ADHS Newsletter No. 197 OCTOBER, 2001
Items of interest:
- Federation photographic exhibition at Lexton. Names mentioned – Jack Naylor, Jolly Family, Mary Briody (nee Costello), George and Jane Miles, John Roxburgh, the Baulch and Retallick families, Harry Lofts, James Scullin (former Prime Minister).
- Snippets from the past (1967). Names mentioned – Mr & Mrs M Purcell, Cr T Hanley, Mr. C.M. Rowland, Mr. P. Ross, Mr. R. Rose, Messrs. I. Bartlett, D. Harkin, J. Walker. A Poole (obituary), Frank and Jock Iles, Keith McDonald, Ron Anderson, Bill Durant, Vern Neil, Rev. Tutty, Mr. M.W. Dawson. Mrs. P. Trickey, E. Streeter, Mrs. J. Wardlaw, Miss B. Reeves.
- Local people who voted in the 1899 Victorian Federal Election. Names mentioned – ABBOTT Christopher Farmer ABBOTT Thomas Farmer ABBOTT Powley Farmer BENNETT Alexander Farmer BENNETT Edward Farmer BENNETT Caleb Farmer BERKENSHAW Frederick Farmer BENNETT Edward Farmer BERKENSHAW William Farmer ENGLISH Joseph Farmer ENGLISH Robert Farmer GEARIN Andrew Farmer GLOVER Samuel Farmer GEARIN Michael Farmer GORDON James Farmer GILSENMAN Alfred Farmer GORDON Thomas Farmer GILSENMAN Edward Farmer GORDON Thomas A. Farmer HAYES William J. Farmer HENDERSON William Farmer JONES John O. Farmer JONES William F. Farmer LEMINGTON John Farmer LEMINGTON Thomas Farmer MILLER Edward Farmer MILLS George Grazier MILLER Frederick Farmer MILLS George Jnr. Grazier MURRAY Alexander Farmer NEYLAND Edward M. Farmer NICHOLSON Joseph Farmer NEYLAND James Farmer ROBERTSON Charles Carter ROBINSON John Farmer SHAW Charles R. Farmer STEAD Robert Farmer SMITH William Farmer STEWART William Carter WALKLEY Alfred Farmer WALKLEY Peter Farmer WALKLEY Henry Farmer WINCHESTER William Farmer HOWLETT Thomas Blacksmith JAMES Richard Furrier NOONAN Daniel Farmer NOONAN John Labourer NOONAN Edward Publican NOONAN William Farmer NOONAN Edward Butler SHIELDS John Farmer START Francis Farmer START Edward Farmer START George Farmer WILKINSON Emil Labourer.
Federation Photographic Exhibition at Lexton – On Sunday, 21st October, members gathered at the Lexton Public Hall to view the excellent Federation Photographic Exhibition, Looking At Life In the Lexton District From 1901 to 2001, an initiative of the Lexton Progress Association as part of the district’s Federation celebrations.
The display was suitably enhanced with the Australian flag proudly displayed, a Federation arch of red, white and blue lengths of sateen artistically draped round a framework, and the ceiling decorations which featured a centrepiece of the Federation logo with streamers radiating from it to all the farthest points of the hall (this was created for the old-time concert held last March).
Visitors were guided to the display stand marked “Pre-1901” and then proceeded to move systematically around the hall, with each stand covering a decade of the century. Many stands gave a time line of national and international events which marked that particular decade, adding interest to the material on display. Every aspect of life in the district was photographically displayed, with many photos evoking memories of yesterday among the older folk – the days when rabbiting helped eke out a living, drying fox skins, loading bales of wool on to bullock wagons, or wagons drawn by a team of horses, the old threshing machines and horse-drawn portable steam engines, the adjustable roof for haystacks patented by Jack Naylor, digging dams, etc.
The social, school, church and sporting life of the area was shown with happy groups at dances and debutante balls, wedding portraits (at least one of those brides was present on the day!), and family portraits, photos of the churches in earlier days, many sporting teams and school groups. The two World Wars were represented with portraits of some of the local men who served their country, and some lovely silk embroidered cards from WWI were displayed.
The students at the Lexton and Amphitheatre Primary Schools submitted excellent entries in the competition and gave the judges quite a task in selecting the prize winners. The children are to be congratulated for the thought and research they put into their entries about ‘something old’, covering many things from a windlass to a washing machine.
