a nominal annual salary of £5. Fitzalan developed about 5 acres (2 hectares) in the northeast of the reserve as an ornamental botanic garden (then known variously as Rosebank or Fitzalan's Botanical Gardens), largely on the site of earlier Chinese market gardens. An 1891 survey plan indicates that Fitzalan's early gardens were located on section 75, just south of Collins Avenue, below what is now the Tanks Arts Centre. This was a short distance from the railway line near the cutting at the Three Mile, where the Edge Hill railway station was constructed in 1888–1889. Access to the gardens was made easier in 1887 when a crossing was made over Saltwater Creek. He was buried in the South Brisbane Cemetery on 21 June 1911.

Named in his honour

A number of plant species are named after him, including Randia fitzalanii (now Atractocarpus fitzalanii), Eria fitzalanii (now Pinalia fitzalanii), Eulophia fitzalanii (now Eulophia bicallosa), Lepistemon fitzalanii (now Lepistemon urceolatus), Macropteranthes fitzalanii, Musa fitzalanii, Erythrina fitzalanii (now Erythrina variegata), and Psychotria fitzalanii.