Author Archives: Dr Melanie Piddocke
A Tale of Two Rosebuds
Last year I wrote about the Eleanor, the 22 foot motor launch built in 1913 by Henry Charles Rose and now on display at the Mackay Museum. The Eleanor’s story continues to evolve, with the identification of further items relating to her sister ships, Rosebud and Rosebud II, also held in the collection at Mackay Museum.
Rosebud was the first vessel built by Henry Rose, probably around 1907. Rosebud was an active participant in Mackay Regatta Club races, and in 1908 won the Ainslie Cup. Rose also sailed the 18ft open vessel to Bowen to participate in regattas there. But in 1909 one of these cruises caused considerable anxiety when the boat failed to arrive in Bowen when expected. Search parties were making ready to depart Mackay when Rosebud was sighted still making her way to Bowen, having been delayed by contrary currents. The return trip to Mackay caused even more problems, with strong headwinds forcing Rosebud and her crew to shelter at Repulse Island for three days. Rosebud was eventually spotted by the Harbour Master, who happened to be working in the area on overhauling navigation marks, and taken aboard the steamer Relief for transport back to Mackay.
A race on the Pioneer River, c.1910, with Rosebud or Rosebud II at far left. Private Collection.
The following year Henry Rose dismantled Rosebud and used her copper fastenings and fittings to make a new 18 foot skiff, Rosebud II. Launched in 1911, Rosebud II’s maiden sail was an eventful one. Caught in breakers and a sudden squall at the mouth of the Pioneer River, the boat capsized and, with her crew clinging to the upturned hull, drifted out to sea. After nearly an hour in the water the exhausted crew were rescued, but weather conditions prevented retrieval of Rosebud II. She was towed back to shore the following day and during the retrieval operation her mast was broken. Fitted with a new mast, Rosebud II continued to compete in Mackay Regatta Club races, and won the Andrew Cup in 1913.
In investigating some sail bags stored with the Eleanor at the Mackay Museum recently, we discovered a set of sails which correspond to a photograph of a sailing skiff believed to be either Rosebud or Rosebud II. The distinctive kangaroo emblem is evident in the photograph and on the surviving mainsail, which also has the remnants of a sail number ‘6’ visible. Whether the sails belong to Rosebud or Rosebud II, or were possibly used on both vessels, is not yet clear.
Exposed to the elements and pushed to their limits to coax every bit of speed from a craft, sails have a hard life and surviving historic examples are rare. To therefore have sails from the first decade of the 20th century, associated with a well-documented vessel, builder, and crew, and complemented with photographs and other associated items make the Rosebud sails in the collection something of a museum jackpot. This collection of maritime objects at Mackay Museum continues to enhance our understanding of recreational boating in early 20th century Mackay, and the people who enjoyed it.
A slice of sailing history
As Museum Development Officers, significance assessments of community collections are a regular and important part of our work. Responding to a request for an assessment and funded by the Community Heritage Grants programme administered by the National Library of Australia, I recently had the opportunity to undertake an assessment of the Lord Howe Island Museum collection.
The collection at the museum is diverse, and represents the island’s history from its discovery only a few weeks after the arrival of the First Fleet in Port Jackson, through its days as a provisioning stop for the American whaling fleet, to an idyllic holiday destination and hotspot of biodiversity. The museum documents these events through objects as well as an exceptionally rich collection of photographs, books, and other archival material. But one particular sub-collection struck both a personal and professional chord with me.
Sailing to Lord Howe Island has always presented mariners with a challenge. Surrounded by the notorious Tasman Sea and with the nearest land 600kms away there is nowhere to hide from bad weather. But with an increasing interest in cruising sailing from the 1920s, recreational yachtsmen began setting course for more distant shores. Tourism on Lord Howe Island was also becoming an important industry at the time, with Burns Philp running a small passenger service alongside cargo on their Sydney – Lord Howe Island – Norfolk Island supply run. Assured of an ocean adventure with an hospitable reception on arrival, Lord Howe became an alluring goal for recreational yachtsmen.
Visiting yachts would often present their island hosts with a commemorative photograph of their vessel, and a number of these are held in the museum’s collection. A frequent visitor during the 1930s was the yacht Wanderer. Built in 1928 and owned by Norman Wallis, Wanderer undertook her first voyage to the island within a few months of her launch. The museum collection includes an original scrapbook of the Wanderer, which documents her racing and cruising career through to Norman Wallis’ death in 1965.
