Heritage Living Winter 2011 - National Trust of Australia

Heritage Livingnational TRust of South AustraliaObituary: Verne McLaren AM.A conservation champion Ann GarvieMembers of the Kingston South East Branchof the National Trust were saddened bythe passing of the inaugural Chairman VerneMcLaren, a passionate conservationist and tirelessphilanthropist. At 82 years old, Verne was formerlyof Kingston and Robe and finally of Adelaide, andpassed away on the 13th September 2010.In 1945, Verne moved from Lobethal to the SE wherehe helped his father develop a cattle and sheepproperty, from mostly a virgin state, at Blackford.Verne’s interest in conservation arose from arealisation of the lasting impact of clearing andbulldozing. He set aside 400ha of valuable bigpink gum country as a private reserve. Theseexperiences are told in his book entitled “Let theEarth Live”. Verne was a patron of the Friends ofParks - of which he was the inaugural State patron- and Friends of Private Bushland.The Kingston Branch was formed with 7 membersin 1964, and with Verne’s enthusiasm membershipgrew to over 100 in the first three years ofoperation. Members visited other National Trustbranches throughout the State resulting in agreater understanding of the early history of theState and the exchange of ideas assisted towardbetter methods of preservation.Initial projects of the branch were Jip Jip ParkConservation Park and Baudin Rocks FaunaReserve, with both areas gazetted in 1965 andplaced under the National Parks Service of SA.In 1967 both areas came under the control of thenewly formed National Parks Commission. Vernewas appointed by government to that Commissionas a foundation member.On 18 February 1966 a memorial to the ill-fatedpassengers and crew of the brig “Maria” (1840) wasunveiled at Maria Park, Kingston. A crowd of 1500attended the unveiling ceremony performed by thethen President of the National Trust of SA, Mr H.C.Morphett. The six ton cairn was erected by localbranch members.During 1968 the Kingston Branch, represented byVerne, played a major role in saving the historicRobe Customs House from demolition. Followingrestoration, the Customs House was opened as aNational Trust Museum on April 15 1971. During1972 a sub committee of the Kingston branch wasformed at Robe to run the Robe Customs House andthis continued for seven years until a branch of theNational Trust was formed at Robe in 1980.Situated on the National Trust Maria Park is aunique cement memorial, produced by Verne,depicting the Australian continent, in memory of thelast full blood Aborigine known as Queen Ethel ofthe Coorong tribe who passed away on July 5 1954and was buried in the Kingston cemetery. A crowdof 300, including many relatives of Queen Ethel,attended the memorial ceremony of the unveilingby the then Curator of Anthropology at the SAMuseum on 14 November 1971. At the time it wasthe first memorial built in Australia in memory of anAustralian Aborigine.On 2 December 1972 the historic 1882 timber milland later general store building was opened as aMuseum by the President of the National Trust, MrWarren Bonython.A great achievement of Verne and the local branchwas the reconstruction of the famous Cape JaffaLighthouse on the foreshore of Kingston. It was thefirst time in the history of Australia that a lighthousehad been shifted from a site at sea, the MargaretBrock Reef, and reconstructed on land. The 108 foot(as it now stands) lighthouse with its eight roomswas reconstructed on donated land. Verne was incharge of the mammoth task. A total of $80,000was spent on the reconstruction and from this total$9000 was raised by branch committee members.After much work the lighthouse was formally handedover by the Federal Department of Transport to theNational Trust on 24 January 1976. Seven hundredguests attended the ceremony, many from otherStates. In May 1977 a book entitled “The Cape JaffaLighthouse Story” written by Verne was launchedat Kingston with the proceeds to be donated to theupkeep of the lighthouse.In 1979, when Verne stepped down as chairman ofthe Kingston Branch of National Trust, he was dulypresented with an aptly inscribed silver jug for hisoutstanding leadership over 15 years.Verne was a State vice-president of the NationalTrust and was later awarded honorary lifemembership, the trust’s highest award. In 1986 hewas invested as a member of the Order of Australia(AM) by the Queen on board the Royal yachtBritannia for his services to conservation.Verne’s contribution continued, and in 1986 hefeatured among 45 distinguished South Australiansin the 150 Jubilee book “Late Picking – Vintage 150”.Between 1966 and 1991, Verne was an honoraryadviser to seven State Environment Ministers onnational parks, wildlife and heritage matters.page 16