We hold a very interesting scrapbook that was compiled by Garnet Adcock,
the second owner of Henry Kendall Cottage, and the founder of Jusfrute.
A descendant of Garnet Adcock, Arthur Adcock, visited our complex to do
some research in May this year and was ‘blown away’ by this scrapbook.
Because of its fragile state now, arrangements were made for us to copy it.
Jay Sider did the jpeg images on a CD, a copy for our library and also a copy
for Arthur. Thanks Jay for all your hard work in this.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Camera Collection
We recently dusted off our photo camera collection. Interest in old cameras,
around the world, is alive and well, therefore not too many such cameras are
rare or valuable (in dollar terms). We do however have in our collection a
notable specimen. The Kodak Medalist II (1946). There were two models
made in the 1940’s and we appear to have a fine example of the revised
model. The design and construction of the Medalist II was a radical departure
from the Kodak consumer camera range. There seems to be no other
camera of its kind from that era.
Although it was commercially available, the Medalist II was made for and
used by, the U.S. military. It was made for rugged use, its casing was mostly
black, it used a large format film (620) and the optics were superior to
anything before it.
During the War Years, steel and aluminium were at a premium but no
expense was spared to make this a solid, reliable camera and it was during
this time that a black veneer was applied to most of the body, revealing less
reflective surface and thus more suited to military recognisance.
Unfortunately, we have no history on our Medalist II but as its manufacture
was near to the end of the War, it may not have seen action.
......(Thanks to Jay Sider for this contribution)
around the world, is alive and well, therefore not too many such cameras are
rare or valuable (in dollar terms). We do however have in our collection a
notable specimen. The Kodak Medalist II (1946). There were two models
made in the 1940’s and we appear to have a fine example of the revised
model. The design and construction of the Medalist II was a radical departure
from the Kodak consumer camera range. There seems to be no other
camera of its kind from that era.
Although it was commercially available, the Medalist II was made for and
used by, the U.S. military. It was made for rugged use, its casing was mostly
black, it used a large format film (620) and the optics were superior to
anything before it.
During the War Years, steel and aluminium were at a premium but no
expense was spared to make this a solid, reliable camera and it was during
this time that a black veneer was applied to most of the body, revealing less
reflective surface and thus more suited to military recognisance.
Unfortunately, we have no history on our Medalist II but as its manufacture
was near to the end of the War, it may not have seen action.
......(Thanks to Jay Sider for this contribution)
1910 Estey Parlour Organ
You will no doubt be aware of the organ in the Museum. It is a 1910 Estey
Reed Organ. We couldn’t find an exact match on the Estey website but
we’re reasonably sure this would have been referred to as a ‘Parlour ‘model. This was Home Entertainment 100 years ago. Our Estey is 100 years old - Happy Birthday!
We offer Bob Wilson, a visitor to the Museum, our sincere thanks for applying his expertise to restoring it to full ‘playability’.
Bob is a professional restorer but has graciously given his time to clean the organ and get it playing again. From him, we’ve now learnt how to effect basic maintenance in order to keep it in good playable condition. If any members can
play the organ, come in and blow the cobwebs away! Bob recently completed a restoration on a similar organ in an old church at Hill End. His next little job will be to join a small team of experts who will be undertaking a thorough cleaning of the grand organ at the Sydney Town Hall. Bob also commented on the organ in
the Cottage - he likes it. We don’t know much about it so more research is
required to establish the maker and year of manufacture. We’ll keep you
posted. Once again, our thanks to Bob for his time and effort.
........(and thanks to Jay Sider for this contribution)
Reed Organ. We couldn’t find an exact match on the Estey website but
we’re reasonably sure this would have been referred to as a ‘Parlour ‘model. This was Home Entertainment 100 years ago. Our Estey is 100 years old - Happy Birthday!
We offer Bob Wilson, a visitor to the Museum, our sincere thanks for applying his expertise to restoring it to full ‘playability’.
Bob is a professional restorer but has graciously given his time to clean the organ and get it playing again. From him, we’ve now learnt how to effect basic maintenance in order to keep it in good playable condition. If any members can
play the organ, come in and blow the cobwebs away! Bob recently completed a restoration on a similar organ in an old church at Hill End. His next little job will be to join a small team of experts who will be undertaking a thorough cleaning of the grand organ at the Sydney Town Hall. Bob also commented on the organ in
the Cottage - he likes it. We don’t know much about it so more research is
required to establish the maker and year of manufacture. We’ll keep you
posted. Once again, our thanks to Bob for his time and effort.