Of particular relevance to the Island’s history is the Wanderer’s participation in the search for the missing motor launch Viking. The Viking was a newly built vessel owned by island resident Gower Wilson. At the beginning of November 1936 she left Port Macquarie bound for Lord Howe Island with Gower Wilson, his son Jack and a crew of four Sydneysiders on board. When the Viking failed to arrive at her destination after ten days the alarm was raised, and Norman Wallis lost no time in setting out on Wanderer to assist in the search. Wallis and Gower Wilson had become firm friends during the former’s island visits. During the search Wanderer herself nearly became a victim of the sea, and limped back to Sydney with a broken rudder after 15 days searching. No trace of the Viking or her crew were ever found. Gower Wilson had been a regular host for many visiting yachts so his loss was keenly felt not only by the tiny population on the island, but also by the wider yachting community.
The museum’s collection documents more modern yachting history as well, with the local postmistress Hazel Payten maintaining a register of visiting yachts from the late 1960s into the 1980s. For those with an eye for yachting history a number of well-known skippers and vessels can be spotted, but perhaps most notable amongst these is the tiny 12ft sloop Acrohc Australis with skipper Serge Testa. Acrohc Australis stopped at the Island in 1987 during her voyage around the world, which had commenced in 1983. Serge and his homemade vessel still hold the record for the smallest sailboat ever to complete a circumnavigation of the world. Acrohc Australis now has a home at the Queensland Museum.
A tale for our time
On 25 April 1910, Rachel Rose Campbell of Kilburnie Station married James Joseph Daley in Johannesburg, South Africa. The couple had eloped there as the groom’s Catholic faith meant John and Elizabeth Campbell considered him an unsuitable match for their daughter. Ironically, John and Elizabeth had themselves eloped to Australia in 1873.
Over a year later Rachel and James’ first child, John Campbell Daley, was born in Johannesburgh. Sometime between this event and the birth of their second child Elizabeth Brydges in 1913, the family moved to the town of Alsask in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Alsask was a relatively new settlement, declared a village in 1910, and a town by 1912. By 1916, it had a population of 300. It seems the Daley’s took up farming land, and two more children – Sheila and Peggy – were born in 1915 and 1917.
In November 1918, tragedy struck when Rachel and James succumbed to the Spanish Flu within days of each other, leaving their four young children alone and orphaned. Family legend maintains that the eldest children, aged only six and seven at the time, kept their infant sister Peggy alive by feeding her powdered milk until concerned neighbours discovered the children’s plight.
The children’s aunt, Beryl Anderson Campbell, was serving in London at the time as a Matron in the Australian Army Nursing Service. On hearing of the death of her sister and brother-in-law, Beryl applied for early discharge from the service, stating “I have been asked to proceed to Canada, to act as guardian to these young children, wind up the estate left by my Brother-in-law, and take the children with me to Australia.” Discharge was granted, and Beryl departed for Canada in September 1919.
The Daley children came to live at Kilburnie Station with a family and in a country they had never known. The youngest child Peggy was adopted by her aunt Alice, while Jack, Elizabeth, and Sheila were raised by their unmarried aunts May and Ruby. The sale of lands which had belonged to their parents in Canada helped to fund private educations for the children. Both Sheila and Jack subsequently served in WWII – Sheila as a nurse, witnessing the fall of Singapore, and Jack as a pilot in the RAAF. He was killed on a mission over the Middle East in August 1942.
More information and images of the Campbell family of Kilburnie Homestead can be found on their website and Facebook page
Carl Zoeller & Co
While undertaking the significance assessment of the collection at Greycliffe Homestead recently (see here), I came across a small stoneware bottle of a patented cold branding solution. While the story of the branding solution itself is interesting, this little bottle has surprising links to much wider stories in Queensland’s history.
The firm of Carl Zoeller & Co was established in Brisbane in 1895 by German immigrant Carl Zoeller. Zoeller had arrived in Australia from his native Germany ten years before. Initially, the business imported and supplied surgical instruments, but later branched into veterinary supplies and began manufacturing some of their own products. By 1916, the firm employed 35 people and had a prestigious Queen Street address. Zoeller married in Australia, had four children, and was naturalized in 1908.
