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What happened to me? I was fortunate in finding a position within a month of landing with a Landscape Construction Company, they also had their own plant nursery and retail shop. I started working a 44 hour, six day week for 6 pounds. The rate of exchange with the pound between England and Australia was fixed at 25 shillings Aussie for the English pound, so I was clearly better off.
When it was too wet to do landscaping I was sent to the nursery to take cuttings and pot-up plants, after four years I was made manager of a Florists Shop that the company had purchased. I didn't want to be involved with sales and left after a year to start my own Landscaping and Maintenance business which lasted barely a year. Unfortunately I chose a bad time economically, my clients couldn't pay, so it was back to earning a wage. Again I was fortunate in finding a position with the Parks and Gardens Department of the State Government and was put in charge of 5 acres attached to Government House in Melbourne.
Within this area the Royal Botanic Gardens had a Native Plant experimental section and the chap who was in charge of it, (whom I had become very friendly with) informed me that there was a vacancy in the nursery of the Gardens and he could arrange an interview if I was interested. I jumped at the opportunity because at the time it was very difficult to get a position there. One week later I was working in the nursery as a Senior although I was only a few weeks off my 21st birthday.
I spent 37 years at the Royal Botanic Gardens, living in for 27 of those years and being promoted through the three grades of Gardener, Assistant Propagator and Nurseryman, Propagator and Nurseryman, Assistant Superintendent and eventually Superintendent.
In 1968 when Garden Apprenticeship was introduced to Victoria I was asked if I would write and teach a Post Apprenticeship course in Advanced Propagation to be run in the evenings for those students who wanted to get an additional qualification, this I did for 5 years.
Along the way I attended night school to get my Garden Trades Certificate, and in 1973 attended a summer school at Australian National University for Parks Management. They attempted to cram a three years course into four weeks which was impossible, so I undertook an off-campus course with Melbourne University. It was supposed to be a three year course, but I finished it in two, at the end of it I wrote a scathing letter to the course co-coordinator about it's content. The result being that I was invited to rewrite the whole curriculum; when I submitted it in person I was asked if I was prepared to tutor it. This I did for 10 years on top of my fulltime job.
In addition I also judged Horticultural and Garden Shows, and lectured on Horticulture to a wide range of societies.
In 1989 the State Government decided to privatise the Gardens by establishing a board to control its activities, I realized the writing was on the wall and decided to take an early retirement in 1992 at the age of 58. Word had got around the industry that I was retiring and I was approached by the owner of a ten acre private garden to see if I would be interested in working three days a week as Garden Manager with a staff of four. To cut a long story short my original agreement of only working there for three days a week for three years turned out to be full time for 10 years!
I tried to retire again, but a local nursery found out I was free and asked if I would work for them at weekends and holidays, this I did until a year ago. Finally I am now fully retired but still give lectures and judge flower shows.
Somehow I did find time to marry my wife Jill in 1957 and have two children. Keryn born 1958 and David born 1962.
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What became of the Allan Family? (part 2) |
