Janet Louise Cosh was born in Sydney in 1901, the only child of Dr John Cosh and his wife Louise. Her maternal Grandmother was Louisa Atkinson, an artist, botanist and writer of some renown.

In 1934 Janet Cosh moved with her parents to the Southern Highlands and became a resident at ‘Netherby’ in Moss Vale. She was a keen historian and became a founding member of the Berrima Historical Society and spent many years researching and documenting local history.

She also had a great interest in the natural history and welcomed the formation of the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1967 and became a life member of the Foundation for National Parks.

A life dedicated to botany

In the early 1970s, Janet Cosh turned her hand to botany and for the rest of her life devoted much of her time to this pursuit. She was particularly interested in the Wingecarribee, Shoalhaven and Wollondilly Shires, particularly such places as Barren Grounds, Penrose, Medway, Meryla and Morton National Park.

During this period of her life she was extremely industrious. These are just some of Janet Cosh’s achievements:

Conducted detailed vegetation surveys

Identified locations of rare plants

Discovered range extensions of several species

Corresponded with professional organisations such National Parks & Wildlife Service, Royal Herbarium of NSW, Australian National Herbarium and CSIRO

Contributed to the establishment of nature reserves such as Cecil Hoskins, Stingray Swamp and Robertson rainforest remnant

Prepared fire maps of Morton National Park using ecological criteria

Collected over 3000 specimens and prepared two extensive herbaria for NPWS and the University of Wollongong

Amassed a botanical library and annotated many books

Prepared note books

Prepared hundreds of detailed botanical illustrations

Janet Cosh bequeathed her plant collection, library, notebooks, maps, botanical drawings and money to the University of Wollongong. These resources were used to establish the Janet Cosh Herbarium and employ a Curator, Belinda Pellow.

This historical collection held by the Janet Cosh Herbarium at the University of Wollongong is an extremely valuable botanical resource. This year the Herbarium was fortunate to receive funds from the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife to catalogue and preserve some of this collection, particularly the botanical drawings. It seems very apt recognition given that Janet Cosh made a generous bequest to the Foundation.

Jodi Dunn and Jean Clarke completed their work early this year, and the university celebrated their achievement with an opening ceremony.

It is very rewarding to see the historical collection being preserved in a way that makes it more accessible, which would greatly satisfy Janet Cosh. As her dear friend Rachel Roxburgh said, “In the field of botany the records she left will enable students to know exactly where and when to find plant species and the University of Wollongong’s appreciation of her purpose would give her great pleasure.”

Jean Clarke
Honorary Fellow
Biological Sciences
University of Wollongong

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