Noel Lothian

Thomas Robert Noel Lothian OBE, NDH (NZ), LFRAIPR, JP (25 December 1915[3] – 24 September 2004) was a long-term director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden and an Australian botanist.

[6] Lothian was an exchange student at the Munich Botanic Garden when the Second World War broke out, catching the last train out of Germany in 1939.

[7][8] After the war, he gained the National Diploma of Horticulture (NZ), for which he was awarded the Cockayne Gold Medal.

Together Noel and Cecil appraised unallocated Crown Lands to determine their significance for indigenous flora and fauna.

The RAHS organised the Royal Adelaide Show at Wayville every spring and Lothian was a frequent exhibitor along with the Botanic Garden.

[10] He is the namesake of the Noel Lothian Hall, a function space in the western end of the State Herbarium of South Australia, Adelaide Botanic Garden that opened on 16 June 2005.

Over his long life Lothian displayed many of the characteristics of his Scottish ancestry – tenacity, bluntness, perseverance and almost a delight in being politically incorrect.

He was committed to the long haul, not for him the fly-by-nighters: when he set his sights on something he didn't give up or get distracted, witness the 25 years developing the Mt Lofty Botanic Garden from 1952 to its opening in 1977.

Wayne Thomas wrote: "Few people are intelligent enough, or hard-working enough, to leave this world in a better place than they found it.

Noel was very special – his dedication to this state will ensure he is always remembered" His friend, Ed McAllister AO, said in his eulogy: Noel was straightforward, uncomplicated, told it like it was, single-minded at times, gregarious, a loyal friend, supportive of his staff and had a great zest for life.

[2] On 8 October 2004 his ashes were scattered at the cool temperate botanical gardens at Mount Lofty that he had been integral in establishing.