Margaret
was offerred and accepted a Fellowship of the AILA in 1972
MARGARET
HENDRY RETIRES
by Tony McCormick
On
the 9th May 1987 some 50 colleagues and former students gathered
at the Hall Showground to show their gratitude to Margaret
Hendry on the occasion of her retirement.
Margaret's
commitment to the profession was second to none and her guidance
and support will be missed by students of the degree course
in landscape design at Canberra College of Advanced Education.
Margaret's
interests extended beyond the field of landscape architecture
and she was actively involved with improving the status and
dignity of women.
In
1973, she was President of the New South Wales division of
Business and Professional Women's Clubs and travelled widely
throughout the state during her term of office. During International
Women's Year in 1975, she was invited by the Premier, Mr.
Tom Lewis, to join the Women's Advisory Board for New South
Wales and later by Premier Neville Wran to be part of the
Women's Advisory Council. Both bodies were formed to advise
the Government of the needs of Women and the Family. Margaret
also made contributions towards the greater recognition of
women within the Anglican Church.
It
is Margaret's achievements within the profession of landscape
architecture which will be most remembered by the readers
of this magazine.
At
the time when women were discouraged from entering the professions
Margaret fought hard to achieve her goals.
Encouraged
by Mrs. Emily Gibson, a garden designer from Melbourne, Margaret
turned from gardening to design. She started her career as
the winner of the Mary Janet Lucas memorial prize at Burnley
Horticultural College. Invited to go back on the staff, Margaret
continued to work towards a career in the then little known
sphere of landscape design. This was a period when women
gardeners were not always covered by the safeguards of belonging
to unions, and they received less than the male wage. This
was also at a time, when women under the age of 21 received
even less money. Margaret worked hard as a gardener and attended
night school in order to save enough to attend one of the
few full time courses available. As Mrs. Gibson had discovered
the course at Kings College, Durham University, she steered
Margaret and some of the other students including Erica Balle,
Peter Spooner, Mervyn Davis, Allan Correy, Joan Kilby, Sue
Campbell, Malcolm Buzli and George Williams towards the course.
So landscape design as a profession was born in Australia.
During
almost five years of work and study overseas, Margaret qualified
in landscape design and become an associate of the British
Institute of Landscape Architects. She worked in the English
new town development of Basildon as a landscape assistant
under Dame Sylvia Crowe; travelled widely in Europe, studying
housing developments, particularly the provision of play
areas for children and returned to Australia in 1961 via
the United States, attending a course at the University of
California on the way.
Margaret
has lectured and published professional papers for a variety
of organisations - the ANZAAS Conference held in Melbourne
in 1967, and for Universities, Colleges, pre-school bodies,
horticultural and garden clubs, institutes of parks and recreation
and many women's organisations.
For
twelve years, Margaret worked in Canberra for the National
Capital Development Commission on a wide variety of projects
including schools, shopping centres, cemeteries, town centres
and large recreation areas. In 1974 she was appointed Senior
Lecturer in Landscape Design in the School of Environmental
Design at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Together
with Rex Fairbrother she developed the course structure.
The course is now recognised as the foremost undergraduate
course in landscape design in Australia.
Margaret
is a Fellow of both the Australian and British Institutes
of Landscape Achitects. With Mervyn Davis, Peter Spooner,
Dick Clough, Gordon Stevenson, Gavin Walkley, John Oldham,
Jean Verschuer and Barbara van den Broek and many other people,
she helped establish the Australian Institute of Landscape
Architects. She was the first secretary of the AILA and played
an important part in the establishment of membership criteria.
Since this time she has been involved in numerous AILA initiatives.
Most recently Margaret was the coordiantor and jury chairperson
of the Inaugural AILA National Project Awards. Her energy
and leadership were important ingredients in contributing
to the success of this venture.
As
a former student the qualities I most appreciated in Margaret
as a teacher were her enthusiasm and generosity. Her care
for the individual well being of all of her students was
a cornerstone of her personality and uniquely (for both staff
and students) she never complained. In short Margaret Hendry's
active involvement in the profession will be greatly missed
and on behalf of her colleagues and students I wish her a
healthy and rewarding retirement.
Tony
McCormick
