Person

Scarth-Johnson, Vera (1912 - 1999)

OAM

Born: 1912
Morley, England
Died: 19 May 1999
Occupation: Botanical collector and Botanical artist

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) - for service to art as a watercolour artist specialising in the native flora of Cooktown and the Endeavour River region of Queensland

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 regularly 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), https://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

Annette Alafaci

Created: 25 September 2006, Last modified: 13 January 2022

EOAS ID: biogs/P004767b.htm

This Edition: 2026 February - 1926 Centenaries
Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar - Late summer: late January to late March - season of eels
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Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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