ACT Heritage Library Manuscript Collections

HMSS 0493 Weston Family Papers

Thomas Charles George Weston was born at Poyle, England on 14 October 1866, eldest son of Thomas, a journeyman tailor, and his wife Elizabeth. He was always known as Charles, his paternal grandfather’s name. One of several children, he was closest to his younger sister, Alice.

Poyle was then a rural village; it is now adjacent to Heathrow Airport, London. Charles went to school in nearby Colnbrook until he was about 13 years of age, before beginning his life as a gardener. At that time, horticultural education was via the traditional levels of apprentice, journeyman and master. A journeyman could move on to other gardens to diversify his experience, later become foreman and ultimately head gardener. This extensive training and experience, together with his results from the inaugural Royal Horticultural Society examinations in 1893, should have ensured that Charles was paid as a professional horticulturalist. Instead, he fought bureaucracy all his working life for a salary and status appropriate to his skills and experience.

Charles served his three-year apprenticeship at Poyle Manor, was a journeyman at Ditton Park, England, where he managed many of the tree species that were later included in the Canberra trials and plantings, and then at Drumlanrig in Scotland from 1889, where he was appointed Principal Foreman. Trees were integral to the big estates in Scotland; Drumlanrig was a perfect example of an early 19^th century landscape park and was at the forefront of British landscape architecture.

David Thomson, the head gardener at Drumlanrig and foremost horticulturalist of the day, exhorted his staff to “observe, experiment and learn”, a precept that Charles followed all his life. He described Charles as “an excellent manager of men”, and gave him a glowing reference when, having failed to find advancement in Britain, in 1896 he decided to try his luck in Sydney.

Charles was initially employed by Duncan Carson (of Winchcombe Carson, woolbrokers) at ‘Kiewa’, his home and new estate at Pymble. Some months later he started work with Joseph Maiden, Government Botanist and Director of the Sydney Botanical Gardens, but apparently continued to live at Pymble. After Thomson, Maiden was the most important influence on Charles, especially in promoting a scientifically based approach to horticultural experimentation. The two men maintained a close working relationship until retirement.

In 1898 Charles was appointed Gardener-in-Charge, later Head Gardener, at Admiralty House, Kirribilli, the home of the British admiral in charge of the Royal Navy’s Australian Squadron. The grounds were maintained by staff from the Sydney Botanic Gardens, and the position included accommodation at The Lodge, to which Charles brought his bride of five days.

Minimia Cockshott was born on 23 June 1864 at Padiham, Lancashire and worked as a house servant in Clitheroe before emigrating to Brisbane in 1890, subsequently moving to Chatswood in Sydney. In their ten years at Admiralty House Charles and Minimia had three surviving children: Annie (1899-1980), Minnie (1900-1977) and Winifred Alice (1904-1981). The Westons also maintained a close friendship with the Cronins, who had daughters of a similar age to theirs.

From 1908 to 1912 Charles was seconded to the Commonwealth Government as Head Gardener at Government House, Macquarie Street, at that time the Governor-General’s Sydney residence. The family moved to a nearby house on the edge of the Botanic Gardens, remaining there until Charles, after six months as Superintendent of the NSW State Nursery at Campbelltown, was appointed Officer-in-Charge, Afforestation Branch, Federal Capital Territory.

He arranged temporary accommodation for his family, hoping to bring them to Canberra in July 1913. No house or schooling was then available, and with war looming neither seemed likely for some time, so he moved them to Moree Street, Gordon until finally allocated a house at 6 Liversidge Street, Acton in 1922. For nine years, Charles saw his family at Christmas and Easter and on other infrequent occasions in Sydney or when the family visited Canberra during school holidays.

Charles lived first in the Bachelors Quarters at Acton and then a two-roomed hut next to the Acton experimental nursery. For several years it had neither stove nor fly screens. In the absence of his family he found recreation in concerts and other community activities and reading in his extensive library of horticultural books, some of which had been gifts from the admirals and governors-general he had worked for in Sydney.

Following Griffin’s departure in 1920, Charles was given responsibility not only for afforestation in and around Canberra but also for planting the city and suburbs. From 1921 to his retirement in 1926 he and his 80 or so staff planted over 1.2 million trees and shrubs in the city area. With the establishment of the Forestry Branch in October 1925 much of the afforestation work was removed from Charles’ responsibility, and he was appointed Superintendent of Parks and Gardens.

