Patricia Reynolds (1920-2014)

Daughter of a Melbourne barrister and politician, La Trobe librarian Edna Patricia (Pat) Reynolds completed an Arts degree in 1940 where she had been a fellow student of Marjorie Tipping, another RHSV Fellow.

She began her working life as personal assistant to stockbroker and philanthropist Ian Potter. Then, in 1951, after qualifying as a librarian, she was appointed to the research department of the Public Library (now the State Library of Victoria). Described by a later La Trobe Librarian and RHSV Fellow, Dianne Reilly, as a ‘great collection builder’, Pat worked on the creation and organisation of the library’s Australiana collection. In 1965 she was appointed La Trobe Librarian, a position she held until her retirement in April 1980.

From 1966 to 1970 Pat served as an RSHV Councillor, brought on board by Marjorie Tipping. She brought with her the considerable experience and expertise in Victoria’s history gained through her long association with the La Trobe Library and her Lyceum Club and other networks. She was elected RHSV Fellow in 1975.

Little is known of her life in retirement, but a 1994 article in the Native Plants Society of Australia’s newsletter reveals that she was researching for a book on the career of family member Henry Francis Eaton, Under-Treasurer in the Victorian Civil Service, member of the Royal Society and a neighbour of that great botanist Ferdinand von Mueller. It appears, however, that this project was never completed.

Soon after she retired, Pat Reynolds married J.E. (James) Wilkie who died in 2003. She died in November 2014.

Kaleidoscope exhibition text, February 2022. Full entry to follow.