Unwin, Earnest Ewart   (1881 - 1944)

He was born on 13 July 1881 at Folkestone, Kent, UK; died on 20 September 1944 in Hobart, TAS.

Born in Kent, England, son of Uriah John Unwin, bricklayer, and his wife Sophia Jane, né Martin.

He was educated at the Quaker schools of Saffron Walden and Ackworth, and graduated (B.Sc., 1901) at the University of Leeds.

He taught at Ackworth in 1901-04, became a lecturer in science at the University of Leeds, gained his M.Sc. in 1908 and from 1908 to 1912 taught at Bootham School, York.

His first book, Pond Problems (Cambridge, 1914), was a science textbook for schools.

As a conscientious objector during World War I, he was given leave to teach and published two more books, As a Man Thinketh (London, 1919) and Religion and Biology (London, 1922).

In 1923 Unwin answered what he felt was a 'call to service' in Australia by accepting the headmastership of the co-educational Friends' School in Hobart, a position which he was to hold until his death.

The years 1923-44 witnessed major growth in the school. Unwin embarked on an ambitious rebuilding plan in which he enlisted substantial financial support from English Quakers. He brought a new dynamic of educational leadership to his school and to education in Tasmania, introducing new subjects of art, physiology and botany to the senior school curriculum, and giving priority to science in his building plans.

A gifted water-colour artist and teacher of art, he was also a pioneer in the field of educational broadcasting.

He died of a coronary occlusion on 20 September 1944 in Hobart and was cremated.

Source: Extracted from:
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/unwin-ernest-ewart-8899
https://sparc.utas.edu.au/index.php/unwin
Portrait Photo: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/13479/1/1944_Unwin_obituary_notice.pdf PLATE XX.

Collecting localities for 'Unwin, E.E.' from AVH (2025)

Data from 64 specimens