Table Of ContentThe Zealous Conservator
A Life of Charles Lane Poole
Also published by
University of Western Australia Press
for the Charles and Joy Staples
South West Region Publications Fund:
A Tribute to the Group Settlers Western Australia as it is Today, 1906
Philip E. M. Blond Leopoldo Zunini,
Royal Consul of Italy
For Their Own Good
edited and translated by
Anna Haebich
Richard Bosworth and Margot Melia
Dearest Isabella
The South West from Dawn till Dusk
Prue Joske
Rob Olver
Portraits of the South West
Contested Country
B. K. de Garis
Patricia Crawford and Ian Crawford
A Guide to Sources for the History of
Orchard and Mill: The Story of Bill Lee,
South Western Australia
South-West Pioneer
compiled by Ronald Richards
Lyn Adams
Jardee: The Mill That Cheated Time
Richard Spencer: Napoleonic War Naval
Doreen Owens
Hero and Australian Pioneer
Blacklegs: The Scottish Colliery Strike Gwen Chessell
of 1911
A Story to Tell
Bill Latter
Laurel Nannup
Barefoot in the Creek
Alexander Collie: Colonial Surgeon,
L. C. Burton
Naturalist and Explorer
Ritualist on a Tricycle: Frederick Goldsmith, Gwen Chessell
Church, Nationalism and Society in
Western Australia
Colin Holden
The Charles and Joy Staples South West Region Publications Fund
was established in 1984 on the basis of a generous donation to The
University of Western Australia by Charles and Joy Staples.
The purpose of the Fund was to make the results of research on the South
West region of Western Australia widely available so as to assist the people
of the South West region and those in government and private organisations
concerned with South West projects to appreciate the needs and possibilities of
the region in the widest possible historical perspective.
The Fund is administered by a committee whose aims are to make possible
the publication (either by full or part funding), by University of Western
Australia Press, of research in any discipline relevant to the South West region.
The Zealous Conservator
A Life of Charles Lane Poole
John Dargavel
University of Western Australia Press
The Charles and Joy Staples
South West Region Publications Fund
First published in 2008 by
University of Western Australia Press
Crawley, Western Australia 6009
www.uwapress.uwa.edu.au
for the Charles and Joy Staples
South West Region Publications Fund
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research,
criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by
any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
Copyright © John Dargavel 2008
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Dargavel, John.
The zealous conservator: a life of Charles Lane Poole.
1st edition.
ISBN 978 1 921401 14 5 (pbk.).
Lane-Poole, C. E. (Charles Edward), 1885–1970. Foresters —A ustralia — Biography.
Forresters —A frica — Biography. Conservationists —A ustralia — Biography.
Conservationists —A frica — Biography. Forest conservation —A ustralia. Forest
conservation —A frica. Forest management —A ustralia. Forest management —A frica.
634.9092
Cover photograph. Charles Lane Poole with desert kurrajong tree (Brachychiton gregorii),
Kunanalling, Goldfields region, September 1917. (WA Dept of Environment and Conservation,
Forests Department Image Collection)
Consultant editor: Roger Bourke, Perth
Designed by Anna Maley-Fadgyas, Perth
In memory of
Charlotte Ruth ‘Charles’ Burston (née Lane Poole)
23 October 1913 – 14 July 2007
CCoonnTTeennTTss
List of illustrations ix
Introduction xi
1 A Wedding 1
2 Separation 12
3 Demarcation 22
4 Achievement 43
5 Dismay 63
6 Assessment 78
7 Exploration 94
8 Design 108
9 Advance 124
10 Stagnation 140
11 Conflict 153
12 Waning 170
13 A Renewal and an End 178
Reflection 194
Notes 205
Bibliography 231
Index 239
vii
ILLUsTRATIons
Chapel of St Columba’s College, Dublin 2
Ruth Pollexfen, c. 1906 5
Class of 1906, L’École Nationale des Eaux et Forêts, Nancy 10
District Officer’s house at Woodbush Forest, c. 1909 17
Map of Sierra Leone 24
Conservator’s Headquarters at Heddles Cottage outside
Freetown, c. 1912 28
‘Smart Alec’ the python 29
Njombo-wuli (Amphimas pterocarpoides) tree with unknown
Forest Ranger, Sierra Leone 31
Ruth Lane Poole and baby Charlotte, 1913 37
Map of South-west Western Australia, c. 1916 45
Interstate Forestry Conference, Perth, 1917 47
Karri forest, Pemberton, Western Australia 48
Whittakers sawmill at Greenbushes, 1918 49
Charles Lane Poole with desert kurrajong tree (Brachychiton
gregorii), Kunanalling, Goldfields region, September 1917 57
John Scaddan, c. 1913 64
Jarrah forest 66
ix
Illustrations
Hewing railway sleepers, c. 1919 67
Sir James Mitchell, c. 1931 70
Tuart forest 74
Map of Papua and New Guinea showing Charles Lane
Poole’s journeys, 1921–24 82
Forest assessment party at ilimo tree (Octomeles sumatra) 84
Charles Lane Poole at Lake Embi 87
Senator Walter Kingsmill, 1922 96
Cutting out a canoe from a log of ilimo 100
Charles Lane Poole with remains of wireless set damaged at
Kohu, 1923 105
Map of Australian Territories, 1925 111
Charles Lane Poole on the Huon River, Tasmania, 1925 115
Armchair for Government House, design and finished chair 121
Drawing Room at Government House, 1927 122
The Governor-General, Lord Stonehaven, delivering an
address at the opening of the Australian Forestry School,
24 November 1927 125
Entrance Hall to the Australian Forestry School 135
1928 Empire Forestry Conference delegates at the Australian
Forestry School 137
Australian Forestry School, staff and students, 1931 148
E. H. F. Swain, 1929 155
Charles Lane Poole in his office at the Australian Forestry
School, c. 1930 163
Opening of the Mt Franklin Chalet, 2 July 1937 165
Charles Lane Poole at the opening of the Norman Jolly
Memorial Grove, Moonpar Forest, northern New South
Wales, 1957 188
x
