Interview Recording
Interview Transcript
Thomas Garnett MA OAM interviewed on 7 November 2002 by Jane Holth
Synopsis
Tom talks about his interest in garden history as being established in the UK before he came out to Australia in 1960/61. Although not a trained gardener, he had experience in making and enjoying gardens. When in Australia, he was employed as Headmaster at Geelong Grammar. He was involved with many societies and had broad interests, especially ornithology but was very interested in gardens.
He talks about the establishment of the AGHS and mentions many early members of the fledgling society and how he became involved in it. He also mentions some committees that he participated in within the society. He did not agree with the concept of conservation in a garden, preferring re-juvenation. His strong opinion on this subject as well as his suggestion to remove the letter H (representing the word History) from the society, contributed to some debate about the future of AGHS. This idea of removal of the letter H was not taken up and the name remains as Australian Garden History Society. He mentions many trips that the society planned, enjoying the garden visits enormously. He attended many meetings of the society but was never on the management committee but did present talks. There is mention of a tension between Melbourne and Sydney in the early days of the society.
It is interesting that Tommy talks about jobbing gardeners which is a term to describe those working freelance in the horticulture industry and who are poorly paid.
He talks about George Seddon as a big influence on him as a gardener and writer and they maintained a strong connection over the years. Tommy contributed to the Oxford Companion to Garden History and wrote a regular column and Garden Editor for The Age newspaper, publishing books on his collections of articles written on various gardening topics. He prided himself in being the only non-public servant on several Government committees and help establish the independent board of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne and
Tom (Tommy) devoted himself to the garden at St Erth in 1970s and 80s, north-west of Melbourne although he doesn’t talk about it in depth in the interview, barely mentioning it as something he did after retiring from Geelong Grammar and how he worked with National Trust on maintaining the garden/house.
Reference
Obituary Thomas Garnett MA, OAM, 2006