The bottle of cold branding solution at Greycliffe Homestead
This cold branding solution was patented by New Zealand firm De-Lisle-Luttrell in 1904, and was promoted as a humane alternative to fire branding. The major attraction of chemical branding solutions, however, was that they would leave the skin undamaged for future use as hides. At the time it was estimated that the loss of value in hides damaged by fire branding was £100,000 annually in Queensland. Zoeller became the main Queensland importer of the De-Lisle-Luttrell product, and spent three years and considerable expense in extensive testing before marketing the product.
Zoeller’s success began to unravel with the outbreak of war with Germany in 1914. Following an order sent to a Stockholm firm for a small number of German made surgical instruments, Zoeller became the first person to be convicted under the Trading with the Enemy Act 1914. Zoeller, who had always been a staunch supporter and promoter of his adopted land, was fined £100. He remained insistent that his allegiance was to Australia, publishing in The Brisbane Courier in December 1915 that, “Messrs. Carl Zoeller and Co., Ltd., announce that they are a purely Australian house, that every penny of capital is Australian money, and that every penny of the firm’s profits is faithfully spent in this country.”
Zoeller’s internee identification photograph from Holdsworthy
Zoeller’s naturalization and allegiance to Australia were not enough to save him from the wave of suspicion that permeated Australian society at the time, and in March of 1916 Zoeller was suddenly arrested, together with two other prominent German businessmen in Brisbane, and sent to Holsworthy internment camp. Zoeller remained interned for the duration of the war, and the separation from his family was clearly hard to bear. But worse was yet to come. In 1919 his naturalization was revoked and he was deported to Germany, leaving his family behind in Australia. Zoeller returned to a Germany that had been politically and economically crippled by the past five years of conflict, and the prospects for a man who had not been resident there for over 30 years were not bright.
Zoeller made numerous applications to return to Australia and be reunited with his family, all of which were denied. Applications for citizenship to New Zealand were also unsuccessful. He finally received citizenship in South Africa, where he again set up a business. Continued separation from his family and the anger and resentment he felt for his years of internment overwhelmed him however, and in November of 1926 he took his own life. Zoeller and his family are just some of the many uncounted victims of the fear and prejudice created by war.
This bottle is an interesting example of how a seemingly mundane object can unlock many more powerful stories. Queensland Museum also holds some items relating to both Zoeller’s commercial and private life, including some touching mementos from his time in internment.
The little ship that could
Recreational boating is an avidly pursued pastime in the tropical waters around Mackay, and this was as true 100 years ago as it is today. In 1914, local carpenter Henry Charles Rose completed his 22ft (6.7m) motor launch Eleanor and launched her at Cremorne. Rose had built two other boats – the Rosebud and Rosebud II – but it was the Eleanor, named after his mother who had died the previous year, that he kept for himself.
Eleanor did not have to wait long to show off her style. The Port Denison Sailing Club in Bowen announced an aquatic carnival would take place over Easter 1914, and the Mackay Regatta Club was well represented with 65 people making their way north by various watercraft. Little Eleanor was tasked with transporting the official time keeper for the event, and made the trip to Bowen in an impressive 15 hours. Eleanor placed second in her division, winning £1 in prize money, although “…in the opinion of the Mackay officials and the Bowen official, who accompanied the Eleanor, that she was really entitled to first place, the Regatta Club is officially writing the Bowen Club on the subject.” (Daily Mercury, 16 April 1914). Although the protest was carefully considered, it was resolved that it was not received in time and the placings stood. Eleanor nevertheless had a pleasant trip back to Mackay a few days later, overnighting at Lindeman Island on the way.
Port Denison Sailing Club Easter Regatta, April 1914, in which the ‘Eleanor’ took part. Image courtesy of State Library of Queensland, 26749.
Henry Rose continued to enjoy his little craft around Mackay. Shortly after the excursion to Bowen, the Eleanor was again in the news. On the 18 May, 1914, the Daily Mercury reported “Quite a number of launches and auxiliaries were out yesterday. The Electron, Lassie, Swan, and Rob Roy went to Round Top, while the Eleanor went to Slade Rock. The Eleanor called in at Slade Point, and shipped a large “knee” to be utilised in the big motor launch being constructed by Messrs. J Fourro and J. Phillips. Fishing, oystering, and sea bathing were indulged in, and all the boatmen appeared to put in a good time, the weather outside being fine.” The following year the Eleanor returned again to Bowen for the now annual Easter regatta, but this time appeared as a spectator vessel only.
