Romeo Lahey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Romeo Watkins Lahey 2 June 1887 Pimpama, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | 26 October 1968 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Citizenship | Australian |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney |
| Occupation(s) | Army officer engineer Timber merchant National parks advocate |
| Parents |
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Romeo Watkins Lahey, M.B.E, (2 June 1887 – 26 October 1968) was an Australian businessman, civil servant and conservationist. [1]
Romeo Watkins Lahey [2] was born 2 June 1887 [3] in Pimpama, Queensland, Australia. [4] [5] His father was David Lahey, an Irish-born farmer and timber miller, and his mother was Jane Jemima (née Walmsley), a homemaker. [6] Lahey was one of twelve children, with three sisters and eight brothers: Frances Vida Lahey, Noel Alaric Lahey and Percival Ethelburt Lahey, Oswald Lahey, Jerome Lahey Jayne Lahey, Mavis Denholme (nee Lahey) [7]
Lahey received his education at Pimpama State school, Junction Park State School, Normal School and Brisbane Grammar School; his first job was as a clerk at AMP Limited. Lahey studied civil engineering at the University of Sydney. [8] After World War I, he took up town planning at London University. [8] [9]
A keen explorer, Lahey enjoyed roaming the forests with his spare time. His father, David Lahey, also one of Tamborine Shire Council's councillors, inspired Lahey to be a conservationist. [8] He had exhibited a high degree of conservationism from a young age. Recognising the value in preserving the forests, he tirelessly campaigned, which resulted in the establishment of Lamington National Park in July 1915. [4] [10] [11] [12]
In April 1930, Lahey founded the National Parks Association of Queensland (NPAQ), where he served as president till his death in 1968. [6] Lahey, NPAQ secretary [13] Arthur Groom and a few supporters of theirs are credited for founding Queensland Holiday Resorts Limited and establishing Binna Burra Mountain Lodge, located next to Lamington National Park. [8]
Lahey was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1960. [4]
In World War I, he enlisted in the army, serving with the 3rd Divisional Engineers, initially attaining the rank of second lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant in January 1917. [7] Lahey served on ship A29 HMAT Suevic. [14] During World War II, Lahey served again in the army, ranking as a major. [6]
In 1919, after returning to Australia, Romeo Watkins Lahey married Sybil Delpratt, the youngest daughter of JH Delpratt, in St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. They had three children: David, Alison and Ann. [8]
On 26 October 1968, [15] [16] Lahey died at his home in Yeronga, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He was cremated with Anglican rites. [6]
In 1970, the Queensland Government opened a lookout named Kamurun in his memory at Lamington National Park. [8]
The Lamington National Park is a national park, lying on the Lamington Plateau of the McPherson Range on the Queensland/New South Wales border in Australia. From Southport on the Gold Coast the park is 85 kilometres (53 mi) to the southwest and Brisbane is 110 kilometres (68 mi) north. The 20,600 hectares Lamington National Park is known for its natural environment, rainforests, birdlife, ancient trees, waterfalls, walking tracks and mountain views. The park protects parts of the Eastern Australian temperate forests.
The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border between the states of New South Wales and Queensland. Further west of the McPherson Range is the Main Range. Towards the coast the range continues into the Border Ranges and other mountainous terrain formed by the Tweed Volcano.
The Albert River is a perennial river in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Its catchment lies within the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Region local government areas and covers an area of 782 square kilometres (302 sq mi). The river provides potable water for the town of Beaudesert.
Sallyanne Atkinson AO was Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1985 to 1991 in Queensland, Australia. She is the only woman to have held the position. As of 2017, she was Chairman of the Museum of Brisbane, President of the Council of The Women's College at the University of Queensland and chair of the advisory board of the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland.
Binna Burra is a parcel of private land and mountain lodge within the locality of Binna Burra and surrounded by Lamington National Park in Queensland, Australia. It is also a locality in the Scenic Rim Region. The lodge lies in the north-eastern corner of the Lamington Plateau in the McPherson Range, 75 kilometres (47 mi) south of Brisbane in the scenic rim hinterland of the Gold Coast. Binna Burra lies within the catchment of the upper Coomera River.
Canungra is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region of South East Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Canungra had a population of 1,436 people.
The Coomera River is a perennial river in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Its catchment lies within the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Region local government areas and covers an area of 489 square kilometres (189 sq mi).
The Scenic Rim is a group of forested mountain ranges of the Great Dividing Range, located south of Brisbane agglomeration, straddling the border between south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. In 2021, the Scenic Rim was named as a Lonely Planet top destination for 2022.
Beechmont is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Beechmont had a population of 848 people.
The Gold Coast hinterland is an area of South East Queensland, Australia that comprises the Tweed Range, Nimmel Range, Tamborine Mountain, Numinbah Valley, eastern parts of the McPherson Range and western parts of suburban Gold Coast, such as Mudgeeraba. This undefined unit of area is known for its tourist attractions including resorts, rainforest, lookouts, national parks, its diversity of fauna and flora and as a green backdrop to the coastal strip. It overlaps part of the Scenic Rim and is part of both the City of Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Region and includes Springbrook, Binna Burra and O'Reilly.
The Coomera Falls is a segmented waterfall on the upper Coomera River in the South East region of Queensland, Australia.
The Yarrbilgong Falls, a waterfall on the Coomera River, is located within Lamington National Park in the South East region of Queensland, Australia.
The Elabana Falls is a cascade waterfall that is located within Lamington National Park in the South East region of Queensland, Australia.
The Shire of Stephens was a local government area in the inner southern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The shire, administered from Annerley, covered an area of 9 square miles (23 km2), and existed as a local government entity from 1886 until 1925, when it was amalgamated into the City of Brisbane under the City of Brisbane Act 1924.
O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat is a tourist destination in the locality of O'Reilly, Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. It is situated in the heart of the Lamington National Park, two hours by road south of Brisbane and 90 minutes by road west of the Gold Coast. Access to the mountain resort is via Canungra. Guests began staying from Easter 1926. Gravel road to the door of the retreat was completed in early 1947, marking a distinct change in the site's accessibility.
Arthur Groom was an Australian writer, conservationist, journalist and photographer, the son of Arthur Champion Groom.
Binna Burra is a rural locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. It borders New South Wales. In the 2021 census, Binna Burra had "no people or a very low population".
Binna Burra Cultural Landscape includes Binna Burra Lodge, a sustainable, heritage-listed nature-based accommodation and services provider at Binna Burra Road, Binna Burra, Queensland, Australia. Commencing with a camp in 1933, buildings commenced from 1934 to c. 1980. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 31 December 2002. All of the heritage-listed lodge and adjacent accommodation buildings were destroyed during the September 2019 bushfires.
Vida and Jayne Lahey's House is a heritage-listed detached house at 99 Sir Fred Schonell Drive, St Lucia, in the Brisbane, Queensland. It was designed by Romeo Lahey and built from 1920 to 1946. It is also known as Wonga Wallen. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
Frances Vida Lahey MBE was a prominent artist in Queensland, Australia. She exhibited widely from 1902 until 1965.
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