Background
Dallachy was born in Elginshire, Scotland.
Dallachy was born in Elginshire, Scotland.
He worked as a gardener for the Earl of Aberdeen and Kew Gardens. In 1847, he went to Ceylon to manage a coffee plantation. Sailing to Australia in 1848, he took up work as a gardener for Jonathan Were in Brighton, Victoria.
He was an overseer and later a superintendent of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens from 1849 to 1857.
Following the appointment of Ferdinand von Mueller as director, Dallachy continued as curator until 1861. From 1849 onwards, Dallachy made a number of expeditions to collect plant specimens.
These included:
c. 1849 Baw Baw region
August 1849 Mount Macedon
January 1850 Mount Disappointment
August 1850 Pentland Hills
1853 Ovens Valley and Mount Buffalo
1858 Wentworth and Mount Murchison, near Wilcannia
1860 Wimmera River and Lake Hindmarsh
1864–1871 Rockingham Bay, Queensland
His plant specimens are located in herbaria in Melbourne, London, Berlin, Kiel and Vienna.