Romeo Watkins Lahey MBE ME (1887 - 1968)

Ancestors

Biography

Romeo Lahey MBE ME was an Australian soldier, engineer, businessman, civil servant and conservationist. He was a founder of the 'Save the Trees' campaign. The National Parks Association of Queensland sponsored the Romeo Watkins Lahey memorial lectures in his honour.

Romeo Watkins Lahey was born on 2nd June 1887 in Pimpama, on the northern end of Queensland's Gold Coast (Australia). He was the third son of David Lahey and Jane Walmsley. ^[1] After completing his formal education at Pimpama and Junction Park State schools, the Normal School and Brisbane Grammar School, he gained employment as a clerk with the Australian Mutual Provident Society in Brisbane, before entering the University of Sydney.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in 1914 and a Master of Engineering (ME) in 1921.

On 26th July 1915 Romeo enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), his young nation's all-volunteer expeditionary force for the (First World) War. ^[2] He was allocated to the 11th Field Company, Australian Engineers, and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. ^[3]

Romeo was wounded in action in France in December 1916. Early in 1917 he was promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to the 3rd Division Engineers. The war over, he returned to Australia 31st May 1919. ^[4]

Romeo married Alice Delpratt on 13th February 1920 in St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. ^[5] The couple had a son and two daughters:

1. David Delpratt (1921-)
2. Alison Sybil (1922-2007), married surname Gardoll
3. Ann Leuyns, married surname Neale

An imaginative engineer, Romeo worked mainly in south-east Queensland in a private capacity and for the extensive family-owned Lahey sawmilling enterprises. A considerable achievement was the Mount Cainbable road, depicted in Chauvel's film, Heritage. He was chairman of directors of Laheys Pty Ltd until 1949. He managed Laheys' activities at Canungra including banana-growing, dairying and a successful Jersey stud. Well aware of the conflict between conservation and exploitation, he initiated re-afforestation and reduced wastage in milling.

During the Second World War, Romeo served with the Royal Australian Engineers in Northern Command in 1940-43, attaining the rank of Major. ^[6] He then joined the Allied Works Council as an engineer, transferring in 1945 to the Commonwealth Department of Works and Housing. In 1950-52 he was technical assistant, lands requisition branch, Queensland State Housing Commission.

Four years of dedicated work by Romeo as a young man had culminated in the proclamation in July 1915 of Lamington National Park. Largely at his instigation, the National Parks Association of Queensland was formed in April 1930. In 1932 he took an option on Mount Roberts, and with Arthur Groom and others established Queensland Holiday Resorts Ltd which built Binna Burra Lodge. Resigning as director in 1946 in protest at tree-felling on the property, he rejoined the board in 1954. He was a founder of the Save the Trees campaign in 1946 and chairman until 1949.

Romeo was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1960 for his services to conservation. ^[7]

Aged 81 years, Romeo passed away on 26th October 1968 at his home in Yeronga, in Brisbane's south. ^[8] He was survived by his wife, two daughters and their son, David Delpratt Lahey, who was prominent in the national parks movements of Victoria and South Australia.

The National Parks Association of Queensland sponsored the Romeo Watkins Lahey memorial lectures and the Minister for Lands opened a lookout in his memory at Mount Cainbable in 1970.

A house designed by Lahey, and for many years the home of his elder sister Frances Vida Lahey MBE, has been classified by the National Trust of Australia (Queensland).

A monument stands to Romeo Lahey's memory in Lamington National Park. ^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ Queensland Birth Index #C5840/1887
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Romeo Watkins Lahey; accessed 21 Aug 2019
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 11th Field Company; accessed 21 Aug 2019
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Lieutenant Romeo Watkins Lahey; accessed 21 Aug 2019
5. ↑ Queensland Marriage Index #B24583/1920
6. ↑ Department of veterans' Affairs nominal roll: Q358 Major Romeo Watkins Lahey; accessed 21 Sep 2023
7. ↑ Australian Honours; accessed 30 Apr 2021
8. ↑ Queensland Death Index #B1696/1968
9. ↑ Monument Australia; accessed 30 Apr 2021

See also

• Crouchley, Betty. 'Lahey, Romeo Watkins (1887–1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1983; accessed online 21 Aug 2019.
• Visit Scenic Rim website; accessed 30 Apr 2021.
• Wikipedia profile: Romeo Lahey; accessed 21 Aug 2019.