OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Curios and Stories SUCPICION of LAWNMOWERS - TAS - c1858

Hello ODK History Lovers

I am lucky to live virtually next door to the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens
(RTBG). A regular walk from home, over a footbridge across Brooker Avenue,
delivers me to the beauty of the Queen's Domain and, in particular, the Royal
Botanic Gardens.

It is a real treat to see these gardens change character from
season to season, and from year to year.

There is a lawnmower story in this, and an important one. My current research
suggests that lawnmowers were imported into Australia from the 1850s, and the
record of this machine, imported to Hobart in 1858, is therefore significant.

The RTBG covers an area of approximately 14 hectares (34.6 acres), and was
established in Hobart in 1818, making it the second oldest botanical garden in
Australia. The Gardens hold historic plant collections and a large number of
significant trees, many dating back to the nineteenth century.


Image: Cyberjack 22/12/2015

I found this story when looking at a display board in the historic
Overseer's Cottage. Built in 1848, the cottage was home to the Overseer
or Head Gardener for many years. Today, the Friends of the Royal
Tasmanian Botanical Gardens use it as their headquarters.


Image: http://davidsonfamilyarchives.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/friends-cottage-royal-tasmanian.html

As I was looking at the display boards, one particular board
(in what once was a bedroom) in this tiny cottage caught my attention...

TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART TWO - Declined

The display board (in the cottage) told a simple but revealing story. In 1858 the then
Superintendent (Mr Newman) imported a lawnmower at his own expense, and
he offered it to the Botanic Society at cost price. The offer was declined!


Image: CyberJack 22/12/2015

The Society's response is historically significant, but not totally unexpected.
The invention of the lawnmower in 1830 and its production in 1832 was not an
'overnight success' at all. In Britain, it would take another two decades
(the 1850s) for widespread interest to be shown.

When the lawnmower arrived on our shores, it seemed obvious that the same
reluctance to embrace a 'new-fangled machine' would be greeted with suspicion.
After all, 'lawnmower' to most folks would have been a physical person ...
the humble scythesman.

The rest is history.
-----------------------------------
Jack

Here are some photos I took a couple of days ago.
Today, the lawns are cut by the ubiquitous rotary mowers.
I wonder what types of lawnmowers were used here over the decades?

In Grassbox 107 - the magazine of the Old Lawnmower Club -
this article got international recognition.

The Old Lawnmower Club is the oldest lawnmower club in the World.
Please visit their website here: - https://www.oldlawnmowerclub.co.uk/

----------------------------
Jack

CURIOS & STORIES



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