Media Release Friends of Sherwood Arboretum  (The Local Bulletin July 2017)

A love of trees

It’s hard to escape a genuine love of trees when you’re a member of the Nixon family.

Jill Power (pictured) remembers the joy of visiting Sherwood Arboretum as a child in the 1940s with her grandfather, Francis Octavius Nixon (pictured), who played a key role in helping establish this heritage-listed home to more than 1000 Australian native trees.

“The Arboretum was always so quiet, so peaceful … if anyone has a spiritual home, that was mine,” Jill said.

“I learnt to ride a bike there … it was like an adventure playground, we would disappear down there for the day.

“There is a spot looking down the river I always go to when I come home (from Sydney) to Brisbane.”

As a child, Jill, the elder daughter of Julian and Betty Nixon, also spent long hours next door at Avonleigh, the Sherwood home of her grandfather, Francis Nixon and grandmother, Julia, a noted Queensland pianist and composer.

“The Arboretum was a haven too for my father Julian (the eldest son of Francis and Julia), when he was a young man,” Jill said.

Jill remembers that her grandfather was a passionate gardener who often missed the train to the city because of doing last-minute chores in his beloved garden at Avonleigh.

A tireless advocate for the Queensland Forestry Association (QFA) and secretary of the ‘Save the Trees Campaign’, Francis promoted Sherwood as the ideal site for Brisbane’s future arboretum, first recommended in 1922 by Cyril Tenison White, the Government Botanist.

The riverside land, purchased by Sherwood Shire Council for park purposes, was finally settled upon in 1924 thanks to the combined efforts of Francis, the Government Botanist and key forestry officers, including Edward Harold Fulcher Swain, the larger-than-life Director of Forests.

Pivotal to this success was the support of the popular State Governor and QFA President, Sir Matthew Nathan (pictured seated with hat), who attended an afternoon meeting of the QFA and key Sherwood Shire Councillors at Avonleigh on 1 November 1924 to discuss the Arboretum’s future creation in 1925.

For more information, please email the Friends of Sherwood Arboretum Association at info@sherwoodarboretum.com.au or call (07) 3278 6525.