William Blandowski

The recorded working language is English and German. Places of work recorded in the authority are Gliwice, Victoria and Australian continent. Work by William Blandowski is recorded in the collections of Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science.

Blandowski was born in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia (now Gliwice, Poland) on 21 January 1822. The youngest of thirteen children his parents, Johann Felix von Blandowski and Leopoldine Gottliebe von Woyrsch were Protestants, and members of the minor Polish aristocracy, using the Wieniawa coat-of-arms. He was educated at the Gymnasium in Lauban but left without gaining his Abitur certificate. He went on to study at the Tarnowitz Mining School and the University of Berlin. Blandowski's education was impacted by the death of his father, financial hardships, and controversies which resulted in quiet expulsions from various institutes. After completing his education, he was employed as an assistant manager at the Koenigsgrube coal mine at Koenigshütte. A tempestuous character, he became swept up in the revolutions of 1848, and wrote a letter to his employer about his revolutionary sentiments. Resigning before he was dismissed, he then joined the Schleswig-Holstein Army in March 1848 and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. After completing his army service he tried unsuccessfully to obtain another appointment in the Prussian Mining Service, but was turned down. These setbacks were one of the motivations for him to emigrate to Australia in 1849.

Blandowski was one of a number of influential German-speaking residents such as Ludwig Becker, Hermann Beckler, Amalie Dietrich, Wilhelm Haacke, Diedrich Henne, Gerard Krefft, Johann Luehmann, Johann Menge, Carl Mücke (a.k.a. Muecke), Ludwig Preiss, Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker (a.k.a. Ruemker), Moritz Richard Schomburgk, Richard Wolfgang Semon, Karl Theodor Staiger, George Ulrich, Eugene von Guérard, Robert von Lendenfeld, Ferdinand von Mueller, Georg von Neumayer, and Carl Wilhelmi who brought their "epistemic traditions" to Australia, and not only became "deeply entangled with the Australian colonial project", but also were "intricately involved in imagining, knowing and shaping colonial Australia" (Barrett, et al., 2018, p.2). He arrived in Adelaide on 14 September 1849. There are reports his passage was paid by a patron, Karl Bernhardt Maximilian Wiebel (Wibel) (1808 – 1888) a founding member of the Zoological Museum in Hamburg. He began exploring the area around Adelaide, and his sketches from this period include geological scenes, fossils, animals, the Aboriginal people and their artefacts. Some are crudely executed on the spot, while others have been refined for further circulation. He sent back specimens and sketches to Hamburg. Blandowski was ambitious, and made unsuccessful applications to the government, and influential colonists, to fund his explorations and surveys. He left South Australia for the goldfields of Victoria in 1851. He made a fortune on the goldfields, and he invented a double-action force pump to prevent mines being flooded. This success increased his profile and gained him the longed-for entrée into the upper echelons of society. He was the first scientist appointed by Governor La Trobe to the new Victorian Museum on 1 April 1854, and had responsibility for early purchases of objects, specimens and books for the museum. He later became a member of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria, a forerunner of the Royal Society of Victoria. He was also a founder of the Geological Society of Victoria in 1852. In 1856, the Philosophical Institute, with £2000 in government backing, initiated a scientific expedition (the Blandowski Expedition) to the Murray River, led by Blandowski, with Gerard Krefft as second in command. The expedition travelled from Melbourne to Mildura Station between 6 December 1856 and 8 April 1857. A camp was located at Mondellimin (near modern Merbein) on the southern side of the Murray and, except for some side journeys made by Blandowski, the expedition stayed there for eight months. The Nyeri Nyeri people camped with the expedition and supplied most of the natural history specimens. Blandowski left the expedition early, returning to Melbourne via riverboat and steamer at the beginning of August. Krefft returned to Melbourne at the end of November 1857.

Throughout his life his ego and lack of interpersonal skills resulted in great disappointments, and public scandals. Blandowski decided to name some fish species documented on this expedition after members of the Philosophical Institute's council. However, a controversy ensued when two prominent council members felt insulted by his descriptions of the fish named for them: • "Sample N. Slimy, slippery fish. Lives in the mud. Is of a violent bluish colour on the belly. The whole upper surface is of a dirty olivish-green colour, with numerous irregular dark patches." • "Sample B. A fish easily recognized by its low forehead, big belly and sharp spine." It is not known if Blandowski's insult was intentional, but it certainly led to substantial acrimony in the council. Blandowski refused to withdraw the descriptions or the paper in which they appeared, and was quickly censured by the council. The insulted parties attempted to have him expelled from the institute, but eventually withdrew themselves when they could not obtain the required two-thirds majority of votes. Blandowski remained active in the Philosophical Institute for the next three years, participating in the Exploration Committee that organised the Burke and Wills expedition. He felt strongly that Victorians should be actively involved in exploring Australia. Blandowski returned to Europe in 1859 and complained of his treatment in Australia.

Blandowski was committed to the Provincial Mental Asylum in Bunzlau (now Bolesławiec) in 1873. He died there, of an "obstruction of the bowels", on 18 December 1878.

William Blandowski was recorded at birth as Johan Wilhelm Theodor Ludwig von Blandowski. The authorities additionally record the headings Johann Wilhelm Theodor Ludwig von Blandowski, Wilhelm von Blandowski, W. Blandowski, Blandowski and Wilhelm Blandowski. His recorded languages were English and German.

William Blandowski is recorded with the occupation zoological collector. Recorded with the occupation mining engineer. Recorded as zoologist, photographer, explorer, zoological collector and botanical collector. Established in Library of Congress under no2010181784. Established in FAST under 1952777.