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Charles & Ruth Lane Poole

Text Charles & Ruth Lane Poole

TLF ID M013839

This is a rich resource about Charles Lane Poole, Australia's most famous forester, and Ruth Lane Poole, a designer who created the interiors of the Canberra residences of the Prime Minister and Governor-General. Developed by the National Archives of Australia, the resource consists of a historical essay by John Dargavel illustrated by a collection of archival documents and images. It has five tabs: lives; Ruth; Charles; timeline; and records. The first three contain the 13 'chapters' of the essay and links to more than 130 sources. The timeline covers 1885 to 1974 and the records tab lists the range of records about the couple.

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Educational details

Educational value
  • This is a useful resource for the year 6 history curriculum, especially for the content description about the contribution of individuals to the development of Australian society, for example in areas such as the economy, education and science. Charles Lane Poole (1885-1970) introduced science-based forestry to parts of Australia, led the Australian Forestry School and advocated for a national approach to the conservation of forest resources. Ruth Lane Poole (1885-1974) established the Lodge and Government House interiors (designing much of the furniture herself) as suitable residences for the political and constitutional leaders of the newly federated nation.
  • The resource is also useful for the year 6 content description that refers to the stories of groups of people who migrated to Australia and the reasons they migrated. Charles and Ruth Lane Poole belong to the group of people who migrated in the service of Empire. After service with the Colonial Office in Africa, Charles was employed by Western Australia as its Conservator of Forests from 1916 to 1921 and by the Australian Government to survey forest resources in Papua and New Guinea, and as Commonwealth Inspector-General of Forests until 1945. Ruth accompanied him to Australia but returned to Ireland whenever he was working in areas he considered unsuitable for a woman.
Year level

6

Topics Forest management Architecture Migration Australian history Human settlements Interior decoration Significant people
Learning area
  • History

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Commonwealth of Australia (National Archives of Australia)
  • Organization: Commonwealth of Australia (National Archives of Australia)
  • Address: ACT, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.naa.gov.au/
  • Publisher
  • Name: National Archives of Australia
  • Organization: National Archives of Australia
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: ACT, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.naa.gov.au/
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Text
  • Image
Rights
  • Source: National Archives of Australia, Uncommon Lives website. Except where indicated otherwise, this material is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en. Key image: Charles & Ruth Lane Poole. NAA: A3087, 1; Courtesy of Phyllis Hamilton.