Florence May Harding

Florence May Harding (MBE) (1908 – 19th August, 1971), known as May Harding, was a teacher, naturalist, botanist, and artist (photographer, printmaker, draftsperson and cartoonist/illustrator) at Broken Hill, New South Wales.

Born at the mining town of Silverton, New South Wales in 1908, May Harding was one of three children of Frederick Joseph Harding and Florence May Boyle, her siblings were Doris and Frederick The family soon moved to Broken Hill where her father followed the trade of a foundryman and moulder. Her family resided at 59 Williams Street, where after the early death of her mother in 1935 she cared for her father until his death in 1956, and then lived alone at that same home for the remainder of her life. Being without private wealth or income, she led a frugal existence. She never married.

May Harding studied at the National Art School in Sydney, and with Douglas Robert Dundas (1900–1981), but in effect had no formal training in either botany or art. Early in life she developed a passion for the native flora of the arid West Darling region, collecting and identifying plants. Self-taught in botany she combined this attraction with art, as early as 1922 exhibiting paintings of wildflowers.

In the 1930s her interest in the native vegetation of the Broken Hill region was further spurred by the actions of Albert Morris, who was determined to control the city's dust problem. Morris was in 1918 the inaugural Secretary of the Barrier Field Naturalists' Club, a position subsequently held by May Harding, her membership spanning 45 years.

In this role she was adept as organiser, researcher, librarian, and speaker at Club meetings, as well as leading numerous field excursions, both within the district and further, such as the Flinders Ranges. In 1944 she was a member of The Sturt Memorial Committee of the Barrier Field Naturalists' Club, contributing botanical artwork and editorial material for their commemoration booklet, Sturt 1844 - 1944. In 1946 she was made an honorary member of the North Queensland Naturalists' Club. By 1950 she had Australia-wide botanical connections, recognising her expertise in the botany of arid and semi-arid lands.

...
Wikipedia