Previous find of the month - 2/2013


Previous find of the month

 

February 2013

Lindsay Pryor, the Prince and the Kurrajong Seeds

Australian Government Commissioner in Egypt - 1950/1952

 

In March 1950, the British Administration in Egypt wanted Kurrajong seeds.

Kurrajong leaves make useful fodder, and the British, wanting to experiment with the trees in Egypt, approached the Australian High Commissioner there for help in getting hold of seeds.  The request made its way to Canberra and the capable hands of Lindsay Pryor.

Pryor, then Superintendent of Parks and Gardens in Canberra, didn’t have the seeds in stock, but he knew where to find them.  He urgently directed Assistant Supervisor Moore to collect seeds from “a very good tree near the Cotter on the right-hand side of the Mt McDonald Rd about the point where a good view of the dam is obtained...”

The Superintendant’s knowledge was called on again in 1952 when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Mohamed Aly of Egypt wanted Banksias, Dryandras and Grevilleas sent to Cairo.  Unfortunately, some of the particular species of interest to the Prince were Western Australian varieties, and hard to obtain.  Pryor arranged to supply seeds of similar, eastern species, and despatched them with instructions to “take care not to over water them, and to plant in well drained, preferably sandy, soil”.

ArchivesACT has selected this Find of the Month to coincide with the official opening of the National Arboretum Canberra.

Kurrajong Seed

Memo from C.L. Steele to Acting Secretary Department of Commerce and Agriculture 24th March 1950

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Memo from G.J. Rodger to Lindsay Pryor 27th April 1950

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Memo from G.J. Rodger to Lindsay Pryor 9th Mayl 1950

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Memo to Director-General of Forests from Lindsay Pryor 12th May 1950

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Memo to Supervisor Southwell from Lindsay Pryor 12th May 1950

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Memo to Director-General of Forests from Lindsay Pryor 19th May 1950

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Memo to C.L. Steele from Lindsay Pryor 19th May 1950

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Banksias & Grevilleas Seed

Memo from C. Lee to Lindsay Pryor 20th February 1952

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Memo to Secretary Department of External Affairs from Lindsay Pryor 25th February 1952

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Memo to Mr Vant from Lindsay Pryor 26th February 1952

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Memo to Mr Vant from Kindsay Pryor 17th June 1952

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Memo to C. Lee from Lindsay Pryor 19th June 1952

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The file is 'LF1047 – Department of the Interior – Australian Govt. Commissioner in Egypt [1/3]'.  At first glance this file title appears to be unrelated to the plants.  ACT Government files are currently titled using the Territory Whole of Government Recordkeeping Thesaurus that incorporates the Territory Version of Keyword AAA.  It provides a controlled vocabulary of terms designed for use in the classifying, titling and indexing of records on creation.  This creates record titles that clearly describe the function of a file and its contents.

Prior to using a dedicated thesaurus for titling, many older files available through ArchivesACT have titles that fail to adequately describe their contents.  This can hinder research as relevant files may be overlooked due to poor titling.

Using the current rules for file titling in the ACT Government, this file might now be titled 'Territory and Municipal Services Directorate - Parks, Reserves & Public Places Records - Horticultural Services - Supply of native seed to Australian Commissioner to Egypt'.  

A PDF copy of this file can be downloaded here: (PDF Icon PDF 954Kb)

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