{{Short description|Australian educator, author, and rose authority (1928–2019)}} {{EngvarB|date=April 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}} thumb|right|" 'Restless'. Tall bush. Hybrid Tea … Very dark velvety red with magnificent scent. Very recurrent."—Susan Irvine, ''A Hillside of Roses'', p. 121. '''Susan Irvine''' (1928–2019) was an Australian educator, author and rose authority.
==Family and education== Susan Irvine (pronounced ''Ervin'') was born in Dalby, Queensland in 1928. She was the second of three daughters of John Moore and Niree Hunter (b. 1897, m. 1923).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138631140 |title=Family Notices. |newspaper=The Australasian |location=Melbourne |date=4 December 1897 |access-date=23 November 2014 |page=55 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155736036 |title=Weddings. |newspaper=Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative |location=NSW |date=12 April 1923 |access-date=11 October 2014 |page=26 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>Her older sister Lyndsey became Mrs DC Ferguson of Manningford, Dalby. {{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97144729 |title=GIFT TEA PARTY. |newspaper=Queensland Country Life |date=10 January 1946 |access-date=21 November 2014 |page=11 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Her younger sister was named Jennifer, Mrs Tom Moxon. {{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98340325 |title=Travel is their aim. |newspaper=Sunday Mail |location=Brisbane |date=4 February 1951 |access-date=21 November 2014 |page=11 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name=Forest>{{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=The garden at Forest Hall|date=2003|publisher=Viking|location=Ringwood, Vic.|isbn=9780670041404|page=209}}</ref> Her self-supporting mother ran a full-time and wide-ranging business called Arts and Antiques.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22221086 |title=Something from Nothing. |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=8 January 1946 |access-date=22 November 2014 |page=9 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> At the same time her mother was socially and geographically prominent, her house Lynfield overlooking Toowoomba from The Range. Irvine, like her sisters, boarded at The Glennie School – down the street from Lynfield<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glennie.qld.edu.au/page/attachment/97/the-history-of-prep-booklet-w|title=The History of Glennie Preparatory School|website=Glennie Archives|access-date=24 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41940821 |title=GLENNIE SCHOOLS. |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |location=Brisbane |date=11 December 1941 |access-date=16 October 2014 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> – from the age of four till the age of 17 and "absolutely hated" it.<ref name=Rasmussen198>{{cite book|last1=Rasmussen|first1=Carolyn|title=Lauriston : 100 years of educating girls, 1901–2000|date=1999|publisher=Helicon Press|location=Wahroonga, NSW|isbn=0958678537|page=198}}</ref>
Straight after the Second World War, Irvine began a music degree in voice and cello at the University of Melbourne,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97148241 |title=Who's Where. |newspaper=Queensland Country Life |date=6 June 1946 |access-date=21 November 2014 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> married at 19 a Sydney radiologist ten years older, Peter Tod,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97105052 |title=Glennie Girls To Wed Next Month. |newspaper=Queensland Country Life |date=15 January 1948 |access-date=21 November 2014 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="Tod obituary">{{cite web|title=Obituary Dr Peter Alexander Tod 11 September 1918 – 5 August 2013|url=http://issuu.com/amaqueensland/docs/drq_november_2013/39|website=Doctor Q|date=31 October 2013 |publisher=AMA Queensland|access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref> and moved to Sydney.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97105772 |title=The COUNTRY WOMAN. |newspaper=Queensland Country Life |date=19 February 1948 |access-date=21 November 2014 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> To further her husband's training they moved to London (1949–1951), where she had a daughter (b. 1950).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=IJbT3adWpubnFxlLa2oxng&scan=1|title=Index entry|access-date=24 November 2017|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}} </ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97117631 |title=Who's Where. |newspaper=Queensland Country Life |date=28 July 1949 |access-date=21 November 2014 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97122932 |title=FROM TANGANYIKA. |newspaper=Queensland Country Life |date=15 February 1951 |access-date=21 November 2014 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Peter and Irvine returned to Brisbane where a second daughter was born (b.1951). Irvine started a B.A. in medieval German mysticism, German poetry and philosophy at Brisbane university. The family travelled to Germany in 1955 where Irvine continued her studies at Heidelberg University but returned to Australia in 1956 without completing a PhD at the University of Heidelberg in Germany due to the serious ill health of one of her daughters. Fluent in German, Irvine commenced her teaching career at PLC Orange.<ref>Rasmussen, page 199</ref> A third daughter was born in Brisbane in 1958.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
