Muriel Mary Watt (née Lysaght; 27 March 1917 – 2 July 2005) was a New Zealand landscape architect and gardener.

Biography

Watt was born Muriel Mary Lysaght on 27 March 1917, the daughter of Emily Muriel Lysaght (née Stowe) and Brian Cuthbert Lysaght, and spent her childhood in

Mokoia, Taranaki Mokoia is a small settlement in south Taranaki, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 3, to the east of Hāwera and about 17 km northwest of Patea. History and culture Mokoia is close to the site of ...

. Her sister was

Averil Lysaght Averil Margaret Lysaght (14 April 1905 – 21 August 1981) was a New Zealand biologist, science historian and artist, best known for her scholarly work on Joseph Banks. Early life Lysaght was born in Mokoia, Taranaki, New Zealand on 14 April 19 ...

. Her maternal grandparents were Jane Stowe and Leonard Stowe. Her cousin was the artist John Lysaght Moore. Lysaght began her career as a gardener at the

Dunedin Botanic Gardens The Dunedin Botanic Garden (known in local slang as the "Botans", "Botang", Botanic or Botanical Gardens) is located at the northern end of central Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand. The garden is close to the University of Otago and one ...

in 1936. In 1946, she enrolled to study at the New Zealand Institute of Horticulture, completing a three-year course. In 1950 and 1951, she studied at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

in London, in the School of Architecture. Lysaght worked as a landscape architect from 1946 to 1948, then started her own landscape architecture business. In 1953, Lysaght married John Harold Watt, a scientist who rose to become assistant director of the horticulture division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The couple lived in

Brooklyn, Wellington Brooklyn is a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Geography Location Brooklyn is 3 km south of Wellington's central business district on the eastern slopes of the hills above Happy Valley. Nearby suburbs and are ...

, for most of their married life. Mary Watt died in Wellington on 2 July 2005, and was buried in

Hāwera Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established i ...

Cemetery. Her husband died the following year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Mary 1917 births 2005 deaths People from Taranaki New Zealand landscape architects Alumni of the Royal College of Art Greenwood family of New Zealand Burials at Hawera Cemetery