Monday 23 October 2023

Two centuries in time

 TWEED CENTENARY.

ROMANTIC DISCOVERY

    Exactly 100 years ago today, Lieutenant John Oxley discovered the Tweed River. On October 23 1823, Lieutenant Oxley, commissioned to find a new penal settlement, left with a party in his Majesty's colonial cutter Mermaid. 

Thus explained The Daily Mail, 100 years ago. TWEED CENTENARY. (1923, November 1). The Daily Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1903; 1916 - 1926), p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article218216148.

It probably was not the most romantic journey, but the Tweed River did inspire poetry subsequently: 

Flow gently, sweet Tweed

Fair river - broad and deep

A LONELY CEMETERY (1932, October 25). Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954), p.7.


Friday 31 March 2023

19th century crowdfunding

** more to come **

On 19 August 1894, James Adams was thrown off his horse when returning to his home near Frederickton. He was taken home, but died there the next day. The horse had tripped over a peg in the road, left for roadworks.

Fatal Accident on the Gladstone Road. (1894, August 22). Macleay Argus (Kempsey, NSW : 1885 - 1907; 1909 - 1910; 1912 - 1913; 1915 - 1916; 1918 - 1954), p. 5 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233882283

His widow, Jane Mary Teresa Adams, took on a court case against the local council, even as she became the matriarch of three families: her first marriage to Walter George Mason which gave her four sons followed by three children; James' first marriage to Ann Thompson with six surviving children; and their own family of four daughters. Their eldest daughter together, Ida May Adams, married Joseph Judd just two years before her father's death. 

Kempsey Road Accident. (1894, August 23). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p.5 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113326809

This was not the first time that Jane had been left destitute. Her first husband Walter Mason died when she was pregnant. The Mason family was well known in Sydney, especially for the wood engraving work, and consequently a fundraiser was planned. 




Jane Mason with her daughter Robinniana
Source: https://mychildrensancestors.weebly.com/jane-mary-teresa-brady.html

Jane's parents, William Brady and Margaret Smith, were married in Cavan, County Cavan on 2 November 1838. Jane was baptised on 19 January 1840 in the same Roman Catholic Church where her parents wed. Working back from her immigration record dated 25 December 1841, arriving in Australia aged one year and nine months old, Jane was born in early April 1839. 

 

Saturday 17 December 2022

Too soon to say goodbye

 It is hard to explain the impact of a life when the tilt of the universe is knocked off-balance by the circumstances of loss, and finding equilibrium again is still proving to be a challenge, but here is an attempt.

In November, two people we needed passed away. The first was someone who worked beside a privileged few but was unknown by many, least of all the public who receive benefit from her work every day. Her name was Joanna Meakins and she scoped the functionalities available to everyone who uses Trove, Australia's most significant social and cultural discovery platform. One of her more recent colleagues wrote this:

In his poem, "The Second Coming", WB Yeats categorises people as the best, who "lack all conviction"  while the worst are "full of passionate intensity".  I'm not sure what he'd have made of Jo. Jo, who both determinedly lacked conviction in her own abilities, yet epitomised passionate intensity.  

For Jo was one of the very best.  She was a great friend, always ready to reassure, encourage and inspire, despite being completely resistant herself to absorbing the regard and praise sent her way.  

If someone could "care too much" about the people around her, Jo did.  If someone could "worry too much" about work, she did that too.   

In her years at the National Library, Jo's emphatic and relentless representation of the public, those silent and invisible users of the library's resources, made everything she touched better.  Her intellect, courage and hard work made the lives of thousands of people more productive and enjoyable -  people she never met, people who will never know her name.  

There were many times it would have been much easier for her to acquiesce to the inward-focussed group-think that congenially sabotages every organisation, but her advocacy never wavered, she was never afraid to "speak truth to power".  She took the right path, despite the personal cost.

That she is now gone is unfathomable, unfair, impossible. 

It seems to make no sense - it is unreasonable - a flash of desperation, a spike of sadness that can't be undone. 

