John Roslyn Garnet (1906-1998), known as Ros, was a scientist who had a distinguished career with the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories.
Through his connection with the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, he was one of the founders of the Victorian National Parks Association and its honorary secretary for 21 years from its establishment in 1952. In 1982 he was awarded an Order of Australia (AM) for services to conservation.
Ros had a particular interest in the flora, fauna and human history of Wilsons Promontory National Park, one of Victoria’s most loved natural icons and the southernmost part of the Australian mainland.
Over several decades he researched the history of ‘the Prom’ and wrote the text for a book on the subject, which he completed in the early 1980s and hoped to publish. This did not eventuate, but the text has now been published as an ebook and provides a useful reference on the history of Wilsons Promontory and as a tribute to Ros.
In addition to Ros’s text, there is a history of Wilsons Promontory during the Second World War (1939-45) by teacher and historian Terry Synan, and an account by Daniel Catrice, formerly Historian with the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment, of the Prom’s history from 1945 to 1998.
We encourage readers who would like to help look after Wilsons Promontory National Park to contact the Friends of the Prom, who carry out regular surveys and working bees in the park. See www.friendsoftheprom.org.au or phone (03) 9752 3846.
- More information about the Prom can be found on Parks Victoria’s website www.parkweb.vic.gov.au.
- You can also search individual chapters from the book’s website – www.historyofwilsonspromontory.wordpress.com.