It was, however, following the devastating cyclone of 1918 that the Eleanor really came into her own. All vessels in the Pioneer River were sunk or grounded and the little Eleanor, found outside the police station in Brisbane Street, was the only vessel to survive in tact. She was quickly put to use in making contact with areas cut off by the flood, and in ferrying messages between the town and ships which started to arrive off Mackay in the weeks following the disaster. The Eleanor became a vital link between the north and south banks of the river, and with the outside world.
Henry Rose retained ownership of the Eleanor until his death in 1977, when she was sold to some fisherman. Some time later however, she was abandoned and neglected in Eimeo Creek. In 1987 she was retrieved by the Maritime Archaeological Association of Mackay and donated to the Mackay Museum. Eleanor can still be seen on display here, a significant part of the important maritime history of the region.
Significance
Significance. It’s a term we use frequently in museums. But what does it actually mean, and how can we apply it to our collections? Having just undertaken site visits to two collections for significance assessments, and with the Community Heritage Grants open to fund significance assessments, now seems like a good time to dip a toe in the sea of significance.
Understanding significance provides us with a framework to explain why an item or collection is important or valued. Through research and an application of a standard set of criteria, we are able to define the characteristics that make an object or collection significant without reference to personal interests. We can apply the principles of significance to managing our collections on an almost daily basis.
Significance 2.0 is the guiding document for understanding how to use significance. It explains the four primary criteria (historic; artistic or aesthetic; scientific or research; social or spiritual) and four comparative criteria (provenance; rarity or representativeness; condition or completeness; interpretive capacity).
I have recently conducted two site visits for significance assessments, at Greycliffe and Kilburnie Homesteads in the Banana Shire. These assessments have an added dimension as both buildings are on the state heritage register. The built heritage has therefore already been identified as significant, so how the collection relates to the building and allows it to be interpreted needs to be considered.
By applying the significance criteria to the collections at Greycliffe and Kilburnie Homesteads I am able to identify in what ways they are significant. Both have historic significance for their ability to demonstrate a pattern of life (particularly pastoralism, but the collection at Greycliffe also encompasses other industries important to the region, such as dairying and cotton growing). Perhaps unusually, both also have items of artistic or aesthetic significance. This is especially the case for Kilburnie, once the home of noted artist Ruby Campbell. Not only is the collection rich in her works, but also those of other artists she collected. And finally, both collections have considerable research significance, with a wealth of archives and photographs providing a fertile ground for potential researchers. As for the comparative criteria, the majority of both collections have good provenance, are in good condition, and have very high interpretive value, allowing their custodians to tell compelling stories about the history of their region.
While I undertake further research into these collections to provide their custodians with a comprehensive significance assessment, consider how you might be able to apply the criteria to your collection. If you have questions about significance, ask your local MDO – they will be happy to guide you!
80 year anniversary for Mackay’s harbour
On 26 August 1939 Queensland Premier William Forgan Smith officially opened Mackay’s new harbour. The construction had commenced in 1935 and was the largest infrastructure project undertaken in the region to date. But the journey to that point had been long and fraught with difficulty.
Mackay’s original port was situated in the Pioneer River and had been an official port since 1863. Aside from being the only means of importing goods and materials for the budding settlement, Mackay’s port quickly became vital for the rapidly developing sugar industry. The port had a problem, however. The river was shallow and had a large tidal range which restricted the entry of large vessels, and even small craft were left high and dry at low tide. This meant that bagged sugar had to be loaded on to small vessels in the river, which then had to wait for high tide to make their way out to larger ships moored off Flat Top Island (lying about 4 kilometers from the river mouth) and transfer the sugar across. Similarly, passengers would travel out to large steam ships waiting at Flat Top Island and be swung between vessels in canvas bags.