Charles left Canberra in October 1926, having refused the offer of a continuing consultancy with the Federal Capital Commission. He bought a house in Turramurra, and set about establishing his own garden. He died of cancer on 1 December 1935 and was cremated. As he had requested, his ashes were scattered in the parklands in front of Parliament House, Canberra, to be joined two years later by those of Minimia.

In a letter to the Royal Horticultural Society, London in 1931 Charles referred to the planting of these parklands as “probably the largest thing of its kind in the history or ornamental tree planting”. Thousands of trees and shrubs, some 10-15 feet tall and up to 12 years old, were planted in a single season.

Weston's eldest daughter, Annie, did not come to Canberra in 1922. She had graduated from university and was teaching in Sydney, ultimately becoming headmistress of Cremorne Girls High School. A keen gardener, she inherited both the family home at Turramurra and her father’s library.

In 1926, middle daughter, Minnie joined the Federal Capital Commission as a typist, progressing through the Crown Solicitor’s Office to the Department of the Treasury before marrying Leslie Rumble Willis in in 1929. Leslie had worked in the Department of Home Affairs in Canberra from June 1914 until enlistment in November 1915; after the war he worked for the Federal Capital Commission before returning to Melbourne. Their son Alan was born in 1932, occasioning Charles’ final visit to Canberra.

Youngest daughter, Winifred, joined the Commonwealth Bank when it opened in London Circuit, Civic; a typist, she was its first female employee. In late 1926 she resigned to accompany her parents to Sydney and to help care for Minimia, whose health was failing. She married William Langford in 1927, subsequently moving to Melbourne where he worked as an engineering draughtsman.

The collection was donated to the ACT Heritage Library by John Langford, the grandson of Charles Weston. The donation was officially received during the launch of Canberra Tree Week 2018. 

Series List:

Series 1: Early life
Series 2: New South Wales
Series 3: Canberra
Series 4: Retirement

Box List:

Series 1: Early Life

Collection of items relating to Charles Weston's and Minimia Cockshott's (later Weston) early life and career in England and Scotland. Includes letters of recommendation as well as letters of introduction to prospective employers in New South Wales. Includes studio portraits of Charles Weston's parents and sister as well as places he worked before emigrating to New South Wales. Also included are portraits of Minimia Cockshott and other staff at Clitheroe where she worked before emigrating to Australia.

Series 2: New South Wales

Collection of items relating to Charles Weston’s early career in Sydney with his growing family. Includes a collection of letters of recommendation dating from his arrival in Sydney in 1896 through to 1908 when he became Head Gardener at Government House, Sydney. Many of these were written by Commanders-in-Chief, Australian Station, serving at Admiralty House in Sydney during Weston’s service there. Includes a large collection of family photographs. Also included is a copy of The Art of Garden Design in Italy by Inigo Triggs, which was published in 1906 and given to Charles Weston by Lady Juliana Fawkes, the wife of Vice Admiral Wilmot Fawkes who was Commander-in-Chief, Australian Station, from September 1905 to the end of December 1907. The book was given sometime between 1908 and 1911 when Fawkes was Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. There is also a collection of photographs of Weston family in Sydney prior to Charles’ move to Canberra in 1913.

Series 3: Canberra

Items relating to Charles Weston’s employment as Officer-in-Charge, Afforestation Branch (later Superintendent, Parks and Gardens). Includes reports relating to the use of Acton Nursery for experimental planting, extracts from evidence regarding Afforestation, results of various experiments and enquiries. Also includes items relating to Charles Weston’s appeal for re-classification of his position with the Department of Home and Territories. Includes a large collection of photographs relevant to Charles Weston's work in Canberra as well as family photographs from this time.

Series 4: Retirement

Collection of items relating to Charles Weston’s retirement in 1927. Includes items relating to Weston’s appointment to the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and the official opening of Parliament House in Canberra. Also includes a collection of letters of condolence received by Minimia following Charles Weston’s death, as well as items relating to his enduring legacy in Canberra. Includes photographs of Canberra as well as family photographs.