Oakman was born in
Lommel, in the province of
Limburg,
Belgium on 4 April 1906. His mother died when he was two years old, and his father took him to England during
World War I, then to Australia in 1920. After moving to Australia, young Henry changed his name to Harry Oakman. Oakman first worked on farms in rural
New South Wales, then at the age of 17 moved to
Pennant Hills, in North
Sydney, where he worked in flower nurseries. After a few years he began to look after local parks for the
Ku-ring-gai Council. On 12 December 1938 Oakman married May Addison Clark, and they lived together happily until her death on 11 April 1990. From 1940 until 1945, Oakman worked on parks in Newcastle, before being appointed Superintendent of Parks in Brisbane. Over a period of 17 years (1946–1962), Oakman transformed the parklands of Brisbane, built 120 playing fields, and assisted in designing and producing two
botanic gardens, as well as Queens Park,
Townsville. ==References==