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Carl
Gotfried Rasmussen
started things off, writing the first request to The Assistant Commissioner
of Lands & Survey for the reservation of land for the Botanic Gardens
in 1878. He was born in Fredericia, Denmark in 1831 and left his native
land in 1850. He first settled in Stawell, then moved to Horsham in 1860.
Rasmussen was a Wimmera Shire Councillor, and president in 1879-80 &
1881-82. He was Mayor of Horsham for a short period from April 1885 until
his death in July 1885. His name is listed at Committee of Management
meetings for the Gardens and also in connection with the formation of
the Horsham District Horticultural Society. |
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W
R Guilfoyle (1840
– 1912) was the director of the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, when
he inspected the Horsham Botanical Gardens on 2 May 1880. His plan for
the Gardens was completed before 4 September 1880, when Council reported
that they were ‘about laying out the grounds…in accordance
with a plan prepared by Mr W R Guilfoyle’. The plan has recently
been renovated and is held by the Horsham Historical Society. The notes
which explained the plan and its codes for planting, in a report to Council,
have been lost. The plan is inscribed ‘Designed by W R Guilfoyle,
Drawn by Robert P Whitworth, 1880’. Guilfoyle had first collaborated
with Whitworth for the Koroit Botanic Gardens plan in 1879 and later for
the Stawell hospital gardens plan in 1880. It is uncertain how much of
his design for Horsham was implemented, but pathways in the north-eastern
corner still follow his layout. Guilfoyle’s legacy remains today
in the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens and six regional botanic gardens
across Victoria. His ‘picturesque’ design style typically
featured a framework of wide serpentine paths, with a careful positioning
of tree groups and shrubberies to direct views across lawns. For more information on Guilfoyle, see "Clearings:Six Colonial Gardeners and Their Landscapes", by Paul Fox (Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2004). |
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Mr.
J. Venus was
curator from 1880 until his death in September 1883 at the age of 69.
It was his task to implement Guilfoyle’s design. In 1882, he submitted
a schedule of works in which he was ‘anxious to gravel the main
path, batton the borders, and replace trees destroyed by goats’.
According to the Horsham Times , he had a brolga and eaglehawks under
his care. |
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Mr
Skelton Parkes of
Stawell was appointed gardener in October 1883. His wage was £100
per year and a four-room house and garden was provided for him. In a report
presented to the Borough Council he recommended a maze and an avenue of
trees ‘down the main walk past the fernery’. The
location of the avenue implies that it was not Millar Avenue, which was
planted later. |
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Mr
A. McFarlane
from Longerenong Agricultural College and Experimental Farm took over
from Parkes in 1890, followed shortly after by Mr. John Veasey and then
by Mr Thomas Brown. From 1890, the care of street trees was an additional
duty of the incumbent. |
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Thomas
Brown’s
term as curator lasted approximately 44 years, from 1891 until his retirement
in 1935. His term spanned Federation, the First World War, the period
of social change between the wars and economic depression. During his
tenure he had to look after an emu enclosure within the gardens. He planted
a sugar gum in the gardens on the birth of his son. A photograph of his
wife (‘Grannie
Brown’) is held by the State Library of Victoria. |
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Duncan
McBryde was
MLC for North-Western Province. In 1892 he donated £50 to build
a fernery in the Horsham Gardens. It seems that a fernery already existed
and Council debated the use to be put to the money. It was suggested that
‘an avenue to the weir should be planted and seats erected.’
This suggests that ‘Millar
Avenue’ did not exist in January 1892. It is not known
what use was put to McBryde’s donation. McBryde was a stock and
station agent, as well as a mining director (of BHP) when he was elected
to Parliament. In 1892 he purchased and established a 12.5 acre city property,
‘Kamesburgh’, in North Road, Brighton, with a 20
room villa and pleasure garden. The property later became ‘Anzac
Hostel’, but is now once again ‘Kamesburgh’,
and owned by the City of Bayside, who are restoring the garden as public
heritage. |
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James
Millar
was a Horsham
businessman. He
was born in Arbroath,
Scotland in 1845,
moving to South
Australia with
his parents when
he was three years
old. He met Samuel
May in Mount Gambier
and together they
travelled to Horsham,
where they established
May & Millar's
foundry in 1874.
He was an influential
Borough councillor
in broken periods
from 1894 to 1910,
including mayor
from 1904 to 1906.
Some time after
January 1892,
he ‘provided
an avenue of trees
leading from the
botanic gardens
gate to the old
weir’. ‘Millar
Avenue’
was thus constructed
along Guilfoyle’s
intended long
view across lawns,
and hence was
a major departure
from his plan.
He also donated
a pipe organ to
the Methodist
church, and a
fountain that
can now be seen
in May Park. Millar
died in 1910,
though the company
prospered for
many years after.
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Ernest
E Lord
was
an amateur horticulturalist
until his appointment
as curator of
Parks and Gardens
at Horsham in
1935. Within a
year he had produced
a ‘revised
layout’
for the gardens,
concentrated in
the north-eastern
corner of the
reserve. Gone
were Guilfoyle’s
wide, curved paths
and long vistas
across lawns,
carefully framed
by trees and shrub
beds (perhaps
they had never
been fully implemented).
‘Millar
Avenue’
was retained,
leading to an
area of small,
thematic gardens.
There was to be
a sunken Italian
Garden (probably
not implemented),
a ‘Rose
Garden’
(later removed,
or not implemented)
and a ‘Rock
Garden’
with a pond in
the shape of mainland
Australia. In
his plan, the
sport and recreation
theme gained ground,
with eight tennis
courts, an extended
croquet lawn,
children’s
playground, 100
yards running
track, tourists’
camping area,
swimming pool,
vehicle drives
and parking areas
occupying much
of the reserve
area. Outside
the formal area,
there was a western
‘collection
of Acacia species’
and lower area
of ‘native
trees and large
shrubs’.
At some time,
there were two
emus and a baby
kangaroo, ‘christened
with names from
recent war history’,
in an enclosure
at the back of
the map of Australia.
Lord was born
in London in 1899
and died in 1970.
Lord is widely
known for his
‘Shrubs
and Trees for
Australian Gardens’
(1948), which
ran through several
editions. He keenly
promoted the Australian
flora, as founding
editor (1947-1949)
of Your Garden
magazine, as treasurer
(1943 –1950)
and president
(1950-1952) of
the Field Naturalists’
Club of Victoria,
and in his involvement
with the management
of the Maranoa
Gardens, Balwyn,
Victoria. He was
a Fellow of the
Royal Horticultural
Society of England.
As he was reportedly
writing his major
reference book
for over a decade,
it was probably
during his time
at Horsham that
it started to
take shape. His
ashes, along with
his wife Victoria's,
were scattered
in the border
around the Australia
pond. |
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Alby
Elbourne
took over as curator in the post-war optimism of 1946, for another long
period (28 years) of curatorship, having worked in the Botanical Gardens
under Lord for the previous 6 years. He was aware of the educational role
of the gardens, and was able to boast that ‘I once had every
species of plant in the park named’. When Elbourne retired
in 1974, it was reported that he had contributed to the planting of more
than 6000 street trees. His role had extended to the care of plant life
in all Horsham public gardens, parks and sporting reserves, including
‘Horsham’s award-winning caravan park.’ |
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