ABOUT THE LE SOUEF FAMILY

"From the arrival of Albert Le Souef to the Australian shores in 1838, the Le Souef family has played an integral, and certainly colourful, part in the country's history. Upon Albert's arrival, he was appointed the Protector of Aborigines on the Goulburn River in northern Victoria. Three of his sons,

William, Ernest and Albert arrived a couple of years later, and following in his father's footsteps, William took over the directorship of the Melbourne Zoo in 1902. Of Albert's other son's, Ernest went on to establish the Perth Zoo in 1897, and Albert Sherbourne established the Taronga Zoo in 1916. One of William's sons, Cecil Le Souef, nicknamed "Zoo", established an Aquarium at Rosebud in Victoria in the 1950's. He went on to discover various species of native flora and fauna, including a species of Butterfly in Victoria's North-East."*

His son Nick graduated form Monash University, and spent most of his university vacations on the Opal fields. After a brief period of teaching he decided to follow his true passion: Opals! He left the teaching profession and became a full-time Opal miner and cutter. He has followed his career until today, apart from a brief 2 year stint when he took over his father's Aquarium and turned it into the Rosebud Marine and Reptile Park. During this period, in the 80's, he initiated some unusual activities for the promotion of the establishment, and still holds the Australian Records of habitation in a Snake pit (3 weeks), a Shark tank (3 weeks) and a Red Back (Black Widow) Spider cage (3 weeks). There was even an appearance on the US Television show "That's Incredible".
Nick currently spends his time between the Opal fields and the Melbourne store and has published his first book "What You Think is What You Get!"

After spending most of his youth "getting his hands dirty" at Lightning Ridge, the home of the Black Opal, Nick's son Jonas now runs the Melbourne showroom, where he spends his time cutting and polishing his precious gems (and often teaching customers to cut and polish their own Opal!). He also has a small collection of Australia Wildlife, including Red Back Spider Centipedes and Scorpions. The more game customers will even feed the little "pets".

Les Clefs d'Or

Through Jonas' support of Melbourne Concierge, he was made an honorary member of the International Concierge Association, Les Clefs d'Or. Jonas wears his Les Clefs d'Or pin with pride, and continues his involvement with the Melbourne Les Clefs d'Or.

As quoted by Lisa O'Sullivan, "This family's passion has had a huge impact on our knowledge and awareness of Australian wildlife".