Trove Tuesday - Out Lindfield Way

This poem from The Sydney Morning Herald in December 1929 may describe the suburb of Lindfield or some other place of the same name.

1929 'OUT LINDFIELD WAY.', The Sydney Morning Herald(NSW : 1842 - 1954), 28 December, p. 7, viewed 22 October, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16613744

Of the author, Gertrude Moffitt, Trove indicates that she published several books of poems.

Trove Tuesday - Death of Film Censor

The death of  Mr Walter Cresssswell O'Reilly of Pymble was reported in the Goulburn Evening Post in December 1951.

1954 'OBITUARY.', Goulburn Evening Post (NSW : 1940 - 1954), 22 December, p. 2 Edition: Daily and Evening, viewed 10 October, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103503286

A biography for Mr O'Reilly can be found online in The Australian Dictionary of Biography: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oreilly-walter-cresswell-7920

Trove Tuesday - New Rector

Reported in the Sydeny Morning Herald in 1937 is the appointment of a new rector to St Andrew's Wahroonga.

1937 'THE CHURCHES.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 18 December, p. 9, viewed 10 October, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17432733

Our Public Utilities

Article by Max Farley reprinted from the Society Newsletter October 2008
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 Our Public Utilities

For many years most of Ku-ring-gai has had easy access
to a range of public amenities including electricity, gas,
telephones, water and sewerage, postal services, and regular
garbage collections. Though the Lane Cove Post Office,
renamed Gordon Post Office in 1879, was established in
1860 in what are now the grounds of Ravenswood, most of
the other facilities did not begin to appear until the 1890s.
These notes tell in chronological order something of their
arrival. They draw significantly on a paper by our member,
structural engineer Ken Wyatt, which was published in THE
HISTORIAN of June 2001.

Water
From the outset, water was from creeks, rain water tanks
and wells with creeks sometimes used for doing household
washing. In 1896 the Public Works Department installed
two large water tanks at Wahroonga which were filled by a
pipe-line from Chatswood. A reservoir was built at Pymble
in 1900 and this supplied residents between Pymble and
Chatswood. A pipe-line from Ryde to Wahroonga was built
in 1905. Additional reservoirs came later at Wahroonga
(1915); Killara (1930) and St Ives (1975).

Gas
Lighting at first was mainly by kerosene lamps and candles with
cooking being done over open fires or on fuel stoves. “Slush
lamps” consisting of fat in a tin with a piece of wick were also
used for lighting. At the turn of the century, parishioners attending
evening services at St John’s at Gordon used to leave their
hurricane lanterns in the Church porch. With the building of De
Burgh’s bridge, 1896 saw the coming of gas from Ryde to Gordon
and Wahroonga. It was first used for public lighting of public
places. The Pymble News of 25 April, 1901, reproduces a letter
from the Railways Commissioners agreeing to a Pymble Progress
Association request to have gas lights installed on Pymble Railway
Station and level crossing.
Gas for lighting and cooking slowly found its way into private
homes and was used for many years until electricity came
after 1917. Even today superseded gaslight fittings can still
be seen in some of our older homes such as Tulkiyan and
many cooks still prefer gas.
The gasometer on the corner of the Highway and Ryde
Road was a feature of our landscape for many years until
demolished in the 1960s with the arrival of natural gas.

Telephones
In addition to the coming of water and gas, 1896 was
obviously a year of progress and saw Ku-ring-gai’s first
telephone line. It came from Hornsby to Mr Boyne’s store
at Wahroonga when his wife was appointed as the local
postmistress. An exchange was installed there in the
following year. The demand for telephones grew rapidly as
did the proliferation of unsightly telephone poles. Initially
many residents visited their local post office to make calls.

Sewerage
Cesspits were banned and a nightsoil service begun in 1913.
The “sanitary cart” remained a feature of Ku-ring-gai, and
most of Sydney, until well after water was piped into homes.
Depots were initially at Hampden Avenue in Wahroonga and
Koola Avenue in Killara. These depots were understandably
the source of much controversy but their sites are now valued
recreational assets. Parts of Wahroonga were “on the sewer”
by 1915 through the Hornsby Treatment Works. A pipe-line
from North Head had to cross Middle Harbour at Clontarf,
and the West Middle Harbour sub-main built, before the sewer
came to Roseville in 1927. It then connected to Gordon and
Pymble in 1929. Even so, by 1951 the sewer lines were only to
locations within one or two miles either side of the Highway.
By 1971 most of Ku-ring-gai was “connected”. As with all
these services, new and outlying areas usually had to wait longer.

