Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria |
Born 8 November, 1813, at the Ellowes, [Sedgley], Staffordshire, England; married Susan Apthorpe in December 1836 at Gumley, Leicestershire; died 8 April, 1871, George Town, Tasmania.
He was Master of Arts and Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford.
"The Rev. Mr. Fereday, the Episcopalian Clergyman at George Town, Tasmania, an enthusiastic lover of natural history, especially of algae. He had a boat and dredge, and at once volunteered himself as a firm ally and assistant." (" Memoir of W. H. Harvey," p. 282, 1854.)
Harvey dedicated the 4th volume of his "Phycologia Australica" to Mr. Fereday in the following graceful terms :-
"To the Rev. John' Fereday, M.A., of George Town, Tasmania, who has cultivated several branches of natural history, and to Mrs. Fereday, an accomplished and successful collector of algae, the fourth volume of the "Phycologia Australica" is inscribed in grateful memory of many kindnesses conferred on the author during his stay at George Town."
In the preface to Vol. 5, Harvey says:-
"During my residence at George Town. Tasmania. the Rev. J. Fereday rendered me the most efficient aid in prosecuting my researches. His boat and strong arm were almost daily at my service, and many thousands of specimens were collected under his auspices. He knew all the best localities on the Tamar, and was continually my guide to them. Without his able guidance and active assistance my visit to George Town would have proved comparatively unfruitful, instead of yielding me a rich harvest of specimens. To Mrs. Fereday I am indebted for many beautifully preserved specimens, and for aid in "laying out" and drying the tubsful of delicate algae which we almost daily brought home."
Samuel Hannaford, himself also a student of Algae, describes in his "Wild Flowers of Tasmania," pp. 75 and 85, a visit to Mr. Fereday, on which they botanised together.
Harvey figured the following plants in his "Phycologia Australica" [available to view online at http://www.phycology.ugent.be/harvey/] :-
Cladophora feredayi Harv. [vol. 1: pl. XLVII (1858), named for Rev. John Fereday]
Dasya feredayae Harv. [vol. 3: pl. CLXXIII (1860), named for Mrs Susan Fereday]
Source: Maiden, J.H. (1909) Records of Tasmanian botanists. Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania for the year 1909. pp. 14-15.