Interest in tree kept growing

Mr Friend was honoured for his research into the history of the red cedar tree.

The scholarship awards him two years’ membership of the Royal Australian Historical Society, including attending its annual state conference in Mittagong this month.

‘‘I was elated; it’s tremendous,’’ Mr Friend said.

‘‘I’m looking forward to participating in the historical society’s annual conference.’’

Hawkesbury mayor Kim Ford congratulated Mr Friend.

‘‘It’s great to see our local residents being encouraged and supported by this scholarship towards their interests in the history of the area,’’ Councillor Ford said.

Mr Friend said he was keen for more people to know the history and value of the red cedar.

‘‘Aboriginal elders have told me the red cedar used to grow all the way from Cape York to the Victorian border,’’ he said.

‘‘There is overwhelming evidence that red cedar was felled in a forest at Batemans Bay.’’

He said red cedar also grew in the Hawkesbury but history made little mention of it.

‘‘Unfortunately a lot of records up to 1840 were lost in a flood,’’ Mr Friend said.

He said it was another reason to ask Aboriginal people, because their knowledge of Australia and its conditions was thorough and pre-dated European settlement.

In an earlier work, Mr Friend and Mick Greentree said there was evidence Aboriginal people and early European settlers used red cedar for building because of its water-resistance.

‘‘Some would say this is an obsession of mine,’’ Mr Friend said.

‘‘But red cedar is a valuable timber.’’

He said Australians should make greater use of this native tree, but to his knowledge, the world’s only commercial plantation was on an island off Tonga.

‘‘They’re exporting their red cedar,’’ he said.