Lyndon, Ellen Agnes (née O'Connor)   (1906 - 2000)

Born on 19 December 1906 near Seaspray, Victoria; died on 15 April 2000 at Leongatha, Victoria.

She was the eldest of seven children, was raised in the morass country of The Heart, six miles from Sale.

Ellen avidly read Donald McDonald's 'Nature Notes' in The Argus and the nature column in The Weekly Times. When her father returned from droving cattle, the O'Connor children clamoured for the wildflowers he'd collected, building on their knowledge of local flora.

Ellen began recording her observations of nature as a twelve year old.

Departing for Melbourne in the early 1930s, Ellen worked in a series of jobs as the Depression settled in. Her leisure time was devoted to exploring Melbourne; she joined the Bird Observers Club (BOCA) and Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) for meetings, talks, excursions and companionship.

When she joined the Albert Park Ladies' Rowing Club she met a kindred spirit in the coach, Donald Lyndon, who worked in The Herald office; they were married in 1936.

When Donald enlisted in the army in 1939, Ellen continued to work, even venturing to the flax fields in South Australia with the Land Army. In 1945 she chaperoned two young women on an expedition to O'Reilly's (Lamington National Park) Queensland.

After the war Don Lyndon wished to work in the country, so he and Ellen moved to Boolarra and then Yinnar where Don learned farming and share farming before obtaining a soldier settlement block on the Timmins Estate on the Tarwin River just outside Leongatha. This block was their home from 1951.

Now began a full-time interest which had germinated as a child. With Jean Galbraith's recently published Wildflowers of Victoria in hand, Ellen scoured the local roadsides and fence lines and patches of bush seeking, identifying, learning.

She worked towards roadside vegetation conservation from the 1960s to the 1990s; in 1995 Ellen officially launched the book 'A Traveller's Guide to South Gippsland Roadsides'.

Attending the initial meeting in Leongatha, Ellen was a foundation member of the South Gippsland Conservation Society and became a life member in 1976.

Cliff Beauglehole found Ellen's help invaluable when he researched the distribution of Victoria's vascular flora in the South Gippsland areas.

She died on 15 April 2000 at Leongatha.

Source: Extracted from:
Terri Gitsham Allen (2007) 'Gippsland Lady Botanists', South Gippsland Conservation Society.
The Ryerson Index - LYNDON Ellen Agnes
Portrait Photo: 'Gippsland Lady Botanists' p.68.

Collecting localities for 'Lyndon, E.' from AVH (2026)

Data from 71 specimens