2 1 Personalities and Organisations

2.1.1 Background: Personalities and organisations

Formation of Tasmania's first National Park in 1,91,6 was preceded by a slow but consistent build-up of Pressure from a number of interest groups and individuals. In 1910 for example, D. Le Soeuf of Adelaide's Australian Ornithological Union was reported in Hobart as stressing the need for bird sanctuaries in Australia. Their existence here was "insignificant" compared to Canada's Rocky Mountains Park and jasper in Alberta, while the U.S.A-. had 22 parks and reserves totalling 7 million acres. These sentiments were also echoed by Prof- Flynn (later a member of the National Park Board) in an address to the local Field Naturalists club (Mercury 1,8/1, /191.0 p.4 c.8).

These active - Personalities were drawn from both professional, tourist and amateur bodies. Most were influential members o? a southern Tasmanian intelligentsia, reflecting both local and international trends. Their interest resulted in the formation of the Scenery and Preservation Board in 1915, and the formation under its jurisdiction of the National Park Board in 1916.

Growing interest in the - concept of a Park evolved from a background. of influences which included:

1. The use and economic importance of tourism, and the formation in 1893 of the Tasmanian Tourist Association and other bodies interested in its promotion.

2. Input from scientific bodies including the Royal Society and the Field Naturalists Club.

3. Sympathetic government departments including (i) the Fisheries Commission, dominated by interests from northern Tasmania, and (ii) the Public Works Department.

4 Pressure from sporting bodies including Fisheries and Anglers Association.

5 Early political organisations, including the Workers Political League (fore- runner of the Labor Party) formed in 1901 (Robson, p. 219), the Workers Educational Association and the Australian Natives Association.

6 Early "conservation" groups, including the Field Naturalists Club and the National Parks Association.

7 Various Railway Leagues, interested in promoting their extension into isolated areas.

8 Individuals who exerted influence included those within these establishment bodies.

9 Strong editorial support from the Mercury newspaper.

2.1.2 Significant Personalities

Individuals who contributed to the push for the National Park included the following fey figures. Except for H.R. Nicholls, all were members of the inaugural National Park Special Board established to implement the concept in 1916.

Leonard Rodway : (1853-1936) British born scientist, arrived in Tasmania in 1880; scientist for the Agricultural Dept; honorary Government botanist and Royal Society member; published numerous articles on Tasmanian botany; correspondent with Von Mueller; explorer/bushwalker, often with Clive Lord (Australian Herbarium News No.6 April '1949 pp 7-4. PW & H). Rodway had been strongly influenced by the American born director of the Tasmanian Museum, Alexander Morton ( ADB Vol.10 P596-n

Clive Lord : (1889-1933) Co-founder and Secretary of the Tasmanian Field Naturalists Soc; secretary of the Royal Society, and National Park Board from 1.917 until his death. Fellow of Linnean Soc. of London and the Tasmanian Institute of Architects; ex-president of the Royal Australian Ornithological Soc; one of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Commissioners; state secretary of the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science; from 19't8, Director of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery; Fauna and Sea Fisheries Board; explorer, yachtsman and bush-walker, foundation member of Hobart Rotary (Examiner and Mercury 17/7/1,933) .In the 1920's lobbied wth Wiendorfer and others for creation of Cradle Mountain Park. (ADB Vol. 10 P 74+5)

Prof. T T Ftynn : (1883-1%8) Lecturer in zoology, University of Tasmania, 1971'- 1930; active conservationist, member 19'1,2 Australian Antarctic Expedition; trustee, Tasmanian Museum and Botanical Gardens; member of the Workers Educational Association, and founding member of the National Park Board (A.D.B. Vol.8 pp 53+5).

Henry Dobson : (1841-1918) Lawyer, Tasmanian MHA and Senator 1901-1910, small 'l" liberal, philanthropist concerned with the under-privileged and first Chairman of National Park Board (Bennett, P . 46).