Electricity
As with gas, electricity was at first mainly used for street lighting.
Sydney’s first publicly-owned power station was at Pyrmont in
1904 but cables did not come to Cammeray until 1916 and
spread north to Ku-ring-gai from there in 1917. Transformers
were put at Shirley Road (Roseville); Beaconsfield Parade
(Lindfield); Stanhope Road (Killara) and Park Avenue
(Gordon). Power was available to sites along the Highway. It
was not until 1920 that electricity was carried north from Gordon
to Wahroonga. In 1925 Ku-ring-gai Council decided to change
all street lighting to electricity instead of gas.

Garbage
Garbage collection by Council began on an experimental
and voluntary basis in 1914. The Koola Avenue nightsoil
depot was used for this purpose. The charge was sixpence
a week. An incinerator designed by Walter Burley Griffin
was opened in 1930 where the Bicentennial Park is now in
West Pymble.

Postal
An examination of the development of postal services is
beyond the scope of these notes and historical records
sketchy. Before the 1850s, residents on the north shore had
to collect their mail from the GPO and until the end of the
1850s from the North Sydney Post Office. In 1860 a Post
Office opened at Gordon with one mail a week. Individual
locations gradually were appointed as de facto post offices.
These were shopkeepers, railway stations and individuals.
Delivery services did not begin until the 1890s.

(Appreciation is expressed to Ken Wyatt for his kindness
in casting his eye over an early version of these notes.
MF)

SIGS at Ku-ring-gai

In addition to our regular General Meetings and Family History Group Meetings there are several Special Interest Groups that meet regularly in our Society rooms. If you have interests in any of these areas you would be warmly welcomed at the meetings of these groups.

Mac Users SIG: 1st Mondays, 2pm
Convenor: Jackie van Bergen

German Research SIG: (most) 2nd Mondays, 1.30pm
Convenor: Peter Stehn

Technology SIG: (most) 2nd Thursdays, 1.30pm
In recess until 2015
Convenor: Jill Ball jillballau@gmail.com

Irish Research SIG: 2nd Fridays, 1.30pm
Convenor: Rod Gillespie

WWI Writers & Researchers: 4th Saturdays, 2pm
Convenor: Kathie Rieth

New Zealand SIG: coming soon
Please contact Morrison Hammond

The convenors of these groups can be contacted via the Society's email: khs@khs.org.au

KHS Members at a SIG Meeting

Trove Tuesday - Generous Roseville Women

The Methodist (Sydney, NSW ; 1892-1954) is now available via Trove. A report from this week in 1927 tells of the activities of the Roseville Methodist Ladies.

1927 'Roseville.', The Methodist (Sydney, NSW : 1892 - 1954), 19 November, p. 15, viewed 22 October, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155364282

Perth Cemetery Information Online

The Society received this information from the Federation of Australian Historical Societies in their e-Bulletin No. 131 - 1 November 2014

New East Perth Cemeteries website launched

In a partnership between the Friends of Battye Library (the Western Australian collections in the WA State Library) and the National Trust, a new website has been made available giving details of 9,056 of the estimated 10,000 individuals buried in the East Perth Cemeteries between foundation in 1829 and closure of the cemeteries in 1899. Using a multitude of sources and building on the work of others before them researchers Lorraine Clark and Cherie Strickland have uncovered many previously unknown facts - such as the number of stillbirths buried among the 2929 babies under 18 months.

With a grant from Lotterywest to cover their costs, the two have photographed all memorials, and complied biographical information about the majority of those interred in the cemeteries from the newspapers (with thanks to Trove), data held within the Registrar Generals files, correspondence within Police Registers, and State Gardens Board review documents, which contained many letters from families wishing to be buried alongside their loved ones. Perth Gaol Occurrence Books, Convict General Registers, and Department of Lands records all provided information. Chipper Funeral Directors records, filmed by the Latter Day Saints, contained valuable information pertaining to previous internments and addresses of next of kin. One of the last sources consulted - which proved invaluable - was the Colonial Hospital Admission Registers owned by the Royal Perth Hospital Museum. All the information collected is now available on line, thanks to the National Trust, at www.eastperthcemeteries.com.au. An article summarizing the findings of the two researchers is also available on the Friends of Battye Library website

RESEARCHING AND WRITING WOMEN INTO FAMILY HISTORY

Of interest to those in our family history group will be this free event in the city.

