Simmonds, John Howard (Jack) [Jnr]   (1901 - 1992)

He was born on 13 June 1901 at Taringa, Brisbane,

He was the elder of two children of Victorian-born John Howard Simmonds, stone-mason, and his English-born wife Rose, née Culpin.

His father was an enthusiastic field naturalist, plant, fossil and shell-collector and his mother became a notable photographer later in life.

Educated at Boys' College, Clayfield (Brisbane Boys' College), Jack graduated from the University of Queensland (BSc, 1923; MSc, 1926) with first class honours and was appointed to the staff of the entomology branch of the State Department of Agriculture and Stock.

Simmonds became the first full-time plant pathologist in the department. He combined an interest in research and extension in all plant diseases, and produced a steady stream of publications from 1927.

From March 1931 until April 1932 he took leave without pay to study developments in plant pathological research in the United States of America, Canada, Britain, the Middle East, India, Malaya, and Java. He also completed one term of a postgraduate course at Imperial College, London.

Called up for full-time duty in WW2 on 15 September 1941 as a captain in the Citizen Military Forces, Simmonds transferred to the Australian Imperial Force twelve months later. He commanded the 11th Malaria Control Unit in Papua and New Guinea between July 1943 and June 1944.

On returning to his department, Simmonds was placed in charge of the science branch, overseeing the entomology, plant pathology, and botany sections.

He continued to lead plant pathology until 1961 when, on his own volition, he stood down to concentrate on his own research, such as a host index of plant diseases in Queensland.

He retired in 1966, having seen the section grow from only a few to twenty scientists covering specialist activities in mycology, bacteriology, and virology, and with plant pathologists situated at seven field stations around the State.

The University of Queensland conferred an honorary doctorate of science on him in 1969.

An ardent member of the Queensland Naturalists' Club, and a boating enthusiast, Jack Simmonds was a humble and quiet man, deeply respected by all who knew him well.

Herbarium specimens

Because his father J.H. Simmonds (Snr), him J.H. Simmonds (Jnr,) had the same surname and initials, and his mother Rose Simmonds collected as "Mrs J.H. Simmonds" using her husband's initials, there is much confusion as to individual collectors. Over 2,000 specimens are known as being collected by "Simmonds, J.H." and the paper by Dowe (2017), [LINK], attempts to analyse these collections.

Source: Extracted from:
Dowe, John Leslie (2017).
A family's contribution to Queensland botany: John Howard Simmonds [Snr] (1862-1955), Rose Simmonds [née Culpin] (1877-1960) and John Howard Simmons [Jnr] (1901-1992).
Austrobaileya 10(1): 168-183.
https://ia801904.us.archive.org/31/items/biostor-257316/biostor-257316.pdf
Portrait Photo: 1966, Australasian Plant Pathology Vol. 21 (3) (1992), p.91.