Many of us have been there, to that point where it seems that, to quote Yeats, "the centre cannot hold", but so far, for us, with some combination of luck, a thick-enough skin and blinking away from reality at that crucial moment, we've made it through.

Just as our happy memories of Jo will live on in us, the lucky ones who knew her.

Joanna was 42 years old; she left three pre-teenage children. [1]

The second person was barrister Sandy Dawson SC. Someone I did not know, but such was the outpouring of public personal distress when he died that his achievements could not be ignored. 

His work was incredibly important to Australian society, and included establishing a 21st century precedent for defamation law when he was successful in 2014 in obtaining damages for misrepresentation on social media platforms. 

Mr Dawson was 50 years old; he left four teenaged children. [2]

Part of the versatile functionality of Trove is a feature for making simple lists of items discovered while searching the content. It was scoped by Joanna. 

Not all of Mr Dawson's work is in the public domain, being sub judice or only available within the legal sector, but it is possible to draw some threads together into a Trove list. It is by no means exhaustive, but indicates the breadth of intellectual endeavour achieved by one person in a short time.  


A modest memorial to these two extraordinary people. 

References:

The first Trove logo, created when its list feature was developed, is shown above. 

[1] Jo in the original Trove T-Shirt, 2013, from facebook

[2] Sandy Dawson in 2016, https://bit.ly/3HINBgo. 

Monday 5 December 2022

My life as a souvenir

In my current role, I have the privilege of seeking out souvenirs of the city in which I work. An added bonus is the discovery of  items for my own home town. The quirky and the quaint are equally valued; but items with images have a double layer of meaning. I recently discovered one of these gems; here are the highlights.

Oak Avenue was part way along the Pacific Highway from Tweed Heads to Murwillumbah. 

My parents drove this way south to the District Hospital - the concrete slabs made a comforting railway track noise. After too many road accidents, the trees were eventually cut down. The now unmarked avenue has been bypassed, but is still a thoroughfare to the hinterland.   

My younger brothers and I were born under the pointed outlook of Wollumbin. 

The border fence separating Tweed Heads from Coolangatta had a dual role as the boundary delineating the playground for the children attending Tweed Heads Public School

The main street of Tweed Heads, Wharf Street, had buildings on one side only until the early 1970s when the "back channel" was reclaimed to develop the main shopping centre Tweed Mall. It was also the scene of many street parades, including Red Cross girls. 


The recreation ground in the centre of the image (pre-reclamation) was essential for primary school school athletics carnivals and the "march past".

The chalet was on top of the Razorback lookout, which took advantage of the view. 

Snapper Rocks Baths at Point Danger were a summer destination for all Tweed Heads children learning to swim. 

Jack Evans' Pet Porpoise Pool Tweed Heads

Travelling to Tweed River High School on the bus meant crossing the Boyds Bay bridge (out of view on the right of the image) past Ukerebagh Island in the Tweed River. 

There was much excitement in Geography class when we had to travel to Stotts Island for an in-the-field excursion. Until we experienced the leeches. It's one of the few locations on the Tweed which has retained its natural environment.

My first fully paid job, at the rate of $6.00 per day, was in the Kirra Beach cafe serving milkshakes and ice creams. Sweeping the floor once earned me an extra $10.00 which had fluttered out of someone's pocket. One year I spent a whole week's wages going to the Ekka.

Like my places of casual work, my favourite beaches were in Queensland. I spent my last day at Greenmount before going off to university.

Not a place I knew very well, living at the opposite end of the Shire, Cudgen became significant after I left home. Helping others to access local materials about Cudgen in faraway repostories led me to becoming a history researcher.


The Coolangatta, Q. label for the booklet is at odds with the subject matter - 10 of the 12 images were taken over the border in New South Wales. Sometimes, twins are inseparable.

Thanks to

Saturday 31 July 2021

Coming to our census

One of the few enjoyable pastimes insisted on by government is completing the personal response to the quinquennial national census. 

