Richard Austin Bastow

Australian town surveyor, architect, naturalist and bryologist (1839-1920).

Richard Austin Bastow (14 May 1839 – 14 May 1920) was an Australian naturalist and bryologist. R.A. Bastow was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of a scholarly parson James Austin Bastow. He was educated at The Royal Grammar School. In 1862 he eloped with Catherine Broadbent to the United States. Austin Bastow, his son, was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1867. Bastow and his wife returned to England because of her mother's delicate health. After her death, they decided to emigrate to Tasmania, Australia, where in 1884 he became Town Surveyor in Hobart. He had 5 children, 2 dying young, the othe