LEE, IDA LOUISA (1865-1943), historical geographer, was born on 11 February 1865
at Kelso, near Bathurst, New South Wales, third of eight children of George Lee,
grazier, and his wife Emily Louisa, née Kite, both born at Kelso; she was a
granddaughter of William Lee. With her five sisters, she grew up at Leeholme,
Kelso, and rode to school; she became a keen horsewoman.
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Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
Lee (later Marriott) approached geography historically, and reconstructed the exploration of Australia by the British through the study of logbooks, journals and lost charts found in British repositories, notably the Admiralty.
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Australian Women's Register
Ida Lee was an historical geographer who wrote several books on maritime exploration in the Pacific. In the late 1890s she moved to England and spent much of her spare time searching through British libraries, including the Admiralty. There Lee began to study and transcribe a number of journals and logbooks from many of the British historical voyages. Her books are published under either the name of Lee (maiden name) or Marriott (married name) and copies of most of her works are held at the Mitchell Library. Through her studies Lee developed a considerable knowledge of systematic botany and botanical taxonomy and was able to update Allan Cunningham's nomenclature. Lee was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London 1913 and was only the second person to be made an honorary Fellow of the Royal Australian Historical Society.
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1897
Career position - First piece of work published: The Bush Fire and other verses
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1906
Career position - The Coming of the British to Australia, 1788 to 1829 published
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1912
Career position - Commodore Sir John Hayes, His Voyage and Life published
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1913 -
Award - Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London (FRGS)
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1915
Career position - The Logbooks of the 'Lady Nelson' published
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1918 -
Award - Honorary Fellow of the Royal Australian Historical Society
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1920
Career position - Captain Bligh's Second Voyage to the South Sea published
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1925
Career position - Early Explorers in Australia published
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1927
Career position - The Voyage of the Caroline published
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Encyclopedia of Australian Science