Charles Warren Bonython, AO (11 September 1916 – 2 April 2012) was an Australian conservationist, explorer, author, and

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

. A keen bushwalker, he is perhaps best known for his role, spanning many years, of working towards the promotion, planning and eventual creation of the

Heysen Trail The Heysen Trail is a long distance walking trail in South Australia. It runs from Parachilna Gorge, in the Flinders Ranges via the Adelaide Hills to Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula and is approximately in length. Route summary From ...

. His work in conservation has been across a range of issues, but especially those connected with South Australian arid landscapes.Warren Bonython
Bright Sparcs

Early years

Bonython was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, to

John Lavington Bonython Sir John Lavington Bonython (10 September 1875 – 6 November 1960) was a prominent public figure in Adelaide, known for his work in journalism, business and politics. In association with his father, he became involved in the management of n ...

(later Sir John),W. B. Pitcher
Bonython, Sir John Lavington (1875 - 1960)
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 341-342. and Constance Jean, née Warren ( Lady Jean Bonython).Joyce Gibberd
Bonython, Constance Jean (1891 - 1977)
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 215-216. His grandfather was Sir

John Langdon Bonython Sir John Langdon Bonython (; Charles Earle Funk, ''What's the Name, Please?'' (Funk & Wagnalls, 1936). 15 October 184822 October 1939) was an Australian editor, newspaper proprietor, philanthropist, journalist and politician who served ...

.W. B. Pitcher
Bonython, Sir John Langdon (1848 - 1939)
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 339-341. He had one brother ( Kym Bonython), one sister (Katherine Downer Verco), a half-brother (

) and two half-sisters ( Lady Elizabeth (Betty) Hornabrook Wilson and Ada Bray Heath). (See John Lavington Bonython#Family for more detail.)

Industrial career

Bonython studied chemical engineering at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science, he accepted a position with ICI Australia Ltd. There he conducted research and management in the solar salt industry, from 1940 to 1966, and served for 20 years as manager of the salt fields at Dry Creek in Adelaide. At the age of 50 he retired from his industrial career in 1966 in order to devote his time to his many other interests.

Conservation and exploration

Bonython's lifetime interests in conservation and exploration were first publicly recognised by his appointment as President, Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch, in 1959.Royal Geographical Society of South Australia
www.rgssa.org.au

Notable achievements

Bonython is credited with the conception of the

. In 1973, he and friend Charles McCubbinVale Charles McCubbin
23 June 2010, ABC Gippsland
Artist Charles McCubbin dies at 79
22 June 2010, ABC News walked 463 kilometres north-south across the

Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of . The Wangka ...

, pulling a 250-kilogram loaded trailer dubbed "the Comalco Camel", the trek lasting 32 days. In 1982, he and companion walker Terry Kreig became the first white people to walk the 500 km around the shores of

Lake Eyre Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in the east-central part of the Far North (South Australia), Far North region of South Australia, some 700 km (435 mi) north of Adelaide. It is the larg ...

. At the age of 75, he climbed

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

Committees and awards

Source: :* President, Royal Geographical Society of Australasia South Australian Branch 1959-61 :* South Australian Chairman, Water Research Foundation of Australia 1961-76 :* Foundation Committee Member, Australian Solar Energy Society 1962 :*

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri ...

Adviser on salt to the Ceylon government 1964 :* Member of the first executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation 1965-73. :* Director, Dampier Salt Ltd 1968-79. :* President, Conservation Council of South Australia 1971-75 :* President,

National Trust of South Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's In ...

1971-76 :* Chairman, Long Distance Trail Committee 1971-78 :* Member of the

Australian Heritage Commission The Australian Heritage Commission (AHC), was the Australian federal government authority established in 1975 by the ''Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975'' as the first body to manage natural and cultural heritage in Australia until its de ...

1976-91 :* Chairman, Evaluation Panel for Natural Areas in South Australia, Australian Heritage Commission 1977-91 :* Member of the Uranium Advisory Council 1978-83 :*

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

1980, in recognition of service to conservationIt's an Honour
/ref> :* President,

Royal Society of South Australia The Royal Society of South Australia (RSSA) is a learned society whose interest is in science, particularly, but not only, of South Australia. The major aim of the society is the promotion and diffusion of scientific knowledge, particularly in re ...

1980-81 :* Chairman, Reserves Advisory Committee to Minister of Environment and Planning South Australia 1981-84 :* John Lewis Gold Medal (for Exploration), Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (SA Branch) 1984 :* President, Scientific Expedition Group 1984-? :* President, Council of the National Parks Foundation of South Australia 1985-89 :*

Australian Geographic Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' and Australian Geographic Adventure magazine, australiangeographic.com.au and operates, either itself or business partners, Australian Geographic stores, Aus ...

