HER Story
Hilda Eileen Ramsay
I am currently exploring the social history and uniquely Victorian story of the pioneering Mallee botanist, Eileen Ramsay (1887 – 1961).
Although Eileen became a botanist relatively late in life, her legacy is significant. But botany is only part of her story; the effects of her forceful personality and her extraordinary life remain to this day vivid, resonant and relevant.
Eileen, the only daughter of a French-Mauritian immigrant and pharmacist, Joson Couve, grew up In Dandenong, Victoria with her parents and two brothers, Alan and Tom.
Tragically, in 1915, both young men were killed at Gallipoli in the first few days of the campaign. This cast a lifelong shadow of grief over the Couve family. After the war, they moved to the Mallee, where Joson Couve opened a pharmacy in Red Cliffs, near Mildura. Eileen became an active member of her new community and a founding member of the Sunraysia Fields Naturalists Club in 1949.
My enduring interest in Eileen was ignited some years ago when I viewed her botanical collection, then at the Mildura Arts Centre.
I was inspired and fascinated how Eileen’s story connects the disparate communities of the Mallee, Dandenong and inner-Melbourne. My quest now, is to fashion the fragments of Eileen’s life into something accessible and meaningful to a contemporary audience.
What drives me is a broader aim. This concerns the links forged between botany, art, and science; how, by creating art, we can further explore those deeply human questions about environment, history, and our own sense of belonging. It is only though such endeavours that we can truly contemplate beauty in nature and engage in the healing and transfiguring act of cultural creativity.
Bringing Eileen’s life and times alive involves gathering a welter of historical and factual material. Although I have already assembled a lot of relevant information, there are still many pieces missing from the Eileen jigsaw – pieces that, when restored, will I hope convey the life and soul of this remarkable woman to a contemporary audience.
Christine Johnson September, September 2021
Hilda Eileen Ramsay
I am currently exploring the social history and uniquely Victorian story of the pioneering Mallee botanist, Eileen Ramsay (1887 – 1961).
Although Eileen became a botanist relatively late in life, her legacy is significant. But botany is only part of her story; the effects of her forceful personality and her extraordinary life remain to this day vivid, resonant and relevant.
Eileen, the only daughter of a French-Mauritian immigrant and pharmacist, Joson Couve, grew up In Dandenong, Victoria with her parents and two brothers, Alan and Tom.
Tragically, in 1915, both young men were killed at Gallipoli in the first few days of the campaign. This cast a lifelong shadow of grief over the Couve family. After the war, they moved to the Mallee, where Joson Couve opened a pharmacy in Red Cliffs, near Mildura. Eileen became an active member of her new community and a founding member of the Sunraysia Fields Naturalists Club in 1949.
My enduring interest in Eileen was ignited some years ago when I viewed her botanical collection, then at the Mildura Arts Centre.
I was inspired and fascinated how Eileen’s story connects the disparate communities of the Mallee, Dandenong and inner-Melbourne. My quest now, is to fashion the fragments of Eileen’s life into something accessible and meaningful to a contemporary audience.
What drives me is a broader aim. This concerns the links forged between botany, art, and science; how, by creating art, we can further explore those deeply human questions about environment, history, and our own sense of belonging. It is only though such endeavours that we can truly contemplate beauty in nature and engage in the healing and transfiguring act of cultural creativity.
Bringing Eileen’s life and times alive involves gathering a welter of historical and factual material. Although I have already assembled a lot of relevant information, there are still many pieces missing from the Eileen jigsaw – pieces that, when restored, will I hope convey the life and soul of this remarkable woman to a contemporary audience.
Christine Johnson September, September 2021