The Jolly family tree created much interest. It shows eleven generations from 1730-1990 and brings in many family connections in the district. William and Rachel Jolly and three sons arrived in the colony at the end of 1852. In 1856, William took up employment as an overseer at Mt. Mitchell, where he worked until 1875, whilst his son, William Junior, and his wife, Susan (nee Jenkins) also worked for the Robertsons at Mt. Mitchell, followed by their son, also William. Cr. Neil Hamer, in officially opening the display, mentioned his interest in this family tree, he himself being a descendant shown on the chart.
Other names of pioneers and their descendants well represented in the display were Catherine and George Naylor, Mary Briody (nee Costello), George and Jane Miles, John Roxburgh, the Baulch and Retallick families, among others. A stand marked “Trawalla” featured a photo of its famous son, James Scullin, who was born there on 18th September, 1876, the son of Irish migrants, the father being a gatehouse keeper at a railway crossing just east of the Trawalla Station when young James was born. James Scullin became the first native-born Prime Minister of Australia in 1929.
A great afternoon was had by all who attended, with many visitors from Melbourne, Ballarat, Shepparton, Beaufort and surrounding districts mingling with the local families who had submitted their family photos for this display. It was interesting to note that descendants of the noted photographer, Harry Lofts, attended and saw some of their ancestor’s work on show.
Many, many hours of work went into the preparation of this excellent display and grateful thanks were extended to Margaret Oulton by Max Hobson, on behalf of the Lexton Progress Association, for her organisation, hard work and overseeing of the event and to Murray Little, who scanned all the photos submitted, and printed those used in the display in A4 and A3 sizes, thus bringing out much background detail not obvious in the original small versions. We congratulate all those who helped in any way in this very successful event.
The afternoon concluded with those present partaking of a delicious afternoon tea provided by the ladies of the Lexton Progress Association.
The display continued until 28th October, with interested groups attending throughout the week.
Next Meeting – The next meeting of the Society will take place on Sunday, 18th November, at the Court House at 1.30 p.m.. After the general meeting, we will enjoy a Christmassy afternoon tea together, and will exchange small gifts (not to cost more than $3). This will be our last meeting for the year. Please bring some suggestions for next year’s programme.
New Members – A warm welcome is extended to the following new members and we wish them every success with their family research :-
Mr. George and Mrs. Beth ANDERSON, of Avoca, Vic., who are researching Rev. John GREEN and the GREEN family at Avoca in the 1850s to 1870s. Ms Linda CARR and Mr. David DEVENEY, of Lamplough Mrs. Janice CHAPMAN, of Doncaster, researching the JENNINGS family and the Talbot area. Mr. John and Mrs. Doreen COOK, of Dandenong, Vic., whose interests are the RYAN family of Redbank and the TURNER family of Moonambel. Mr. Max and Mrs. Nancy MARTIN, of Cranbourne, Vic., who are researching the CRACKNELL and McDONALD families. Mr. John POWERS, of Magill, S.A., whose interests are POWERS, JOHNSTONE and BAILEY. Mr. Alan SKIDMORE, of Buff Point, N.S.W., is researching SKIDMORE of Moonambel. Mrs. Barbara STERCK, of Glen Waverley, Vic., who is interested in George ANDERSON and Jane DUNBAR; William MITCHELL and Caroline LONG; and Thomas Henry MITCHELL and Mary Jane ANDERSON.
Thankyou – The Society says a sincere thankyou to Lilly Mills for the lovely bouquet of golden-toned hand-made flowers which she created as the Society’s donation to the hamper of ‘golden goodies’ raffled at the CHHA Family Expo. at Ballarat on 27th-28th October. Our thanks also go to Colleen Allan, who represented this Society at the Family Expo.
We also extend grateful thanks to Jan Burnett who has manned the Court House on our last two meeting days, when members have visited Dunolly and Lexton, and for attending with Dorothy Robinson whilst Colleen was at the CHHA Family Expo.
Photographic Exhibition At Landsborough – A Centenary of History in 100 Photographs – The Story of Landsborough From 1901-2001 is the title of this exhibition to be presented by the Landsborough and District Historical Group Inc. It will take place in the Barkly Room, McKinlay Street, Landsborough, on Saturday and Sunday, 1st and 2nd December, from 10.00 am to 5.00 p.m. on both days, or by appointment during the month of December.
