Warren Bonython

Charles Warren Bonython, AO (11 September 1916 – 2 April 2012) was an Australian conservationist, explorer, author, and chemical engineer. 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. His work in conservation has been across a range of issues, but especially those connected with South Australian arid landscapes.[1]

Early years

Bonython was born in Adelaide, South Australia, to John Lavington Bonython (later Sir John),[2] and Constance Jean, née Warren (Lady Jean Bonython).[3] His grandfather was Sir John Langdon Bonython.[4] He had one brother (Kym Bonython), one sister (Katherine Downer Verco), a half-brother (John Langdon Bonython) and two half-sisters (Lady Elizabeth (Betty) Hornabrook Wilson and Ada Bray Heath).[2] (See John Lavington Bonython#Family for more detail.)

Industrial career

Bonython studied chemical engineering at Adelaide University. 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.[5]

Notable achievements

Bonython is credited with the conception of the Heysen Trail.[6][7]

In 1973, he and friend Charles McCubbin[8] walked 463 kilometres north-south across the Simpson Desert, pulling a 250-kilogram loaded trailer dubbed "the Comalco Camel",[9] the trek lasting 32 days.[10]

In 1982, he and companion walker Terry Kreig[11] became the first white people to walk the 500 km around the shores of Lake Eyre.[7][12]

At the age of 75, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.[7]

Committees and awards

Source:[13]

Personal

In his early years, Warren Bonython owned the first MG sports car in South Australia, and set the speed record on Sellicks Beach.[13]

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.[19][20]

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),[21] Bunty decided against further bushwalking, but supported him in his subsequent walks. After World War II, he returned with his family to Adelaide, and from this base continued to plan long walks, in outback South Australia and elsewhere.[22] His walks included: walking the length of the MacDonnell Ranges; the Larapinta Trail; Lake Eyre; Northern India to the border of Kashmir; 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".[13]

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.[23] 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."[24][25]

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,[26] and two books about St George's Church Magill, where she has been the honorary historian for many years.[27][28]

A funeral service for Warren was conducted on 12 April 2012 in St Peters Cathedral.[29]

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.[30]
  • 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.[31] Second edition, Libraries Board of South Australia, 1965.[32]
  • 1958 - The influence of salinity upon the rate of natural evaporation, Climatology and micro climatology : proceedings of the Canberra symposium (held October 1956).[33]
  • 1966 - Factors determining the rate of solar evaporation in the production of salt. Symposium on Salt (2nd : 1965 : Cleveland)[34]
  • 1971 – Walking the Flinders Ranges. Rigby: Adelaide. (Reprinted in 2000 by the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia). ISBN 0-85179-286-3
  • 1975 – Conservation in Australia. (Illustrated by Douglas Luck). Rigby: Adelaide. ISBN 0-85179-785-7
  • 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. ISBN 0-7270-1173-1
  • 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. ISBN 090911210X
  • 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.[35]