Over the years a number of solutions were proposed in order to provide deep water access to Mackay, but most were discounted due to impracticality or expense. In 1913 work was begun on the construction of a rail viaduct connecting Flat Top Island to the mainland, but after considerable expenditure in the preparation of infrastructure for the project, it was determined that the sandy bottom into which the foundations of the viaduct would be laid were too unstable and the project was abandoned in early 1914.
In 1927 James Love, a member of the Mackay Harbour Board, suggested the construction of two stone breakwalls leading out from the shore north of the river mouth to form a harbour. Love’s scheme had many points in its favour – by this time any improvements to the river were considered impractical, the harbour location was close to Mackay, rock for the walls could be easily obtained from nearby Mt Bassett, and it’s location allowed room for expansion in the future. But at over £800,000 it was extremely costly.
Love’s plan may have remained nothing more than that if Forgan Smith hadn’t been elected Premier of Queensland in 1932. Forgan Smith had served as Member for Mackay since 1915 and was committed to seeing a resolution to the city’s port woes and was a strong supporter of Love’s plan. In 1933 he negotiated a loan from the State Government of £1,000,000 plus an additional £250,000 grant in order to construct the harbour.
Queensland Premier William Forgan Smith delivering a public address at the laying of the foundation stone, 14 September 1935. NQBP Collection
Work began in 1935 with the construction of road and rail links between Mt Bassett quarry and the harbour site. A Telpher crane was constructed for the project which was stabilized by two large sea anchors on either side and ran on rails to carry rock along the walls. A serious setback was encountered in early 1938 when wind and waves generated by a nearby cyclone breached the partially constructed walls causing the Telpher crane to collapse into the sea. Most of the crane was salvaged, repairs were made, and work continued. Then, weeks before the planned opening in July 1939, soundings revealed the harbour was still too shallow and extra time was required to allow additional dredging to take place.
On 26 August 1939 the Sydney Star of the Blue Star Line sailed into the new harbour, carrying dignitaries on board for the official opening ceremony. A few weeks later, the first shipment of sugar left the harbour.
As MDO for Central Queensland I recently collaborated with North Queensland Bulk Ports to create a display to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the opening of the harbour. NQBP’s archives hold a significant and beautiful collection of images detailing the construction of the harbour from 1935 to the opening in 1939, a selection of which I scanned for use in the final display. In their collection NQBP also have a number of significant items including souvenirs from the opening ceremony, an original programme from the day, contracts for the work and materials for the construction of the harbour, annual reports through the construction period, and artist’s impressions. Digitized images and text were displayed on a large fabric cube. This, together with some of the original items for the collection, formed part of the celebrations organised by NQBP over the weekend to mark the 80th anniversary of the harbour opening. Over 3000 people attended the event, demonstrating the important role the harbour has played in both the economic and social life of Mackay over the past 80 years.
Pioneer Valley Museum Open For Business!
It has been a long road for the volunteers at Pioneer Valley Museum since a leak during the rain event in February forced them to close and empty their museum (see Water damage at Pioneer Valley Museum). But they have tirelessly persisted, and today they will open their doors to the public for the first time.
The volunteers have approached their new display layout with a focus on telling significant regional stories. The result is a well-structured, informative, uncluttered and engaging display space. Every surface has been painstakingly cleaned, and each showcase has been relined using archival blue board and calico giving them a bright crisp look. New labels have been written and produced on foam core.
One of the challenges for the new display was to find a practical solution for the layout of the egg collection. Due to the fragile nature of the items we wanted to create a display that would minimise handling and allow the eggs to easily be transferred to storage if necessary without having to repack them. The solution – a box with two removable layers of foam to allow the eggs to sit clear of the box for display, then be recessed into the box by removing a layer of foam for storage. Each egg had its own foam nest cut for it. This design means the volunteers can also swap out different egg trays for display.
The volunteers at Pioneer Valley Museum have achieved a remarkable amount in a short space of time. They have packed down and stored their entire museum, negotiated cleaning and repairs to their damaged building, spent countless hours and elbow grease cleaning walls and relining showcases, and redesigned and redeveloped their displays. They are all probably too tired to enjoy their success at the moment, but I hope they have the opportunity to savour it as they welcome visitors to their wonderfully refreshed museum in the coming weeks.
Water damage at Pioneer Valley Museum
While all eyes were on Townsville during the floods at the beginning of the year, the steady rain also occurring in the Mackay region was creating its own style of disaster at the Pioneer Valley Museum west of Mackay.
