Eugene Fitzalan

[1] He was a keen orchid collector, and on at least one occasion collected with Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, who regarded Fitzalan's specimens very highly.

He made many botanical expeditions in Victoria and along the Queensland coast on the Spitfire in 1860, at Mount Elliot with botanist John Dallachy in 1863 and in the Daintree area in 1875, before arriving in Cairns in 1886.

A number of Fitzalan's specimens were sent to Kew Gardens, London, where they were examined by taxonomist George Bentham for inclusion in the botanical volumes of Flora australiensis.

In 1861 Fitzalan went with his wife and family in the Jeanie Dove with Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair to help to found Bowen, the first town in North Queensland.

To fulfil this contract, he employed timber workers to fell and prepare the large hoop pine found on the nearby Whitsunday Island.

Fitzalan's interest in developing the area is reflected in his 1872 poem in which he envisions each of the Whitsunday Islands being owned individually by notable Bowen residents who would replace the forests with grand houses and gardens.

In return Fitzalan was permitted to sell refreshments (which would enhance the public appeal of the gardens) and to operate a private commercial nursery from the reserve.

An 1891 survey plan indicates that Fitzalan's early gardens were located on section 75, just south of Collins Avenue, below what is now the Tanks Arts Centre.