John W Beattie: (1859-1930) Professional photographer: member of the Tasmanian Tourism Association, the Royal Society, Field Naturalists and the early National Parks Association (A.D.B. Vol. 7 P.232 ff)"

H.R. Nicholls : (1830-191,2) Newspaper editor and journalist. Radical political activist, Chartist and republican" Edited the Hobart Mercury from 1883 to his death in 191,2. Arrived in Victoria in 1853, edited the (short-lived) Diggers Advocate, and later The Ballarat Times. Advocated a strong conservationist line in the Mercury in the formative years leading to the National Park Association (see below).. e:g. in 1910, in an editorial argued for a park on the Gordon River to protect Huon pine. (.AD'B. vol. 5 p.334 ff.). Now re-called by the conservative 'think tank” which bears his name.

H. Nicholls : (1868-1940) son of H..R. Nicholls. Hobart barrister and MHA, later Chief Justice and Acting state Governor. Member, of the Australian Natives Association, a "progressive" conservative group who gained representation on the 1917 National Park Board (A D B Vol 5 p.334ff).

William Crooke: (1845-1920) Born in Tasmania; teacher in Victoria; returned to Tasmania c1899; angler, and newspaper columnist. Advocate of a National Park; founder of the National Parks. Association; member/sec. numerous railway leagues; chairman of the Childrens’ Excursion Association; member of the workers Educational association and for a short time, member of the Labor League (News, 20/6/1924, p.3 TSA) (see later).

2.1.3 William Crooke and the National Park Association

The role of William Crooke was central to the formation and declaration of the National Park' as evidenced by the erection of the memorial to him by the park Board after his death in 1,920- His memorial was unveiled in June 1924 by the then Premier J. A. Lyons, assisted by J. C. Payton, Chairman of the children’s, Excursion Association, in front of 600-700 children and adults who made a train trip for the association.

Lyons said William Crooke had been the first to organize excursions for school children in order for them to "appreciate the wonderful and magnificent beauty with which God had endowed on this little state of Tasmania. Several men had brought about the realization of the National park, but William Crooke,s name stood out". Tributes were also paid to James Belton, the late Henry Dobson. H. Nicholls and Clive Lord. Louis Shoobridge spoke of the old days,and the initial reservation of land by Brown, then Minister for Lands.

Although others had contributed to the widening_ of the publics, knowledge.of the Mt Field area, especially its scientific interest, Crooke acted as a catalyst for a wide range of interest groups concerned about the encroachment of progress in to a unique wilderness.

A retired teacher who had returned to his childhood home in southern Tasmania' the motives underlying Crooke's efforts are obscure, and with no economic gains to be made, he appeared to see flora and fauna protection as an end in itself (Shakel p 21). Despite Crooke’s central role, no biography or assessment has been made.

Influences

Crooke was supposed to have been born in Franklin, Tasmania in 1845, (see Biographical Register, Vol.2 p.151 ,1987). In fact, William, was born at Saltwater River where his father had been transferred as clergyman in 1843 (Tasman Peninsula Birth Register, (Brand Paper, Vol. 19, PW & H) and Crooke, p.v). The

Reverend Robert Crooke, Dublin-born Anglican catechist, clergyman and teacher served at Saltwater River Probation Station on Tasman Peninsula where he was posted until 1850, marrying Catherine Drew, daughter of the Superintendent of the Impression Bay Probation Station.

After conflict with Bishop Nixon over his status, Robert moved to the Huon, where he took an active (even over-active) interest in local affairs. He became a prolific correspondent to the newspapers in Hobart, a characteristic inherited by his son. Crooke's serious outspokenness on the morals of local lasses of the Huon, coupled with latent ill-feeling resulted in Robert being harassed, leaving the church, and moving with his family to Victoria in 1858 (Crooke, op.cit.).

The. background to this conflict would have been well-known to the Southern Tasmanian establishment when William Crooke returned to Tasmania around 1900, aged 55, after a teaching career with the Victorian Education Department (Biographical Register V.1. P. 1S1). Why William Crooke chose to return is unclear, but he seemed to delight in taking on the southern Tasmanian establishment, espousing liberal-democratic principles.

