VO LU M E 8 N O 4 N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 4
TRUST
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IN OUR NATION’S DEFENCE
NATIONAL TRUST
Australia
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14 PRISONER POWER IN CONSERVATION
18 WRITERS AT GLENFERN
NEW FUTURE FOR Z WARD
2015
Heritage festival
Confl ict & Compassion APRIL – MAY
We want your events! Conflict & Compassion have shaped who we are and helped a new multicultural nation evolve. We want your local events and attractions to be part of our festival. Sign up your events online.
It’s free to register. April – May 2015 Each State has different festival dates and deadlines, please check the website for your state’s details. Events need to be submitted for printing publications before 1 December 2014 for Vic, ACT & NSW. This festival is made possible through the support of
www.nationaltrustfestival.org.au
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Inside
my W O R D
with editor Gina Pickerin g
ISSN: 1835-2316 Vol 8 No 4 2014 Trust News is published quarterly for National Trust members and subscribers in February, May, August and November. Publication is coordinated by the National Trust of Australia (WA) on behalf of the National Trusts of Australia and supported by the Department of Environment. National Trust of Australia (WA) ABN 83 697 381 616 PO Box 1162 West Perth WA 6872 T: 08 9321 6088 F: 08 9324 1571 W:www.ntwa.com.au Editor: Gina Pickering gina.pickering@ntwa.com.au T: 08 9321 6088 Advertising: For advertising rates, contact the Editor. Design: Dessein Graphics Cover: Private George Combo joined the Light Horse in WWI. P00889.002. Australian War Memorial Please be aware this publication includes images and names of deceased people that may cause sadness or distress to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Next Issue: February 2015
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2014 In this edition, new research reveals the unsung contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of our nation. National Trust properties provide a spring spectacular and inspiring places for aspiring writers. Prisoner power in Western Australia delivers new skills and transforms historic buildings with conservation care. There’s an outstanding story from Queensland about historic Hanworth House rising out of cold ashes to win a major heritage award and Tasmania’s spectacular Clarendon shines for visitors after an extensive revamp including furniture, objects and art. Enjoy
Copy deadline:10 December 2014 Please help us to save our environment and circulate this magazine as widely as possible. This magazine is printed on recyclable paper and packed in 100% degradable wrap. The views expressed in Trust News are not necessarily those of the National Trusts or the Department of Environment. The articles in this magazine are subject to copyright. No article may be used without the consent of the National Trust and the author.
Gina Pickering | Editor
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Protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef
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World heritage and the Dampier Archipelago
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In our nation’s defence
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Woodford Academy Boys Making their mark in World War I
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Arthur Phillip – Founder Of Modern Australia
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Prisoner power brings conservation care
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Glenfern nurtures Victorian writers
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Hanworth House rises from the ashes
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A new future for Z Ward
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Bringing home Urban Heritage Strategies
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A degree of interest in heritage
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Taking protective steps
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Spring spectacular at Saumarez Homestead
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Clarendon shines again
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International focus on Goldfields Aboriginal Languages Project
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Australian Garden History Society
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Protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef GREG HUNT MP | MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the natural wonders of the world and one of our most visited World Heritage sites. As Environment Minister I share the same goal as all Australians —protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef for current and future generations.
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his is no small task. The maze of 3,000 coral reefs and 1,050 islands is spread over 348,000 km2—an area the size of Italy— and stretches for 2,300 km along Australia’s north-east coast. As well as its intrinsic value, the Great Barrier Reef supports some 69,000 jobs and is worth $5.6 billion per year to the economy. As part of our commitment to the Great Barrier Reef, the Australian and Queensland governments are jointly investing approximately $180 million a year in the reef’s health. We know the reef still retains the values for which it was listed as World Heritage, but there are challenges. We have a plan to help maintain its resilience and we are already making progress. The Government has worked hard to eliminate the disposal of capital dredging in the Marine Park. We’ve listened to the concerns of the World Heritage Committee and we’ve changed a centuryold practice. Disposing of capital dredging in the Marine Park will be a thing of the past. There were five major capital dredging proposals either planned or under active assessment in
September 2013 when the Abbott Government was elected. The Abbott Government has been working closely with project proponents and the Queensland Government and none of the dredged material from these projects is proposed for disposal in the marine park. We have now finalised the most complex and comprehensive analysis of environmental management arrangements ever undertaken in Australia. The science tells us that the northern third of the reef and offshore areas remain in good condition and we are focusing efforts to ensure they remain that way. However, the southern inshore areas are showing the effects of human use and natural disasters and it is here we are investing significantly to restoring their condition. This strategic assessment of the Great Barrier Reef region (including its catchments) informed the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan for protecting the reef and coastal zone.
TOP Ribbon
reefs. Tourism and Events Queensland Great Barrier Reef provides habitat for local and migratory species. Tourism and Events Queensland BOTTOM The Reef Trust will focus on controlling threats to the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism and Events Queensland CENTRE The
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The 35-year plan, which was developed in partnership with a wide range of reef users, is out for public comment. It will guide governments, the community and industry in their work to achieve clear targets for improving the condition of the reef over decades. The Reef Trust, which commences operation in 2014 –2015, will focus on improving water quality and coastal habitat, controlling the current outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish, and protecting threatened and migratory species, particularly dugong and turtles. Development proposals are only approved after undergoing significant assessment with the most robust conditions to ensure that the Outstanding Universal Value of the reef is maintained. There is much more to do, but I am confident that we have in place an environmental management system to ensure the Great Barrier Reef continues to be among the best managed and protected World Heritage areas in the world.
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World heritage and the Dampier Archipelago DR PETER DOWLING | NATIONAL HERITAGE OFFICER
The Dampier Archipelago (including what is now known as the Burrup Peninsula or Murujuga, as it is known by the local Aboriginal people) is on the Indian Ocean coast of Western Australia, about 1,550 kilometres north of Perth. The Archipelago contains one of the densest and finely crafted concentrations of rock engravings, standing stones and rock formations in the world, estimated to number over one million. The engravings comprise human-like figures, images of avian, marine and terrestrial fauna and geometric designs; the many stone arrangements are associated with specific ceremonies while others were signposted to mark particular places such as seasonal sources of freshwater and rock pools.
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n the late 1960s and early 1970s the archipelago was identified for industrial purposes, largely in response to the discovery of iron ore in the Pilbara region. The Burrup area was earmarked for a processing and shipping hub for the ore. No study of the heritage significance of art and stone arrangements was done at this time nor was any consultative process with Aboriginal groups undertaken. Further development in the 1980s and 1990s continued without further research or consultation concerning the impacts on Aboriginal heritage values. Additional discoveries of oil and gas reserves have increased the industrial interests in the area and compounded the threats. A rigorous and extensive campaign by the National Trust of Australia (WA) in 2000 including partnerships with stakeholders and corporate sponsorships eventually resulted in a large part of the heritage sensitive areas 1 2 3
being placed on the National Heritage List in July 2007.1 In 2011 an independent expert assessment of the World Heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago sites, commissioned by the Australian Heritage Council, found that the rock art and stone arrangements met at least three World Heritage criteria, representing Outstanding Universal Values.2 But why then is such a place not on the UNESCO World Heritage List? Although there are undoubtedly numerous answers and rejoinders to this question, a fundamental fact is that only the Australian Government can nominate Australian places for entry on this list. Once nominated, the World Heritage Committee assesses a place against a set of criteria and makes the final decision on whether it is to be included on the World Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee, however,
has no power over a country to require a nomination even if that country has signed and ratified the World Heritage Convention. No nomination, then no World Heritage Listing. So what is happening in terms of a nomination for World Heritage Listing for the Dampier sites? Leaving aside the issue that there is always more research work that can be done for any nomination, the answer to that question is, not much at all. In February this year a spokesperson for the Commonwealth Department of Environment informed a Senate Estimates hearing that a nomination for the Dampier area was entirely a matter for the government in terms of when and whether they want to pursue including the site on the tentative World Heritage list.3 The onus then is with our political leaders to put forward a nomination to the World Heritage Committee.
