John Gould was born in 1804 ,at Lyme Regis, Dorset. In 1818 his father was appointed a foreman gardener at the Royal Gardens, Windsor Castle. As a youth Gould also trained at these gardens and became expert in taxidermy. In 1825 Gould moved to London and set himself up as a taxidermist. He was the first known taxidermist to have received royal patronage after preserving a Thick-kneed Bustard for George IV. He met and married Elizabeth Coxen in 1827. A talented artist in her own right, Elizabeth's drawings and lithographic skills were fundamental to the success of Gould's reknown publications. For one of his major projects, The Birds of Australia, 1848-1860, for which he visited the country from 1838 for two years, Gould also discovered and began collecting the mammals that appear in these prints. The Mammals of Australia gave the world for the first time accurate depictions and illustrations of Australia's unique fauna, many of which are now extinct or endangered.