Henry, Neil Buchanan   (1927 - 2009)

Born on 22 November 1927 in Ipswich, Queensland; died on 5 April 2009 at Woodend, Ipswich (aged 81).

He was educated at St Edmund's Christian Brothers College, Ipswich.

He joined the Queensland Forestry Department as a cadet in 1945 and later attending the Australian Forestry School (AFS) in Canberra in 1949.

Neil was excelled in terms of his mathematical and all-round intellectual skills. In time he received accolades from his bosses: "No finer officer ever existed in the Department and he was responsible for so many good things. Not only just as a mensurationist but as the Department's first computer modeller".

Neil was a bit of a prankster, who loved innocent practical jokes and used his imagination to further his oblique and puckish sense of humour.

On the subject of botany Bernie Hyland has the following comments: "About 1963, the District Forester, Atherton instructed me to compile a manual which would enable departmental staff to identify the trees in north Queensland rain forests. I had what I thought was a bright idea: Make the manual in the form of a card key. Neil suggested that we try using the 80 column punch cards, which the computers used at that time for data entry. In 1971, with Neil's help and advice we produced A Card Key to the Rain Forest Trees of North Queensland. Neil wrote the necessary programs and we were soon identifying specimens by computer."

He was a keen photographer and recorded anything of his particular interest.

He has published several papers on silviculture.

There was a tree named after him in 1977. At that time it was called 'Eucalyptus henryi S.T.Blake', Broad-leaved Spotted Gum; now it's in the genus Corymbia.

Source: Extracted from:
https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/henry-neil-buchanan-18329
https://apps.lucidcentral.org/euclid/text/entities/corymbia_henryi.htm
Portrait Photo: none found, seeking portrait.

Collecting localities for 'Henry, N.B.' from AVH (2026)

Data from 129 specimens