Lewis Adolphus Bernays

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Lewis Adolphus Bernays
CMG
Born(1831-05-03)3 May 1831
London, UK
Died22 August 1908(1908-08-22) (aged 77)
Burial placeToowong Cemetery
Alma materKing's College London
Occupation(s)Public servant, agricultural writer
Parent(s)Adolphus Bernays
Martha Arrowsmith
RelativesIsaac Bernays (paternal uncle)

Lewis Adolphus Bernays (3 May 1831 – 22 August 1908) C.M.G., F.L.S., F.R.G.S, was a public servant, the first Clerk of the Queensland Legislative Assemby, and an agricultural writer in Queensland, Australia.

Early life[edit]

Bernays was born in London, the son of Dr Adolphus Bernays (a brother of Chakam Isaac Bernays), a professor of German language and literature at King's College London, and his wife Martha, née Arrowsmith. He was educated at King's College, and at the age of nineteen, emigrated to New Zealand, where he engaged in sheep farming for two years.

In 1851 he married Mary Anne Eliza, daughter of William Borton.

Australia[edit]

Bernays went to Sydney in 1852 obtained a position on the staff of the parliament of New South Wales. In 1859 Sir George Bowen, the governor of Queensland had requested a clerk for the new Legislative Assembly of Queensland. Bernays was appointed and came to Brisbane in 1860, was present at the opening of the first parliament, holding the position of Clerk of Parliament for over 47 years.[1] He organized the inner working of parliament, became an authority on procedure, and was the guide and friend of successive generations of members of parliament, until his death at Brisbane on 22 August 1908.

Bernays had other activities and was for a time secretary to the Brisbane Board of Water Works and later a member of the board.[2]

He was interested in economic botany, published The Olive and its Products (1872),[3] and Cultural Industries for Queensland; Papers on the Cultivation of Useful Plants Suited to the Climate of Queensland (1883). [4]

Created a C.M.G. in 1892, Bernays was a very competent public servant, who played a prominent part in the Queensland parliament. He knew thoroughly its law and practice, and in times of difficulties party leaders naturally turned to him. He was a man of culture, remembered for his unfailing courtesy[2] and remained a student all his life. One of his sons, Charles Arrowsmith Bernays, born in 1862, was the author of Queensland Politics During Sixty (1859-1919) Years, and of Queensland—Our Seventh Political Decade. In the former, he writes of his father, 'On his death he was fittingly described by J. T. Bell as being of the best and rarest type of public servant'.[5]

Affiliations[edit]

Bernays was on the committee of the Johnsonian Club in 1880, its second year of existence.[6]

He was one of the founders of the Queensland Acclimatisation Society, holding positions of Councillor, Honorary Secretary, Vice-President, President and vice-patron for many years.[1] [7]

Bernays was also a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London.[8] [7], and a member of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (Queensland Branch). [9]

Later life[edit]

Bernays died of heart failure on 22 August 1908 following a short illness and was survived by five sons and four daughters.[10][11] Bernays is buried in Toowong Cemetery.[12] [13]

Legacy[edit]

Bust of Lewis Adolphus Bernays CMG, Clerk of the Legislative Assembly 1859 to 1908, at the Opening of Queensland Parliament, 1953

In 1909, a bust of Bernays was commissioned from sculptor James Laurence Watts for the Queensland Parliament House.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Sim, Jeannie (1996). "Lewis Adolphus Bernays - Botanist, Writer and Public Servant". Australian Garden History. 8 (2): 20. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024 – via JSTOR.
  2. ^ a b "Mr. L. A. Bernays". The Telegraph. No. 8, 686. Queensland, Australia. 21 September 1900. p. 4 (SECOND EDITION). Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ Bernays, Lewis A. "The Olive and its Products". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Cultural industries for Queensland: papers on the cultivation of useful plants suited to the climate of Queensland; their value as food, in the arts, and in medicines; and methods of obtaining their products". State Library of Queensland. 1883. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  5. ^ Bernays, Charles Arrowsmith (n.d.). Queensland Politics During Sixty (1859-1919) Years. Brisbane: A.J. Cumming, Govt. Printer. p. 23.
  6. ^ "The Brisbane Courier". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXXIV, no. 3, 951. Queensland, Australia. 19 January 1880. p. 2. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ a b "Late Mr. Bernays". The Telegraph. No. 11165. Queensland, Australia. 29 August 1908. p. 3. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Obituary Notice". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. 121: 35. 5 November 1908. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  9. ^ "Scientific & Useful". The Queenslander. Vol. LVII, no. 1270. Queensland, Australia. 3 March 1900. p. 396. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Family Notices". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 5 September 1908. p. 4. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Our Illustrations". The Queenslander. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 29 August 1908. p. 29. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Lewis Adolphus Bernays". Brisbane City Council. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Late Mr. L. A. Bernays". The Telegraph. No. 11160. Queensland, Australia. 24 August 1908. p. 8 (SECOND EDITION). Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Parliamentary Library". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 3 July 1909. p. 4. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2015.

External links[edit]

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