Witcomb, A. & Gregory, K. 2010, From the Barracks to the Burrup. The National Trust in Western Australia, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney. McDonald, J. & Veth, P. 2011, Study of the Outstanding Universal Values of the Dampier Archipelago Site, Western Australia, Report to the Australian Heritage Council, J. McDonald Cultural Heritage Management Pty Ltd. Commonwealth of Australia, 2014, Official Committee Senate Environment and Communications Legislative Committee Estimates Monday 24 February 2014, Page 111.
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environs of Murujuga/ Burrup Peninsula. G Pickering Peninsula. G Pickering
BOTTOM  Murujuga/Burrup
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Studio portrait of 4259 Private
(Pte) George Combo, an Aboriginal serviceman from Mogil Mogil, near Collarenebri, NSW, who enlisted on 21 May 1916. Pte Combo originally enlisted in the Light Horse then transferred to 11th Reinforcements of the 29th Battalion. Pte Combo was wounded in action on 1 October 1917, repatriated to England for treatment; he re-joined his unit in France on 5 December 1917; he was wounded in action again on 1 August 1918. Pte Combo returned to Australia and was discharged from the AIF on 28 September 1919.
P00889.002 Australian War Memorial
In our nation’s defence GINA PICKERING | EDITOR
Young faces like those of George Combo and Walter Christopher (Chris) George Saunders peer agelessly from studio portraits in their Australian Imperial Force uniforms. Both would eventually return home after service to their country during World War I. Over a thousand Indigenous Australians far from home would put their lives on the line during this world conflict. George Combo would be wounded twice, Chris Saunders returned safely home. His son would become the first Aboriginal serviceman to be commissioned in the Australian Army for World War II.
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espite fighting in all major conflicts and serving in peacekeeping and defence support roles, Aboriginal and Torres Strait service personnel have been widely overlooked in historical narratives. As the centenary of the First World War unfolds and touches lives around the world, these men are remembered and memorialised in new ways. A specialist research team is meeting with ex-service members and their families across Australia to shine a bright light on a proud history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander defence service. The Serving Our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia project is looking at the historical contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian defence and auxiliary services from the Boer War to 2000.
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The $1 million plus project based at the Australian National University (ANU) has been funded by the Australian Research Council. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Department of Defence, Australian War Memorial, the National Archives of Australia and Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) are supporting the research outcomes. The research team, led by Professor Mick Dodson, Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at ANU, aims to increase public recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians service by providing an in-depth social history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait involvement in Defence. The research also seeks to find out how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples saw their participation and highlights Indigenous historical perspectives, while considering how service impacted upon individuals, their families and communities.
According to Professor Dodson, while a range of State, local and conflict based studies have been undertaken, there is still no comprehensive national and cross conflict study in which community oral histories and archival work are brought together. “Our aim is to collect 150 oral history recordings, which will be archived. Throughout 2014 and 2015, the project team will conduct Community ‘Yarn Ups’ (consultations) throughout Australia with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander veterans, those currently serving and their families,” Professor Dodson said. “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and families have remembered and narrated histories of defending their country and they are keen to have their stories told and publicly recognised,” he said. Foundational to the project are Community ‘Yarn Ups’ (consultations) throughout Australia and so far the team has visited twelve sites in Queensland and NSW, recording about sixty histories. In addition, numerous personal photos, medals and other memorabilia have also been recorded. In 2015 the team will visit Victoria, South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia seeking stories. The major outcomes of the Serving Our Country Research project are two printed publications: a compendium/ reference book on the history of Indigenous service and an oral history and image focussed community oriented book. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.ourmobserved.com
Studio portrait of an Aboriginal serviceman, 234 Private (Pte) Walter Christopher (Chris) George Saunders. Pte Saunders worked as a groom prior to enlisting on 29 August 1916 with 10th Machine Gun Company and later transferred to 3rd Machine Gun Battalion. Pte Saunders embarked for service overseas aboard HMAT Ascanius (A11) from Melbourne on 27 May 1916, and returned to Australia in June 1919. Pte Saunders is the father of 337678 Lieutenant Reginald (Reg) Walter Saunders, 2/7th Battalion, who in the Second World War was the first Aboriginal serviceman to be commissioned in the Australian Army. P00889.012. Australian War Memorial
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(L-R) Family pride is strong: Professor John Maynard, Laurel Williams and Professor Mick Dodson during the Newcastle ‘Yarn Up’. C Greene Mick Dodson with George Anderson at the Brisbane Yarn Up. C Greene
RIGHT INSERT Professor
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WOODFORD ACADEMY BOYS Making their mark in World War I D ACADEMY MANAGEM ENT COMMITTE E ELIZABETH BURGESS | COMMUNIC ATIONS AND MARKETING MANAGER, WOODFOR
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Woodford Academy school photo. Clifford Johnston 2nd back row, 6th from the left. Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, and Woodford Academy Archives
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Academy c1912. Woodford Academy Archives
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In 1907 distinguished classics scholar John McManamey established the Woodford Academy for Boys in the sandstone buildings constructed at Woodford as an inn during the 1830s. Over 300 students were educated in the Blue Mountains location between 1907 and 1925, benefitting from a curriculum based on the liberal arts with commercial subjects available for those intending to enter business life. There are tales of daily morning swims, even in the winter months, to encourage hygiene and develop character. Confident that his students would ‘make their mark in history’ John McManamey encouraged his boys to engrave their initials into their school desks and the rock shelves that surround the school buildings. They did so, but many of them made their mark in ways unimaginable at the time, distinguishing themselves for their actions in both world wars.
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ver the duration of World War I, fifty four boys from Woodford Academy enlisted to serve King and Country. Their names are listed on an Honour Roll Call, and the National Trust’s Woodford Academy Management Committee hopes that family and friends will recognise names and come forward with additional information on the boys. This will be added to research carried out as the basis for a display at the Academy commemorating the centenary of the Anzacs from August 2014 to November 2018. Interactive ebooks are progressively developed and displayed at the Academy museum on the centenary of the month each boy enlisted for the Great War. The committee thanks the Australian War Memorial, the State Library of NSW and the National Archives of Australia for their help with research. The program has been made possible with the assistance of a Federal Government Grant to the National Trust Partnership Program and a Federal Government Community Services Grant.
Among the first Academy students to enlist in the Great War was Clifford Anning Johnston. Born in Newtown, Sydney on 22 May 1895 he was enrolled in Woodford Academy on 4 October 1911, leaving at the end of 1912 to attend Hawkesbury Agricultural College (HAC). A letter from his father in December 1912 urged John McManamey to try to persuade the headstrong 17-yearold to stay on another year at the Academy. On 22 August 1914, Clifford Johnston along with twenty five of his colleagues from HAC enlisted. Their enlistment numbers 28-52 are inscribed on the second page of the First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF), the 1st AIF having been formed only a week prior. They most likely travelled to Sydney as a group, swept up by their enthusiasm to do their bit. Clifford (No.45) aged only 19 years, was two years under the legal age to enlist. He did so without his father’s consent. Sadly, he did not survive to return.