==Career== Mostly as Susan St Leon, Susan taught at the following private schools: * 1956, Presbyterian Ladies' College, Orange, New South Wales. * 1965–72, Abbotsleigh, Sydney, New South Wales under Betty Archdale as headmistress, Susan managing administration and teaching German * 1973–83, Lauriston Girls' School, Melbourne, as headmistress.<ref name=RasmussenCh12>{{cite book|last1=Rasmussen|first1=Carolyn|title=Lauriston : 100 years of educating girls, 1901–2000|date=1999|publisher=Helicon Press|location=Wahroonga, NSW|isbn=0958678537|pages=196–222}} Irvine resigned in 1981 but left in early 1983.</ref>
Irvine was the first headmistress of Lauriston appointed by the School Council, implying Lauriston was now a public institution more than a private school. "Elegant, charismatic and vivacious", she presided over Lauriston's response to the enormous professional and material expansion of private education in the Whitlam era. Though overt expression of authority was reduced, she strongly favoured doing "one or two things very well [rather than] eight or nine things badly". Things worth achieving undoubtedly included high standards in mathematics, science and languages. These were soon reflected in public exam results. Music, art and drama were also favoured.<ref>Rasmussen, pages 208–212</ref>
In 1985, Irvine married W. R. M. (Bill) Irvine OAM, who had been chairman of the Lauriston School Council 1977–81.<ref name="Married Bill">{{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=Garden of a thousand roses : making a rose garden in Australia|date=1992|publisher=Hyland House|location=South Yarra, Vic.|isbn=0947062963|page=119}}</ref><ref>Rasmussen, page 260</ref> Originally a solicitor at Hedderwick, Fookes and Alston, Bill was chairman of the National Australia Bank 1979–97 and its associated companies in the UK and New Zealand.<ref>National Australian Bank annual report 1997</ref> He was also chairman of Phillip Morris Australia and a director of Burns Philp and Caltex Australia. Bill Irvine makes an early appearance in Susan's ''Garden of a Thousand Roses'' as a lawyer friend and visitor to Bleak House who reveals a light touch adjusting Shire planning decisions.<ref name="Bill visits Bleak House">{{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=Garden of a thousand roses : making a rose garden in Australia|date=1992|publisher=Hyland House|location=South Yarra, Vic.|isbn=0947062963|page=32}}</ref>
==Roses== In 1982, Irvine retired<ref name=RasmussenCh12 /> to establish a garden and what became a well-known rose nursery on {{convert|15|acres|sigfig=2}} at Bleak House, Malmsbury<ref name=Bleak>{{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=Garden of a thousand roses : making a rose garden in Australia|date=1992|publisher=Hyland House|location=South Yarra, Vic.|isbn=0947062963}}</ref><ref name=Malmsbury>{{cite web|title=Bleak House Malmsbury|url=http://www.nattrust.com.au/heritage_accommodation/central_victoria/bleak_house_malmsbury.html|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20101118051600/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/15093/20101118-1616/www.nattrust.com.au/heritage_accommodation/central_victoria/bleak_house_malmsbury.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 November 2010|website=National Trust of Australia|access-date=6 October 2014}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and, with Bill Irvine in 1992, the garden of Erinvale on {{convert|1.5|acres|sigfig=2}} in Gisborne, Central Victoria.<ref name=Hillside /> At Gisborne she held the Alister Clark Rose Collection and the Australian Rose Collection for Ornamental Plants.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126951430 |title=Famous five welcome visitors as Dart of Open Garden Scheme. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=25 October 1992 |access-date=9 December 2014 |page=26 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Irvine used her social and garden connections to find, save, identify and revive scores of roses by the best-known Australian breeder, Alister Clark.<ref name=Hillside>{{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=A hillside of roses : with a description and illustrated list of Alister Clark roses|date=1994|publisher=Hyland House|location=South Yarra, Vic.|isbn=1875657371}}</ref><ref name=Kinsey>{{cite journal|last1=Kinsey|first1=Melanie|title=Interview with John Nieuwesteeg|journal=Genus|date=1 February 2010|volume=22|issue=1}}</ref> Clark's rose 'Nancy Hayward' for instance was identified by Nancy Hayward herself. Little known roses like 'Restless' were carefully evaluated as garden plants.<ref name=Hillside /> Her companion in many of these explorations was the Coldstream nurseryman John Nieuwesteeg. They surveyed possible Clark material in gardens at Berwick, Kyneton and at Glenara, Clark's house at Bulla.<ref name=Kinsey /> Riethmuller's 'Carabella' was another rose rescued from obscurity.
