Hewson, Helen Joan (1938 - 2007)
Born in Benalla, Victoria, 24 June 1938, died in Canberra 29 Oct 2007 after a long fight with cancer.
Botanist, author and illustrator/artist.
Helen was raised on a farm at Barjarg and was automatically exposed to the
local natural history. She gained her science degrees at the University of
Sydney and taught there and at the Australian National University. From there
Helen joined the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) team in the production
of the Flora of Australia.
By 1991 she was the Director of
the Flora Section in the Australian Biological Resources Study.
She wrote:
"This was a challenge which I worked
at meeting. In many ways it was very valuable to have the opportunity to realise a latent potential - in yet other ways it proved to be very stressful and presumably set
me up for failed health."
In 1995 she transferred to the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research (a joint CSIRO/Australian National
Botanic Gardens facility (CSIRO-based)) to become Deputy Director.
She wrote:
"This (my role) did not seem to
me to work all that well and the Public Service-eeze was beginning to pall. I finally decided that I
could afford to retire before I "broke down". So I retired in 1997 when I was 59.
Following that two great opportunities came my way:
One was to represent Australia on a Committee
to develop a Biodiversity Policy for Botanic Gardens, and the other was writing of a book on the history of
illustration of Australian plants."
Her own retirement projects included Family History Research (especially of her Mother's family) and
an attempt to learn to paint/illustrate plants.
As a collector, Helen's major contribution
was to the liverwort family Aneuraceae, collected in the States of the east
and in New Guinea.
As an illustrator, Helen illustrated her own work for publication
- this included contributions to the Flora of Australia. As an author,
Helen not only contributed to formal science, but also to more popular works.
These include contributions to the National Library of Australia publications, Flower Paintings of Ellis Rowan (1982) and The Hunter Sketchbook (1989). Helen also wrote Australia: 300 Years of Botanical Illustration (1999), CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. She also prepared a series of calendars featuring botanical artists, the last of these for 2008, the year after her death.
As an artist, Helen actively participates in Canberra's Wildlife
and Botanical Artists group and has exhibited successfully at their exhibitions.
Source: pers comm H.Hewson - M.Fagg (1994)
Hewson personal papers (2026), ANBG library & Archive.
Portrait Photo: 1992 M.Fagg
Publication list
Obituary: Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 133 (December 2007) p.37
( https://asbs.org.au/newsletter/pdf/07-dec-133.pdf )
Examples of her coloured artwork:
Acacia aphylla
Bossiaea walkeri
Caladenia tentaculata
Collecting localities for 'Hewson, H.J.' from AVH (2021)
Data from 347 specimens
