A Little Bit of History

By John Layton
Feb. 6, 2025

The inaugural meeting of foundation members was held in August 2013 at Victoria Gardens Nursery, Old Northern Road, Dural. Attendees included interested parties from the nursery industry and private enthusiasts. Their common interest was the genus Clivia. The foundation body was composed of:

  • Chris (Boon) Ong (President)
  • Kenneth Smith (Secretary and Public Officer)
  • Peter Hey (Treasurer)
  • Joe Mouyat
  • Mick Mouyat
  • John Chang
  • Garry Murphie
  • Mark Massey
  • Rourke Hartwig
  • Ray Sidoti
  • John Wymer

And our patron, the late W. O. (Bill) Morris.

The founding committee contributed $2150 towards the establishment costs of setting up the Society.

Ken Smith did much of the spade work to ensure we had a complying, solid, and workable constitution. This was subsequently reviewed, and the Society was formed as an active body to promote the genus Clivia, in New South Wales.

We identified the need to expand membership quickly and held a show of the latest developments in clivias in September 2014, open to the public. The venue we selected was the Don Wood Centre in North Rocks, Sydney. The event was a resounding success, with new members, ample public interest, and a small financial gain in resources.

In 2015 and 2016 the Spring Show was held at the Riverstone Community Centre and from there moved to our current location at the Thornleigh Community Centre for 2017-2019. There was a brief hiatus during the pandemic, with the Spring Show resuming in 2022 at Thornleigh Community Centre.

We would like to extend our thanks to our past patrons, lifetime members, and executives who have been instrumental in the formation and growth of the Society.

Past Patrons:
W.O. (Bill) Morris† (2013-2017)
Jeanne Marten† (2018-2022)

Lifetime Members:
Ken Russell

Past Presidents:
Chris (Boon) Ong (2013, 2014)
Dr (Ian) Bruce Miller (2015, 2016)
Michael Mouyat (2017)
Peter Hey (2018, 2019; acting President 2020, 2021)

† Deceased.