From this period date her most influential books, describing her discoveries. ''A Garden of a Thousand Roses'' started with "a century-old stone cottage called Bleak House on the windswept plains of Central Victoria and transformed it into a mecca for thousands of rose lovers".<ref name=Parsons>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126951430 |title=Famous five welcome visitors as Dart of Open Garden Scheme. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=25 October 1992 |access-date=10 March 2015 |page=26 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> ''A Hillside of Roses'' about the design and construction of Erinvale was greeted as "a rose book that reads like a novel." She had become "a leading authority on roses".<ref name="O'Brien">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130537353 |title=A novel way with words and roses. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=13 November 1994 |access-date=10 March 2015 |page=26 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
By 1992, Irvine had named after her mother 'Niree Hunter', a Rugosa rose she had discovered at Bleak House.<ref>{{cite web|title=Niree Hunter|url=http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.63184|website=Help Me Find|access-date=16 October 2014}}</ref> In 1994 she received the Australian Rose Award from the National Rose Society of Australia.<ref name=Penguin>{{cite web|title=Susan Irvine|url=http://www.penguin.com.au/contributors/934/susan-irvine|website=Penguin Books Australia|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> A Hybrid Gigantea rose called 'Susan Irvine' was introduced in South Australia in 1996.<ref name="HMF Susan Irvine">{{cite web|title=Susan Irvine|url=http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.16756|website=Help Me Find|access-date=11 October 2014}}</ref> She became a Life Member of Heritage Roses in Australia in 2001.<ref name=Reflections>{{cite journal|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=Reflections on Alister Clark Roses|journal=Journal of Heritage Roses in Australia|date=2013|volume=35|issue=1|page=7}}</ref>
In 1996, she and her husband moved to Forest Hall at Elizabeth Town in Northern Tasmania where she again established a large garden. It contains many Alister Clark roses.<ref name=Forest /> (All her gardens are attached to nineteenth century houses.) The Irvines moved to a much smaller property at Evandale, Tasmania in 2013. Illness obliged them to sell it at the end of 2014. Bill died in September 2017;<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tributes.theage.com.au/obituaries/theage-au/obituary.aspx?pid=186734161|title=William Robert Irvine|date=27 September 2017|work=The Age|access-date=23 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124013154/http://tributes.theage.com.au/obituaries/theage-au/obituary.aspx?pid=186734161|archive-date=24 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Susan died on 6 September 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://tributes.examiner.com.au/obituaries/examiner-au/obituary.aspx?pid=193833183|title = Susan Irvine|website = Tributes|publisher = The Examiner|access-date = 14 September 2019}}</ref>{{deadlink|date=August 2025}}
==Books== * {{cite book|last1=St Leon|first1=Susan and Novak-Niemela, Jaroslav|title=Allerhand von Überall : a hundred passages for translation and comprehension|date=1970|publisher=Libraries Australia}} * {{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=Garden of a thousand roses : making a rose garden in Australia|date=1992|publisher=Hyland House|location=South Yarra, Vic.|isbn=0947062963}} * {{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=A hillside of roses : with a description and illustrated list of Alister Clark roses|date=1994|publisher=Hyland House|location=South Yarra, Vic.|isbn=1875657371}} * {{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=Fragrant roses|date=1996|publisher=Hyland House|location=South Melbourne, Vic.|isbn=1875657908}} Design by Alison Forbes. * {{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=Susan Irvine's rose gardens|date=1997|publisher=Hyland House|location=South Melbourne|isbn=9781875657834|edition=trade paperback}} A combination of the 1992 and 1994 books. * {{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=Rose gardens of Australia|date=1997|publisher=Penguin|location=Ringwood, Vic.|isbn=067086921X}} * {{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=The garden at Forest Hall|date=2003|publisher=Viking|location=Ringwood, Vic.|isbn=9780670041404}} * {{cite book|last1=Irvine|first1=Susan|title=Rosehips & crabapples|date=2007|publisher=Lantern|location=Camberwell, Vic.|isbn=9781920989729}}
''Fragrant Roses'' was illustrated with photos by Gary Aitchison. All later books have photos by Simon Griffiths. They lack the vividly eccentric character of the early books laid out for Hyland House by Al Knight<ref>Personal communication of Al Knight</ref>{{better|date=August 2025}} using Irvine's own amateur photos.
==See also== * Alister Clark * Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden
==Further reading== * {{cite book|last=|editor1=Richard Aitken |editor2=Michael Looker|title=The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens|date=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=South Melbourne, Victoria [u.a.]|isbn=0-1955364-4-4}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Susan}} Category:1928 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Australian gardeners Category:People from Dalby, Queensland Category:University of Melbourne alumni Category:Heidelberg University alumni Category:Australian expatriates in England Category:Australian expatriates in Germany Category:Schoolteachers from Queensland