A portion of the original American pine tree brought to Brisbane, Australia, by Rotary's founder Paul Harris is now located at the new location of the Montrose Home for Crippled Children in Corinda. The memorial plaque is located just inside the door to the administrative office, as is a remnant of the tree. The plaque reads as follows: "This is the largest portion of the now famous Paul Harris Tree. As an American pine seedling, it was presented by the late Malcolm P. Campbell, and was planted by the founder of Rotary International, the late Paul Harris on the occasion of his visit to Montrose Home at Taringa in 1936. Through the efforts of the late P. Pres. L.W.D. (Bill) Rochaix, the Rotary Club of Brisbane West, recovered and preserved this historical remnant, and it was placed here as a permanent memorial to his valuable services to Rotary."
From the RGHF Rotary Global History website:
On Paul Harris' first visit to Brisbane, in 1935, he planted an American pine tree in the grounds of the Montrose Home for Crippled Children at Taringa. The tree died, but this portion of it is enshrined at the Montrose home.
Addition information from the RGHF Rotary Global History website about Friendship Trees:
Paul Harris' First Visit to Australia in 1935
On his visit to Brisbane in 1935, Rotary's founder, Paul Harris, planted an American pine tree in the grounds of the Montrose Home for Crippled Children at Taringa. The home moved to Corinda in March 1938; and the Rotary Club of Brisbane West used the trunk of this tree for the making of Rotary ornaments (1970-71), and they placed the bole of the tree with a suitable message in the entrance of the new Montrose Home.
Arnold Bennett's book "Rotary in Queensland" (1980) on page 129
The following information about Paul Harris is from Wikipedia:
Paul Percy Harris (April 19, 1868–January 27, 1947) was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney best known for founding Rotary International in 1905, a service organization with more than one million members worldwide.
Harris was born in Racine, Wisconsin, but grew up in Vermont. He attended Princeton University, the University of Vermont, and the University of Iowa. For the next five years, he worked odd jobs for the newspaper, as a salesman, on fruit farms, as an actor, and on cattle ships that traveled to Europe.
He began his law practice in 1896. Harris organized Rotary "in fellowship and friendship" with three clients, Silvester Schele, Gustavus Loehr, and Henry Ruggles. By the time of his death at the age of seventy-nine, the club had grown to more than 200,000 members in 75 countries. The club is dedicated to "service above self".
In his honor, individual Rotary clubs choose a Paul Harris Fellow who meets high professional and personal standards set by the founder. The fellow is honored at a fundraising dinner and receives a special certificate, a gold pin, and a gold medallion on a blue-and-gold ribbon.