While the museum was closed over the Christmas/New Year period, the gutters were overwhelmed by the rain, which found its way down the inside of the walls and soaked across the carpet. Fortunately most objects escaped major damage but the volunteers came back to open their building in February to be greeted by a strong smell of mould and carpets that were somewhat furrier than usual.
At the time the damage was discovered, I was busy helping with flood recovery in Townsville, but on my return to Mackay I assisted the volunteers in setting up some damp textiles to dry and to liaise with Mackay Regional Council (who own the building) about what needed to be done. It was clear the entire carpet needed to be pulled up and replaced, as the water had spread over a large area and no amount of cleaning and drying would fully remedy the problem. Without complete replacement, mould and damp would become a recurring issue.
This left the volunteers with the mammoth task of packing down their entire display so that showcases could be moved around to allow removal of the damaged carpet and replacement with a new one. The small but dedicated group of volunteers accomplished this over a few very intense weeks, in time for the scheduled date for furniture removal and carpet replacement.
Last week Sue Valis from the Museum of Tropical Queensland and myself assisted the Pioneer Valley Museum volunteers with the next stage of their recovery. The volunteers have very wisely opted to turn their misfortune to advantage by taking the opportunity to reorganise and rethink their displays to allow some objects to be rested and new stories to be told. With the new carpet in place, I helped them plan a new layout, while Sue demonstrated how to cover archival blue board with calico to make attractive and safe bases for showcases. With many of the showcases previously lined with carpet, this is an effective way to not only enhance the appearance of the showcases but to improve the conditions in which the objects will be displayed.
While this was not a disaster on the scale of Townsville, the situation at the Pioneer Valley Museum is a timely reminder that a seemingly small incident can have long term effects on the operational capacity of museums, to say nothing of the strain they can place on volunteers and financial resources. Pioneer Valley Museum remains closed to visitors while they continue to put their museum back together, but they will open again before long with some beautifully refreshed displays of their significant collection.
“In the Path of the Storm” – Mackay’s 1918 cyclone
Last month four museums in the Mackay region collaborated on an exhibition to mark the 100th anniversary of the cyclone which struck the region on January 20th 1918. The exhibition was valuable in not only gathering together information and objects to commemorate this devastating event, but also in acting as a timely reminder of our continued vulnerability to severe weather events.
The cyclone, considered a category 4 in today’s system, caused widespread devastation from Mackay and down the coast as far as Yeppoon and Rockhampton. It was responsible for substantial losses in the sugar and beef industries, and claimed 30 lives in Mackay. Mackay Museum, Greenmount Homestead, Pioneer Valley Museum, and Sarina District Historical Centre collaborated with the assistance of Mackay Regional Council and the MDO programme to gather together information, photographs and objects to create “In the Path of the Storm”. By combining in this way to produce the exhibition, the museums were able to present a region wide interpretation of the event and its impacts.
By the very nature of the event the museums were commemorating, objects were going to be hard to come by. But the museums demonstrated what treasure troves community collections can be. Greenmount Homestead contributed a diary kept by Albert Cook at the time of the cyclone as well as an impressive print by Tom Roberts which had been water damaged at the homestead during the cyclone, and which still bore the watermarks. Mackay Museum contributed a model of the brave little Eleanor, the only vessel to survive the cyclone intact and which was crucial in the recovery efforts in the days following the cyclone, when Mackay was completely isolated from the rest of the world. The original vessel is on display at the Mackay Museum. On loan to Mackay Museum from the Queensland Museum collections were the twisted remains of the Brinawarr, a steamship which broke free from its moorings during the cyclone and crashed into the bridge over the Pioneer River, severing communications between north and south Mackay. The remains of the Brinawarr were only rediscovered during the construction of a new bridge in 2009.
The exhibition was held in the Jubilee Community Centre and was the first major exhibition in this new space created from the former library. Community response to the exhibition has been enthusiastic, with many visitors engaging through opportunities to tell their own family’s story of the cyclone. One hundred years on, memories of the event passed down are still painful and vivid.
The exhibition banners have now left the Jubilee Community Centre and begun a tour of the region, first stop Melba House at Marian. So keep a weather eye for the banners coming to a venue near you!
Queensland Museum & community collections 