........(and thanks to Jay Sider for this contribution)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The Saving of Fairview
From: The Saving of Fairview petition
Fairview is an historic homestead on a property situated in an area of The Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, called Dubbo Gully, not far from Lower Mangrove. The property is of major significance to the history of the area, with one building there dating back 150 years.
It is owned by Gosford City Council, being purchased by them some years ago in readiness for the construction of a major water storage dam just downstream of the house. The location for the dam was subsequently moved upstream and the house still stands as it was then, deteriorating further every year. Those familiar with the heritage want the property saved and restored to its former glory, but as of May 2010, Gosford City Council is yet to give approval with several reasons being given for why it will not be possible to do so.
Please make use of this petition to let those in power know that it is imperative that this property be saved.
If you are not familiar with the property, please do everything you can to go there and check out the Facebook page The Saving of Fairview and check out the video produced for the cause. It is certainly worth your while going there and experiencing the area for yourself, but of course the video comes in at a close second. I am sure you will understand immediately why the property MUST be saved. Not only is it of historical importance, it is without doubt one of the most beautiful areas of The Central Coast.
Fairview is an historic homestead on a property situated in an area of The Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, called Dubbo Gully, not far from Lower Mangrove. The property is of major significance to the history of the area, with one building there dating back 150 years.
It is owned by Gosford City Council, being purchased by them some years ago in readiness for the construction of a major water storage dam just downstream of the house. The location for the dam was subsequently moved upstream and the house still stands as it was then, deteriorating further every year. Those familiar with the heritage want the property saved and restored to its former glory, but as of May 2010, Gosford City Council is yet to give approval with several reasons being given for why it will not be possible to do so.
Please make use of this petition to let those in power know that it is imperative that this property be saved.
If you are not familiar with the property, please do everything you can to go there and check out the Facebook page The Saving of Fairview and check out the video produced for the cause. It is certainly worth your while going there and experiencing the area for yourself, but of course the video comes in at a close second. I am sure you will understand immediately why the property MUST be saved. Not only is it of historical importance, it is without doubt one of the most beautiful areas of The Central Coast.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Vale - Frank Chalk
Sadly we report the recent passing of a highly respected and well-loved member of the Brisbane Water Historical Society - Frank Chalk. He is greatly missed by those who knew him. The following is an extract from the Eulogy offered by Elaine Fry:
"Frank, wonderful sincere friend, workaholic, great mate, advisor, you name it and that was Frank...
Frank was born in Birmingham, England in September 1919. His family moved to Australia when he was an infant...Frank joined BWHS in 1981 and became very much involved. No matter what was damaged, Frank knew how to fix it, doing many repairs, soldering, making display cabinets and photo frames, and cleaning of exhibits to display standard, all under the advice of Museums Australia.
Frank, Alice [his wife], Stan (my late husband) and I worked as a team, having our working bees at the museum complex when we had time to spare, often 4-5 hours, 3-4 times a week, to set up a special exhibition. We also spent many. many hours in the gardens and grounds. Our first love was our family and home, closely followed by the cottage complex. Frank's knowledge and assistance was greatly appreciated by the committee and members of BWHS. Frank also joined the roster to open the cottage/museum on a regular basis once a month.
Frank was elected a Vice-President in 1982, a position he held for 3 years, then Treasurer in 1984, a position he held for 16 years. He certainly looked after our monies. He checked every item on every docket or invoice.
Frank was a great ambassador for BWHS and HK Cottage. He was a guest speaker at other organisations' meetings, and carried our brochures to distribute whereever they went on holidays. He was a guide on coach tours visiting from other areas, transported boxes of items to street stalls, displays etc. with no worries and not looking for any pat on the back. Frank also kept a lookout at night. Really he was an unpaid caretaker of the cottage and grounds. No request was ever too large or too small for our Frank.
On 20th February 2001, Frank was appointed a Life Member of BWHS for his dedication to the Society and his voluntary work for HK Cottage, over and above anything that is expected of a volunteer...
In June 2007 when we had those very heavy winds and storms, some trees came down in the cottage grounds, one large tree blocking the driveway. Stan and our son Kelvin, with his chainsaw, came over to see what could be done. Very soon 88 year old Frank came over in the rain to assist in removing most of the trees and branches. Work stopped because the rain became too heavy, but they were back again on Sunday morning and access was made for the garbage truck and for the coach that arrived on Monday morning...
Frank enjoyed life and talking to people, he was happy in life and at peace with himself. The Community is much richer for the time Frank has spent in the area."
"Frank, wonderful sincere friend, workaholic, great mate, advisor, you name it and that was Frank...