WOODFORD WWI HONOUR ROLL Berry, Frank H; Bluhdorn, Eric Keith Sautelle; Botting, Louis Hollingworth; Bowden, George Edward; Brown , Allan Houghton; Brown, Frederick James; Carroll, Walter Charles; Cran, Charles Robert; Cran, John Arthur; Fowler, William Frederick; Giles, Alan Thorpe; Gray, John Lyons; Guille, Frederick William Ernest; Hannam, Arthur Thomas; Harkness, Arthur Lawrence; Hart, Henry George; Hay, George Mervyn; Hay, Vivian Charles; Hicks, John Gordon; Hill, Jack Harvey; Holmes, Frank Vincent Wade; Howard, Francis Eric; Johnston, Clifford Anning; Kennedy, Basil Carlyle; Kilpatrick, Harold Hungerford; King, Roy; Lewin, Reginald Arthur; Luckie, Rupert Thomas Ernest; Mackey, Alfred Keith; Maguire, Karl; Marriott, Kenneth Letchmere; Mate, Leslie Walter; Millett, Reginald Wellington; Milne, Douglas Walter; Peacock, Lawrence Sheane; Potts, Frederick Haddon; Potts, Keith Faulkner; Robertson, Keith Malcolm; Rosenthal (AKA Rosebery), Sidney Frederick; Saunders, Noel Auburn; Shallard, Bruce; Shaw, George Victor; Sillar, Ralph Sanders Barclay; Slingsby, Robert Lincoln; Smith, David Newton; Stuart, Douglas Villiers; Sulman, Thomas Noel; Thomas, Bruce Boyd; Thompson, Allen John; Tidswell, Frank; Ward, William Herbert; Wilkins, Arthur Hordern; Wise, Alfred Charles; Wolff, William Sydney George.
WOODFORD ACADEMY OPEN DAYS are held on the 3rd Saturday
of the month (excluding December), 10am-4pm. WOODFORD ACADEMY, 90-92 Great Western Highway,
Woodford (on-street parking available on Woodford Avenue). Enquiries: 02 4758 8743 or woodfordacademy@gmail.com 9
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PERSPECTIVES G OV E R N P H I L L I PO R
200th Anniversary
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Phillip’s Cottage, Parramatta c1798. Published in David Collins An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, London, 1798. The cottage was built in 1790 on his Domain, a 3000 acre site (part of which exists as Parramatta Park) farmed by convicts to provide food for the colony. The property which succeeded it became the property known today as Old Government House, Parramatta.
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Arthur Phillip. National Trust Archives
ARTHUR PHILLIP – FOUNDER OF MODERN AUSTRALIA ‘WE WERE ALL ONCE MIGRANTS’ | BY MICHAEL PEMBROKE
This year is the 200th anniversary of the death of the first Governor of the Colony, Arthur Phillip. On 31 August 2014, the anniversary was commemorated by the laying of a plaque in St James Church, King Street, Sydney. It was one of a number of commemorations in Sydney and the United Kingdom, but possibly the most poignant. Michael Pembroke, author of the highly acclaimed book Arthur Phillip – Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy, published this year, gave an address during the ceremony. An abridged version follows.
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rthur Phillip was an Admiral when he died in Bath on this day 200 years ago – no longer a Governor and long since a Captain. He was born in October 1738 on the eve of yet another war with Spain, and died as the Napoleonic Wars were coming to a close. His life was long by the standards of Georgian England – almost 76 years. And it was full – he voyaged further than any but a handful of his contemporaries. Many moving commemorative events have taken place in Britain and Australia in recent months to celebrate Phillip’s life and achievements. The service at St James Church, Sydney, is the culmination, and in some ways, the most poignant. The first service was at Westminster Abbey where a plaque carved from Sydney sandstone was dedicated by the Dean of the Abbey. A wreath was laid by the Duke of Edinburgh, who sang – with great gusto – those immortal words from the naval hymn ‘Oh hear us when we cry to Thee, For those in peril on the Sea!’. Another wreath with patriotic yellow and green colouring, was laid by representatives of the First Fleet Association. The plaque is located in a prominent and central position in the Abbey’s nave, just beyond the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. As you enter through the Great West Door and proceed towards the chancel, you soon come across it. The plaque’s wording states ‘First Governor of New South Wales and founder of modern Australia’. A charming image of a kangaroo appears at the base of the plaque. Phillip’s significance was acknowledged earlier in Australia. As part of the centenary celebrations in 1888, the visionary Sir Henry Parkes commissioned the huge statue that stands just inside the Royal Botanic Gardens opposite the State Library. Phillip is facing towards the Heads at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, the same majestic portal through which he first came, not initially, in a tall ship, but in a longboat rowed by seamen on 21 January 1788. The men in this advance party were the first ever white men to enter what Phillip described as the ‘finest harbour in the world’. They were awed by its beauty, and recorded their observations in their journals. By the time Phillip left, less than five years later, a new European society, built from absolutely nothing, had begun to thrive. Phillip thought the colony would one day become, to use his own words, ‘the Empire of the East’ and ‘the most valuable acquisition Great Britain ever made’. His optimism was justified but the little settlement only survived in its first years because of his personal qualities and the leadership that he demonstrated. By 1788, Phillip was an experienced naval officer who had seen much of the world, commanded men in peace and at war, and was well known and respected in Whitehall. He was cerebral, persistent and painstaking. Most significantly for the evolution of this country’s future values, he was egalitarian, and he possessed that wonderful Enlightenment quality of humanity. Few could have achieved what he did. In his first Australian winter, he wrote from Sydney Cove that he was serving his country and ‘the cause of humanity’. And from the outset, he ensured that the colony was administered as a civil society built on fairness, but subject to the rule of law; not as a mere penal colony governed by military law, let alone simply as a gulag or dumping ground. It is fitting that this year scholarships be inaugurated in Phillip’s name, and that he be remembered in the beautiful St James Church, designed by Francis Greenway, at a service conducted in the presence of the 37th Governor of New South Wales. Phillip was Greenway’s ‘friend and patron’. It was he who recommended Greenway to Macquarie, who rapidly emancipated Greenway and bestowed many commissions on him. In truth, all of us in this land of droughts and flooding rains are indebted to Arthur Phillip. Save for our indigenous brothers and sisters, we were all once migrants. We owe more to Phillip than most of us can possibly realise. He was not just the founder of modern Australia, he set the tone for the generous, liberal and fair minded society that we have become.
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Michael Pembroke is a writer, judge and naturalist. He is a direct descendant of Nathanial Lucas and Olivia Gascoigne, who arrived in Botany Bay in January 1788, and currently lives in the Blue Mountains NSW.
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An outstanding partnership between the National Trust of Australia (WA) and the WA Department of Corrective Services has resulted in a substantial conservation and training outcome in Western Australia’s Midwest.
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ixteen prisoners and two supervisors from Greenough Regional Prison took part in an innovative conservation trades training program in July at historic Cliff Grange, Greenough. The Trust provided materials, equipment, four trainers and project management. The trainers, from Applied Building Conservation Training (ABCT) a subsidiary of HSR Group, specialise in conservation trades. While ABCT has completed similar training projects with prisoners on the east coast, this was the first time the program was undertaken in WA. The 1858 stone building acquired by the National Trust in 1975 was home to three generations of the local Clinch family and is an example of one of the earliest residences in the Greenough/Geraldton region. The trainees received theoretical information, demonstrations and practical experience in the use of lime mortars, preparation of masonry walls, stone repointing techniques and interior rendering on a significant heritage building. Cliff Grange was treated like a regular construction site with regard to care, safety and work practices. The project was also treated like a typical building contract with a client (National Trust), a builder (ABCT) and the prisoners as employees with real work volume targets and quality of work. The conservation nature of the work was also continually emphasised. Much of the preparatory work on the exterior of the building included removal of old cement render and unstable stonework. New lime mortar has provided a solid conservation outcome and an eye catching finish to the building. Completion of the work within five days was a constraint of the training course and, while a project of this nature would normally take several weeks, the combined workforce of 21 including trainees and trainers made this target possible.
