Semmens, Edwin James (Ted)   (1886 - 1981)

Born on 20 January 1886 at Toongabbie, Victoria; died on 31 December 1980 at Creswick, Victoria.

He was the eldest of nine children of Josiah Semmens, storeman and later inspector of forests, and his wife Agnes, née Veitch, both Victorian born.

Educated at the Maryborough School of Mines, Ted became a state primary school teacher in 1902. After attending the Melbourne Training College in 1909-10, he taught in metropolitan and country high schools.

He studied part time at the University of Melbourne (B.Sc., 1925) and won a (Godfrey) Howitt natural history scholarship in zoology.

On 8 May 1915 at Armadale he married Florence Bilton, a teacher; they were childless.

In 1927 Semmens - who was known affectionately as 'Teddo', 'E.J.' and 'Jacko' - was appointed principal of the School of Forestry, Creswick.

Semmens has been described as a forester, teacher, field botanist, local historian and a community leader. He joined the Field Naturalist Club of Victoria in 1916 while he was teaching at Ararat High School.

In 1935 he was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, in 1968 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire and in 1977 the University of Melbourne conferred him with an honorary Doctor of Forest Science.

A note written by Ted Semmens in a document titled '1910- 1960s Forestry School' describing the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) Herbarium to "...contain some 10 000 specimens of Australian and exotic plants, including specimens of fungi...".

There are approximately 1500 specimens in the VSF Herbarium collected by Ted Semmens.

About 170 specimens make up a sub-collection called Victorian Flora. This portion of the collection can be recognised by specimens mounted on a distinctive sheet (that may or may not have been cut down in size to fit modern herbarium sheets) or preservation of the label from the original herbarium sheet when the specimen was remounted. All of the specimens were collected between 1911 and 1913 and were from areas surrounding Creswick including Ballarat, Sedgwick, Lake Burrumbeet, Bunninyong, Haddon and Maldon. There is a wide variety of species (native species and introduced weeds) in this collection but mainly small shrubs, herbs, rushes and sedges. The specimens range from good to poor condition, the latter showing signs of wear and tear and inadequate storage.

The second sub-collection includes over 1300 specimens collected by Ted Semmens from 1910 to 1954, with 1936 being the most productive year. Many specimens have their original herbarium labels and some even have the original field label and collection number. Well over 1000 species are represented in this part of the collection as there is very little replication of specimens. Species were collected throughout Victoria and New South Wales from the bush and cultivated gardens.

He and Florence created a beautiful garden at their home on the town's Eastern Hill.
Predeceased by his wife, he died on 31 December 1980 at Creswick and was cremated with Anglican rites.

Source: Extracted from:
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/semmens-edwin-james-11657
Tina Bell, Penny Blackwell, and Amanda Ashton wrote the book chapter "The Victorian School of Forestry Herbarium". Published in 'Circumspice: One hundred years of forestry education centred on Creswick, Victoria' (2010)
https://omeka.cloud.unimelb.edu.au/cchc/files/original/dce9306a275e1681602788a6e554479e.pdf
'The Victorian School of Forestry Herbarium' by Tina Bell, Penny Blackwell and Amanda Ashton.
Portrait Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_James_Semmens

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

Data from 813 specimens