Commemorations

See also

References and notes
  1. Warren Bonython, Bright Sparcs
  2. W. B. Pitcher, Bonython, Sir John Lavington (1875 - 1960), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 341-342.
  3. Joyce Gibberd, Bonython, Constance Jean (1891 - 1977), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 215-216.
  4. W. B. Pitcher, Bonython, Sir John Langdon (1848 - 1939), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, pp 339-341.
  5. Royal Geographical Society of South Australia, www.rgssa.org.au
  6. History of the Heysen Trail, www.heysentrail.asn.au
  7. Harris, Samela (3 April 2012). "Heysen Trail creator Warren Bonython dies, aged 95". The Advertiser (AdelaideNow).
  8. Vale Charles McCubbin, 23 June 2010, ABC Gippsland; Artist Charles McCubbin dies at 79, 22 June 2010, ABC News
  9. "Water and supply cart known as 'The Comalco Camel' which Warren Bonython and Charles McCubbin pulled across the Simpson Desert in 1973, National Museum of Australia Collections. Also: Green, blue and pink camel soft toy mascot from the drawbar of the Comalco Camel, National Museum of Australia Collections.
  10. Braby, Michael; Penny Olsen (2011). A Flutter of Butterflies. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: National Library of Australia. p. 81. ISBN 9780642277251.
  11. Eloise Fuss Heysen trail legacy to live on, 4 April 2012, ABC
  12. Terry Kreig (2002) "Walking on Eyre", RGSSA
  13. Jo Chesher, "The Friends’ (of the Heysen Trail) Patron, C Warren Bonython AO : A Patron’s Walking Life", Trailwalker, Winter 2007, pp.18-20
  14. Water Research Foundation of Australia, Encyclopaedia of Australian Science
  15. About AuSES, Australian Solar Energy Society
  16. It's an Honour
  17. RSSA Presidents Archived 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Royal Society of South Australia
  18. Awards Made by the Society; Award Winners; Royal Geographical Society of South Australia
  19. Easter Weddings, 14 April 1941, The Argus (Melbourne), pg.3
  20. Adelaide Wedding, 14 April 1941, The Age, pg.2
  21. Tributes, 5 April 2012, The Age
  22. Hutton, Drew; Libby Connors (1999). A History of the Australian Environment Movement. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 73. ISBN 0-521-45076-4.
  23. Simon Blight Vale Warren Bonython Archived 10 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 5 April 2012, www.wild.com.au
  24. Young Park, Magill - Management Plan, Agenda, Works Committee Meeting, 23 January 2001, City of Burnside, pg.26
  25. Mayor's report, Minutes of Council Meeting, 11 December 2001, City of Burnside, pg.2
    The official opening of Young Park in Magill took place on 27 November. The creation of this small urban nature reserve was made possible through the generosity of Warren and Bunty Bonython, and matching funds from Council and the State Government Open Space Planning and Development Fund. The park is named after Frank and Phillis Young, the former owners of the nearby Romalo House and parents of Bunty Bonython.
  26. Bonython, Bunty (1980), Brief history of Beaumont House, retrieved 6 April 2012
  27. Bonython, Bunty; Collings, R (1982), Interview with Cynthia Eyres 'Bunty' Bonython, retrieved 6 April 2012
  28. Bonython, Bunty; Hansen, Betty Lorraine, 1936- (2000), Interview with Cynthia Eyres 'Bunty' Bonython, retrieved 6 April 2012CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. Tributes, 5 April 2012, The Sydney Morning Herald
  30. Bonython, C. Warren (Charles Warren); Mason, Bruce (1953), The filling and drying of Lake Eyre, London: Clowes, retrieved 6 April 2012
  31. Bonython, C. Warren (Charles Warren) (1956), The salt of Lake Eyre, its occurrence in Madigan Gulf and its possible origin, Adelaide, retrieved 6 April 2012
  32. Bonython, C. Warren (Charles Warren) (1965), The salt of Lake Eyre, its occurrence in Madigan Gulf and its possible origin, Libraries Board of South Australia, retrieved 6 April 2012
  33. Bonython, C. Warren (Charles Warren) (1958), "The influence of salinity upon the rate of natural evaporation", Climatology and micro climatology : proceedings of the Canberra symposium (held October 1956), Paris: Unesco, retrieved 6 April 2012
  34. Bonython, C. Warren (Charles Warren) (1966), "Factors determining the rate of solar evaporation in the production of salt", Symposium on Salt (2nd : 1965 : Cleveland), Cleveland, Ohio: Northern Ohio Geological Society, retrieved 6 April 2012
  35. Bonython, C. Warren (Charles Warren) (1998), Unravelling the secrets of Arkaroo and Curdimurka : the Gammon Ranges and Lake Eyre over the last 50 years, Adelaide: Historical Society of South Australia, retrieved 6 April 2012
  36. Map of The Warren Bonython Link, 32.796100616 S, 138.134124755 E, Geodata.us
Photos
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