Author and academic Dr Noeline Kyle who is an Emeritus Professor at Queensland University of Technology and an Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney will be presenting a talk on November 25 at The Sydney Mechanics School of Arts.

Full details can be found on the SMSA website.

Trove Tuesday - Weston Obituary

The Canberra Times on November 3 1935 published this obituary for a Turramurra resident, Thomas Charles George Weston (1866-1935).

1935 'OBITUARY.', The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 3 December, p. 2, viewed 10 October, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2402635

Further information on Mr Weston can be found in an article in The Australian Dictionary of Biography http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/weston-thomas-charles-george-9054

Survey

In the RAHS eNewsletter 2014 October Issue 2 received by the Society there was information about  a survey being conducted by The National Library of Australia. If you are a user of the New South Wales Government Gazette you might respond to the survey.

NSW GOVERNMENT GAZETTE SURVEY

The National Library of Australia, in conjunction with the State Library of New South Wales, is working towards making a digitised version of the New South Wales Government Gazette from 1832-2001 available through the Trove Newspapers Service.

The Library is conducting a short online user survey on use of government gazette materials to help us better understand why and how people use government gazettes for information, so we can align with those needs.

The survey consists of 15 questions and aims to find out:
- which government gazettes you consult and how frequently
- the kinds of information you are seeking
- if there is a difference in your use of print or microfilm gazettes and online gazettes
- which ways for finding information in government gazettes are most useful to you, and
- how you would prefer to make use of what you find.

Click here to access the survey, which is open until Sunday 2nd November.

Trove Tuesday - Attractive Highlands

Ku-ring-gai's population has increased since this article was written in 1920.

1920 'LAND, BUILDING AND THE HOME.', Sunday Times(Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930), 17 October, p. 11, viewed 10 October, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article120523782

Trove Tuesday - Epitaph for a Convict

Browsing through the Septmeber issue of the Hawkesbury Crier received recently at the Society I found this poem that is also available on Trove. It was published in 1846 in The Launceston Examiner

1846 'POETRY.', Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), 16 September, p. 8 Edition: MORNING, viewed 1 October, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36246338

General Meeting - 18th October

Dr Ian Hoskins, who has  worked as an academic historian, a curator and a professional historian in Sydney for 25 years is presently employed full-time as North Sydney Council's  Historian,  will be the guest speaker at our meeting in the Gordon Library Meeting Rooms at 2:00pm on Saturday 18th October.

Ian, who is the author of several books, will diiscuss with members his latest book, Coast: a history of the NSW edge.

For further information on Ian's work and publications please visit his blog at http://ianhoskins.com/

Maralinga Invitation

The Society just received this invitation. If you are free next Wednesday you may wish to attend.

----------------------------------------------

To whom it may concern,

On behalf of the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, we will be holding a free event for author and journalist Frank Walker who will come in and talk about his book Maralinga. We would be gracious if you could promote the event amongst your institutions and come along!

The details are as follows:

Venue: Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt St, Sydney 2000

Date & Time: Wednesday, 15 October 2014, 12:30pm – 1:30pm

Technology Special Interest Group this Thursday

The main topic for our meeting on Thursday will be blogging. If you would like to learn how easy it is to set up a blog using the Blogger software please come along to the Society room at 1:30pm. If you are able bring along your laptop and means of connecting to the internet that will allow you to create your blog on the spot. Even if you have no intention of setting up a blog but are inquisitive please join us.

There will be time allocated to answer your tech questions that needs answering or hear about any new tech discoveries you have made.

This will be our last get together for 2014 as your convenor is off on another holiday.  Details of our get togethers for 2015 will be shared on this blog, our Facebook page and in the Society newsletter.

Australian Generations Oral History Project

Members may be interested in the event that we were notified of in e-BULLETIN No. 129 – 10 September 2014  from Australian Historical Societies Inc.