In 2016, I was able to fill out two forms: one while visiting the Isle of Man and later in that year, the Australian one. I was keen to let the Reiltys Ellan Vannin know that I was there on an important date. In fact I had to remind the hotel we were staying in to give me the form, but it encouraged them to hand it to other visitors. In this pandemic year, they don't have to bother. Nevertheless the Isle of Man does have a good track record in sharing the results of its census every 10 years.

Our national census is always of interest to genealogists. The import of some of the questions in this year's census, especially those where every possible answer is not given with the question, are scrutinised. The uptake of DNA testing in the last five years by those with a genealogical interest creates a quandary. Where the country of origin of our earliest migrating ancestors may not have been previously known, many of us are now more informed. Just a spit or a swab and some dollars reveal all.

While those of us who have been researching their family history for a long time won't be caught short for an answer, there may a noticeable change in the statistics. Although not granular in the Census questions, level of Aboriginality for example, may be better understood if a DNA test has been undertaken. But perhaps the change won't be statistically significant?  

The census instructions don't define 'ancestry' but it could be inferred from two prior questions about  the birthplaces of self and parents. If you and your parents were all born in Australia, doesn't that automatically make you Australian? Which leaves scope for acknowledging those ancestors who weren't born here no matter when they migrated to Australia. 

The wealth of knowledge, understanding of identity, and record of environmental influences stored in other countries' census results are hugely rewarding when shared. Thankfully, the same commitment to future genealogical research has been made in recent Australian censuses. It is an extraordinary  opportunity to show our place in society. Make sure to choose 'Yes' when answering Question 65.

 

Monday 25 January 2021

To Australia, with love

Although I started reading Mills & Boon romances during the 1970s and 1980s as a teenager, I left them behind for decades until recently. Indulging in them now makes me chuckle, recognising some of the wishfulness which does not turn into reality. 

It didn't take long to realise how different they were from current "granny lit" - plot development for a start had to be much more detailed, given that all the body-to-body action doesn't have to occur until the last page or two. An exception may be made if marriage happened earlier in the book. 

There is also social history commentary of the time, as the primary occupations of women slowly changed into more diverse roles; single parentage through circumstances other than widowhood; taking on responsibility for large corporations and so on. 

But what I didn't expect in these little capsules of escapism was a tribute to my country. Although the intensity of one writer's work stayed with me - Lucy Walker's - it was thrilling to find that other authors found my home region to be a worthy backdrop to romantic drama.

Lindsay Armstrong

"I have friends who have a holiday home at Cabarita, but they've gone to America for three months and let me with a key and an open invitation to use it whenever I like. [p.128]

"Tallitha looked at the house, at the marvellous aspect - the beach below was white and clean and went for miles in both directions. Then they went up to the village - it was little more than that, a few shops and a pub - and laid in supplies. [p.129]

"Many months later she could still remember every detail of that holiday in Cabarita, and knew that it would probably be impossible to forget, even when she was very old. How could one forget? How could you ever forget the way the sun shone the day after they arrived and how the sea glittered and danced beneath a blue, blue sky. [p.130] 

Standing on the outside, 1986 

Ann Charlton

Although not named, this is reminiscent of Kingscliff or even Fingal Head. 
Sorry to frighten you darling - but I couldn't have you screaming, now could I? With your projections, you'd be heard in Tweed Heads. [p.3]

"The beach was empty but the row of tracks across it remained evidence of the visits of holidaymakers from the next cove. People rarely drove on to the beach because of the unsealed road and the swampy creek beside it." [pp.25-26]

"What about this place? I don't think I could bear to see a club and carpark over there changing everything. Let's wait and see. It could take years." [p.185]

The Driftwood Dragon, 1985
Lucy Walker

Lucy Walker's stories focused on "The Outback" in regional Western Australia. Her books were renowned in England for their expositions of "the Australian way of life", and serialised in their ubiquitous Woman's Weekly. 

