Scarth-Johnson, Vera (1912 - 1999)

Summary

Vera Scarth-Johnson was a botanical collector and illustrator who studied horticulture at Hertfordshire Institute of Agriculture and drawing at the Leeds College of Art in the United Kingdom. After World War II she immigrated to Australia and soon afterwards established a sugar cane farm in Queensland. Scarth-Johnson spent much of her spare time collecting and drawing plants. She travelled widely across Australia and even visited some Pacific nations. She sent her specimens to the herbariums in Kew, UK and in Queensland providing some 1700 to the latter. In 1972 Scarth-Johnson moved to Cooktown where she set about painting the 200 known plant species growing along the Endeavour River. This work earned her a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) and is housed at the Vera Scarth-Johnson Interpretive Centre and Art Gallery at the Cooktown Botanic Gardens.

Details

Chronology

1996

Award - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Edited Books

• McKay, Judith ed., Brilliant Careers: Women Collectors and Illustrators in Queensland (Brisbane: Queensland Museum, 1997), 80 pp. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4815009. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/48396727. Details
• Vera Scarth-Johnson (1912-1999), http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/scarth-johnson-obit.html. Details
• 'Scarth-Johnson, Vera (1912-1999)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-523975. Details