Adventurer of the Year 1990

Personal

In his early years, Warren Bonython owned the first MG sports car in South Australia, and set the speed record on Sellicks Beach. He married Cynthia Eyres Young, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Young of Romalo Avenue Magill, on 12 April 1941 at the Church of the Epiphany at Crafers. He began bushwalking while living in Melbourne in the 1940s. With his wife Cynthia, (known as Bunty), together they walked through the Dandenong and Cathedral Ranges. With the birth of the first of their three children, (Simon, Veryan and Alice), Bunty decided against further bushwalking, but supported him in his subsequent walks. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he returned with his family to Adelaide, and from this base continued to plan long walks, in outback South Australia and elsewhere. His walks included: walking the length of the

MacDonnell Ranges The MacDonnell Ranges, or Tjoritja in Arrernte language, Arrernte, is a mountain range located in southern Northern Territory. MacDonnell Ranges is also the name given to an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australia ...

; the Larapinta Trail;

; Northern India to the border of

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

; the Sierra Club’s high trek in Nevada; climbing the mountains of Maui and walking through the craters; numerous visits to New Zealand; the Everest Trek; and the 463 km crossing of the Simpson Desert, described in his book "Walking the Simpson Desert".Jo Chesher
"The Friends’ (of the Heysen Trail) Patron, C Warren Bonython AO : A Patron’s Walking Life"
''Trailwalker'', Winter 2007, pp.18-20 Except for the period in Melbourne, the Bonythons lived their entire married life in "Romalo House", (located at 24 Romalo Avenue, Magill, South Australia), having bought the home and adjacent land from Bunty's parents. In 2000 it was announced: "The undeveloped allotment at 22 Romalo Avenue Magill, formerly owned by Warren and Bunty Bonython, is being amalgamated with the adjoining walkway to form a reserve to be known as Young Park. This has been made possible through the generosity of the Bonythons and assistance from the State Government Open Space Planning and Development Fund." From an early age, Bunty Bonython has had a deep interest and love of history. Her written works include a brief history of Beaumont House, and two books about St George's Church Magill, where she has been the honorary historian for many years. A funeral service for Warren was conducted on 12 April 2012 in St Peters Cathedral.

Publications

Incomplete list: * 1953 - ''The filling and drying of Lake Eyre'' (with Bruce Mason), Reprinted from the ''Geographical Journal'', Vol. CXIX, Part 3, September 1953. * 1956 - ''The salt of Lake Eyre, its occurrence in Madigan Gulf and its possible origin''. Reprinted from ''Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia'', v. 79, May 1956. Second edition, Libraries Board of South Australia, 1965. * 1958 - ''The influence of salinity upon the rate of natural evaporation'', Climatology and micro climatology : proceedings of the Canberra symposium (held October 1956). * 1966 - ''Factors determining the rate of solar evaporation in the production of salt''. Symposium on Salt (2nd : 1965 : Cleveland) * 1971 – ''Walking the Flinders Ranges''. Rigby: Adelaide. (Reprinted in 2000 by the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia). * 1975 – ''Conservation in Australia''. (Illustrated by Douglas Luck). Rigby: Adelaide. * 1976–1981 – ''I'm no lady: the reminiscences of Constance Jean, Lady Bonython, O.B.E. 1891-1977''. (Edited by C. Warren Bonython and issued in progressive chapter-instalments). * 1980 – ''Walking the Simpson Desert''. Rigby: Adelaide. * 1987
''History of the Heysen Trail''
www.heysentrail.asn.au * 1989 – ''The Great Filling of Lake Eyre in 1974''. (With A. Stewart Fraser). Royal Geographical Society of Australasia: Adelaide. * 1998 - ''Unravelling the secrets of Arkaroo and Curdimurka : the Gammon Ranges and Lake Eyre over the last 50 years''. Reprint from the Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, Number 26, 1998.

Commemorations

* Bonython is remembered in the naming of the ''Warren Bonython Link'', which joins the eastern and western sections of the Mount Remarkable National Park.Map of The Warren Bonython Link
32.796100616 S, 138.134124755 E, Geodata.us

References and notes

External links

;Photos
Photo
of C Warren Bonython AO, 1987
Warren and Cynthia Bonython
nd
Warren Bonython and Terry Kreig
1982. ''Conservationist walker Warren Bonython with former geology teacher Terry Kreig (member of Eyre Consulative Committee to the Environment Department) during trek around Lake Eyre in 1982.'' ;Obituaries
Vale Warren Bonython
Simon Blight, Council Member, Friends of the Heysen Trail, 3 April 2012
Tribute to Warren Bonython
Allan Holmes, Chief Executive of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 3 April 2012
Vale C. Warren Bonython 1916-2012
Warren Field, Australian Geographic, 3 April 2012

Sylvia O'Regan, Australian Geographic, 4 April 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonython, Warren 1916 births 2012 deaths Australian chemical engineers Officers of the Order of Australia University of Adelaide alumni Imperial Chemical Industries people Australian conservationists Warren Australian explorers People from Adelaide