Thomas Lane Bancroft

Thomas Lane Bancroft (2 January 1860 – 12 November 1933) was an Australian medical naturalist. Based in Queensland, he is known for his research on mosquito-borne diseases such as filariasis, the lifecyle of the Australian lungfish, and new crop varieties.

Early life Thomas Lane Bancroft was born on 2 January 1860 at Lenton, Nottinghamshire, England, the son of Dr Joseph Bancroft and his wife Anne, née Oldfield.

Filaria investigations Bancroft also pursued many research interests on his own, but, after his father's death in 1894, continued his father's work on filaria, the parasitic worm that his father had discovered was the cause of filariasis. By breeding the common house mosquito (Culex fatigans) and allowing the insects to bite a person suffering from filaria he showed that the parasite lived and developed in them. The means of transmission of the disease from the mosquito to man was not then known. Bancroft considered that it occurred by the contamination of food, but, on considering that the digestive fluids would probably kill the parasite before it could pass into the blood, he proposed that infection followed on the bite of the mosquito, now proven to be the cause. Not being satisfied with the purity of the town water supply, he suggested that the reservoirs be cleaned and deepened, and the area around the reservoirs be fenced off and planted with buffalo grass. His numerous other researches included the testing of snakebite cures, the investigation of mange on horses, and an inquiry into the economics of the distillation of eucalyptus oil from native eucalypts.

Palm Island Towards the end of 1930 he obtained an appointment as medical officer at the Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement. He looked forward to being able to end his days, as he thought, in comfort, with a reasonable amount of leisure and some facilities for experimenting with cotton and lungfish. Unfortunately, owing to a delay on the journey, he lost most of the young fish which he was taking with him, and did not have sufficient to carry on the work. When at last he reached the island, he was disappointed. Instead of an island covered with tropical scrub, he found "a huge granitic rock covered with blady grass, with scrub only in the gullies " There was no fishing or shooting, and very few insects and birds. The only cultivation was a reclaimed swamp, which was all needed to grow food for the Aboriginal people. Although the heat and humidity made him sick, and there was no water suitable for irrigation, he attempted to grow his cotton varieties, cuttings of which he had brought from Eidsvold.

Bancroft died on Sunday 12 November 1933 at his home at Wallaville aged 73 years old. On Tuesday 14 November 1933 his funeral was held at John Hislop and Son's funeral chapel in South Brisbane and he was buried at Toowong Cemetery. The funeral was conducted by Reverend Roy St George of St Andrew's Anglican Church at Indooroopilly.

Legacy Bancroft was an avid collector of botanic specimens for the purpose of having them formally described. As a result a number of taxa bear his name, including Elaeocarpus bancroftii, Viscum bancroftii, Beilschmiedia bancroftii, and Stephania bancroftii.

There is a monument to Thomas Bancroft and his father Joseph Bancroft in Bancroft Park, Captain Cook Parade, Deception Bay . It was unveiled on Sunday 21 July 1963 by the Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association, the Caboolture Shire Council, and the Caboolture Historical Society.