OBITUARY

Forest and Bird, Volume 17, Issue 4, 1 November 1986, Page 36

OBITUARY

Mark Smale

Mrs H. L. BRIFFAULT (1903-86)

With the passing of Violet Ada Briffault (nee Rucroft) on 2nd May this year, the Society lost a Distinguished Life Member, longtime Councillor and one of its early stalwarts. Mrs Briffault (Vi, Ru or Briff as she was affectionately known) had four great loves — natural history, music, history and the Christian faith. These interwoven threads provided the continuity of her life, and she was intensely active in all of them. A music teacher by profession, her love of nature began in the 1930’s in the notorious fogs of London, where she was studying at the Royal Academy of Music. Longing for the clear air and fresh open spaces of home, she returned to New Zealand after the war, settling in Whakatane in 1950 and founding the Eastern Bay of Plenty Branch of the Society. In Norman Potts (1886-1970), the pioneer East Coast lawyer/ botanist, himself a distinguished member of the Society, she found a Catalyst for her growing love of the New Zealand flora. There were frequent visits, letters and exchanges of plants. Her Society involvement centred on the education of youngsters, and a vigorous planting programme of native trees and shrubs throughout the district. Her own garden in Whakatane was a showplace, unusual for its conspicuence of common as opposed to rare plants. Her contribution to conservation, in particular her untiring efforts to have the Urewera National Park gazetted in 1954, was recognised by the honours of Vice-Pres-ident in 1969, the Loder Cup in 1971, and the Queen's Service Medal in 1977. A woman of remarkable character and uncompromising principle, Briff has had a lasting impact on those who knew her, and laid solid foundations for those who follow.