Hedley Herbert Finlayson

Hedley Herbert Finlayson (1895–1991) was an Australian scientist who studied mammals (a mammologist). He was also an author and photographer. He worked with the South Australian Museum. He is best known for his detailed studies of mammals in Central Australia. He also wrote down what the Indigenous people told him about these animals.

Finlayson was born in Adelaide, Australia. His mother was Finette (Nettie) Finlayson, and his father was Ebenezer Finlayson, a well-known businessman and writer. Finlayson went to Kyre College in Mitcham (now called Scotch College) and studied science at the University of Adelaide.^[1]

While studying, Finlayson worked in the chemistry department until 1918. He had some serious accidents in the laborotory. An explosion in 1913 caused him to lose his left hand and right eye.^[a][1] In 1917, he helped study the resin from Xanthorrhoea (grass trees), which was sent to Germany and thought to be used for making explosives. He also worked on finding natural color chemicals from a carnivorous plant called Drosera whittakeri.^[2]

Finlayson started studying mammals and worked at the South Australian Museum until 1965.^[1] He was interested in mammals of the dry central parts of Australia, including South Australia and the Northern Territory. He was also a skilled photographer and used photos to record his research. His notes and records were very detailed.^[1]

He paid for many of his own trips to study animals, including four big trips to remote dry areas in the early 1930s. He worked with local farmers and Indigenous people to find and study small and medium-sized mammals.^[1] He traveled to places in South Australia, Victoria, and Queensland. He was especially interested in larger marsupials like the toolache (Macropus greyi), brusher, and ti tree wallaby. At Dawson Valley in Queensland he studied subspecies of macropods, kangaroos, wallabies, possums, gliders, koalas and bandicoots.^[2]He found a skull of the desert rat-kangaroo, Caloprymnus campestris, a species not seen since 1843. He went to Diamantina National Park and collected the last known specimens of this animal, which was a major achievement.^[2]

Finlayson wrote over 60 scientific papers, including five in the famous journal Nature. He took about 5,000 photos of central Australian landscapes and animals. These are now kept in the Northern Territory archives. He wrote a book called The Red Centre (1935), which was reprinted eight times.^[1] He used the knowledge of Aboriginal people to learn about animals that lived in or had disappeared from the desert.^[3]

Finlayson kept a private collection of animal specimens from his trips. This caused problems with the South Australian Museum.^[1] When he retired after 40 years of unpaid work, the museum made the curator job paid, which upset him. In protest, he took his collection away from the museum.^[2] He later gave his private collection to the Museum of Central Australia.^[1]

He was awarded the Royal Society of South Australia’s Verco Medal in 1960 and the John Lewis Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (South Australian Branch) in 1962.^[1]

Finlayson was a private person who never married and kept his personal life quiet.^[1]

Finlayson's book The Red Centre helped make the name popular for Australia’s desert areas. A small bat species from central Australia, called Vespadelus finlaysoni or Finlayson's cave bat, was named to honor his research.^[4]