The anomalous Mr Hubert H.D. Griffith (1877–1958), Australian field naturalist, collector and benefactor

Abstract

ABSTRACT Hubert H.D. Griffith was a significant but neglected contributor in the scientific discovery of Australia’s natural heritage. Although his interests were forged in his youth in Tasmania, his return to Adelaide as a young man heralded an energetic engagement with leading scientific societies and figures over nearly two decades at the beginning of the twentieth century. His interests were wide, spanning insects, birds, plants and photography. In particular, he supported J.M. Black in his preparation of the Flora of South Australia. Griffith’s impressive collections of beetles and plants have been consulted by taxonomists for more than a century and are now preserved in various state and national museums and herbaria in Australia. One genus (Griffithia) and 14 species of beetles and an important southern Australian seagrass, Amphibolis griffithii, are named after him in recognition of his contributions to science. A longtime and respected citizen of Adelaide, another enduring legacy of Hubert and his wife May (née Scott) is the Griffith Hospital, a private rehabilitation hospital they endowed in the 1950s, which continues to provide valued services to the South Australian community.