Australian Generations Oral History Project

A number of Australian Historical Association (AHA) members are part of the Australian Generations Oral History Project which has interviewed 300 people living in Australia born between 1920 and 1989. The interviews explore Australian life and society across time, and illuminate generational change and inter-generational dynamics. At a conference in Melbourne in October the researchers will have their first opportunity to share their findings about 20th and 21st century history and memory. Internationally renowned oral and public historian Professor Michael Frisch will deliver the keynote address and the conference will feature academic historians and industry partners who form the project’s research team including Alistair Thomson, Kevin Bradley, Anisa Puri, Katie Holmes, Kerreen Reiger, Seamus O’Hanlon, Christina Twomey, Michelle Rayner and Michael Frisch.

Follow this link for more details about the conference, to be held in Melbourne on 30-31 October 2014:

http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/australian-generations/australian-generations-conference/

Words from our Past

Article by Max Farley reprinted from the Society Newsletter, June 2008
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Australia’s beginnings spawned words which had particular
meanings. Knowing them is essential to an understanding of
our past. The following related to the convict era. Some were:

Assigned servants. Convicts assigned by the government
to work for nominated employers such as military men, free
settlers and, at times, emancipists.

Certificate of Freedom. Issued from 1810 to convicts who
had completed their sentences. They were allowed to leave
the colony.

Currency lads/lasses. Australian-born children.

Emancipists. Ex convicts who had completed their
sentences and were thus “free by servitude”.

Assisted Exiles. As transportation became unpopular in
Australia the English conceived the notion of “assisted
exiles”. These were convicted persons who had served part
of their sentences in England and then given conditional
pardons and sent to Australia for the balance of their time.
Many went to Melbourne.

Exclusives. Otherwise known as “pure merinos”. Those
of non-convict origin who saw themselves superior to the
convicts and emancipists.

Free settlers. Persons who came to Australia of their own
choice.

Government Servants. Convicts.

Pardons: -(Absolute) Allowed to convicts who had
completed their years of sentence. They could return to
England.
 -(Conditional) Could be awarded to convicts
who had been sentenced to Life and given on the condition
they did not return to England. .

Tickets of Leave. “TOLs” were given to trustworthy
convicts allowing them to work indepenndently within
designated geographic areas.

Cemetery Tour

We have been notified that The Friends of Gore Hill Cemetery are again organising the popular Spring Tour of the heritage-listed Gore Hill Memorial Cemetery at St Leonards.

DATE:   Sunday November 2^nd  2014  

TIME:   10.30 am – duration 2 hours

BOOKINGS:   Contact John May: 02 9906 5106  

KHS at the Fair

The 2014 annual conference of the NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies opened in Wollongong today with a family history fair open to the public.

A group of our members have travelled down to the 'gong for the Conference and to work on our stall promoting Kuring-gai Historical Society and our publications.

These photos were taken this morning before the Fair opened to the public. Thank you to our volunteers for getting our stall set up so early.

Full details of the program and speakers can be found on the Conference website: http://www.conference2014.org.au

RAHS Annual State History Conference 2014

The Society has received a reminder of the RAHS Annual State History Conference 2014

The 2014 Conference will be held at Mittagong RSL, 25 – 26 October 2014. The theme is Moving History and delegates will have the opportunity to discover how history is about change over time and is always moving as we respond to new information and ask questions about the past.

Bookings are now open for the RAHS 2014 Annual State History Conference in Mittagong, NSW, in October. Click here for the 2014 Booking form.

Click the following link here to explore the conference website.

Curious about Evernote?

Have you heard people talking about Evernote? Would you like to know what it is? Would you like to know how it can help you with your research?

If you answer YES to any of these questions then come along to our Technology SIG meeting in the Society rooms on Thursday 11 September at 1:30pm and all will be revealed.

Evernote

In addition to discussing Evernote we will make time to share technology news and try to answer any tech questions that you may have.

Should you have any questions you would like addressed please contact Jill Ball jillballau@gmail.com

Roseville Boys' College

An article by Max Farley. Reprinted form the Society Newsletter, June 2008.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roseville College, a girls’ school, recently published a history
to mark its 100 years. It was in 1908 that Miss Isobel Davies
took over Hinemoa School in Victoria Street, Roseville and
renamed it Roseville College.

This Centenary publication, Memories and Dreams – Roseville
College 1908-2008, was written by Denise Thomas, an
educator and historian, and includes much of interest not just to
those closely associated with Roseville College but also to
Roseville residents. On the lighter side is the revelation that in
its early days the College enrolled boys up to eight years of
age. It continued to do so until as late as 1979.

