103:, a position that he would hold until his death. In November 1816, Fraser was transferred to the 46th Regiment. He again transferred regiments in August 1817, this time to the 48th Regiment of Foot. On 6 January 1821, Fraser was discharged from the army and formally appointed Colonial Botanist, a position that he had been holding informally at least since 1819. Over the subsequent decade, he organised the development of Sydney Botanic Gardens from the governors’ kitchen garden to a world-renowned botanic garden, receiving and sending plants and seeds to all the major horticultural centres as well as to penal settlements and major gardens in New South Wales.
225:, where the boats could go no further. Stirling then split the party into three groups, each to explore in a different direction. Fraser's group was sent in an eastward direction, where they discovered "many curious and interesting Botanical specimens and a lump of granite from the ridge". Each group having returned to the junction of the Swan with Ellen Brook, the party returned down the Swan River, arriving back at the ship on the 18th.
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that would have had some validity in
England, but has little validity in Australia where the vast majority of plants are adapted to dry, infertile soils. Finally, Appleyard (1979) speculates that "the question must be asked: had the persuasive Stirling unduly influenced - not maliciously but seductively by his boundless enthusiasm - Charles Fraser to pen words that did little credit to his professional and administrative standing?"
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that occurs near the Swan River, and thus they were unaware of the infertile grey sand that constitutes most of the sand plain. It has also been argued that Fraser's assessment of the fertility of the soil would have been influenced by the greenness and apparent health of the native plants, a method
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At the conclusion of the expedition, Fraser wrote a glowing report of the quality of the soil in the area. The report, which
Statham-Drew has described as "euphoric", states: "In giving my opinion of the Land seen on the Banks of Swan River, I hesitate not in pronouncing it superior to any I ever saw
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wrote "that man who reported this land to be good deserves hanging nine times over". A naval officer stationed at the Swan River wrote that Fraser's report was so "highly coloured" that it was inevitable that people coming to the colony would be disappointed.
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on 4 March. After surveying the coastal waters off the Swan, Stirling and Fraser briefly reconnoitred the lower reaches of the River on the 7th. The following day, Stirling led a party of 18 men in two boats, in exploring up the Swan River. With
Stirling and
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indirectly criticised Fraser with his comment that botanists are no more capable of assessing land for farming purposes than farmers are capable of discussing "the merits and character of an extraordinary shrub". Finally, in
December 1832,
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In reality the soils of the area are quite poor, and Fraser would later be heavily criticised for the inaccuracy of his report. Analyses of the expedition reports has shown that the party explored only within the narrow strip of rich
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Charles Fraser died on 22 December 1831. He had collected and catalogued hundreds of
Australian plants. According to Hall (1978), more than thirty plant species were named after him, including species in the genera
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in New South Wales east of the Blue
Mountains...." Together with Stirling's effusive report on the naval, strategic and geological qualities of the area, the reports were instrumental in convincing the British
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Fraser was to bear most of the blame with the Swan River colonists for the misinformation that they received. In a thinly veiled attack on Fraser,
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in Fraser's honour, and about a mile upstream Fraser discovered a fresh water brook and lagoon that were named
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wrote of the "unpardonable sin of Fraser": that he did not state the extent of good land in the area.
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Davies G, Carwardine C (1998). "Charles Fraser: plant collector and first colonial botanist".
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From 1817, Fraser travelled extensively as a field collector. He was a member of three of
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The
Beginning: European Discovery and Early Settlement of Swan River Western Australia
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approached Fraser while he was alone in the camp, angrily gesturing for him to leave.
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Early in 1827 Fraser was appointed to accompany
Captain (later Admiral Sir)
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Western
Australian Exploration: Volume One, December 1826–December 1825
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584:. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
516:. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
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By 14 March the party had traced the Swan River to its junction with
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on the Swan River expedition of 1827, an expedition to explore the
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James Stirling: Admiral and Founding Governor of Western Australia
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and Clause's Lagoon respectively, in honour of fellow explorer
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Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
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were recognised, and he was appointed superintendent of the
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settlement. The expedition arrived in the area on board
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Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011).
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Davies G (2002). "Fraser (Frazer or Frazier), Charles".
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from 1821 to 1831. He collected and catalogued numerous
491:. Victoria Park, Western Australia: Hesperian Press.
443:. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 234.
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169:Swan River
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361:Persoonia
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