Tenure as Director of the Garden (1913-1917, 1924-1944)
Charles Anthony O’Connor was appointed Director of the Garden in 1913 by the Agricultural Services but the WW1‘s call for duty brought him to the Army for the next 10 years.
O’ Connor retained his position for 20 years, though he was not too clerical and left little documentation about his works. We know about his great interest for the Garden from the testimonies of his successors.
When in 1924, O’ Connor took control of the Garden, the extensive pruning of the over growing trees was performed and the lawns was redone.
The “ Bassin des nenuphares”; set up by Céré, was dragged out of its mud and the soil collected was use to fill up the marshy parts of the Garden.
In 1929, the Garden welcomed crowds of visitors who came to witness the flowering of the Talipot plants. It was the start of a series of flowerings that lasted for about 15 years.
In 1937, the bust of “ Bernandin de St Pierre” was erected by the Society of Mauritian writers as a 200 years tribute / commemoration to the birth of the great writer.
In 1941 The “Bassin des Lotus” was rehabilitated by O’Connor to the state that we know it nowadays.
Charles Anthony O’Connor introduced many varieties of fruit and food plants. Several species of orchids and ferns were also added to the Garden’s Green house. Amongst the most popular plant introductions are the Victoria amazonica; the Triplaris americana, the dwarf coconut tree from Pemba Island and the chaulmoogra Hydnocarpus Kurzil whose essential oil is used as a treatment of leprosy.