These boys included Robert and John Fowler who lived in
the nearby Firs cottage in Roseville Park, as well as Colin
Begg and Paul Toose, who became judges, and Chester
Porter QC. John Fowler, who attended from 1920, is
reported by Denise Thomas as recalling “that life was
sometimes difficult for boys attending Roseville, because
they were mocked by boys from other schools. Fortunately,
he said, the girls of Roseville College were happy to have
them”.

Though this history does not dwell on the topic, the earlier
Hinemoa School had been conducted for several years by
Mrs Maria Tingcombe who lived in Hinemoa cottage with
her husband George, daughter Dorothy, and Ellen Tingcombe,
a spinster cousin. Maria had operated the school for several
years. The name, Hinemoa, was that of a legendary Maori
maiden of noble birth and the heroine of a romantic love affair.

Spring Flowers at Lindfield

A report found on Trove from September 1926:

1926 'SPRING FLOWERS.', The Sydney Morning Herald(NSW : 1842 - 1954), 6 September, p. 5, viewed 1 September, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16323473

Hazel Perdriau (1913-2014)

Society members were saddened to hear this week news of the passing of Life Member, Hazel Perdriau.

As a tribute to Hazel  we reprint this biography from our 2008 newsletter. The Society's Committee and members extend condolences to the Perdriau family.

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Hazel Perdriau remembers Armistice Day and joining in celebratory bell ringing. She also remembers Sir Ross and Keith Smith’s plane flying overhead at the end of their epic flight from England, and that the 1919 flu epidemic nearly made her and her young brother orphans.

In 1920 her parents moved to a house in Roseville where she attended the Roseville Infants School and continued there when it became a full primary school and she later attended PLC Pymble. She left school in 1928 because of her mother’s illness and the transfer of the family to a new house in Nelson Street, Gordon. She then enrolled at the East Sydney Technical College to study commercial art, however after three years she abandoned art on being invited by a friend at Sydney University to join the University Choir. 

Realizing that she had a good singing voice, she commenced the study of voice and piano at the State Conservatorium of Music. Following the outbreak of WW2 Hazel assisted her mother who was president of the Gordon Red Cross and then joined the Red Cross herself to serve in military hospitals, visiting the sick and teaching crafts. She worked as an Occupational Therapist and was sent to the 113 AGH at Concord West. After about a year of part time work, she was posted full time to 104 AGH Bathurst and then to114 AGH at Kenmore with a staff of local volunteers, which enabled her to expand her activities with music therapy and pottery.

Remaining with the Red Cross after the war, Hazel gained experience with treadle looms and weaving and was sent back to113 AGH in charge of the weaving room and later the handcraft centre. When the 113 AGH was turned over to the Repatriation Department, Hazel transferred to the Occupational Therapy Department, taking charge of the pottery and art room. She also took part, with the Hurlstone Choral Society, in performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In addition she attended night classes at the East Sydney Technical College to further her skills in clay modeling and pottery.

On her retirement in 1976, Hazel joined the Turramurra Garden Club and the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society, serving as secretary and president at various times in both organizations. She has been a Life Member of the Society for a number of years. She also found time to photograph every house in Nelson St, Gordon and donated to the Society a copy of the 1788-1820 Pioneer Association Register and a paper knife reputed to be made of wood from HMS Sirius. In addition she is an active member of the St. Ives Music Study Group. A very busy lady!

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Conference Reminder

The Society received this reminder email from the organisers of the NSW & ACT AFHS Conference 2014. A great learnng and social opportunity for the family historians in our midst.

The Society will be having a table at the exhibition associated with the conference.
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Hello All,

Don't forget that you can still register for the conference,  from the website until 31 August:
http://www.conference2014.org.au/Registration.html

You can book using either the secure trybooking service or download the form and send in completed with a cheque or do an EFT.

The cost for the standard registration will be $160.

The conference dinner (on Sat night 13/9) is a separate booking for $45.

You can also book separately for the Lambis Englezos talk (on sun 14/9 at 10.30 am) thru the website, until 14/9, for $10. If you have full or sun registration the Lambis talk is incl and you do not need to pay the extra $10. This talk is certain to be well worth listening to as Lambis will talk about the undiscovered burial site of Fromelles. If you have friends interested in this topic please recommend this talk to them.

Praise for our book: Rallying the Troops

Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial launched our book on July 26 and we have had some great feedback since then.