The display, which marks the Centenary of Federation, will be officially opened by the Hon. Dianne Hadden, M.L.C., at 2.00 p.m. on the Saturday, 1st December. Admission is by souvenir catalogue which costs $3, primary school children being admitted free. Copies of framed or unframed photos will be on sale on the day. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available. For further information, contact Diane Western on 5356 9288.
THE HISTORY OF THE AUSTRALIAN FLAG
(Taken from “The World”, the magazine of the Charters Towers & Dalrymple Family History Association Inc., No. 47, September, 2001)
With Federation and the joining of all Australians under the “Commonwealth of Australia”, there came a need for a flag to unite the peoples of the six colonies. A competition for a national flag was held in 1901 and was initially started by the Melbourne newspaper The Review of Reviews. The new Federal Government joined the competition and doubled the prize money to £150 ($300). The competition attracted 32,823 entries.
The first condition of entry rules stipulated that the design “should be based on the British Ensigns, as the flag of the country added to its folds, signalling to the beholder that it is an Imperial Union Ensign of the British Empire.” This essentially meant that inclusion of the Union Flag in the design was mandatory.The judges (five of them naval officers) refused to consider designs that did not contain the Union Flag.
From the 32,823 flag designs, the choice was narrowed to five, these entries being almost identical. It was decided that the five should share the prize money. The winners were Mrs. A. Dorrington of Perth, Mr. E. Evans of Melbourne, Mr. L. Hawkins of Sydney, Mr. E.J. Nuttall of Melbourne, and Mr. W. Stevens of Auckland.
The flag embodying the five winning designs was proudly flown in the Exhibition Building in Melbourne when Australia’s first Prime Minister, Mr. Edmund Barton, announced the winners. That flag was very like the flag that became the Australian national flag 52 years later.
In the upper hoist was the Union Jack, made up of the crosses of St. George, St. Andrew and St. Patrick. Beneath the Union Jack was a large six pointed star representing the six States, and in the fly of the flag, five stars representing the Southern Cross.
The Union Jack reflected our heritage, the large star indicated the unity of the six states within the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Southern Cross reflected Australia’s place in the universe – a flag showing our history, our unity and our independent position.
The adoption of the winning flag design was never debated in the Australian Parliament – it was sent to the Imperial Authorities in England to be approved. It wasn’t until 1902 that King Edward VII formally notified the Australian Government of the approval, and this approval was finally gazetted on 20thFebruary, 1903.
The original design has been changed three times since 1901. First, in 1903, the design was changed so that all but the smallest star in the Southern Cross had seven points (ostensibly to improve the ease of manufacture). In 1906, Australia acquired the Territory of Papua and, to indicate this, the number of points on the Federation Star was increased to seven in 1908. This second design change was gazetted on 22nd May, 1909.
When the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory were created as Federal Territories in 1911, a decision was made not to increase the number of points on the Federation Star. Instead, the seventh point would represent all territories and states created after 1901. The red ‘ensign’ remained the Civil flag and the blue ‘ensign’ the State flag.
However, the flag still had no legal status. It wasn’t until the Flags Act of 1953 (Amended 1954) was passed by the Menzies Government that Australia finally had an official national flag, and one that was required to be flown in a superior position to any other national flag (including the Union Flag).
The description of the Australian National Flag is red, white and blue, with the Union Jack in the upper hoist, a large seven pointed star, representing the States and Territories, is directly below the centre of the Union Jack, and five white stars representing the Southern Cross, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta have seven points and Epsilon, the fifth star, has five points because it is not as bright as the others in the constellation. The length of the flag is always twice the width of the flag.
Can You Help – Biographical Dictionary of Buninyong (ISBN I 876625 O7 4) – Robert Bell is compiling a Biographical Dictionary of Buninyong and seeks information concerning people who lived in, or were associated with Buninyong between 1837 and 1901, so that consideration can be given to inclusion in the dictionary.
This professionally printed book of about 200 pages is due to be printed and published in September, 2002. Along with the well-known identities of Buninyong, Robert is looking for a cross-section of the community to give a balanced socio-economic background to the early settlement and growth of the town.
The miner or labourer who raised a family member who progressed to better things is as important as someone, such as a former mayor, business person or squatter, thus necessitating the collection of as many biographies as possible in order to make a balanced selection of entries for inclusion in the book. Contributors will be acknowledged, with a footnote after the entry.