Prisoner power brings conservation care ERIC HANCOCK | CONSERVATION OFFICER NATIONAL TRUST (WA)
ABOVE Trainer
Mark Whitcher inspects the old bread oven at Cliff Grange, Greenough in Western Australia. K McAllister brick manufactured in Stourbridge in The Midlands was found in the Cliff Grange garden and likely came from the nearby Clinch’s Mill. K McAllister RIGHT Internal render was stripped back from around the 1870 kitchen fireplace. K McAllister INSET A
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training program
The long term objective is to make the building habitable, usable and income producing. Cliff Grange has remained vacant for more than 20 years. All aspects of the building require conservation and electrical and water services are currently not connected. The trainees’ efforts exceeded all expectations and the target volume and quality of work was met every day. Some of the prisoner trainees showed exceptional aptitude for their new skills which would bring benefits to the right employment opportunity. Two of the Greenough Regional Prison supervisors also completed the course and now have the skills to supervise similar masonry work on a smaller scale. The Trust is keen to continue work on Cliff Grange with similar training projects for other trades. Carpentry and joinery are the next priorities when funding becomes available.
RIGHT Trainees
apply the lime wash to the exterior of Cliff Grange. K McAllister Masonry conservation trainers Mark Whitcher, Keith McAllister, Charles Carr and Jarrad Noël at the completion of the work. E Hancock BELOW CENTRE The delicate internal work took trainees a week to complete. K McAllister BELOW LEFT The completed lime mortaring on the western end of the kitchen at Cliff Grange. K McAllister TOP (L-R)
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Glenfern nurtures Victorian writers IOLA MATHEWS OAM | AUTHOR
One of the luckiest days in my life occurred in 2003, when I phoned the National Trust and asked if they had a little room, somewhere I could write in. I had been a journalist with The Age, but then changed careers and had returned to writing after a long gap. I was working on a novel, but there were too many distractions at home, and I longed for a ‘room of one’s own’ as Virginia Woolf recommended.
ABOVE Glenfern
in East St Kilda, Victoria provides refuge for writers thoughts and words. F Watson Jane Sullivan, Fiona Wood, Simmone Howell, Christian Ryan, Caroline Marshall and Iola Mathews have a soft spot for Glenfern’s ambience and unique caretaking requirements. F Watson TOP (L-R) Writers
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‘We don’t have a room,’ they said, ‘but we have a whole house that’s empty,’ and took me to Glenfern, the Victorian Gothic mansion in East St Kilda. At that stage, Glenfern was empty apart from the Team of Pianists (TOPS), who used it for practice and occasional concerts. I took a room at the back, in exchange for helping the Trust to turn the house into a place where writers could work during the day. I asked the Victorian Writers’ Centre (now Writers Victoria), to help with administering the studios. We raised the money for renovations, and the Centre opened in 2006. There are nine studios, some of which are shared. Writers pay a small rent to cover running costs, and some have their rent covered by fellowships, awarded by Readings Books and the Grace Marion Wilson Trust. Once a month we have lunch together to discuss our writing and give each other support. In the eight years since it opened, nearly one hundred writers have passed through Glenfern, some for just a few weeks, others for up to a year. Most of the authors are published, while others are developing a manuscript into publishable form. The Visitors’ Book at Glenfern records these writers and what they have been doing. Mostly they
ABOVE Young
express amazement at how much writing they did once they got into a silent room without distractions. A typical example is Julie Szego, an ‘Age’ journalist whose true crime book, The Tainted Trial of Farah Jama, was published this year. Her entry reads: After about a year at Glenfern I can look back, stunned, at everything I’ve achieved. I had never written a book before. It was a formidable challenge… Glenfern helped me find my ‘voice’. It gave me peace of mind and calm, which was in short supply at home in an apartment shared with a partner, two young kids, a nanny (sometimes) and a 95 year old relative (sometimes.) This has been a privilege. Other Glenfern writers who have been published include Ramona Koval, author and broadcaster, Jane Sullivan, literary columnist and novelist, Sian Prior whose memoir ‘Shy’ has just been released, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood who are awardwinning Young Adult novelists, GPs Jacinta Halloran and Leah Kaminsky who combine writing with medicine, Dr Leslie Cannold, author of the ‘Book of Rachael’, Sean Dooley, Hoa Pham, Demet Divaroren, Lucy Treloar and Dave Sornig. This year I launched my latest book in the garden at Glenfern. It’s
about my pioneering ancestors, called Chequered Lives: John Barton Hack and Stephen Hack and the early days of South Australia. At Glenfern our caretaking duties include answering the phone at 3am because the burglar alarm has been triggered (sometimes by a bird coming down the chimney), helping writers who lock themselves out of their rooms, inducting new writers into the mysteries of the alarm system, and being there for tradesmen, cleaners, fire equipment inspectors and the like. I have a ‘deputy caretaker’ Fiona Wood, who is particularly good at killing ant infestations and riding shotgun on kitchen cleanliness. While at Glenfern, Fiona has made a transition from television scriptwriter to Young Adult novelist. Her books Six Impossible Things and Wildlife have been published in Australia, shortlisted for numerous awards, and sold into several overseas markets, including the US. Melbourne is a UNESCO city of literature, and Glenfern is a small part of that. We owe a debt of thanks to the National Trust for establishing the studios and providing ongoing support.
Adult authors Fiona Wood and Simmone Howell. F Watson Lives: John Barton Hack and Stephen Hack and the early days of South Australia.
RIGHT Chequered
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Hanworth House rises from the ashes ANNA TEMBY
“It’s amazing how the history of a house can bring so many people together” Marisa Vecchio, owner of historic Hanworth House.
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conic Hanworth House in East Brisbane which was ravaged by fire in 2013 has won a Gold Queensland Heritage Council Award for adaptive reuse. Fire swept through the heart of Hanworth House on 19 March 2013, destroying seventy percent of the original 1864 homestead. It was to be the first of a string of fires at heritage properties in Brisbane, with both the Belvedere Homestead and the Albion Flour Mill completely destroyed by the end of the same year. A painstaking rebuild and restoration by owner Marisa Vecchio over sixteen months has resulted in a fully-restored Hanworth House open in time for its sesquicentenary on the 16 July 2014. Vecchio’s outstanding commitment and dedication to protecting this important part of Brisbane’s heritage has led to the ‘Heart Hanworth House’ Project receiving the John Herbert Memorial Award for best overall nomination at the recent National Trust Queensland Heritage Awards. Marisa Vecchio and the Vecchio Family Trust purchased the thendilapidated Hanworth House in October 2012. The house was intended to be used as boarding accommodation for rural and working women needing a home in Brisbane. Marisa purchased the
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property in memory of her mother, who had recently passed away from the effects of ovarian cancer. She would later discover that she had unknowingly mirrored the actions of previous Hanworth owner, Mary Weinholt, who nearly one hundred years earlier had also purchased the house in memory of her late mother, before opening it as ‘The Hospice’ - a home for poverty-stricken women. Prior to this role, Hanworth House had a long history as a family home. It was constructed in 1864 for Captain George Poynter Heath Esquire of the Royal Navy, and the first Portmaster of Brisbane, and his family. Heath was an Englishman hailing from Hanworth in Norfolk, hence the house’s adopted name. He, his wife and their nine children lived at Hanworth for 25 years before returning to England, when the residence was leased for several years until its eventual sale to Weinholt in 1913. Weinholt gifted “The Hospice” to the Theosophical Society in 1927, on the grounds that it continued to be operated in the same way, which it was for around the next 70 years. In 1995 The Anglican Church purchased the property and renamed it “Hanworth Home for the Aged”, operating it as a home for the elderly for around
Refurbished interior. Hanworth House
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seven years. After closing their doors, the house was once again privately leased for several years before being sold to the Vecchios in 2012. The restoration work began in November 2012 and was only weeks from completion before the devastating fire occurred. Work commenced again in September 2013 after insurance issues brought the project to a standstill for nearly six months. What started as a business decision to restore a nineteen bedroom run down home became a project that would engage the hearts and minds of not just the Vecchios, but also neighbours, friends and the local community. As the parallels in the histories of Mary Weinholt and Marisa Vecchio were gradually revealed, the resolve and passion to see the project through to the end were strengthened. Original plans to separate the house into four smaller residential properties were scrapped and a decision made to heed the building’s already rich and varied history, have provided a solid foundation for its future. Hanworth House has opened as a place of community for women. Its philanthropic purpose is intact and so too its capacity to provide a 100 year tradition of safe and secure accommodation for women.
