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Thistle Yolette Harris AM (29 July 1902 – 5 July 1990), was born as Yolette Thistle Harris, but mostly known as Thistle Stead, was an Australian botanist, educator, author and conservationist.

Biography

She was one of three daughters born to Charles Thomas Harris and Illma Richardson Harris (née Rokes). She was educated at SCECGS Redlands, Cremorne, where she was taught by the English teacher, Constance Le Plastrier (1864–1938), who was a member of the Naturalists Society of New South Wales and co-author of Botany for Australian Students (1916), and helped foster Harris' interest in native plants. Harris died in 1990 at a nursing home in Summer Hill, New South Wales.

Education

Harris studied botany at the University of Sydney, graduating with a degree in botany in 1924 followed by a diploma of education in 1925 from Sydney Teachers College. After several years as a science teacher in secondary schools, she became a lecturer in science education at Sydney Teachers' College (1938–61). In 1945 she was awarded a Master of Education degree from the University of Melbourne and studied for a Diploma in Landscape Design at the University of New South Wales between 1968 and 1969. Harris later featured her efforts to revegetate the mine-workings at the Central Mine of the Sulphide Corporation in her book Australian Plants for the Garden (1953). Harris also lectured on Biological Science at University of Sydney and on Botany at Sydney Technical College.

According to John Walter, her interest in Australian plants was also developed when she met Albert Morris (1886-1939) while she taught at the school in Broken Hill between 1929 and 1930.

Marriage

In 1951 she married pioneer conservationist and marine biologist David Stead, to whom she had been introduced by Le Plastrier in 1918, when she was sixteen. By marrying Stead she became the second stepmother to the Australian novelist and short-story writer, Christina Stead. Stead was twenty-five years older than Harris and died six years after their marriage.

Work

Harris was a member of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and she served as President and Honorary Secretary of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia. She was instrumental in facilitating the publication of the Society's journal Australian Wild Life, which was issued intermittently from 1934. She authored twelve books on Australian flora and their cultivation in suburban gardens. Harris's first book, Wildflowers of Australia (1938), provided a popular flora of Australia and included studies of approximately 250 plants. Her book, Gardening with Australian Plants, Shrubs (1977), describes over 100 genera covering 600 species.

In 1963 Harris established the 50 ha Wirrimbirra Sanctuary at Bargo, New South Wales, in memory of her late husband, who had died in 1957. She also established the David G. Stead Memorial Wildlife Research Foundation of Australia to undertake its management. In 1965 she donated the property to the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and it is managed by the Foundation. With financial assistance from the Gould League of New South Wales, a building was erected on the property in 1971 to act as a Field Studies Centre and in 1973, a teacher from the Education Department was appointed to be a full-time education officer. Harris devoted herself to many causes, especially focused in conservation.

In 1963 she was awarded the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria's Australian Natural History Medallion. In 1985 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science by the University of Wollongong.

In 1980 her work in wildlife conservation was recognised with the award of Member of the Order of Australia.

Publications

Books authored by Harris include:

• 1939 – Wildflowers of Australia, illustrated by Adam Forster. Angus & Robertson: Sydney. (With several later editions).
• 1945 – Nature Problems. A book of nature study for young Australians. Brooks & Co: Sydney.
• 1953 – Australian Plants for the Garden. A handbook on the cultivation of Australian trees, shrubs, other flowering plants, and ferns. Angus & Robertson: Sydney.
• 1956 – Naturecraft in Australia; a guide for the nature-lover, the bushwalker, the student, and the teacher. Angus & Robertson: Sydney.
• 1962 – Eastern Australian Wildflowers. Angus & Robertson Limited.
• 1966 – Around Australia Program - Australian Plant Life. Nelson Doubleday.
• 1970 – Alpine Plants of Australia Including Subalpine and Montane Plants. Angus & Robertson: Sydney. ISBN 0-207-12071-4
• 1976 – The Ellis Stones Garden Book: Australian Landscape Gardening. Nelson: Melbourne. (With Ellis Stones).
• 1977 – Gardening With Australian Plants: Shrubs. Nelson: Melbourne. ISBN 0-17-005119-6
• 1979 – Gardening With Australian Plants: Small Plants and Climbers. Nelson: Melbourne. ISBN 0-17-005120-X
• 1980 – Gardening With Australian Plants: Trees. Nelson: Melbourne. ISBN 0-17-005121-8

References

Notes

1. ^ "Thistle Harris Stead". woollahra.nsw.gov.au. Woollahra Municipal Council. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
2. ^ Walter, J. (2009), pp.18-23
3. ^ Standish, Ann. "Harris, Thistle". The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Australian Research Council. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
4. ^ Webb, J. (2002), p.290.
5. ^ Harris, Thistle. Vertical File collection, The LuEsther T. Mertz Library, The New York Botanical Garden. Accessed January 25, 2017.
6. ^ Wirrimbirra Flora and Fauna Sanctuary: Our Founders Archived 2009-09-13 at the Wayback Machine accessed 29 March 2009.
7. Blake, Ann (1994). "An ocean of story: the novels of Christina Stead". Critical Survey. 6 (1): 118–124. JSTOR 41556568.
8. Bright Sparcs entry on Thistle Yolette Harris accessed 19 October 2008
9. D., M. (1940). "Review of Wild Flowers of Australia by Thistle Y. Harris". Geography. 25 (1): 48. JSTOR 40561244.
10. "Dr.Thistle Yolette Stead A.M. | David G Stead Memorial Wild Life Research Foundation of Australia". steadfoundation.net. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
11. Warragamba/Silverdale & Surrounds Forum: New Dingo Sanctuary at Wirrimbirra accessed 19 October 2008.
12. "Thistle Yolette Stead". It's An Honour. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
13. "Wild Flowers of Australia". renaissancebooks.co.nz.
14. Harris, Thistle Y. (1 January 1962). Eastern Australian wildflowers. Sydney: Angus Robertson Ltd.

Sources

• Walter, J. (2009). Thistle Harris reflects on a trip to Melbourne (1964). Australian Garden History 21(1): 18-23.
• Webb, J. (2002). 'Harris, Thistle Yolette', p. 290 in: R. Aitken and M. Looker (eds), Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens. South Melbourne, Oxford University Press.

Further reading

• Webb, Joan. (1998). Thistle Y. Harris, (a biography of Thistle Yolette Stead). Surrey Beatty & Sons: Sydney. ISBN 0-949324-85-X

External links

• Wirrimbirra Flora and Fauna Sanctuary
• Harris, Thistle at The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia

• 1902 births
• 1990 deaths
• 20th-century Australian botanists
• Australian conservationists
• Australian women botanists
• University of Sydney alumni
• 20th-century Australian women scientists
• People educated at Redlands, Cremorne
• Members of the Order of Australia