Here are some of the comments (in no particular order):

Your Volume 1 is superb and a wonderful testament to the men and women whom it records and those who wrote it. You have given these locals from those days a form of immortality by making their stories accessible and coherent.

(Anzac commemoration committee member)

Lots to look at & so many familiar names. ... Many thanks to all the researchers, the volumes will be a valuable resource for many years!

(Descendant)

I received my book and was delighted and I have barely put it down. ...You are all to be congratulated indeed on the work and time you have all achieved and I am so proud to have been a small part, what a wonderful book and keepsake for my family. 

(Descendant and Contributor)

Just to let you know your wonderful book is now catalogued and in our Library. What a beautifully produced volume it is - and what an effort it has been for you and your editorial group. You must be exhausted, but elated. … Only people who have been involved in publications like this can fully appreciate what has gone before. I do hope more of those in your Society can now be inspired to lend a hand. ... Congratulations on a job well done!

(a regional Family History Society)

I was amongst the amazing number of guests at your book launch on Saturday. You must be very happy and justifiably proud of Rallying the troops.

(Local schoolteacher)

Yesterday I received my copy of Rallying the Troops … It is an amazing tour de force by you and your colleagues. Great, Great, Great work!

(local author / historian)

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to take part in this worthwhile project.

(Contributor)

Heartiest congratulations on a ‘Job very well done’ - the launch was very well done with wonderful speeches by Dr Nelson and our Mayor.  The book is a masterstroke and will be very much appreciated by many.

(KHS member)

Congratulations on this significant achievement to you and the rest of the team.

(local community group leader)

A very impressive book indeed.

(Contributor)

We both think it is stunning! A magnificent tribute to all those who served in the War. Hats off and medals all round for you and your team. You must all be thrilled at how well it has turned out.

(Contributor, UK)

A very important source for all Ku-ring-gai history.

(KHS member)

If you'd like to buy a copy, please go to our website and follow the links to place an order.
We have a special introductory price of $40 for purchases before August 31, 2014.

Trove Tuesday - Kuring-gai Mayor defends Regalia

In the news 60 years ago.

1954 'Kuring-gai Mayor Defends Regalia.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 17 August, p. 5, viewed 13 August, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18438251

Elections at Annual General Meeting Today

The election for Office Bearers of the Society was held at the Annual General Meeting this afternoon.

The results are as follows:

President: Graham Lewis

Vice-Presidents: Jo Harris and Jenny Joyce

Treasurer: TBA

Secretary: TBA

Committee Members: Ann Barry, Neil Falconer, Morrison Hammond, Margaret Holland, Yvette Reeve.

After the results of the election were announced new President, Graham Lewis, thanked the Returning Officer, Beverley Dunstan, for her work in organising the election and the outgoing Committee Members for their contributions to the Society.

Tom Keneally Anniversary Lecture 2014

The Society has received notice of this event to be held next week. Full details can be found on the SMSA website: http://smsa.org.au/events/event/tom-keneally-anniversary-lecture-2014/

Technology Special Interest Group Meeting - Tomorrow.

At our next meeting on Thursday 14 August at 1.30 pm we will look at free software programs for historians and genealogists – from email to word processing to genealogy software.

If you have some favourite programs please tell us about them, or if you would like to add to your software collection for little outlay then you should find something to interest you.

For enquiries please email jillballau@gmail.com.

THE UNEXPECTED WAR - Talk by historian Michael McKernan

One hundred years ago this month newspaper headlines were reporting on the political crisis surrounding the new nation’s first-ever double dissolution. A political assassination in the far-away Balkans in late June seemed barely worthy of mention.

The Prime Minister, Joseph Cook, and the leader of the Labour Opposition, Andrew Fisher, were busy preparing for a federal election. Neither they, nor other Australian politicians could foresee the terrible consequences of the diplomatic failures that were unfolding in Europe.

When Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August, Australia, like the rest of the Empire, was also at war. The news was greeted with nationalistic fervour by crowds in the streets of Australia’s major cities.

Australia’s reaction to news of the outbreak of hostilities is the subject of a talk to the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society this Saturday, 16 August, by eminent historian DR MICHAEL McKERNAN.  Michael is a former Deputy-Director of the Australian War Memorial, a radio commentator and author of many books charting the effects of war on Australian society.