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Hanworth House
Hanworth House was presented with Gold in the Queensland Heritage Council Awards and was the winner of the John Herbert Memorial Award for the most outstanding nomination.
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elegance of Hanworth House at night. Hanworth House of the interior damage. Josh Bakkum Photography BELOW LEFT Restoration was completed in time for the sequicentenary of the 1864 homestead. Hanworth House BELOW RIGHT The Honourable Andrew Powell MP, Qld Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection, Marisa Vecchio, owner of Hanworth House and John Cotter, Deputy Chair of the Queensland Heritage Council. Tim Nemeth CENTRE Extent
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A new future for
WARD DAVID BUOB | PRESIDENT GLENSIDE HOSPITAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC
South Australia’s former Hospital for Criminal Mental Defectives known as Z Ward has been sold by the State Government to local company Beach Energy. It had been hoped that this State Heritage listed building designed by Edward John Woods, SA Architect in Chief from 1878 to 1886, would become a South Australian medical museum. The new owners are in the process of appointing a heritage architect to oversee their plans to re-use the building as office space. They have met with the National Trust and the Glenside Hospital Historical Society to discuss the site’s future. We are looking forward to working with Beach Energy to achieve an adaptive reuse which respects the building’s significant history and provides for regular public access to parts of the building. BACKBROUND Ground
floor of Z Ward looking north. NTSA
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Ward is an imposing building. The construction of Z Ward for Criminal and Refractory Patients commenced in 1884 with the contract being let to William Pett & Son, builders. One of the particularly significant features is the Ha Ha wall which shielded the inmates from those passing without the need for added security measures at the top, the wall effectively being twice as high on the inside. The polychromatic brickwork technique used by Woods in its design is the most elaborate, sophisticated example of this architectural style in South Australia. Additionally, Woods incorporated ventilation flues into each room and cell as he had done in designing Old Parliament House, the Mortlock Library and Martindale Hall. Fresh air being considered an important element in curing mental illness, the intent was to draw stale air out of each room. Lack of staffing and financial resources prevented the new facility for 45 inmates from opening until 1888. Only a minority of patients accommodated in Z Ward were Governor’s pleasure patients: those acquitted of their crime on the grounds of their insanity. The majority were people convicted of a minor offence, but exhibiting sufficient signs of psychiatric instability that it was thought more beneficial for them to be placed in an asylum rather than in a gaol to serve their sentence. Another small group of patients were those who were considered to be dangerous to themselves or to others.
Originally known as “L Ward”, the name was changed to Z Ward following the installation of telephones throughout the hospital in the 1900s. The mishearing of the name when the telephone was answered led callers to mistake the ”L” for the word “Hell”. Adding a horizontal line to the “L” to form a “Z” reduced the cost of remarking
the ward’s laundry. Z Ward closed in 1973 with the 10 occupants transferred to the Yatala Security Hospital. The National Trust lobbied to save Z Ward from being demolished in 1974. It was then allocated to the Department of Mines and Energy who used it as a core sample library until it was closed in 2003. It has remained empty since. In the 1980s attempts were made to have it considered as a medical museum for SA, an initiative endorsed by the Director of the Wellcome Medical Museum of London. The proposal failed to find favour with the State Government, notwithstanding the successful re-use of similar former institutions in Victoria at Ararat and Beechworth as tourism attractions. The challenge of preserving Z Ward and its extraordinary history has now been entrusted to a new pair of hands.
For further Reading the article entitled “The History of Z Ward” by Robyn Taylor, 1991 which formed one chapter in a Conservation plan prepared by LeMessurier Architects for SACON is highly recommended.
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Entrance to Z Ward, showing the fine polychromatic brickwork which is a feature of the building. NTSA Ha-ha wall at Glenside’s Z Ward is the last intact example of its kind in Australia. This landscaping treatment was a popular feature of Victorian-era lunatic asylums presenting a high wall to inmates but a seemingly innocuous low wall to those outside. NTSA CENTRE The
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Bringing home Urban Heritage Strategies CAROLINE STOKES | CONSERVATION ARCHITECT NATIONAL TRUST (WA)
National Trust of Australia (WA) CEO Tom Perrigo and conservation architects Kelly Rippingale and Caroline Stokes have returned from a three week fellowship opportunity in The Netherlands with fresh ideas and perspectives on sustainable reuse approaches for built heritage.
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n an Australian first, the National Trust representatives were invited to attend an Urban Heritage Strategies program hosted by the Institute for Housing and Urban Development (IHS) at the Erasmus University campus in Rotterdam. Seventeen participants were selected representing five countries and six case studies, each identified as sharing cultural heritage values with the Netherlands. Western Australia’s shared cultural heritage values lie in its rich maritime archaeology, its historic and social values. The Netherlands was the first nation
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to map Australia’s coastline (1606) and Dirk Hartog’s famously inscribed pewter plate was the first European artefact left behind as a record of his visit. The program, which was jointly sponsored by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science) and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was viewed by our Dutch hosts as an opportunity to invest in relationship building between nations and to further explore the program objectives of shared and integrated heritage with innovation and creativity.
An outstanding collection of windmills is a feature of World Heritage Kinderdijk in the Netherlands. K Rippingale Trust Conservation Architect Caroline Stokes graduates from the Heritage Strategies program at Eramus University, Rotterdam. K Rippingale
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The case studies presented a diverse range of urban heritage sites. Participants studied urban historic landscapes such as colonial Dutch forts at Galle in Sri Lanka and Chinsura in West Bengal, India; as well as the Dutch colonial cities of Kota Lama (Jakarta) and Kota Tua (Semarang) in Indonesia. In addition Kurashiki, Japan, is a historic city with extant 17th century canal systems modelled on the Netherlands canals. The National Trust representatives discussed heritage strategies in relation to urban sites in their portfolio. The course focussed on the desire to better integrate heritage with urban planning,
something that the Netherlands is increasingly achieving. Course material reflected this shift from an offensive, protective view of heritage to a more proactive approach to managing change and considering change as an essential, inclusive part of historic identity. In planning policies, this is demonstrated in more private initiatives, less government involvement and in greater civic participation. After three weeks of lectures, tutorials, workshops, site visits and presentations, participants graduated to become part of the IHS Alumni, working to
further urban heritage conservation as an instrument in the spatial planning of cities. In the lead up to the 400th anniversary of the Dutch landing in Western Australia in 2016 the National Trust of Australia (WA) will continue to strengthen its shared cultural heritage ties and professional knowledge and experience with the Netherlands and participating countries of the 2014 Urban Heritage Strategies course.
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International participants focus on case studies during workshops at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development. K Rippingale
A degree of interest in heritage GINA PICKERING | EDITOR
The University of Western Australia (UWA) launched its new Master of Heritage Studies degree in Perth during September. Offered through the Faculty of Arts and the School of Indigenous Studies, the postgraduate program draws on UWA’s international research leaders from a range of disciplines including history, law, archaeology, imagery, Indigenous heritage, tourism, sustainability and museum studies.
