Evelyn Temple Emmett OBE (1871–1970) was the first Director of the Tasmanian Government Tourist Bureau and a founder of the Hobart Walking Club He actively promoted skiing and bushwalking in the state and served on several National Park boards. Several Tasmanian features are named after him.
Family
Evelyn Temple Emmett was born in Launceston, Tasmania on 18 May 1871 and grew up on the farm of his father, Skelton Emmett, in the village of Forest, within sight of The Nut at Stanley in Tasmania's north-west. His father was a pioneer farmer, prospector and track-cutter, a colourful and multi-faceted personality. His grandfather, Henry James Emmett, brought his young family out to Van Diemen's Land from England, arriving on 10 December 1819, only fifteen years after the establishment of Hobart Town.
E. T. Emmett's early schooling was at Stanley, though he later attended Scotch College, Launceston. In his youth Emmett excelled in road races and walking matches, and later became a champion cyclist and an accomplished ballroom dancer.
On 14 April 1903 he married Sophie Margaret Maguire at St Paul's Church of England, Stanley; they had three sons and three daughters.
Early career
On completing his education he worked at Scotch College, Launceston as a teacher for a brief period, before accepting the position of Junior Clerk with the Tasmanian Main Line Railway Company in 1888. When the Tasmanian Government took over the railways a few years later, Emmett was promoted to the position of Chief Clerk.
Tasmanian Government Tourist Bureau
A capable administrator, Emmett was chosen in 1914 to oversee the beginnings of the company's tourism operation. His obvious flair and ability for the position led to his appointment as first Director of the newly formed Tasmanian Government Tourist Bureau. Emmett was eminently qualified for the job; he was well-educated, personable and articulate, and possessed an extensive knowledge of the state and its history. He had grown up in the Tasmanian bush, felt a close affinity with it and drew on his bush experiences throughout his life.
The early years of his directorship were challenging times, as the concept of tourism was still in its infancy and only limited funds were available. But Emmett's intimate knowledge of all things Tasmanian allowed him to accurately assess the state's tourist potential. He worked tirelessly to lay the foundations of the fledgling industry. Whenever tourist numbers for Tasmania fell, he would immediately embark upon a series of promotional tours of the Australian mainland states, using lantern slides and his gift as a skilled public speaker to introduce Tasmania to new markets. Such promotion – commonplace today – was then a bold thrust into the tourist marketplace. His lectures were invariably well received by packed island and mainland audiences.
In 1918 Emmett was deputy director of the committee which hosted a French mission to Tasmania. In recognition of his work the French government conferred upon him the Palmes d'Officier d'Académie (Ordre des Palmes Académiques) in 1923.
Conservationist
Over the next three decades Emmett was at the forefront of a series of far-sighted initiatives to ensure the protection of many of today's wilderness regions. He became a foundation member of the Scenery Preservation Board (forerunner of National Parks and Wildlife Service) in 1915, and, two years later, of the first National Park Board which administered the Mount Field National Park and the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in their early years. In 1921, Emmett, Clive Lord and Gustav Weindorfer drew up a landmark proposal for a new national park to be established, in the first instance, at Cradle Mountain. Further discussion between the three men resulted in the now-historic proclamation of a Scenic Reserve on 16 May 1922 which extended south as far as Lake St Clair and enclosed, at that time, . This became known as the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.
The year before Emmett had visited the mainland states to gain ideas for promoting tourism, and was impressed by the new sport of snow skiing. He returned with six pairs of skis and helped introduce the sport to southern Tasmania at Mount Field National Park in the winter of 1922. In 1929, with Fred Smithies and Carl Stackhouse, he was among the first to test the ski slopes of Ben Lomond in Northern Tasmania, along with Geoffrey Chapman who also skied Ben Lomond the same year. Emmett helped organise and participated regularly in weekend ski trips by rail from Hobart to Mount Field which quickly became very popular.