Edwin James Semmens was the Principal of the Victorian School of Forestry at Creswick for 24 years from 1927 to 1951.
Originally training as a teacher he was invited by the Forests Commission to become Principal when the institution was going through a difficult period and was in danger of closing.
Known fondly to his students as E.J. or Teddo, he immediately introduced a new and broad curriculum of subjects and set high personal standards.
An active field-botanist himself he accumulated a large and valuable collection of plant specimens and personal sketches for the expanding school herbarium and was elected a Fellow honoris causa of the prestigious Linnean Society of London (FLS) in 1935 for his outstanding work.
During the 1940s and 50s, very few people seemed interested in preserving and cataloguing Australia’s history, but Semmens prodigiously collected an eclectic range of materials relating to the local region.
An avid archivist, Semmens later donated some of his collection of early documents, photos, paintings and artefacts to the Creswick Museum which he helped establish, but the bulk of his collection was bequeathed to the University of Melbourne Archives.
This vast and diverse collection has been described as “one of the most important collections of local history source material assembled in Australia”.
In 1926 the Forests Commission established a eucalyptus distillation plant at Wellsford near Bendigo and Semmens conducted much of pioneering research into the composition of eucalyptus oils. His steam kilns are part the museum collection at Creswick.
Semmens was always active in his local community, working not only to establish the fledgling Creswick Museum, but presiding over the Creswick District Hospital between 1948–51, as well as serving 24 years as a councillor of the Shire.
On 8 June 1968, Edwin James Semmens was honoured in the Queen’s Birthday List with a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to local government.
Later in 1977, in recognition of his outstanding and lasting legacy to forestry and local history, the University of Melbourne conferred a Doctorate of Forest Science honoris causa.
He continued to live in Creswick after his retirement and was often seen wandering the gardens of the school.
He died in 1980 aged nearly 93.
Victoria’s Forests & Bushfire Heritage 