Frank was born in Birmingham, England in September 1919. His family moved to Australia when he was an infant...Frank joined BWHS in 1981 and became very much involved. No matter what was damaged, Frank knew how to fix it, doing many repairs, soldering, making display cabinets and photo frames, and cleaning of exhibits to display standard, all under the advice of Museums Australia.
Frank, Alice [his wife], Stan (my late husband) and I worked as a team, having our working bees at the museum complex when we had time to spare, often 4-5 hours, 3-4 times a week, to set up a special exhibition. We also spent many. many hours in the gardens and grounds. Our first love was our family and home, closely followed by the cottage complex. Frank's knowledge and assistance was greatly appreciated by the committee and members of BWHS. Frank also joined the roster to open the cottage/museum on a regular basis once a month.
Frank was elected a Vice-President in 1982, a position he held for 3 years, then Treasurer in 1984, a position he held for 16 years. He certainly looked after our monies. He checked every item on every docket or invoice.
Frank was a great ambassador for BWHS and HK Cottage. He was a guest speaker at other organisations' meetings, and carried our brochures to distribute whereever they went on holidays. He was a guide on coach tours visiting from other areas, transported boxes of items to street stalls, displays etc. with no worries and not looking for any pat on the back. Frank also kept a lookout at night. Really he was an unpaid caretaker of the cottage and grounds. No request was ever too large or too small for our Frank.
On 20th February 2001, Frank was appointed a Life Member of BWHS for his dedication to the Society and his voluntary work for HK Cottage, over and above anything that is expected of a volunteer...
In June 2007 when we had those very heavy winds and storms, some trees came down in the cottage grounds, one large tree blocking the driveway. Stan and our son Kelvin, with his chainsaw, came over to see what could be done. Very soon 88 year old Frank came over in the rain to assist in removing most of the trees and branches. Work stopped because the rain became too heavy, but they were back again on Sunday morning and access was made for the garbage truck and for the coach that arrived on Monday morning...
Frank enjoyed life and talking to people, he was happy in life and at peace with himself. The Community is much richer for the time Frank has spent in the area."
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
From the Curator: Ethnographic Collections & Post-Colonialism
The ethnographic collection is openly influenced by the external socio-political principles that shape attitudes towards the presentation of different cultures. The foremost change came following the move towards political independence of colonised countries, as the desire to represent personal national identity through objects and the theory of post-colonialism flourished. Previously, imperial rule was legitimised through anthropological hypotheses and illustrated in ethnographic museums, so the ethnocentrism of the museums existed in direct opposition to this new shift in the balance of power. Post-colonial breakdown of cultural structures challenged the domination of Western perceptions and established a collection of ethics and values that promoted a more equitable system of societal representation.
Moreover, the traditional ethnography museum was challenged by the post-colonial desire for self-representation and the accompanying realisation that the
collective memory of these events [colonisation] of indigenous peoples and their descendants is vastly different to that of European peoples and their descendants.
Thus, the formerly colonised nations began to establish their own heritage and ethnic legacies for the ‘enrichment, education and collective identity of the citizenry’, with the creation of a national museum part of the ‘criteria of civilisation’.
With respect to these changes in the ideological climate, the ethnographic museum has to operate under the influence of rapidly changing socio-political theories. The museum now has to re-evaluate the particular world-view that it was previously programmed to promote and make attempts to redress the imbalance caused by the endorsement of ‘otherness’ and the portrayal of the colonised peoples privation and hardship as resulting from their own ‘inability, incompetence and sheer laziness’. Consequently, the existence of post-colonialism has created a paradox and raised a variety of key issues that impact upon the ethnographic museum. Their new role to nullify the inequity and undo the damage caused by previous interpretive techniques undermines their own existence.
Hannah Clayton Atkin
Moreover, the traditional ethnography museum was challenged by the post-colonial desire for self-representation and the accompanying realisation that the
collective memory of these events [colonisation] of indigenous peoples and their descendants is vastly different to that of European peoples and their descendants.
Thus, the formerly colonised nations began to establish their own heritage and ethnic legacies for the ‘enrichment, education and collective identity of the citizenry’, with the creation of a national museum part of the ‘criteria of civilisation’.
With respect to these changes in the ideological climate, the ethnographic museum has to operate under the influence of rapidly changing socio-political theories. The museum now has to re-evaluate the particular world-view that it was previously programmed to promote and make attempts to redress the imbalance caused by the endorsement of ‘otherness’ and the portrayal of the colonised peoples privation and hardship as resulting from their own ‘inability, incompetence and sheer laziness’. Consequently, the existence of post-colonialism has created a paradox and raised a variety of key issues that impact upon the ethnographic museum. Their new role to nullify the inequity and undo the damage caused by previous interpretive techniques undermines their own existence.
Hannah Clayton Atkin
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