Murdoch, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC, DBE

Interview Recording

 

Interview Transcript

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC, DBE, interviewed on 9 September 2002 by Jane Holth

 

Synopsis

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch was interviewed on 9 September 2002, by Jane Holth, for the Australian Garden History Society Oral History Collection. Dame Elisabeth died a decade later at Cruden Farm on 6 December 2012 aged 103. She had lived and gardened there for a remarkable 84 years. Dame Elisabeth was the inaugural Chairman of the Australian Garden History Society on its formation in 1980 – she stood down from that position after a year and subsequently accepted the role of Patron, a position she held until 1989.[1]

Writing about the genesis of the Australian Garden History Society, Dame Elisabeth recalled it was at a “meeting in Launceston in 1978 of a group of people who were engaged in the first survey of historic Australian gardens. … At the end of the conference a Garden History Society was formed, a draft constitution was adopted and ten committee members were elected … from differing areas of expertise. … The Society will be an important organisation for educating the community about garden history of all kinds … (and) will also publish a journal in which members can exchange views and information, and learn of the most up-to-date research and legislation. … With the formation of the Garden History Society we have made a positive statement about recognising these gardens as an important element of our history and the National Estate.”[2]

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Dame Elisabeth attributes her interest in gardening to her older sister, Sylvia Ritchie, who made a lovely garden at Delatite.   I think she was my role model … she had a very good brain, and was a wonderful gardener and I think probably I was inspired to try and follow her suite.
… I’ve always been interested in history and David Yencken approached me and really sort of almost bullied me into accepting the idea that there should be an Australian Garden History Society and that I would help to get it going.
I think there was a lot of enthusiasm for starting an Australian Garden History Society — maybe a lot of us weren’t very clear in the heads but we were enthusiastic and the idea appealed to us and it had quite a small beginning but it didn’t take long to get off to a very sound organisation and I very much admire the people who came, joined up and took the movement on — I think they’ve done very well.

Every time the journal comes in there’s always something very interesting … I think that research is so very active in all areas today and I think there’s a lot of research still to be done about our early gardens. But each time I get a journal I think they’re getting deeper in and even more scholarly, you know, in their research and their recording of the history — I’m amazed how very well it’s come on.

On why gardeners are special people

I think they have such an affinity with the earth and the beauty and I think there’s a serenity in gardening and you don’t have quite the same friction or perhaps, difficulty as the other sort of pursuits which people have to follow in their business lives and their professional lives. I think that gardening is so serene and somehow contributes something to people’s character — that’s been my experience. Nearly all the gardening people I know are quite exceptional people.

As to the future of the Australian Garden History Society

… I don’t think you can foresee the future of anything these days. I just say I travel in hope.

 

 

Reference

The following Journals contain articles on Dame Elisabeth Murdoch:

1. Australian Garden History, Vol. 18 No. 1 Jul 2006, pp14-19
2. Australian Garden History, Vol. 24 No. 3 Jan 2013, pp20-23
3. Australian Garden History, Vol. 29 No. 4 Apr 2018, p36

 

 

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[1] ‘Dame Elisabeth Murdoch (1909 – 2012): personal reflections of a remarkable woman’, Peter Watts, Australian Garden History, Vol. 24 No. 3 Jan 2013, pp20-23.
[2] Foreword, Proceedings of the First Garden History Conference, Melbourne 28-29 March 1980.