Within a week of the outbreak of war, both of Australia’s political leaders having pledged immediate and unconditional support, recruitment was underway with a force of 20 000 men promised for the defence of the empire.

Thousands of young men enthusiastically rushed to enlist with, perhaps, little understanding of what was involved, and no foreboding that this conflict

would drag on for more than four years and cost millions of lives.

The first shot fired by Allied forces came from an artillery battery at Pt. Phillip heads to prevent the departure of the Norddeutscher Lloyd cargo ship SS Pfalz just after midnight on 5 August, 1914.

On 18 August a Naval and Military Expeditionary Force left Sydney to capture wireless stations used by the German East Asia Cruiser Squadron and which represented an urgent threat to merchant shipping. During the first fighting at Rabaul in German New Guinea four Australians were killed.

Among the casualties was Capt. Brian Pockley, a twenty-four year old medical doctor of Wahroonga and one of the more than 1300 men and women with links to the Ku-ring-gai municipality who served in what would become known as the Great War.

Ku-ring-gai Historical Society is commemorating the service of these men and women by researching and writing their stories to ensure that they will not be forgotten. Volume 1 of Rallying the Troops, containing the war stories of those beginning with names A to F, was recently launched by Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the AWM.

Copies are now available from the Society (www.khs.org.au or 9499 4568)

Members of the public are cordially invited to attend the 16 August talk by Dr McKernan. It will be held in the Meeting Room, old Gordon Public School building adjacent to the Library, corner of the Pacific Highway and Park Avenue, Gordon. The meeting starts at 2pm and will be preceded by the AGM. Afternoon tea will be served.

Trove Tuesday - Killara

For our post this week I have selected this llittle poem published in The Sydney Morning Herald in 1927.

1925 'KILLARA.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 28 March, p. 13, viewed 22 July, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16188139

The poet was Charles Walker Chandler.

Another poem by Chandler published in the Herald in 1926 was Bringin' 'em back.

1926 'BRINGIN' 'EM BACK.', The Sydney Morning Herald(NSW : 1842 - 1954), 16 January, p. 13, viewed 22 July, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16268750

In our mailbox...

...is this invitation which may interest members and friends.

For enquiries please contact Sydney Living Museums.

Trove Tuesday - Wonderland of Trees

Do these words from 1930 describe Wahroonga in 2014?

1930 'WAHROONGAN TREES.', The Sydney Morning Herald(NSW : 1842 - 1954), 13 June, p. 15, viewed 7 July, 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16704444

Rallying the Troops set to be launched

The first volume of our WWI commemorative book series is about to be launched.

We are excited that Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial (and former Federal MP for Bradfield) is returning to Lindfield on Saturday 26 July at 2pm to launch:

Rallying the Troops, a World War I Commemoration by Ku-ring-gai Historical Society, Volume I.

This volume includes chapters on Ku-ring-gai society before the War, memorials both local and overseas, early military campaigns, and biographies of those with surnames beginning with A to F. 

Dr Nelson has written a stimulating Foreword for the book.

The launch afternoon is almost fully subscribed, with about 120 people already booked in. If you would like to attend, please phone or email KHS as soon as possible to book your place.

We have a special early bird purchase price of $40 for purchases up to 31 August.

From 1 September 2014 the price will be $50.

Packaging and Postage within Australia is $15.

Please check our website for purchase details.

You can pay by EFT, cheque or visit the research rooms to pay in person by cash.

Copies will be available for purchase at the launch.

If you pay before the launch, you may collect it on the day and have it signed.

This is no ordinary World War I reference book.

Members of Ku-ring-gai Historical Society have rallied to delve deep into the service and family records of local soldiers and nurses to reveal their involvement in the Great War of 1914-1918. This volume is the first in the series; a second and third will be published in 2015 and 2016.

In the municipality of Ku-ring-gai in northern Sydney over 1,300 men and women served from a population of just over 12,000. They came from all walks of life, from labourers to university lecturers. Their origins were diverse, not only from the immediate locality but also from other parts of New South Wales, from other states and from other countries.

Their achievements were many; one in every ten was decorated. Their losses were great; one in every five did not return. What all did for their nation is monumental.

The Society has endeavoured to do justice to these veterans, to tell the stories that many never lived to tell or were unable to tell. The telling became a passion; it engendered pride and sorrow, anger and despair. Yet each and every story deserved to be told, to be recorded for all time.

At the moment of death, they became beyond time.