Vale Linton Briggs

I noticed in the obituaries in the Herald Sun a few weeks ago that Linton Briggs died on the 28th of April. I was not overly surprised given that Linton was of old age.

I remember meeting Linton in May 1976 when I started my job as Apiary Inspector with the Dep't of Agriculture. In my second week, (the first week was spent at the Apicultural Research Unit in Scoresby where head of the Apiary Branch Don Langridge and his assistant Russell Goodman showed me how things worked and gave me some menial clerical chores) I went on the road with Senior Apiary Inspector Laurie Braybrook to Wangaratta which was to be my base for my district, the North-east third of Victoria.

On our way to Wangaratta, where a function had been organized that evening by the NE Apiarists Ass for beekeepers to meet their new Department man, Laurie thought it would be polite to call on Linton Briggs at Glenrowan on our way through. Linton was a past president of the NEAA and current president of the Victorian Apiarists Ass. It was late in the afternoon, Linton and his father Jack were finishing cutting up a tree limb that had fallen and damaged a fence on Linton's farm which was a base for his queen bee breeding operation and some cattle grazing. That was my first contact with Linton who was to become a great support to me over the next five years.

Laurie explained that Linton was "a rock". Someone who could be relied on for advice or assistance whatever problem I may have, and if necessary he could be trusted that the conversation if delicate would go no further. This was important for a young man going to a new job with regulatory responsibilities, working with men many far more senior in years. My predecessor had died a couple of years prior and the position was vacant in the interim. The warning was clear, there was a beekeeper or two in the district with a history of disputation with the Department.

That night at the function Linton gave a talk updating the gathering on VAA business and it was apparent he was an eloquent speaker, an intelligent man with a passion for the beekeeping industry and conservation of native flora. Over the next five years Laurie's assessment of Linton as "a rock" proved correct. I was on the phone to him many evenings. It must have driven his wife Helen crazy but she or Linton never showed any sign of exasperation, they were always welcoming and helpful. I wince a little thinking back at how I must have tested their patience during several periods of crisis in the industry such as plague locust spraying, European Foulbrood outbreak and border restrictions, threats to floral resources and conservation and pollination issues. I was a link man and Linton assisted and guided me, and taught me much. I was extremely fortunate.

I remember a month or so after starting the job attending the VAA conference in Bendigo. It ran for most of the week and at lunch one day at a pub I was with Don Langridge and a few NSW apiary officers who had come down, one of whom was the head of the NSW Apiary branch, Alan Clemson. Alan was extolling the virtues of Linton as a competent president and excellent speaker and asked "How old is Linton? I'd say about 45." I learned from a 'Notification - Linton Briggs AM' email from the VAA a few days after I noticed the death notice, that Linton would have been 46 at that conference as it said he was born on 22/April/1930, so he'd just turned 90 by six days when he succumbed to cancer. The notification was signed Helen and family.

Helen seemed a good bit younger than Linton and they had young kids. I think she was a school teacher who moved to the district for her work and they met to the good fortune of both. I wasn't the only industry person ringing Linton in the evenings, there were many, and I think he spent most evenings of his life on the phone.

Linton was a non drinker. His father Jack was the policeman at Glenrowan for many years. I think they lived in the police house with the lock up in the back yard. Linton saw a lot of violence and misery caused by alcohol as a kid so he never participated. Old Jack liked a drink. I can recall on a hot day being out with Linton and Jack checking nucs around the area. We pulled up outside a pub on the way home for some reason and Jack looked in at the blokes at the bar saying "Look at the lucky buggers" but Linton wouldn't stay for Jack to go in and have a beer.

I have been waiting patiently for the next issue of the monthly VAA Journal which will no doubt have a tribute to Linton. I received an email saying it would be sent electronically while this Covid thing was making life difficult. If it does I'll try to copy and paste the tribute into this post.

I have met few people in my time that have left such a strong imprint on me as Linton Briggs did. You could say I had huge respect and admiration for his dedication and integrity, and for his talents. This remains after he has passed, and in the short time since, my memory of him has aided me when things get a bit difficult. This is what good people do for us. They inspire us to be be better and stronger ourselves.