Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust

Planted on land set aside for the governor's demesne, the Botanic Gardens began as kitchen gardens but by the 1840s were already filled with many native and exotic trees and plants for propagation, study and experiment. from the 1850s, the Gardens were laid out according to Victorian principles of garden design, with elements that still give the place a Victorian air.

Set aside as part of the Governor's demesne by Governor Phillip, the Domain was formalised by Governor Macquarie in 1816, and has been a people's park, cultural precinct and the scene of political action and dissent ever since.

Botanist, curator, writer and teacher, Joseph Maiden brought knowledge about Australia's plants into the public realm through his influence on the collections and programs of the Technological Museum and the Botanic Gardens and his emphasis on the creation of useful and practical science.

Margaret Flockton made an enormous contribution to early Australian botanical illustration and taxonomy in her role as the first botanical illustrator at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Flockton is finally being given the lasting credit due to her, joining the ranks of other acclaimed, first illustrators such as Marianne of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew