Table Of ContentIn memory ofClarrieHandreck
Recollections ofClarrie Handreck
Chris Rowley
CollectionManager,MarineInvertebrates,MuseumVictoria
GPOBox666,Melbourne,Victoria3001
1 commenced my position in the Museum of mens, lab equipment and paraphernalia were
Victorias Invertebrate ZoologyDepartment in quietlyandefficientlyput awayandthelabwas
December1988.ThoughIwasyettomeetClar- left pretty much as itwas found that morning.
rie Handreck, I soon discovered that his name Throughouttheday, Clarriewason handtoof-
frequentlycropped up in conversation around fer guidance, encouragement and direction to
the department, often in an air ofreverence. thosewho needed it; thoughtful and insightful
Unbeknown to me at the time, Clarrie was a opinion to those who sought it; and when re-
memberoftheMarineResearchGroupofVic- quired, simplyroll up hissleevesand muck in.
toria (MRG), a group ofvolunteers who came Overthefollowing 12-18months,1saw(darrie
into the Museum one Saturday per month, to onlyon theoddoccasion, usuallyjustpopping
work in the Invertebrate Zoology collections, intodropsomethingoffforoneofthecurators,
then located in the basement (more affection- orperhapsvisitthelibrarytocheckoutarefer-
ately known as the ‘dungeons^ ofthe old Na- ence. In 1991, Clarrie retired from his position
tional Museum of Victoria in Russell Street. as aprimaryschoolprincipal andcommenced
These monthly ‘museum workdays’ were initi- regularvolunteerworkinearnest.Itwasduring
atedbythelateDrBrianSmithin 1967asaway this period thatIhad theprivilege to reallyget
ofmaintainingthe MRGteam duringthewin- toknowand workwith him.
termonths,whenitwastoocoldforfieldwork. It is difficult to put an accurate figure on
All cametogetheronce amonth to share their Clarries contribution to the Museum. He
knowledgeandexpertiseandtoundertakevital commenced ata time priorto anyformal vol-
curatorial and collection-based projects. Mu- unteer programme or the keeping of attend-
seumworkdays arestillaprominentfixtureon ance records. As far as I can ascertain, his as-
theFNCV-MRGcalendar. sociation with the Museum most likely would
My first encounter with Clarrie (and many have started around the same time he joined
ofthe MRG team) was not until the following the MRG, in 1971. According to our official’
yearwhenI wasaskedtofillinassupervisoron records,Clarrieclocked upanestimated 12500
one oftheworkdays. It washere that I discov- hoursofvolunteerwork.(Theactualfiguremay
ered first hand the finely tuned machine that bealot higher!) Heis in aselectgroupofonly
was (and still is) the MRG,and atitshelmwas four Museum volunteers to have passed the
Clarrie Handreck. In reality there was prob- 10000hourmilestone,andiscurrentlystillthe
ablylittleneed for my presence. Everyone had longestservingvolunteeronrecord.Theofficial
their job and knew exactly what to do. This figures tell only part ofthe story. It was Clar-
group included as broad across-section ofthe riesinfectiousenthusiasmandincrediblework
communityasone—couldhopetosee, with one ethic that elevated him beyond the realms ofa
thing in common an insatiable interest and mere mortal volunteer. Herewasa man whose
curiosityaboutourmarineenvironment.Some workethiccould put manya fulltimemember
weregeneralists, keentolearnasmuch as they ofstaffto shame. I often had to remind myself
could, whilst others were highly-regarded ex- thatClarrieactuallywasaretiredman,offering
perts,equallyaskeentoimpartasmuchasthey hisservicesgratis!Though‘retired’,Clarrie still
could. Thelab hummed along witha frenzyof maintained astrictregime. Ifhesaidhewould
activity,muchthesameasithadsomeonehun- beinby9:00am,thenyoucouldsetyourwatch
dred andfiftytimesbeforehand, since 1967. At by him. Lunch and coffee breaks were kept to
theend oftheday,asifbymagic, all thespeci- a minimum and there was no leaving early at
228 TheVictorianNaturalist
In memoryofClarrieHandreck
theendoftheday. Clarriewouldworkrightup its own refurbishment program at its St Kilda
to the absolute last possible minute, allowing Roadcomplexandwasin needofatemporary
justenough timetoclean up and leavein time exhibition venue. The solution? Bring for-
to catch his train home. He most likely would ward Museum ofVictorias exit from the Rus-
havearrivedon thestation platformjustas the sell Street campus! With the move to Carlton
trainwaspullingin!Ontherareoccasionwhen Gardens still another two years away, the plan
Clarrie was runninglateor unable to come in, involved relocatingtheMuseumsstaffandcol-
hewouldalwaysphonetoapologiseandprom- lectionsto varioustemporarypremisesaround
ise to make up forlost time. (Andhe did!) Re- Melbournewithinatighttimeframe.Toensure
gardless ofthe task he was given, Clarrie gave therelocationwentoffwithoutahitch,hugere-
110%. sources were channelled into the aptly named
Clarrie was a committed conservationist Accelerated Relocation Project. Since the col-
with a broad knowledge and deep respect for lections were going to be moved, the Museum
thenaturalworld. Hewaspassionateaboutthe quickly adopted the position that every effort
collection and thedata associatedwith it. Col- would be made to ensure that they were in a
lection data is an important resourcefor envi- fitstate to be moved, ^fheMuseum also seized
ronmental managers. For this reason, he saw on the opportunity notonly to prepare collec-
the data written on specimen labels as a huge tions for moving, but to actually improve on
untapped resource waiting to be set free, and theirstandardsofcuration. ItwasClarriesme-
theonlywaytoset it freewasto‘getitontothe ticulousattentiontodetailandintimateknowl-
database. Heoftensaid that the‘specimen data edge ofthecollectionthatmadehim thenatu-
wasnotmuchgoodtoajiyoneifitwasn’tonthe ral choice to be employed as part ofa team to
database’ In 1992, Clarrie began a 17-year ob- prepare the Natural Sciences spirit collections
session with databasing specimen data. Lot by forrelocation.AlongwithhisfellowCollection
lot, hebegan the monumentaltaskofchipping PreparationOfficers,theentirespiritcollection
away atthe backlog ofcollection registrations. was assessed, re-curated, re-labelled, re-sorted
Clarrie and Denys Phillips worked together, andpackedinto steel unit trays. The eflbrt put
and initiallyfocused on enteringdata from the into this preparation ultimately paved the way
old hand-written register books. Not content fortheirsuccessfulrelocationtoourtemporary
withthisalone,theyalsotoppedupalcohol,re- premises at Abbotsford and the subsequent
labelled,re-housed,re-namedandre-organised relocation to the new Melbourne Museum at
specimens ifrequired. Clarrieappreciated that Carlton Gardens. The relocation of Natural
many hands make light work and so encour- Sciences collection was achieved on time and
agedothervolunteerstousethedatabase.Since on budget. The excellent condition ofthe col-
manyofourvolunteers had littleor noexperi- lection today stands as testament to the huge
encewithdatabases, Clarrie wroteabeginner’s effortsofClarrieandtheteam.
user manual, which he updated from time to During the Abbotsford’ period (December
time. In order to standardise database entries 1998-August2000),Clarriewasoneoffewvol-
he compiled a comprehensive 4S page index unteers who continued their regularactivities,
detailingfrequentlyusedlocalities,donors,col- yet despite all thedisruptionshesomehowstill
lectors and information on field expeditions. managedtoregister4610specimenlots.
The indexalso included an alphabetical listing In late 2000, the Invertebrate collection was
of Victorian coastal localities, complete with finally settled into its new permanent home
latitudes and longitudes, and a section cover- at Melbourne Museum. Tlie following years
MRG
ingprojectsofthe anditsforerunner, the would prove to be Clarries most productive.
MarineStudyGroup. Once again he threw himself into the seem-
In 1998 the Museum was on themove. Con- ingly endless task of collection registration.
struction of the new Carlton Gardens com- One ofhisfirst projectswas the registration of
plex was well underway, but not due for com- at least one representative ofevery species of
pletion until 2000. Meanwhile, the National marinechiton andgastropodheld in the.spirit
GalleryofVictoriawanted to press aheadwith collection. Unfortunately, in December 2001
Voll27 (6) 2010 229
In memoryofClarrie Handreck
Clarrie was diagnosed with an aggressive and in April that year when he was physically
prostate cancer and given an initial prognosis no longer able to carry on, Clarrie reluctantly
ofaround two years. Not beingone to quietly ceased regular volunteer work. Still keen to
fade away, Clarrie upped the ante. Instead of keep a hand on progress, an extremely frail
giving his usual 110%, he was now operating Clarriecontinuedtocallintothemuseumfrom
at 120%! timetotime,ifonlybrieflyto passon hislatest
Withthecompletionofhisfirstprojectbehind listofupdatesoramendmentsto Catherine.
him, Clarrie embarked on his most ambitious Alwaysmodestabouthisachievements, Clar-
project yet. Phase two would see the complete rie often understated his contributions to the
registration, curation and re-organisation of Museum and, much to the frustration of his
all marine chitons and gastropods in the spirit colleagues, shied awayfrom many attempts to
collection. Withhelpfromtherelevantexperts, formallyrecognisehim. Clarriealwaysinsisted
Clarrie began by first compiling a detailed in- thatanyachievementsweretheresultofateam
dexofall speciesrepresented in thecollection, effort. He frequentlydescribed his role as ‘just
complete with current nomenclature, synony- doingthe hackwork, so thattheexperts could
mies, bibliographic references and shelf loca- be freed up for more important things’ In re-
tions. The end result was a two volume index ality, he could not have been further from the
which became the ‘Bible for anyone entering truth. In his last fiveyears, Clarrie andaband
data, or putting specimens awayin the collec- ofvolunteersandstaffregisteredapproximately
tion. Clarrie and fellow volunteer Catherine 18900lotsofspecimens.Intotal,hewasdirect-
Guli powered their way through registering ly or indirectly involved in the registration of
the spirit collection. In 2004, with the intro- approximately29300lots.Therewouldbevery
duction ofthe Museum’s new database system fewspecimensthathavenotbeen handledper-
EMu, Clarriedecidedthatitwouldbemoreef- sonallybyClarrieatsometime. In recognition
ficient ifCatherine was to concentrate on data of his contributions, the holothuroid Aposo-
entry, whilst he concentrated on handling and lidium handrecki O’Loughlin & O’Hara, 1992
labelling thespecimens. Whatwasperhapsnot andthehermitcrabPaqurixushandreckiGunn
evidenttomanypeoplewastheamountoftime Sc Morgan, 1992 are named in his honour. In
Clarrie put into compiling lists, checking no- 2001, he was honouredwitha High Commen-
menclature, synonymies and spelling errors at dation inthecategoryofLifetimeAchievement
home, in preparation for his next registration atthe2001 VictorianCoastalAwardsforExcel-
session. Every hour spent at the museum was lence.
at least matched in time spent at home. Even I knewClarrie onlyinthe context ofhis mu-
moreastonishingwasthatmuchofthisproject seumwork.ItwasnotuntilIattendedhisfuner-
wasundertakeninbetweenroundsofintensive al that I began to appreciatethathe was a man
radiotherapy or chemotherapy treatments. In with manyinterestsandtalents,contributingas
typical Clarrie fashion, he was able to forecast freelyandproductively totheseashe didtohis
the dates his ‘good days’ would fall on, and museumwork. Clarriewasuniversallyadmired
organise his diary accordingly. Together with andrespected,and issadlymissedbyall.
Catherine, Clarrie was able to see the project
throughtocompletion. Acknowledgements
Apart from his museum volunteer commit- Many thanks to Sue Boyd, Catherine Guli, Aaron
LawrenceandPlatonVafiadisfortheirassistanceand
ments, Clarrie also continued to provide lead-
helpfulcomments.
ershipfor theMRG,and importantly provided
a crucial link between the MRG and the Mu-
seums curatorial and collection management Received19August2010;accepted4September2010
staff. By 2009 the cancer was taking its toll,
230 TheVictorianNaturalist
