Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/221

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DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN BIOGRAPHY.
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at Balmain, Sydney, on July 18th, 1874, Miss Ellen Geard.

Guérard, Jean Eugene von, son of the Court Painter to the Emperor Francis I. of Austria, went to Italy with his father at an early age, and under his supervision studied the old Italian masters. After a period of residence at Dusseldorf, he came to Australia in 1853, and painted numerous Australian and New Zealand landscapes. In 1866 his picture of Mount Kosciusko was purchased for the Public Gallery of Victoria, of which, in June 1870, he was appointed master and curator.

Guilfoyle, William Robert, son of M. Guilfoyle, a botanist of repute, was born at Chelsea, London, in 1843, and went to New South Wales with his parents in 1853. In 1868 he accompanied the Challenger Expedition to the South Seas, and subsequently cultivated a sugar and tobacco estate In Queensland. In 1873 he accented the appointment of Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, a position he still holds. Mr. Guilfoyle has written several works on botanical subjects, and has contributed copiously to the scientific journals.

Gullett, Henry, the well-known Australian journalist, is the son of an old colonist in the Lancefield district of Victoria, and early embraced journalism as a profession. He is best known as the editor for many years of the Melbourne Australasian, a high-class weekly journal, published in connection with the daily Argus, in the conduct of which he succeeded Mr. James Smith. Mr. Gullett, who is an admirable writer, imparted a high literary and critical tone to the paper, and placed it in the front rank of its class as a family political and sporting newspaper for the intelligent classes. In 1885 he severed his connection with the Australasian and removed to Sydney, where he became a proprietor of the Daily Telegraph, editor of the weekly journal, the Tribune, published in connection therewith, and a constant contributor to the leading columns of the former. In 1890 he resigned his literary connection with the Daily Telegraph, and is now engaged as a leader-writer and assistant editor on the Sydney Morning Herald. Mrs. Gullett has contributed largely to the journals with which her husband has been connected, mainly on topics of feminine interest.

Gunn, Robert Campbell, F.R.S., F.L.S., son of William Gunn, of Caithness, Scotland, lieutenant in the 93rd Highlanders, and Margaret his wife (nee Wilson), was born at the Cape of Good Hope April 4th, 1808. In 1829 he emigrated to Tasmania. He arrived at Hobart in Feb. 1830, and was at once appointed by Governor Arthur to a post in the Convict Department. He was appointed Superintendent of Convicts for the Northern Division in 1830, magistrate for the Territory in 1833, police magistrate at Circular Head in 1836, assistant police magistrate at Hobart Town in 1838, private secretary to Governor Sir John Franklin and clerk to the Executive and Legislative Councils in 1839, and retired from the public service in 1841. In 1855 he was elected a member of the old Legislative Council for Launceston, and on the introduction of free institutions in 1856 he entered the House of Assembly, and sat for some years as member for the district of Selby. In 1860 he received the appointment of Deputy Commissioner of Crown Lands and Clerk of the Peace at Launceston, and in 1865 that of Deputy Recorder of Titles at Launceston under the Real Property Act, holding the office until 1876, when he retired on a pension. In 1868 he was one of three commissioners appointed at the request of the New Zealand Government by the Governments of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, to decide on the most suitable site on Cook Straits for the capital, the commissioners unanimously making choice of Wellington. It was by his work as a naturalist that Mr. Gunn was best known. He was an able and enthusiastic botanist, and in his botanical excursions, beginning in 1831, he rambled over nearly every part of the island, discovering many new species of plants, and adding largely to the knowledge of the flora of the colony. The results of his labours are recorded in Hooker's "Flora of Tasmania," and in many articles contributed by him to scientific journals. He was editor of the Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science (Hobart Town, 1842-9). He died at Newstead, Launceston, on March 13th, 1881. Mr. Gunn married first at Antigua, West Indies, in 1826, Eliza, daughter of James Ireland, lieutenant 93rd Highlanders; secondly, at

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