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A Heritage Minister, the Hon Albert Jacob launched the new degree program, endorsing its capacity to expand Perth’s profile as a leading centre for heritage in the global economy.
According to UWA Head of School, Humanities and Vice President National Trust of Australia (WA), Jenny Gregory the choice of specialisation between Indigenous and international heritage components is integral to the Masters degree. “We have a partnership with Zhejiang University in China and students from both universities will have unique exchange opportunities. This will be an invaluable experience for UWA students who will be immersed in China’s heritage at time when the Chinese government is providing a strong focus on its heritage. Chinese students will have a unique opportunity to learn about both Western Australia’s Aboriginal and European heritage,” Professor Gregory said. The prestigious British Museum
was also identified as a partner, while a new facility for the School of Indigenous Studies flagged as the ‘Indigenous Knowledge Gateway’, will provide a foundation for those undertaking the program. UWA Vice Chancellor, Professor Paul Johnson described the two year post-graduate program as a strategic opportunity for WA to draw on its strengths. “The course will promote Australia and Western Australia as a world-class living heritage training centre. Heritage degrees that support Indigenous selfdetermination, Closing the Gap initiatives and substantive Indigenous employment and knowledge sharing programs are essential to Australia’s genuine cultural heritage conservation and management,” he said. FOR MORE INFORMATION visit http://goo.gl/7GkBzz
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researchers from UWA’s Master of Heritage Studies include (L-R) Professor Len Collard, Winthrop Professor Jenny Gregory, Associate Professor Grant Revell and Winthrop Professor Benjamin Smith.UWA 21
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Taking protective steps DR ROBYN TAYLOR | COUNCILLOR NATIONAL TRUST (WA)
On a chilly morning, environmentalist and history buff Greg Warburton retraced the 1861 Dempster Expedition in Western Australia from historic Buckland House in Irishtown (near Northam) to the Helena and Aurora Range in July. Located about 100 km north east of the town of Southern Cross, the Range was once known as Mount Kennedy after Governor Kennedy who rewarded the young explorers for their enterprise. One of the younger men was Charles Harper Jnr, the future builder of the National Trust property Woobridge.
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reg set off on 3 July, one hundred and fifty three years to the day when the explorers left Buckland Homestead to explore unknown country to the east. The European members were all young first generation Australians from the Toodyay district. Charles Dempster was the unofficial leader with the other expedition members including Charles’ brother Andrew, Barnard Clarkson, Charles Harper Jnr and Correll, a Noongar man. Making their way eastwards along a route now close to the Great Eastern Highway, the explorers passed through pristine country
that they described as ‘heavily vegetated’. They travelled from one rocky outcrop to another seeking the springs and water holes. They described encounters with wildlife that has since become extinct like the Pig-footed Bandicoot. Their route took them past a chain of salt lakes to reach a range of hills about 100 km north east of the present day town of Southern Cross. They called the range Mount Kennedy. Charles Harper, an amateur naturalist, noted not only the beauty of the range but the great variety of plants to be found there. He took specimens
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that he would deliver to James Drummond, WA’s great pioneering botanist. Charles Harper also collected geological specimens in the hills describing an ore that is ‘unknown to us’. Those specimens would later be identified as iron ore.
Warburton on track to raise awareness about the future of the Helena and Aurora Range. V Warburton expansive natural landscape of the Helena and Aurora Range is situated northeast of Southern Cross in Western Australia. S McNee
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Between the lines After the explorers’ safe return they went on to conduct further expeditions and establish pastoral properties throughout the state. Charles Harper Jnr., the son of Charles Harper the first Anglican minister for the Toodyay district, went on to establish stations in the Murchison, embark upon pearling ventures in the North, establish three newspapers including the Western Mail, build Woodbridge House (now a National Trust property) and start Guildford Grammar School. All of these men became members of Parliament at various times during their careers. A century and a half later, t h e l a n d s c ap e wo ul d b e unrecognizable to the explorers. Ninety-five percent of the native vegetation has been cleared from what is now called the Wheatbelt. Rising salt has affected much of the land and wildlife has suffered with many species extinct. Rainfall averages have declined and feral animals and weeds dominate the eco-system. The beautiful and unique Mt Kennedy (now known as the Helena and Aurora Range and Bungalbin Hill) is under threat of mining. Already other Banded Ironstone Hills in the Yilgarn with their unique landscape, heritage and botanical values have been lost to mining. Groups such as the Wilderness Society and Helena and Aurora Range Advocates Inc. (HARA) are campaigning to have the Range protected within a National Park. One of the most effective approaches is to raise public awareness of this crucial conservation issue for our state. FOR MORE INFORMATION visit www.wilderness.org.au/bungalbin and www.helenaaurorarange.com.au
THE SEARCH FOR HMAS SYDNEY: AN AUSTRALIAN STORY EDITED BY: TED GRAHAM, BOB KING, BOB TROTTER AND KIM KIRSNER PUBLISHER: UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES PRESS REVIEWER: COLONEL (RET’D) ROBERT MITCHELL The details of the background story are now well known. On 19 November 1941 the HMAS Sydney battled the German auxiliary cruiser HSK Kormoran off the Western Australian coast. In a brief engagement, both ships sustained severe damage and later sank. The death of all 645 men of HMAS Sydney together with the survival of more than 300 German sailors left a legacy of grief, debate and controversy which lasted for 67 years. On 17 March 2008 it was announced that the wreck of HMAS Sydney had been found some 20 kilometres from that of HSK Kormoran. The final resting place of HMAS Sydney was under 2,500 metres of water and 112 nautical miles due west of Steep Point in the Shire of Shark Bay. The story of the search for HMAS Sydney was subsequently told in detail in The Search for HMAS Sydney: How Australia’s Greatest Maritime Mystery Was Solved by David L Mearns, leader of the expedition (Harper Collins 2009). Mearns predicted the results of the search would reignite and intensify debates that have simmered and boiled over through the years. He was also confident there was now a body of hard evidence. The Search for HMAS Sydney: An Australian Story, the subject of this review, fulfills these predictions. The editors were central figures of the Finding Sydney Foundation and their book places in context: a decade of collaborative effort to collate the story of HMAS Sydney, its crew and the families left behind; the innovative research procedures undertaken; the forensics of the engagement; the commemorations of the service and sacrifice of the sailors of both vessels. A motivation of the Editors was the belief the discovery could have been made at least ten years earlier. Graham, King, Trotter and Kirsner are convinced the search was delayed by paranormal claims and indifferent historical research which sidelined serious scientific work. Science won out and in March 2008, Mearns on board the vessel Geosounder began a side-scan sonar search. Within 64 hours the wreck of the Kormoran was found 5 km from the predicted site. Some 67 hours later, the wreck of the Sydney was found in its predicted location 20 km to the southeast. This book is commended for its thorough treatment of the context and challenges of the search; the science, forensics, archeological and operational analysis; and the closure provided through commemoration and memorialisation. The detail of personal engagement and knowledge is balanced by concise analysis making it a trusted source for professionals. The human perspective makes it a fitting tribute to the 645 men of the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force and the civilian canteen staff lost on HMAS Sydney. Robert Mitchell is the Curator of the Army Museum of Western Australia. FOR MORE INFORMATION contact
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tedgraham@iinet.net.au
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Spring spectacular at Saumarez Homestead JOHN ATCHISON AND LES DAVIS | NATIONAL TRUST (NSW)
Many NSW National Trust properties have extensive grounds and a rich horticultural heritage which is captivating at this time of year. All Trust gardens rely on teams of green-fingered volunteers to tend their plants, and a number of properties have gone several steps further in recent years and are now displaying the exciting results of projects to recreate the gardens and species of the past.
