Mein, George Augustus Dr.   (1822 - 1892)

Born on 27 December 1822 in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, died on 22 February 1892 (aged 69-70), buried in St. Kilda Cemetery, Port Phillip, Victoria.

He took his degree at the University of Edinburgh in 1846.

He visited Australia in 1853, but soon returned.

In 1857 he came to Melbourne with his brother Pulteney, and purchased the Moolpa Station, Murrumbidgee district, NSW.

In 1861 he went to England and married Miss Gibsone, of Pentone-house, Cumberland, bringing his bride out to Victoria.

In 1878 he and his brother purchased Booroona, on the Barwon and Narran rivers, NSW. Beside the properties mentioned, he is part owner of the Gilmore and Herbert Downs Station, Queensland, as well as of Turiroa and Woodslee Downs, New South Wales [ie. New Zealand].

He was keen botanist, who collected in the vicinity of the Edward River, in the Riverina district in the latter quarter of the 19th century.

The Australian botanist, Dr Ferdinand von Mueller, honoured him by naming a new and beautiful North Queensland flower after him — Following the Sayer and Davidson expedition to the top of Mount Bellenden Ker, many new plants, hitherto unknown to science, were discovered. One of these - "a lovely and exceedingly local species" - with beautiful red trumpet shaped flowers, was named Agapetes meiniana in 1887 by von Mueller "in honour of Dr. G. A. Mein, who professionally has evinced through many years a keen interest in the writer's researches."

It appears that for most of his life he lived in Victoria, at least at some time in Balaklava.
Some information about his properties can be deduced from one of the many articles that mention him in the rural press:

"DEATH OF MR. JOHN SIMPSON
Mr. Simpson became manager of Noorong station, near Deniliquin; and subsequently converted Boorooma station, on the Barwon River, from a cattle-raising country into one of the largest sheep stations in New South Wales. This property was owned by Messrs. G. A. and P. Mein, ... for whom Mr. Simpson had under his supervision, in the good seasons, as many as 330,000 sheep at one time. Later on, when Boorooma, which was 55 miles in extent, was cut up into smaller holdings, Mr Simpson acquired 10,000 acres, which he named Moorlands, and became one or the most prominent wool-growers of the North-west."
(The Sydney Stock and Station Journal (NSW) Fri 2 Apr 1920 Page 19 - DEATH OF MR. JOHN SIMPSON.)



 

Source: Extracted from:
https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/mein-george-augustus-18253
John Hemsley Pearn (2001) A DOCTOR IN THE GARDEN Nomen Medici in Botanicis Australian Flora and the World of Medicine, p.260
The Sydney Stock and Station Journal (NSW) Fri 2 Apr 1920 Page 19 - DEATH OF MR. JOHN SIMPSON.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212649194/george-augustus-mein
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212646811/pulteney-warford-mein
Portrait Photo: none known.

 

Collecting localities for 'Mein, G.A.' from AVH (2026)

Data from 91 specimens