Frank Tratman

Frank Tratman
Portrait of Frank Tratman.[1]
Born1860[1]
Bristol, United Kingdom[1]
Died2 June 1927[2]
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine, public health, natural history
Author abbrev. (botany)Tratman
Signature

Frank Tratman (1860 – 1927) was a British-born physician and plant collector who contributed to both healthcare in England and Western Australia, and Australian botany.

Life

Born in Bristol in 1860, he attended Bristol Grammar School in his youth, before studying medicine at The London Hospital.[3][1] In 1886, Tratman accepted an offer by the Colonial Office to take up a position as the resident medical officer at Carnarvon, Western Australia in the colony of Western Australia.[3] However, upon arriving at the capital of Perth, the Colonial Secretary deemed that he should become the Government resident medical officer of Guildford, Western Australia, a post closer to Perth.[1] But by 1891, Tratman resigned from his post to return to the United Kingdom and resume his studies.[4][1] At the University of London, he completed a Doctor of Medicine degree, and received a Diploma of Public Health before subsequently being employed as the hospital's House Surgeon.[3]

By 1892 he had been appointed assistant medical officer in his home town of Bristol, at the same time that a cholera epidemic was sweeping northern Germany and Russia.[3][1] He was summoned by the UK government to establish a quarantine barrier to prevent the epidemic's spread across the English Channel, which was reportedly successful.[3][1]

In 1893, he returned to Western Australia to establish a private medical practice in Perth.[4][1] On his return to the antipodes, he was active in serving his local community, working as a surgeon of the Perth Hospital, serving as a member of the Medical Board of Western Australia, and having been elected to be president of the colony's Dental Board.[1] In 1899 he applied for a courtesy medical degree at the University of Adelaide ad eundem gradum,[5] which he received in abstentia.[6]

Botanical legacy

In the field of botany, Tratman served as the president of the Mueller Botanic society (1901–1904)[4] and the first president of the Natural History and Science Society of Western Australia (1909–1910).[7] In 1912, he described the succulent herb Calandrinia creethae.[8] His standard author abbreviation is Tratman.[9]

Two species of Australian trees were named after Tratman in both their common and bionomial names:[3]

  • Tratman’s wattle, Acacia tratmaniana W.Fitzg.
  • Tratman’s werrawang, Rulingia tratmannii C.R.P.Andrews (a synonym of Commersonia craurophylla (F.Muell.) F.Muell.)[10]

Herbarium specimens collected by "Dr. Tratman" are now cared for by the Western Australian Herbarium.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Frank Tratman" . History of West Australia – via Wikisource.
  2. ^ "Family Notices". The Daily Telegraph. No. 14, 815. New South Wales, Australia. 3 June 1927. p. 31. Retrieved 7 March 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Pearn, John (2008). "Enduring symbols of dentistry: International metaphors of dental science". British Dental Journal. 205 (11): 615–621. doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.2008.1028. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Tratman, Frank (1860 - 1926)". The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation. Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia: Swinburne University. 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Dr Frank Tratman - Perth - Concerning Medical Students at Perth Hospital and Admission ad eundem gradum". Adelaide University: Adelaide Connect. Australia: Adelaide University. 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  6. ^ "UNIVERSITY DEGREES". The Advertiser. South Australia. 15 April 1899. p. 7. Retrieved 6 March 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Precursor Societies". The Royal Society of Western Australia. Perth: The Royal Society of Western Australia Inc. 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  8. ^ "Tratman, Frank (1860-1926)". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  9. ^ "Author abbreviation 'Tratman'". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  10. ^ "Commersonia craurophylla (F.Muell.) F.Muell". Plants of the World Online. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  11. ^ "Occurrence records". The Australasian Virtual Herbarium. Australia: Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria. 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  12. ^ International Plant Names Index. Tratman.
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