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he 2ha (4.4 acre) gardens at Saumarez Homestead, Armidale, were planned and constructed by the Saumarez Whites at the turn of the 19th century. Planned on the model of an English prototype, they include
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Garden at Saumarez. J Stevenson
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trees and shrubs from countries worldwide. There remains an amazing and intriguing variety of garden heritage at Saumarez, including a huge Maiden Hair tree (Ginkgo biloba), stormdamaged but saved, Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia), Norway Spruce (Picea abies), Caucasian Fir (Abies nordmanniana) and, rare for New England, a large Camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora). The gardens are divided into a number of distinct sections. The front garden with its aviary and tennis courts included Mrs White’s special interest rose garden. Plants were transferred from the original homestead, supplemented by imports from Ferguson’s Sydney nursery in 1888. Mary’s Garden was developed by Mary White as a cottage garden in the style of Jocelyn Brown. Fenced off during the Second World War it was suffocating under blackberries and weeds until the 1990s when a team of volunteers headed by Alison Affleck started to tackle it. The Vegetable Garden and Orchard are long gone, but the Picking Garden which once supplied the house with a
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Saumarez Homestead: Open 10am to 5pm weekends and public holidays to the public.
profusion of flowers has been re-established, and is loved by visitors who appreciate its views towards the old squatting runs. The Service Area included rainforest items collected by F J White as he rode the wild gullies of cattlestation Aberfoyle. Many found their way into Mrs White’s heated conservatory during the severe New England winters. Garden conservation at Saumarez benefits from detailed records, most of which are archived at the University of New England Heritage Centre. They include a rich photographic collection, F J White’s letter-books, Saumarez Station work diaries and oral history interviews with long serving family employees, such as the Betts. The recent digitising and indexing of hundreds of tiny prints from the Saumarez Collection albums will ensure the authenticity and depth of future research and presentations.
The intriguing variety of rare garden heritage at Saumarez, complemented by its colourful Bluebells, Jonquils and Sparaxis, and superb seasonal flowerings of Paeonia suffruticosa make visits to the gardens a delight. The gardens are cared for on a daily basis by a dedicated team of volunteers, who are keen to conserve the heritage character and plantings. Volunteer training weekends over the last two years featured talks by Anne Philp, a descendant of the White family, who focussed on the people who planned the gardens. The long-abandoned orchard paddock is currently being transformed by the Northern Branch of the Australian Garden History Society into a large heritage rose garden, with many hundreds of roses that have been donated by veteran rose collector, Miss Catherine MacLean.
Open 7 days per week year round for weddings and functions 8am to midnight. 230 Saumarez Road (Enter via Armidale Airport from the New England Highway) Armidale NSW 2350 Bookings/enquiries: 02 6772 3616 or saumarez@nationaltrust.com.au or visit www.nationaltrust.org.au/ nsw/SaumarezHomestead
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in Spring. J Stevenson Stephanie Hunt and Ben Hogarth – a spectacular Saumarez wedding. Chasing Summer Photography, Tamworth
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Clarendon shines again MATT SMITHIES | ACTING MANAGING DIRECTOR NATIONAL TRUST (TAS)
While Clarendon was closed to the public throughout July and August, an intensive program of maintenance and updated interpretation was taking place. With staff and a committed team of volunteers on board, the site was a hive of activity seven days a week in preparation for re-opening.
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xtensive work has been completed by groundsman James Ninness and the Clarendon garden committee with the Parklands looking the best they have for many years. Hawthorn hedges have been laid over and a neighbouring dam drained and redug to increase the size, creating what will become a view from the upstairs windows of the main house of a magnificent lake. Out buildings have been cleaned and
weeds removed. The significant row of structures now sits proudly in the landscape featuring a backdrop of the South Esk River and the Great Western Tiers. The transformation internally to the main house is spectacular. Through the generosity of philanthropist Ros Palmer, the dining room and drawing room are now breathtaking. Ros has not only donated a large amount of furniture, objects and art, she has
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provided direction on completely re-decorating these two rooms through wall colour choice, incredible hand block printed wallpaper, lavish drapes and crystal chandeliers. “The National Trust of Australia (Tas) is most grateful to Ros Palmer, not only has her generosity been humbling, her drive, vision and skill as a designer inspirational,” said Acting Managing Director, Matthew Smithies.
Clarendon is a National Trust property in Tasmania. NTTas Newly laid Hawthorn Hedge row under the direction of Clarendon Groundsman James Ninness. E Papas. Clarendon Visitors are seated on newly conserved Anglo Indian Coaches. E Papas. One of a matching pair of recently conserved Anglo Indian couches, Clarendon Drawing Room. E Papas BOTTOM LEFT TO RIGHT
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Between the lines 100 CANBERRA HOUSES AUTHOR: TIM REEVES & ALAN ROBERTS PUBLISHER: HALSTEAD PRESS 2013, BRADDON ACT REVIEWER: MARCUS BERESFORD, NATIONAL TRUST (SA)
Carney and Garry Cox have reinterpreted the entire second floor of Clarendon, providing visitors with a glimpse into what it may have been like to live at Clarendon 180 years ago. It was a privileged lifestyle which provided a refuge from the isolation and demanding practicalities of running a massive agricultural enterprise in colonial Tasmania. This complex story is told through the careful arrangement of personal items ranging from exquisitely made silk evening gowns from Regent Street, London through to practical leather boots worn in paddocks and stock yards. Clarendon is once again shining as an outstanding National Trust heritage place and as an example of one of the nation’s exceptional colonial homes. FOR MORE INFORMATION visit
www.nationaltrust.org.au/tas/clarendon
Published to coincide with Canberra’s centenary, this attractive, lavishly illustrated and interesting book offers a fascinating survey of the domestic architecture of our national capital. Construction camps were the main form of housing from 1913, although the Administrator had a proper residence, initially of stone and wood, and by 1925, an imposing two storey stuccoed brick house designed by John Smith Murdoch, who was Australia’s first Chief Commonwealth Architect. Murdoch also designed Old Parliament House, Gorman House hostel, and the conversion of Yarralumla to Government House. By the 1920s John Sulman was designing pleasant but basic brick houses for public servants for the Federal Capital Commission. Private architects Oakley and Parkes designed the more stylish Mediterranean and Georgian style houses for senior staff, and the Prime Minister’s Lodge. Harold Desbrowe-Annear designed an attractive English Arts and Crafts style house for the Inspector-General of Forests, a style followed in 1930 by Robert Casboulte in his impressive house for the Whitlam family. Interesting modernist architecture of the 1930s included that of Malcolm Moir and the team at the Federal Capital Commission who produced the Fire Station and associated houses. However many visitors to Canberra will be most familiar with the standard single storey “Georgian revival” houses of Griffith and similar suburbs, of which the home of the Russian defectors, the Petrovs, is a good example. From the 1950s more architecturally interesting housing began to appear, including the work of Robin Boyd, Harry Seidler and Roy Grounds. Some of the more attractive houses of the period were designed by Czechoslovakian Alex Jelinek, or Latvian Rudolf Krastins, while houses designed by establishment architects, such as Leslie Wilkinson or Guilford Bell, were pleasant but rather pedestrian. Houses of the 1960s and 1970s include Robin Boyd’s intriguing square house for the Verge family, John Andrews’ Toad Hall (student accommodation at the Australian National University), and Glenn Murcutt’s very fine but modest house for a university librarian. In the 1980s Harry Seidler was designing some superb town houses, and in the 1990s Geoff Lovie designed a truly remarkable, colourful cube house at Jerrabomberra. Houses of the 2000s are interesting and challenging, with environmental sustainability a strong theme. The selection of housing is eclectic and stimulating. The book is likely to promote new interest in Canberra’s suburbs. Readers may wonder if many other Australian cities (which may have a far greater historical heritage) could muster such an impressive array of 20th century housing.
