Mar 12, 2019
Helen Botham
La Trobe's Jolimont - a walk around my garden

 

Most Victorians are unaware that our first Lieutenant-Governor, Charles Joseph La Trobe, developed a beautiful garden around his 12½ acre Jolimont estate during the nearly 15 years he spent in Victoria. 
This talk takes you on a tour of the garden using detailed drawings by Edward La Trobe Bateman completed in 1853. 

The drawings, plotted on an 1853 map of the estate, and extracts from letters La Trobe wrote to his daughter describing his house and garden give a flavour of the little every-day matters of life at Jolimont in its hey-day. 

The fate of La Trobe’s Cottage, after he left Victoria, will be revealed! 

Helen Botham has carried out research into garden history for the National Trust and the Australian Garden History Society. Being also a member of the La Trobe Society, and founding chair of the Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage, she has a particular interest in the garden La Trobe created at Jolimont.

Her book, published in 2006, ‘La Trobe’s Jolimont – A Walk Around My Garden’ uses the illustrations of Edward La Trobe Bateman to give an insight into La Trobe’s Jolimont estate and the people who lived there.

Chair:  Gordon Cheyne