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| Tribute
to Bill Payne from the Australian Flora Foundation
Bill Payne With the death of Bill Payne the Australian Flora Foundation lost one of its founding fathers, its first Vice President, a major fund raiser, and a Councellor of the Foundation from the first day of its creation until the day of his death. Bill was born in 1926 in what was then the outlying, ‘railway support’
suburb of Enfield, 10 km west of Sydney’s centre. In his teenage
years he took up an electrical apprenticeship at Clyde Engineering, a
company which was a major supplier to the New South Wales railway network.
He went on to complete a TAFE Diploma in Electrical Engineering, and used
his qualifications to obtain a position with Sydney County Council, the
main electricity distributor. He rose to become engineer in charge of
substations for the Western Sydney area. He found time in the 1950’s to both pursue his passion for square dancing, and to court his lifetime partner, Beryl. (photo). They have four children, Valerie, Roger, Andrew and Hazel, and a number of grandchildren. Over the same years he became passionately involved in the promotion of native Australian Plants, a passion he maintained to the end. ‘Bill attended inaugural meetings of the Society for Growing Australian Plants in Melbourne and Sydney and in October 1957 founded with others the East Hills District Group, of which he remained a member continuously from its inception. He became editor of the Federal body's Journal in September 1959 and produced the first edition Australian Plants in December of that year. He was also for one year President of the Society in New South Wales (1976-77) and was made a Life Member in March 1972, nominated by his friend of many years Noel Gane, a co-worker with similar interests. He received the Australian Plants Award in the Amateur Category in 1993.’ Quoted from the tribute by Peter Olde published in Australian Plants 23:
Of particular significance to the vigorous development of the Australian Flora Foundation, he also was committed to promoting research on Australian plants, and with other like minded lay people, nursery industry members, and professional scientists, formed the Australian Flora Foundation on August 14, 1981. He was a foundation Vice President of the Council, and served on the Council continually from 1981 to 2005. Bill was very effective in obtaining financial support for the work of the Foundation from groups in the Society for Growing Australian Plants, funding which was critical to the Foundation fulfilling its mission. He was also a great provider of fund raising ideas at meetings of the Council of the Foundation, as well as promoting research in areas which he felt needed more work, or which he thought would attract research funding. He was also committed to developing a website for the Foundation, and spent considerable time developing material for it. He generously made all this material available for this site.
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