Eugene Fitzherbert Albini Fitzalan (1830–1911) was an Irish-born botanist in Australia. He made many botanical expedition and discovered numerous new species. He created the first botanical garden in Cairns, Queensland, now the heritage-listed Flecker Botanical Gardens. Early life Eugene Fitzherbert Albini Fitzalan was born in Derry, Ireland. Botanical and Logging career Fitzalan was a botanical collector in England and Mexico before arriving in Australia in 1849. 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. Fitzalan had at least two orchids named after him by von Mueller. 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. He developed nurseries in Geelong, Brisbane and Bowen and collected specimens for the Herbarium of Victoria. 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. Fitzalan was awarded an official contract worth £1125 to build government housing in Port Denison (as Bowen was then known). To fulfil this contract, he employed timber workers to fell and prepare the large hoop pine found on the nearby Whitsunday Island. He oversaw the work personally and found it necessary to have his logging camp protected by a detachment of Native Police under the command of Lieut. Powell. Fitzalan chartered the schooner 'Buonaparte' to transport the timber to Port Denison. On one trip, Fitzalan loaded of prepared hoop pine and 40,000 shingles. Disagreements between Fitzalan and other local officials over the logging and building contracts saw delays to the actual construction of the buildings. As a result of Fitzalan's logging ventures in the area, several places are named after him, including Fitzalan Island and Fitzalan passage near 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 December 1886 the Cairns Municipal Council came