All of the women who married the strong, almost prenaturally silent, station owners must have been widowed at an early age, given the frequency of smoking, but it's not difficult to understand where strength in times of hardship was forged.   
"Have you got a mouth of cast iron, Mick? Kate asked. "Nope," he said, wiping the back of his hand across it. "I guess I learned that from the old-timers on the inland cattle routes. A man wasn't fit to drove cattle if he couldn't drink tea boiling ... along the Canning route anyways." [p.96]

The one who kisses, 1954

This was an area I didn't visit until almost sixty years after the book was written, so learning about its magic was an unexpected pleasure. It's not an easy route to traverse, but it's easy to see how such details captivated an audience so far away. And the illustrations in these serialisations may have helped, even when they were a plot misdirection. 

Home at sundown, first published in Woman's Weekly, December 1967 - January 1968. 
Illustration from the 30 December 1967 issue by Peter Gibson






Thursday 9 April 2020

Separated

Miles Street, Kirra
looking towards Tweed Heads, April 2020

family photographer

One hundred and one years ago, in the summer of 1919, a global pandemic made its mark on the border towns of Tweed Heads and Coolangatta. The border fence, which had long been in place, took prominence again. 


The state known as Queensland was once merely the northern extent of New South Wales. It came into being in 1859 when Queen Victoria signed the separation papers, 20 years after the state became convict free. For several years, there was much discussion about where to draw the dotted line in "the best interests of Moreton Bay". 
  
THE NORTH AUSTRALIAN. IPSWICH, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1857. (1857, November 10). 
The North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser (Ipswich, Qld. : 1856 - 1862), p. 3. 

One of the "Coloured Shell Series, Queensland Views" circa 1910
[This particular photo seems unusual for the series, because of the hand-on-hip pose of the woman in black. Perhaps she was just lifting her skirts out of the mud?] 

As soon as the influenza outbreak was confirmed, the border gates were closed, and the existing No Man's Land demarcation between two fences made sure that the illness could not be spread while in close proximity to the fence. 
Alsa-Fame Local Views, 1943

View from Razorback (NSW) to Greenmount (Qld), circa 1960
family photographer






























On the Coolangatta side quarantine camps were set up for Queensland travellers returning from New South Wales. This was necessary because people refused to travel according to government guidelines: 




"This route home should never have been permitted by the New South Wales authorities, as the best and fastest way to get the Queensland people home was by direct boat from Sydney to Brisbane."  

(Thank goodness the Kirra cruise liner terminal was scuppered.) 

Even after 101 years, Australians will still be Australians:

"... but after all personal inconvenience is not to be considered in a case like this when so many lives and so much else depends on the strict maintenance in quarantine."






CURRENT TOPICS. (1919, March 5). 



Tweed Daily (Murwillumbah, NSW : 1914 - 1949), p. 2. 

Just like in today's quarantine hotels, albeit more poetically, there were complaints about the food;
'Flu Waves. (1919, June 26). 
Tweed Daily (Murwillumbah, NSW : 1914 - 1949), p. 2.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192260872



"PATHOS AND BATHOS." (1919, February 15). 
Tweed Daily (Murwillumbah, NSW : 1914 - 1949), p.7 
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192261677
and just like today, there were concerns about the duration of the pandemic.




There was one significant difference however. An inoculation was available

Advertising (1919, February 15). 
Tweed Daily (Murwillumbah, NSW : 1914 - 1949), p. 1.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article192261608


 

No police necessary
Base of souvenir glass dish, circa 1940s 















Even after the epidemic was over, the gates remained poised for action until 1957, causing traffic jams, but no doubt providing a useful source of employment including for tourism photographers. 

Unknown tourist

The crossing itself was certainly better corralled than in the summer of 2020:
Heading towards Coolangatta
looking over from New South Wales, April 2020
family photographer



plastic bollards cross the northern end of Bay Street, Tweed Heads, NSW
looking over from Queensland, April 2020
The trees on the left hide the stalwart Tweed Heads Primary School
family photographer


Ceramic dish commemorating the Point Danger Light
 which has straddled the border since 1970.
Despite the label, the beachball girl is standing in NSW.

The locals have lived with one foot on each side of the crossing since 1859, and will resume that natural inclination to ignore the border. This year, unfortunately, the commemorations will be a little less-lighthearted.