John G. Trelawny

John Guy Trelawny was born in Roorkee, India in 1919 and enthusiastically pursued adventure throughout his life. Raised in Devon, the Isle of Jura, Scotland and Phillimore Gardens, London, educated at Bradfield School and Sandhurst College, John served with the British Eighth Army in the Second World War in Iraq, leading Assyrian levy troops, before entering the Italian campaign where he was seriously wounded and spent two years as a prisoner of war. Never one to avoid a challenge, he assumed many roles throughout his life including Master of the Hounds, Sandhurst; Captain in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry; farm hand at Oyster River; bulb farmer at Cobble Hill; lighthouse keeper at Race Rocks; author; botanist; tour guide and gardener. John was an instructor in the Faculty of Biology at the University of Victoria for 18 years where he thrived on sharing his life-long love of plants. It was there he met Lewis Clark, whose great work, Wildflowers of British Columbia (revised as Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest,) he edited after Clark's death. He authored Wildflowers of the Yukon and Alaska and spent his later years working on a history of the Assyrian people. In retirement he developed, with his wife Ruth, his garden at Deep Cove. John was happiest showing friends and visitors his beautiful and ever-expanding garden, which featured rare rhododendrons from many parts of the world. He also enjoyed participating in the development of the Finnerty Gardens at the University of Victoria and his commitment to learning culminated in the award of an honorary doctorate from the University of Victoria in. He died on Dec. 1, 2006 and is buried in Deep Cove, Sidney, BC.