If you can contribute, please contact Robert W. Bell, P.O. Box 1701, Ballarat Mail Centre, Vic. 3354, or e-mail rbell@netconnect.com.au
New Book – Carisbrook historian Daryl McLeish has launched his detailed history of the town of Carisbrook, titled In The Beginning There Was Carisbrook. The result of twelve years of in-depth research, this book is one of the largest ever produced on the history of any town and contains over 600 photographs and maps in its 448 pages, and is available from Stewart’s Newsagency at Carisbrook, and Ritchie’s Newsagency at Maryborough.
SNIPPETS FROM THE PAST – (All taken from “The Avoca Mail”, Wednesday, 15th November, 1967).
“Presentations to Newly Married Couple – An evening was recently tendered to Mr. and Mrs. M. Purcell at the Wareek Hall. They were presented with an electric frypan from the Wareek and district residents. On behalf of the Rathscar Tennis Club, Cr. T. Hanley presented a wrought-iron flower stand.”
“Fire Brigade Officers Elected – The annual meeting of the Wareek and Bung Bong Rural Fire Brigade was held recently and officers elected. Mr. C.M. Rowland is president, with Mr. P. Ross secretary; Mr. R. Rose captain, and Messrs. I. Bartlett, D. Harkin as lieutenants. Mr. J. Walker is communications officer.”
“Obituary – Mr. A. Poole. The death occurred suddenly on October 25 of a well-known and highly respected resident of Amphitheatre, in the person of Mr. Albert Poole, at the age of 67 years.
Deceased, who had been in indifferent health over the past few months, was born in Adelaide Lead and had spent the greater part of his life at Amphitheatre.
He was a son of the late John and Margaret Poole, and the deepest sympathy goes out to his wife Elsie, who is left to mourn his loss.
The funeral, which was fairly well attended, took place on October 26, leaving the Amphitheatre Church after a service at 3 p.m., for the Amphitheatre Cemetery.
Coffin bearers were Frank and Jock Iles, Keith McDonald, Ron Anderson, Bill Durant and Vern Neil.
Services at the church and graveside were read by Rev. Tutty, Church of England Minister, Avoca.
Funeral arrangements were carried out by Mr. M.W. Dawson, Avoca.”
“Card Evening – The Avoca Bush Nursing Hospital Auxiliary held their usual fortnightly card evening on Thursday last, the winners of the euchre being Mrs. P. Trickey and E. Streeter, while the minor prizes went to Mrs. J. Wardlaw and Miss B. Reeves.”
FEDERATION – We continue the listing of names shown on the Electoral Roll who voted at the
Victorian Federal Election in 1899 :-
B U N G B O N G
ABBOTT Christopher Farmer ABBOTT Thomas Farmer
ABBOTT Powley Farmer
BENNETT Alexander Farmer BENNETT Edward Farmer
BENNETT Caleb Farmer BERKENSHAW Frederick Farmer
BENNETT Edward Farmer BERKENSHAW William Farmer
ENGLISH Joseph Farmer ENGLISH Robert Farmer
GEARIN Andrew Farmer GLOVER Samuel Farmer
GEARIN Michael Farmer GORDON James Farmer
GILSENMAN Alfred Farmer GORDON Thomas Farmer
GILSENMAN Edward Farmer GORDON Thomas A. Farmer
HAYES William J. Farmer HENDERSON William Farmer
JONES John O. Farmer JONES William F. Farmer
LEMINGTON John Farmer LEMINGTON Thomas Farmer
MILLER Edward Farmer MILLS George Grazier
MILLER Frederick Farmer MILLS George Jnr. Grazier
MURRAY Alexander Farmer
NEYLAND Edward M. Farmer NICHOLSON Joseph Farmer
NEYLAND James Farmer
ROBERTSON Charles Carter ROBINSON John Farmer
SHAW Charles R. Farmer STEAD Robert Farmer
SMITH William Farmer STEWART William Carter
WALKLEY Alfred Farmer WALKLEY Peter Farmer
WALKLEY Henry Farmer WINCHESTER William Farmer
C R O W L A N D S
HOWLETT Thomas Blacksmith
JAMES Richard Furrier
NOONAN Daniel Farmer NOONAN John Labourer
NOONAN Edward Publican NOONAN William Farmer
NOONAN Edward Butler
SHIELDS John Farmer START Francis Farmer
START Edward Farmer START George Farmer
WILKINSON Emil Labourer
(To be continued)