P007422 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

All key entry types: Awards; Concepts; Corporate Bodies (Organisations); Cultural Artefacts; People; etc

These key entries are listed separately below with other indexes and lists.

 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 2024-07-11 human Helen Cohn updated 2026-03-31 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P007422b.htm person Lothian Thomas Robert Noel OBE AACR2 25 December 1915 24 September 2004 Place of Birth Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia Place of Death Townsville, Queensland, Australia Botanic gardens director Horticulturist Noel Lothian was Director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens from 1948 to 1980, during which time he rescued the Gardens from the decline of the early years of the 20th century. Before coming to South Australia, he worked and studied in gardens and horticulture in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and Munich. After attaining the National Diploma of Horticulture in New Zealand after WWII, he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Horticulture, at Lincoln Agricultural College, near Christchurch. Here he established horticultural diploma and degree courses in the two years before coming to Australia. On arriving in Adelaide, Lothian instituted a program of rejuvenation which included: restoring existing buildings and garden structures (including the glasshouses and the Museum of Economic Botany); ensuring the Gardens's administration and the State Herbarium of South Australia (which he resurrected) had suitable accommodation; establishing a 4-year training course for trainees at the Gardens; creating special collections and display gardens such as the Horticulture Garden. The two regional Gardens at Mt Lofty and Wittunga were instigated during Lothian's tenure. In addition, his extension program included an advisory service for the public; 25 years on radio gardening shows; and consulting with South Australian government agencies and rural communities on suitable plantings in their areas. During the 1950s and 1960s Lothian made a number of field trips into remote regions of Australia: specimens collected on these trips are largely in the Herbarium. Lothian was actively involved (including serviing terms as President) of a number of local scientific organisations, including the Royal Society of South Australia, the Field naturalists Club of South Australia, and the National Parks Commission during a period of considerable expansion of the parks system in South Australia. c. 1946 1947 Career position - Senior Lecturer in Horticulture, Lincoln Agricultural College near Christchurch, New Zealand 1948 Career position - Councillor, Royal Agricultural Society of South Australia 1948 1980 Career position - Director, Adelaide Botanic Gardens 1949 1951 Career position - Chairman, Field Naturalists' Section, Royal Society of South Australia 1950 1974 Career position - Editor, South Australian naturalist 1952 1954 Career position - Chairman, Field Naturalists Club of South Australia 1956 1958 Career position - Chairman, Field Naturalists Club of South Australia 1958 1960 Career position - President, Royal Society of South Australia 1961 1961 Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) 1975 1975 Award - Veitch Medal, Royal Horticultural Society, United Kingdom 1978 1982 Career position - Member of Council, University of Adelaide 1987 1987 Career position - Member of Council, University of Adelaide 1987 1988 Career position - President, Kew Guild, United Kingdom 1987 1990 Career position - President, Friends of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens The University of Adelaide (1874 - 2026)

Member of Council 1978 - 1982 and 1987

 Royal Society of South Australia (1880 - )

President 1958 - 1960

 Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Colony and State of South Australia (1855 - )

Director 1948 - 1980

 Field Naturalists' Section, Royal Society of South Australia (1883 - 1959)

Chairman 1949 - 1951

 'Lothian, Thomas Robert Noel (Noel)', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Lothian, Thomas Robert Noel (Noel) Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Book: Growing Australian plants Lothian, Noel and Holliday, Ivan Growing Australian plants Adelaide Rigby 1964 Book: The practical home gardener; a guide to the cultivation of plants in Australia, with special details for the drier regions Lothian, Noel The practical home gardener; a guide to the cultivation of plants in Australia, with special details for the drier regions Melbourne Lothian 1955 Book: Australian orchids: a collection of paintings by Rosa Catherine Fiveash; with text by Noel Lothian Fiveash, Rosa Australian orchids: a collection of paintings by Rosa Catherine Fiveash; with text by Noel Lothian Adelaide Rigby 1974 Journal Article: A slide odyssey: the Noel Lothian collection McAlister, Ed A slide odyssey: the Noel Lothian collection 2012 Australian garden history 24 2 19-21 Edited Book: Who's who in Australia 1983 Draper, W.J. Who's who in Australia 1983 24th Melbourne, Victoria Herald and Weekly Times Ltd 1983 Resource: Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators Fagg, Murray Australian Plant Collectors and Illustrators Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria (CHAH) 2010