Timeline
16 August 1885
Charles Lane Poole born at Easebourne, England
27 September 1885
Ruth Pollexfen born at Limerick, Ireland
1900
Ruth becomes a ward of her cousin Lily Yeats in the London household of her uncle, the painter John Butler Yeats
1900
The Lane Poole family moves to Dublin when Charles' father, Stanley, is appointed Professor at Trinity College
1901
Ruth moves to Dublin where Lily and Lollie Yeats set up an arts and crafts workshop (later called Cuala Industries) and she trains in art, design and embroidery
1901
Ruth and Charles meet in Dublin some time in the early years of the new century
1901
Charles enters St Columba's College, Dublin
1 January 1901
Commonwealth of Australia inaugurated. Britain transfers the administration of British New Guinea to Australia
1903
Charles starts an engineering course but stops when he loses his left hand in a shooting accident
1904
Charles attends forestry school at l'Ecole Nationale des Eaux et Forêts de Nancy in France
1906
Charles graduates with a Diploma from l'Ecole Nationale des Eaux et Forêts de Nancy
1906
Charles joins the British Colonial Service and is appointed to the Cape Colony, and he trains in South African forestry methods with DE Hutchins
1906
British New Guinea becomes the Commonwealth Territory of Papua
May 1907
Charles is appointed Forest Officer in the Transvaal Province and is subsequently posted as District Forest Officer in charge of Woodbush Forest
January 1910
Charles proposes marriage by letter and Ruth writes to accept
June 1910
Charles disagrees with the policies of the Transvaal government and resigns
23 November 1910
British Colonial Service appoints Charles as Forest Officer, Sierra Leone
27 May 1911
Charles reports on forests and the need for a Forest Department in Sierra Leone
20 July 1911
Charles and Ruth marry in Dublin
June 1912
Charles travels to Sierra Leone to take up a position as its first Conservator of Forests and subsequently becomes a Member of the Legislative Council, while Ruth remains in Britain
23 October 1913
A daughter, Charlotte Ruth, is born in Cheltenham, England
1 July 1914
Norfolk Island becomes a Commonwealth Territory
1916
Ruth and Charles set up their first home together in the Perth suburb of Cottesloe
1916
Charles reorganises the Forestry Department of Western Australia and drafts new legislation
16 March 1916
Charles is appointed Conservator of Forests by Western Australia
8 June 1917
Second daughter, Mary Jet, born in Perth
1919
Western Australian Forestry Act proclaimed
1920
Charles attends the first Empire Forestry Conference in London
17 December 1920
League of Nations mandate for the Territory of New Guinea to be assigned to Australia
31 December 1921
Charles disagrees with the policy of the Western Australian government and resigns as Conservator of Forests for Western Australia
16 March 1922
Charles leaves Perth to survey the forests of Papua
3 June 1922
Ruth and their daughters leave for Britain
22 September 1922
Youngest daughter, Phyllis Gainsborough, is born in Donnybrook, Ireland
1 July 1923
Charles returns from Papua and recuperates in Melbourne
5 September 1923
Charles travels to New Guinea to survey the forests
1925
Charles is appointed Commonwealth Forestry Adviser and writes a report on the forests of Papua and New Guinea, as well as papers on forest policy
1925
Ruth writes articles on interior design for the Australian Home Beautiful and meets Melbourne architect, Harold Desbrowe-Annear, and garden designer, Edna Walling
1925
Charles and Ruth both return to Australia and set up house in Melbourne
5 May 1925
Cabinet approves the establishment of the Australian Forestry School in Canberra
15 November 1925
Charles is involved in a controversy with R Dalrymple Hay, Chairman of the New South Wales Forestry Commission
29 March 1926
Ruth is engaged as furniture specialist to decorate The Lodge and Government House
22 July 1926
Ruth finishes designing furnishing schemes for The Lodge and Government House
1927
Charles is appointed Commonwealth Inspector-General of Forests and Acting Principal of Australian Forestry School
26 September 1927
Charles gives evidence to the Royal Commission on the Constitution recommending national forests
1928
The third Empire Forestry Conference held in Australia and New Zealand
18 July 1930
Forestry Bureau Act 1930 assented
1934
Charles is elected first President of the Canberra Alpine Club
1935
Charles lobbies New South Wales politicians about revising the New South Wales Forestry Act
9 June 1935
Charles leaves to inspect the goldfield forests of New Guinea
September 1935
Charles attends the fourth Empire Forestry Conference and examines eucalypt plantations in South Africa
1936
Charles is involved in a controversy with Harold Swain, Chairman of the New South Wales Forestry Commission
1945
Charles practises as a forestry consultant in Australia and New Guinea
16 August 1945
Charles retires and he and Ruth move to Sydney
22 November 1970
Charles Lane Poole dies
11 October 1974
Ruth Lane Poole dies
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