Leslie Roy Werner FSMC, FBOA (Hons), Foundation Councillor of the Australian College of Optometry

Historical Significance: Leslie Roy Werner FSMC, FBOA (Hons) Diploma of Advanced Optics and Scientific Instruments, was a foundation member of the Australian College of Optometry and a member of its Council, representing the Opticians Registration Board. He was elected an honorary life member of the College in 1960. He was very well qualified for the day, holding an FSMC and FBOA diplomas, both earned with honours, and he was a regular lecturer and promotor of educational standards. He was in practice with his two brothers, Fred and Max, in the firm of Werners in Collins Street and Toorak that had been founded by his father Carl Heinrick Ferdinand Werner. Carl Werner had migrated from Schleswig Holstein in 1870 and had obtained his Fellowship of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (FSMC) in 1898 in the first batch of students to complete this course and receiving certificate No 1. See 'The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers. Some features of its charter, history and present status' The Optician 1960; 140 (July 15): 3-9. See also profile of the Werner family under the tab 'People who made history' on this web site. Roy Werner was an active member of the Victorian Optical Association (now the Optometrists Assocation Victoria). He was a member of VOA Council from 1923 until 1936 and its President in 1928 and 1929. From 1937 until 1942 he was a member of the Opticians Registration Board. See also Cat No 13 for his portrait.Digital image 267 kb in Museum iPhoto