Tommy Garnett

Thomas Ronald Garnett OAM (1 January 1915 – 22 September 2006) was an English and Australian headmaster, horticulturist, ornithologist and author.

Garnett was born in Cheshire and educated at Charterhouse School at Godalming, Surrey, and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He began his teaching career at Westminster School, London, and then returned to Charterhouse to teach classics. During the Second World War he served in the RAF Regiment in India and Burma. Following the war he returned to teaching and in 1952 was appointed Master of the Marlborough School near Oxford. In 1961, at the age of 46, Garnett was appointed Headmaster of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia and he and his family made what was to be a permanent move to Australia.

Garnett was a keen amateur ornithologist and joined the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) in 1964. In 1974, upon his retirement from Geelong Grammar, he became Secretary of the RAOU and served in that position until 1980. As Secretary he bore the brunt of the administrative load of a body undergoing major change as it evolved from what had become largely a birdwatching club into a scientific conservation organisation undertaking ventures such as the Atlas of Australian Birds project.

From 1980 Garnett devoted himself to developing the Garden of St Erth at Blackwood, Victoria, emphasizing the use of Australian native plants in horticulture. From 1980 to 1997 he also wrote a regular column for "The Age", published in Melbourne. In 1996 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for contributions to horticulture.

Compilations of articles authored by Garnett include:
* 1984 - "Stumbling on Melons. A selection of articles published in ‘The Age’". Lothian Publishing: Melbourne. ISBN 0-85091-187-7

* 2003 - "Bits and Pieces. A selection of writings published between 1980 and 1995 in The Age, Melbourne". Author: Castlemaine.

References

* Cowling, Sid. (2006). "Obituary: Thomas Ronald Garnett MA (Cantab), OAM. 1915-2006. Scholar, teacher, naturalist, horticulturist". "Emu" 106: 341-342.