Edwin James Semmens | |
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![]() Edwin James (E.J.) Semmens - Principal - Victorian School of Forestry, 1928-1951 | |
Born | Toongabbie, Victoria, Australia | 20 January 1886
Died | 31 December 1980 94) Creswick, Victoria, Australia | (aged
Alma mater | Melbourne Teachers College University of Melbourne |
Occupation(s) | Schoolteacher Historian |
Parents |
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Edwin James Semmens, MBE was the Principal of the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) at Creswick, Victoria, Australia for 23 years from 1928 to 1951, as well as local historian and prominent community leader.
Edwin was born on 20 January 1886 at the small Gippsland township of Toongabbie in eastern Victoria, as the eldest of nine children of Josiah Semmens, and his wife Agnes, née Veitch. [1]
His father Josiah, worked as an Inspector of Forests in the Lands Department at the time and the family moved at some stage to Maryborough in northwest Victoria where Edwin attended elementary school and later the nearby Bendigo School of Mines. [1]
Edwin started his career as a primary school teacher in 1902 and attended the Melbourne Teachers College. During 1925, he undertook more part-time study at the University of Melbourne towards a Bachelor of Science where he won the prestigious Godfrey Howitt prize with exhibitions in botany and zoology. [1] [2]
Later in 1927, while teaching at Shepparton High School, he was invited by the Forests Commission Victoria to become Principal of the Victorian School of Forestry at Creswick when the institution was going through a difficult period and was in danger of closing. [3]
Known fondly to his students as E.J. or Teddo, he immediately introduced a new and broad curriculum of subjects and set high personal standards. The academic rigour of the course was ensured by a Board of Examiners headed by the Professor of Botany at the University of Melbourne, Professor Alfred James Ewart (1872–1937). [3] Semmens had studied under Ewart at University and its believed that Ewart put Semmens name forward to the Forests Commission as candidate for Principal of VSF in 1927. Semmens also enjoyed strong support from the Chairman of the Forests Commission, Alfred Vernon Galbraith after the acrimonious split between Victoria and the Australian Forestry School in Canberra in 1930.
E.J generously made himself available to guide his pupil's study and sporting habits and also cultivate their diverse interests. [2] Many of his students later established themselves as notable leaders with the Forests Commission after graduating from VSF. Two students, James Hamlin Willis, and Richard Bond [4] became outstanding botanists, while many others established prominent careers within the National Parks Service, Fisheries and Wildlife, Soil Conservation Authority, teaching at tertiary institutions or the private forestry sector. Some like Alfred John Leslie [5] became truly international foresters. [2]
An active field-botanist himself, E.J. accumulated a large and valuable collection of plant specimens and personal sketches [6] for the expanding school herbarium and was elected a Fellow honoris causa of the prestigious Linnean Society of London (FLS) in 1935 for his outstanding work. [1] In addition, Semmens also conducted some pioneering research into the composition of eucalyptus oils and his steam kilns are part the University of Melbourne museum collection at Creswick. [7] [8]
Edwin James Semmens retired after 23 as Principal of the Victorian School of Forestry at the end of 1951, aged 65 years, after having made a lasting impression on hundreds of young forestry graduates. [2]
Francis (Frank) Robert Moulds then replaced Semmens as the Principal until the end of 1956.
During the 1940s and 50s, very few people seemed interested in preserving and cataloguing Australia's history, but Semmens prodigiously collected an eclectic range of materials relating to the local region. [9]
An avid archivist, Semmens later donated some of his collection of early documents, photos, paintings and artefacts to the Creswick museum [10] which he helped establish, but the bulk of his collection was bequeathed to the University of Melbourne Archives. This vast and diverse collection has been described as "one of the most important collections of local history source material assembled in Australia". [9]
Semmens was always active in his local community, working not only to establish the fledgling Creswick Museum, but presiding over the Creswick District Hospital between 1948 and 1951, [11] as well as serving 24 years as a councillor of the Shire of Creswick (1951–75), with a stint at Shire President in 1956. [12]
On 8 June 1968, Edwin James Semmens was honoured in the Queen's Birthday List with a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to local government. [13]
Later in 1977, in recognition of his outstanding and lasting legacy to forestry and local history, the University of Melbourne conferred a Doctorate of Forest Science honoris causa. [1]
A new accommodation block at the forestry school was named in his honour. [14]
He remained active in his local Creswick community after retirement and died on 31 December 1980 aged nearly 93. [1]
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb north of Melbourne's central business district, with several other campuses located across Victoria.
Creswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia, 18 kilometres north of Ballarat and 122 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Creswick had a population of 3,170. Creswick was named after the Creswick family, the pioneer settlers of the region.
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James Hamlyn Willis was an Australian botanist. He described 64 new species of plants, and published more than 880 works including the landmark two-volume A Handbook to plants in Victoria between 1962 and 1973.
The Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) is the oldest scientific society in Victoria, Australia.
Alfred James Ewart, FRS was an English-Australian botanist.
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The Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) was the main government authority responsible for management and protection of State forests in Victoria, Australia between 1918 and 1983.
The Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) was established in October 1910 at Creswick, in the Australian state of Victoria. It was located at the former Creswick Hospital, built in 1863 during the gold rush. The creation of VSF was one of the many recommendations of a Royal Commission held between 1897 and 1901 into forest degradation. The first tertiary forestry school in Australia, VSF was administered by the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) until 1980, when VSF amalgamated with the University of Melbourne to become that institution's School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences. From 1910 to 1980, 522 students completed the Diploma of Forestry at VSF.
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John La Gerche was a pioneering forester on the Victorian goldfields at Creswick, Australia in the late 19th-century.
Owen Jones (1888–1955) was an English forester, wartime aviator, foundation Chairman of the Forests Commission Victoria, conservationist and political casualty.
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