The Father of Tasmanian Conservation?

This title maybe justly be given to William George Crooke. Although initially not a "pure" conservationist, Crooke appeared to modify his interest in controlled gaming to a more radical line, whereby all game within the later park were to be protected (except for the trout).

Upon returning to Tasmania, William (like his father), began contributing regular articles on angling to the Mercury under the pen-name of “Jollytail”. He also promoted Tasmanian angling in the Melbourne Australian. These witty, descriptive articles indicate the breadth of interest Crooke held, and in particular show a familiarity with North American rivers and techniques and new conservation practices. How aware he was of the new American Park system can only be. speculation at this stage, but his far-sighted vision parallels the reservation of Yellowstone in the USA. Any empathy with republican America may not have endeared him to the idealistic but conservative park Board members.

In October 1910, Crooke argued for control over angling and other game to ensure its preservation. He noted that legislators in the "States of America” “pay much more attention to these matters" than local politicians, believing them to be matters "of an essentially British character". However, "in Nebraska in a single session, the Lower House dealt with 8 bills dealing with hunting and fishing"; in North Carolina, Oregon, Alabama and New York, similar controls were being introduced, and Crooke argued for their introduction here.

Crooke was briefly a member of the Workers Political League and various railway associations, particularly the Southern Tasmanian Railway Association, which proposed lines to the West Coast and the Huon (Tasmanian Mail, 2/9/1920 P. 22, C3). He was also a member of the workers Educational Association, a philanthropic community-oriented body with world-wide

branches, (and fore-runner of the Adult Education Department from which the latter took over in Tasmania in 1948). The slightly “Pink “or Fabian reputation of the Workers Educational Association "-"Ta not -have endeared Crooke to some.

The National Parks Association

In 1912, Crooke, acting as a catalyst for like-minded but disparate groups, formed the National Parks Association. Bodies involved included the Royal Society, Field Naturalists Club, University Tasmania, Hobart City Council, Fisheries Commission, New Norfolk Council and the Australian Natives Association and the Southern Tasmanian Railways Association (Shackel, p. 21) with Crooke as Chairman this organisation was the genesis of the Scenery and Preservation Board Act (1915) and the later National- Parks Act and Board (191d) (but without William Crooke as Chairman).

Unlike the later formation of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair Reserve which was achieved after public pressure and lobbying, the successful push for the Mt Field National Park appears to have been achieved by direct approaches to the Minister (Shackel, p. 22). Although holding public meetings and gaining Press support, acceptance of the Park was relatively easy. This perhaps needs to be set against the desire to preserve something pristine when Europe was destroying itself and Australians in the trenches of World War I.

Following an initial approach by Crooke on 4 December 1913 to the Minister for Lands (Edward Mulcahy), a reserve of 500 acres and a grant of £500 resulted, with the Forestry Commission acting as caretaker (op. cit p.22). This was extended to 22,000 acres, as the tourist potential of the proposal was realised, and the extension of the Derwent Valley railway line to the proposed area. The Labor Government promised to extend the Park to cover 50,000 acres (Robson,p.292).

In March 1915, the Mercury-extolled the virtues of “a permanent park dedicated to nature …. not a mere wilderness, yet a sanctuary .:.. providing opportunity for communing with the spirits of the trees and the brooks”, (shackel, p 22).

By late 1915 the efforts of the National Parks Association resulted in the Scenery and Preservation Board Act which co-ordinated the earlier reserves under a single piece of legislation, covering historic, scenic and wildlife areas (Shackel, P.23).

LONG-TERM IMPACT OF CROOKE'S NPA

The second major influence which the National Parks Association had was three-fold:

i) the establishment of the National park,

ii) the constitution of the Board and its membership, dnd

iii) the practical aims of the Board _

all of which reflected Crooke’s input.

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Pages 40-41 copied by not yet corrected for copy errors.