Minard Crommelin (1881–1972) was an Australian

postmistress A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

and environmental conservationist. Crommelin was born on 29 June 1881 at Aston Station, near

Bombala Bombala is a town in the Monaro, New South Wales, Monaro region of far southern New South Wales, Australia, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is approximately south-southwest of the state capital, Sydney, and south of the town of Cooma, Ne ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Crommelin was appointed an Order of the British Empire (M.B.E), Civil member, in recognition of service to the flora and fauna on 1 January 1959. Both Crommelin Crescent, St Helens Park and Crommelin Place, Chisholm, have been named in her honour. Crommelin died at her home in

Pearl Beach, New South Wales Pearl Beach is a List of Central Coast suburbs, suburb of on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Pearl Beach was assigned 'suburb' status by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales, Geograph ...

on 14 February 1972, aged 90.

Postmistress

At 12 years of age Crommelin left Pipe Clay Creek Public School and assisted the Burrawong postmistress who later sent her to the Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School for a year. She was one of the early operators of the Morse Telegraph Key. Eventually Crommelin became an assistant at

Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. Moss Vale is the administrative centre of Wingecarribee Shire local government area. It is located south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. The Illawarra Hi ...

post office. From 1906 Crommelin was the acting postmistress at

Woy Woy Woy Woy is a coastal town in the Central Coast region of the New South Wales state of Australia. The town is located on the southern reaches of Brisbane Water and near the mouth of Brisbane Water at the Pacific Ocean, it is a popular holiday de ...

for 5 years during which time she took public service examinations. She visited Pearl Beach for the first time with her friend Charles Pryce in a small cedar sailing boat in approximately 1910. Over the proceeding 20 years Crommelin was a relieving postmistress at over 150 towns. In 1937, aged 56, she retired from the public service.

Environmental conservation

Crommelin paid £84 for land in Pearl Beach adjoining the

Brisbane Water National Park Brisbane Water National Park is a national park on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The national park is situated north of Sydney and southwest of Gosford. It consists the Brisbane Water and Moo ...

. In 1938, after canvassing support from various societies to which she belonged Warrah Sanctuary was proclaimed with Crommelin the founding trustee. In 1937 she had bought 2.8 hectares of land adjoining the sanctuary at Pearl Beach and moved there in 1939. On her land she engaged in beekeeping and raised native plants. Crommelin unsuccessfully lobbied politicians, government departments and newspaper editors for the establishment of a national botanic garden, fauna park and arboretum and for a national ecological conservation authority. Crommelin constantly protested against the local destruction of flora and fauna, careless back-burning and debatable infrastructure developments.

Crommelin Biological Field Station

In December 1946, Crommelin offered her Warrah Sanctuary to the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

with one condition: she could live out her remaining years on the land. The university accepted and developed a biological and natural field station for research and named it the Crommelin Biological Field Station. The Field Station accommodates for up to 26 bunk-style beds. There is a fully equipped kitchen, a dining room, a small unequipped laboratory area and a common room. At present the facility is available to employed research workers and educators from the tertiary education system only. Children under 18 years of age are not permitted to use the station. As of December 2010, the

lodging Lodging refers to the use of a short-term dwelling, usually by renting the living space or sometimes through some other arrangement. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, food, safety, shel ...

charge was $16.50 per head per day.

Other community interests

Crommelin donated and bequeathed to the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

to establish the Crommelin Ecological Conservation Fund. She was a member of the Society of Australian Genealogists and the Huguenot Society, London. She helped to form local branches of the

Australian Red Cross Australian Red Cross, formally Australian Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. Tracing its history back to 1914 and being incorporated by royal charter in 1941, Australian Red Cross Society is ...

, the

Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is a women's organisation in Australia, which seeks to advance interests of women, families, and communities in Australia, especially those in rural, regional, and remote areas. It comprises seven indep ...

of New South Wales and the Business and Professional Women's Club of Sydney. Crommelin Place, in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm, is named in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crommelin Minard Fannie 1881 births 1972 deaths Australian conservationists Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Bombala, New South Wales Australian beekeepers Australian book and manuscript collectors 20th-century Australian women farmers Women beekeepers 20th-century Australian farmers Farmers from New South Wales

Postmistress

Environmental conservation

Crommelin Biological Field Station

Other community interests

See also

References