Right: Carl Axel Nobelius, 1851 - 1921
An ancestry of orchardists It was almost inevitable that Ron Nobelius should become an orchardist. He was descended from a long line of horticulturalists who, by heritage, were Swedish. His grandfather, Carl Axel Nobelius, an orchardist and nurseryman, had been born in Tampere, Finland. Carl Axel’s parents, horticulturist, Carl Petter Nobelius and his wife, Lousia, had moved there from Gefle in Sweden. As a twenty-year-old, Carl Axel left Finland for Australia, disembarking in Melbourne in 1872. There he found work at a nursery in Toorak before being employed by Joseph Harris at his seed and flower nursery in South Yarra. Harris was a leading figure in the nursery trade and he experimented in planting seeds gathered from all over the world. The young man would learn much about the business from him. In 1886, attracted by the rich soils and well-watered slopes of the Dandenong Hills, Carl bought 63 acres of land near Emerald from an original settler. While continuing to work for Harris, he spent each weekend travelling by train to the Narre Warren terminus and then walking the remaining sixteen miles (26 kms) to Emerald. There he laboriously cleared his land, prepared it for cultivation and eventually planted it out. His hard work bore results and he was able to establish his own business, the Gembrook Nurseries, in 1890. Fifty acres were under cultivation. The nursery sold different fruits including strawberries and raspberries, as well as stocking both ornamental trees and fruit trees, sourced from countries around the world. The business flourished and it soon became known as ‘Nobelius’ Nurseries’ after the name of the owner. During the 1890s’ slump when many businesses were forced to close, Nobelius Nurseries did well, selling trees for many state and local government projects that had been set up to create employment. These projects included beautification programs to establish parks and gardens and to create tree-lined streets that used ornamental trees for shade. The nursery expanded in size as more land was added, and grew in reputation. By 1914 it had become the largest nursery in the southern hemisphere, supplying trees from a root stock of two million trees to many markets around the globe as well as within Australia. continued next page...
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