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Dining Room at Clarendon. E Papas Recently detailed and polished staircase leading into the basement at Clarendon. E Papas LEFT Urn detail, Drawing Room Clarendon. E Papas CENTRE
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International focus on Goldfields Aboriginal Languages Project SUE HANSON | LINGUIST
A partnership between the National Trust of Australia’s Ngalia Foundation and Yale University in the United States is providing valuable linguistic support and further exposure of Western Australia’s Goldfields languages.
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anguage data collected by Field Linguist, Sue Hanson, is sent to the Yale Professor Claire Bowren who leads the students through the development of writing a sketch grammar. For the uninitiated, a sketch grammar describes how a language works including sounds in a language’s speech (phonemes), the letters used to represent the sounds (orthography), the way the words work (morphology) and how sentences are made (syntax). A sketch grammar precedes the writing of a full descriptive grammar which takes between five and ten years work to write. One of the Yale students, Andy Zhang, was so inspired by the classroom work on the Tjupan grammar that he chose to visit the Goldfields and work alongside Hanson to learn about field linguistic methodology. Yale University fully funded Andy’s field visit. He flew to WA and work-shadowed Hanson for two weeks. The detailed grammatical analysis and writing work undertaken by Yale University comes at no cost to the Goldfields project and, in turn, the linguistic students benefit from working with a real language and linguistic experience. Andy’s visit was very successful and has enabled the extension of the Tjupan dictionary from 1,200 to over 1,500 words while greatly expanding the sketch grammar, which provides a foundation for the language. His visit, perhaps more importantly, demonstrated to the Tjupan people that their language was of great importance and the preservation and use of it something that was greatly valued. In 2015 there are plans for the Yale students to work with the data of two additional Goldfields languages. TOP LEFT Kado Muir and Les Schultz discuss a potential language program while at Mt Charlotte, Western Australia. K Dresson TOP CENTRE Historic water catchment near Kellerberrin, Western Australia. K Dresson
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PHOTOJOURNALIST’S VISIT
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Linguistic student, Andy Zhang with (L-R) Tjupan speakers Edna Sceghi, Lorraine Barnard, Lorna Willis-Jones and Edie Ulrich. K Dresson structure to channel water into a nearby dam at Kellerberrin, Western Australia. K Dresson
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Australian Garden History Society STUART READ AND PHOEBE LA GERCHE-WIJSMAN | AUSTRALIAN GARDEN HISTORY SOCIETY
If television programs are anything to go by, history, archaeology and architecture continue a resurgence in popularity, evidenced in programs such as Who’s Been Sleeping in Your House?, Restoration Home, and Grand Designs Australia. These shows only touch the surface of the Australian Garden History Society’s (AGHS) first objective, to promote knowledge and research, encouraging appreciation and concern for our parks, gardens and cultural landscapes as part of Australia’s heritage.
F TOP AGHS members host and are invited to events in private gardens not usually open to the public. AGHS CENTRE Montague Island Kitchen Garden is an AGHS Garden Restoration Project. AGHS BELOW AGHS membership attracts people from a variety of backgrounds. AGHS
ormed in 1980 to bring together people from diverse backgrounds with an interest in garden history, including horticulture, landscape design, landscape architecture and related subjects, the AGHS is a farsighted national not-for-profit organisation with state and regional branches actively researching their neighbourhoods and works to ensure significant gardens and parks are celebrated, better understood and included on local statutory registers. The AGHS works alongside other organisations like the National Trust of Australia, Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, the Royal Australian Historical Society and government heritage agencies in each state. AGHS’s commitment is demonstrated through a number of projects which engage the wider community. Advocacy provides a link between community and government at mostly local and state levels. Supporting others’ submissions about potential impacts on publicly accessible landscapes such as parks and gardens, significant historic trees and avenues as well as heritage listings and protection of our cultural landscapes is an important part of AGHS’s work. The National Trust and AGHS undertake inspiring joint projects through the Garden Restoration Fund. This initiative addresses a key objective and provides practical assistance in the conservation of important historic gardens across Australia. AGHS members are a vibrant, energetic mix of the community – from hands-on ‘dirty’ gardeners, to academics, nursery owners and professionals - who enjoy a busy social program including the National Annual Conference which this year will be attended by more than 220 members in Albany Western Australia. So if you think that uncovering a lost garden border, restoring a fountain, replanting an old orchard or discovering photographs of a previously unknown garden can’t possibly be as exciting as viewing the final walk-through of a newly restored house on the other side of the world, don’t take our word for it: come and see for yourself! FOR FURTHER INFORMATION visit www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au or call our national office 1 800 678 446
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HOUSE TOUR:
T’was The Night Before Christmas CHRISTMAS AT THE JOHNSTON COLLECTION 2014-15
the johnston collection
Christmas comes spectacularly to life in Fairhall house-museum with exquisite creations, not just decorations, from over 90 contributors, this year led by The Geelong Artisans Group. THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2014 – TUESDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2015 FAIRHALL a house-museum with a superb collection of Georgian, Regency & Louis XV antiques regularly rearranged within a domestic setting
The leader in concern for and
LECTURES & WORKSHOPS an extensive and varied series
conservation of significant cultural
FRIENDS enjoy the benefits IndIvIdual & group bookIngs avaIlable on: www.johnstoncollection.org +61 3 9416 2515 info@johnstoncollection.org
landscapes and historic gardens through committed, relevant and sustainable action.
The Johnston Collection is an independent not-for-profit museum
AGHS MEMBERSHIP OFFERS
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State based specialist lectures, seminars, and garden tours
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Attendance to the Annual National Conference
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Discover Australia’s National Trust heritage places and have a great day out!
Access to historic gardens and working bees
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4 issues per year of Australian Garden History Journal
National Trust members gain FREE and discounted entry* *except for special events
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Other publications www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au
1800 678 446
www.nationaltrust.org.au
31
TRUST NEWS AUSTRALIA NOVEMBER 2014
LIM
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Magnificent Australia
Heritage Air Tour 2015 2 D E PA R T U R E S
July 16 & August 21
15 DAYS S 17 SEAT E PA PER D
RT U R
E
NATIONAL TRUST MEMBERS PRICE EXCLUSIVE SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNT ON PUBLISHED FARE With 30 years of exploratory air touring throughout the continent, Flight Through The Spectacular Land Of The Dreamtime Pty Limited has created for National Trust members an extraordinary itinerary of remote Australia and the founder and director of these tours, David Marks has been acknowledged as the pioneer of modern day air touring in Australia. During the “dry season” - July and August 2015, two only departures will realize lifelong ambitions to experience a vast expanse of Australia, visiting destinations of world importance for wilderness and cultural heritage. The diverse and exciting itinerary includes specially arranged visits to ancient rock art sites in the Kimberley and in stone country of western Arnhemland. Also included is a rare opportunity for cultural exchange with Aboriginal saltwater people in remote eastern Arnhemland. Extensive surface touring by vehicle and boat on inland waterways is provided with expert or informed commentary. NATIONAL TRUST MEMBERS WANTING TO JOIN EITHER OF THE TWO DEPARTURES ARE URGED TO APPLY WITHOUT DELAY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT, AS EACH DEPARTURE IS LIMITED TO 17 PASSENGERS.
ENQUIRIES AND BROCHURE: Flight Through The Spectacular Land of the Dreamtime Pty Limited Level 57, MLC Centre, Martin Place, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2000
Phone: (02) 9230 7070 Fax: (02) 9238 7633 Email: info@dreamtimebyair.com.au
www.dreamtimebyair.com.au