Gerhardus Petrus Frederik (or Frederick) van Dam, museum assistant, was the son of Johannes Leonardus van Dam and his wife Maria Elizabeth, born Steenkamp. He entered the civil service of the Transvaal Colony on 1 May 1908 as a clerk or messenger at the Transvaal Museum (now the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History), Pretoria, and on 1 June 1911 was appointed as assistant for lower vertebrates. He went on various field excursions for the museum during which he collected a variety of specimens. Some of the lizards he collected were described by him in two papers, "Descriptions of new species of Zonurus, and notes on the species of Zonurus occurring in the Transvaal" and "Description of a new variety of a South African lizard of the family Geckonidae" (Annals of the Transvaal Museum, 1921, Vol. 7(4), pp. 239-244 and p. 244). Van Dam's Girdled Lizard, Cordylus (Warreni) vandami, and Van Dam's Round-headed Worm Lizard, Zygaspis vandami, were named after him by V.F.M. FitzSimons in 1930.

With Austin Roberts* he collected trapdoor spiders around Pretoria and, with Roberts as co-author, published "Notes on nests of some trapdoor spiders and the nest of Calommata transvaalicus Hwtt" (Annals of the Transvaal Museum, 1917, Vol. 5(4), pp. 218-223). He also collected plants in South Africa and Mozambique, often jointly with more senior staff members such as V.F.M. FitzSimons, and 645 of the specimens he collected later went to the National Herbarium in Pretoria. The Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) he collected remained in the Ditsong Museum.

Van Dam died in a motor accident in Pretoria in 1927. He was married to Johanna Catharina, born Rossouw, with whom he had at least one son and three surviving daughters.

List of sources:

Annals of the Transvaal Museum, 1917, Vol. 5(4), paper by Van Dam and Roberts; 1921, Vol. 7(4), papers by Van Dam.

Beolens, B., Watkins, M. & Grayson, M. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. JHU Press, 2011.

Brain, C.K. Austin Roberts: A lifelong devotion to South Africa's birds and beasts (p. 114). Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, 1998.

Codd, L.E. & Gunn, M. Additional biographical notes on plant collectors in southern Africa. Bothalia, 1985, Vol. 15(3/4), pp. 631-654.

Gerhardus Petrus Frederick van Dam. Geni. Retrieved on 11 March 2021 from https://www.geni.com/people/Gerhardus-Petrus-Frederick-Van-Dam/6000000047172567832

Gunn, M. & Codd, L.E. Botanical exploration of southern Africa. Cape Town: Balkema, 1981.

National Archives Repository (TAB), Source MHG, Vol. 0, Ref. 62253. Death certificate, Gerhardus Petrus Frederik van Dam.

Robertson, H. Biodiversity explorers. http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/people as on 11 March 2021.

Union of South Africa. Public Service List 1914. Pretoria: Government Printer, 1914.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2026-01-31 10:02:15