Charles Clifton Brittlebank (1 Jan 1863 – 3 Nov 1945) was an Australian plant pathologist, mycologist (fungi specialist), scientific illustrator, university lecturer and farmer (near Bacchus Marsh, Victoria). In all of his endeavours he became outstanding in his field, gaining international acclaim for his discoveries and publications. In February 1992 he was officially commemorated by the naming of the road Brittlebank Circuit, in the suburb of Banks, in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
Ancestors
From 17th to 19th centuries the Brittlebank family was well-established in Wirksworth, in the Peak District of Derbyshire in England. The family prospered as (amongst other things) members of the legal profession and owners of lead mines. In 1700 Hugh Brittlebank (1675–1764) moved from Wirksworth to the village at the centre of lead mining, Winster, becoming the owner of the substantial manor house and grounds, Oddo House.
Hugh Brittlebank's family came to own most of the village of Winster. They were at the centre of dramatic events in 1821 when they seem to have overstepped the mark, as the Times (London, England) reported on 2 June 1821: three of Hugh's great-great-grandsons forced a local doctor, William Cuddie, into a duel at which he was mortally wounded. The shooter, William Brittlebank, then disappeared completely. The other two brothers involved, Andrew and Francis, were tried for murder but were acquitted, in August 1821.
Parents and siblings
A fourth brother, not involved in the duel, was Thomas Brittlebank (1797–1838) whose son, Andrew William Thomas Brittlebank (1838–1877), was recorded in the 1871 England Census as having moved away from the traditional family village of Winster to a small seaside village, Hornsea, in the neighbouring county of Yorkshire. He was accompanied by his wife Ellen Sarah Leese (1837–1906), his mother-in-law Mary Leese (1805–1877), and three sons: Lewis Oswald (1861–1877), Charles Clifton (1863–1945) and Thomas Andrew (1865–1948). The head of the house was not employed – he enjoyed a private income derived from his investments.
Andrew WT Brittlebank took his wife and children overseas, spending two years in Vanuatu (known then as the Spanish East Indies, and later as the New Hebrides), before going to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, where the passenger list of the ship Sam Mendel records their arrival on 28 July 1875
In 1876 and 1877 The Brisbane Courier frequently reported local waves of epidemics such as smallpox, malaria and influenza. In March and April 1877 Andrew WT Brittlebank and his eldest son, Lewis Oswald, both died and were buried in the South Brisbane Cemetery in Plot 11a, graves 268 and 269. Administrative procedures appear to have taken two years, for the Brisbane Telegraph reported, on Friday 14 March 1879, page 3, that "his widow Ellen S. Brittlebank was appointed guardian of the persons and the estates of Charles Clifton Brittlebank and Thomas Andrew Brittlebank".
The family then went south to the island of Tasmania. However, they did not remain in Tasmania, but returned to the mainland and finally put down roots in Myrniong, near Bacchus Marsh, in the state of Victoria. The Bacchus Marsh Express, 28 November 1885, page 2, announced that a mixed farm of 363 acres (approximately 150 hectares) was up for lease, after the death of the owner, William Dunbar in July 1884. It appears that the Brittlebanks took the lease, because the Bacchus Marsh Express reported in 1888 that the two brothers were the owners: The Messrs. Brittlebank, the present owners of Dunbar's farm, have done excellent work, and have almost entirely eradicated the rabbits from their property. They have also erected a quantity of wire net fence. - Bacchus Marsh Express, 17 Nov 1888, p.3.
Throughout their lives, the work of the brothers Charles and Thomas, whether joint or individual, contributed significantly to the dissemination of new knowledge of Australian plants, animals and geology. The Victorian Naturalist summarized their contribution as follows: