Victorian botanist and traveling specimen collector (1807-1865).
Thomas Bridges (22 May 1807 – 9 November 1865) was an English Victorian era botanist and traveling specimen collector. He is most notable for his discovery of new plant and animal species from South America in the Andes of Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, as well as in California. He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1844. He collected at various times (after 1856) in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The specimens he collected were sent back to Europe for identification. Bridges emigrated to California in 1856, the specimens collected during this period up to his 1865 death were presented to th