1( ,,,cniig became almost legendary— 

 -ven long letters and reports were 

 ^■iieiiloush scripted! 



Dunne life >?rc;>i depression of the 

 tJ tl\ I'M'Vs his lalhci was forced 



^ pi business, and both pacta ix 



car* to live with their sen at Bairns- 

 ,1,1,. Hunler senior died in 1 ;md 

 l,iv wile in 1949 — at .t private hos- 

 pital "i Melbourne where she had 

 lH.ni invalided for two vcurs. Mrs. 

 Hunler whs fi.imeily a keen gar- 

 dener i* i icJ croquet player. Bill never 

 inn fried. 



Soon alter his parents retired in 

 BartTkSdul* W Hunter met Mt. 

 [horn a former major in the British 

 Army who had been educated at 

 Heidelberg I Germany) and had 

 Iflrtetlcd widely. Thorn gave HiuUci 

 an iittcro,! in the local flora, having 

 himself acquired Ewart's Flnru of 

 \ uioria (1931) to help him identify 

 the vegetation around hLs selection 

 on the C'ann Valley Highway, near 

 ilu N.S.W border. Mrs. Agnes 1 horn 

 became a country member of the 

 Field Naturalists Club of Victoria 

 (elected J 3' 5-1935). and she soon 

 proposed Hunter for membership 

 also; he was duly elected on 20 April. 

 [936, but his name wax inadvertently 

 otnilled from the list of new members 

 published next month .n the Victorian 

 \,,htmli\i. The Thorns pcisiiaded 

 Munlei to get his own copy of 

 Fwart's l-lora. then selling for S3, 

 and they encouraged many hush 

 dtnmals to frequent their properly. 



About this time. Hunter also came 

 to know flunk Robhms who was 

 k-aehiny science '.it B&imflpJ* Higher 

 Elcmcniary School, and the ivvo went 

 on several botanical excursions. Bill 

 Hunter subsequently sent a long 

 -era's nl specimens fiir identification 

 mT S. Hart (which, on Mr. Hurt's 

 death in kmc. I960, came to the 

 Melbourne Herbannm) .aid orchid 

 specimens ro the hue W R Nicholls 



April. 1971 



I.atci in 1936 | 1C eompilcd an anno- 

 tated census ,-f .,u the plants known 

 to dale lor F.uM l.ippslaiid. follow eit 

 over succeeding years bv several 

 supplements as new record', came lu 

 light. These heaillifully wnrtea Ims 

 are now iu the writer's library, as is 

 also ins i ini i,i ihe Sujggan buRgar 



Plrtnr', presented hv the late taeorgu 

 N. Hyam m Apnl', 1944. By 1937 

 systematic hoianv was almost Hun- 

 ter's consuming obsession, his enthu- 

 siasm heuihlenod through acquisi- 

 tiontiou of a good set of Benthams 

 / lt»n A«\trnlii-nus ( purchased for 

 €1717 -). 



While surveying along the Ded- 

 dick River lor the luhbut to VYtileul 

 mcrang road, in December. [93$. W. 

 Hunler found a solitary bush (Jift.) 

 of ihe very rare Myopontoi llort- 

 hum/nm, Ihus subslanliating I- Muel- 

 ler's premature record in the K(\ 

 5jjlH Via. fiSmts ( I StSS) — Mueller 

 himself had collected this plan! in 

 Feb. 1S54. but along the Snowy 

 River just inside New South Wales, 

 fhis is the most graceful and beau- 

 tiful ol all Boobialla species. H un- 

 let \ surveying companion at the 

 Dcddick River w.,s Clem Hsaihcr 

 who. lor amusement, would often 

 carve human faces on conspicuous 

 trunks and Iree slumps. The name 

 i ihl loe's Creek" was bestowed bv 

 Bill Hunler afler a black-painted 

 etligy "hat Clem, had cut ncarhv 

 they ehrislened the carving "Old 

 Black Joe", hut it has long since dis- 

 appeared. 



During his surveys df potential 

 settlement blocks at Suggan Huggati 

 and Ingeegoodbee, for about two 

 years in 19.38 and 1939. opportunity 

 was taken to make extensive botanical 

 collections. A.s a result, many old 

 recordings of F. von Mueller were 

 Confirmed : 'nd a number of new 

 records made for Victoria. It was 

 Through the finding of C>y r >«>irih 



89 



