1. society
2. unrest and war

Merimbula –Imlay
Historical Society
The Old School Report
March 2015
www.merimbulahistoricalsociety.webhive.com.au
NB! Fundraising Cake stall at OSM Sat 28 March. Please bring cakes to sell!
From the Editor Apologies for not putting newsletter out for February. I had an influx of visitors and no time
to think!
Firstly, following on from our successful application to the Australian National Maritime Museum for a grant for a conservation assessment on our oyster punt, David Payne, a curator
from the ANMM, came on 10 & 11 March to assess the punt. On 10th he spent time looking
at David Brown’s oyster punt and visited EKWM and learnt about the Wanderer reconstruction project. He considers our punt is significant enough to be entered on the historic vessels register, which is a great coup for the OSM. Shirley, Colette, Liz, Angela George and
myself attended the meeting on 11th during which we listened to David’s findings and suggestions on how to conserve the punt.
On 28 March we are mounting a display with the great title of ’They also serve who save:
Conflict & Compassion’ - one of Shirley’s brilliant ideas at 2 in the morning! The display will
tell the story of the thousands of non-combatant personnel who laboured to try to save
those who had been wounded or made ill by the
conditions of World War One. We have acquired
from the Australian War Memorial a digital version
of ‘A Camera on Gallipoli’ which shows a series of
photos by Sir Charles Ryan of the battle at Gallipoli.
We will include a showing of this at the launch.
Since last November you will; have noticed the concrete apron has been laid in front of the main gate
to the OSM. This is a vast improvement on the ankle-breaking dirt that was there before! Thanks for
photo, Don Bretherton!
Olwen Morris
Dress Register Workshop
On 26 February Geraldine drove Colette and I to
Moruya where we attended a workshop on caring
for historic textiles and an introduction to the Australian Dress Register. The Dress Register website is a
national database of garments that are valued for
their rarity, age or design but most importantly because of the stories they tell.
The Register is a collaboration managed by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney
(Powerhouse Museum) involving Australia-wide collecting institutions including regional museums, historical societies and private collectors.
Sarah Pointon, Registrar and Kate Chidlow, Conservator, presented the workshop and took us through the process of entering items on the
register. During the second half of the workshop Kate and Sarah showed us how to photograph garments using high resolution, which is necessary for photos that are suitable for
publication.
We took with us the brown Blundell day dress and the widow’s weeds jacket & cape. The
girls were very interested in the day dress and took photos. They encouraged us to enter
the dress on the register.
Check out the new
website!
Thanks Ian!
Diary Sat 28 March - Election cake stall from
8am. Bring cakes!!
Sat 28 March 2pm launch of ’They Also
Serve who Save’
Mon 30 March 2pm
RSL- M-IHS meeting
Mon 27 April 2pm RSL
- M-HIS meeting
Mon 25 May 2pm RSL
- M-HIS meeting
Committee members President Garry Moorhead 6495 9357
V-P 1 Geraldine McCann- 6495 3540
V-P 2 Val Russell 6495 2765
Secretary Shirley Bazley 6495 9231
Treasurer Brigitte Kestermann - 6495 0250
Curator Liz Bretherton 6495 7034
Publicity Val Russell 6495 2765
Committee members Don Bretherton 6495 7034
Arthur Lee 0427624504
A horse being treated by a vet in
WW1
New display at Old School Museum!
Please make a special note in your diaries to attend the launch of a new display at
the Old School Museum called They Also Serve who Save: Conflict and Compassion
in WWI. The display tells the story in photographs (two are shown opposite) and text
of the thousands who accompanied the soldiers to war, not to fight but to save and
care for the sick and wounded. Also included are the many animals, carrier pigeons,
dogs, camels and horses who also played an important part in the conflict.
The event will begin at 2pm on Saturday 28 March and Tony Toussaint from the RSL
sub-branch will launch the proceedings. There will also be refreshments. Drop in on
your way past after you have voted! (Also see page 3!)
A dental officer working on a
soldier in WW1
New Phase for Wanderer Replica Project
The Wanderer Replica Project has entered a new phase with official approval of its registration by the NSW Department of
Fair Trading as a non-profit incorporated association, and the election of a new Executive Committee.
During its first year, the project was under the guidance of a community support organization, Resilience, now disbanded.
Now, with the approval of the new legal entity – Wanderer Replica Project – Eden, Inc. the long-held dream of building a
full scale replica of Ben Boyd’s luxury topsail schooner moves a step closer to reality.
Built at Cowes in 1837, Ben Boyd’s original Wanderer was a 140-tonne topsail schooner, approximately 90 feet overall,
14ft draft, flush decks, 13 guns, with a luxury fitout and was a very fast sailer.
The new President of the newly incorporated Wanderer Project committee is Morrie Lynch, the well-known Eden shipwright. Morrie will also take charge of the construction phase of the Wanderer replica on a special site at Boydtown, Twofold Bay.
During its first year of meetings so far, the Wanderer replica project group has achieved a great deal. The proprietor of
Boydtown, Mr Bruce Lyon, has provided excellent support in the form of a construction site lease near the Princes Highway entrance to Boydtown. Bega Valley Shire Council has also approved a development application with plans for the
Boydtown construction site. The lease and the DA are being amended to reflect the new incorporated status of the project
group.
As well, the project group commissioned a naval architect in England to visit Ben Boyd’s descendant, Lord Boyd, at Ince
Castle early in 2014 to take professional measurements from the original shipwright’s model of the Wanderer.
These are now being worked on in Sydney by Peter Lowe Design Pty. Ltd, naval architects who worked with the legendary America’s Cup designer, the late Ben Lexcen. In co-operation with Morrie Lynch, this process will produce concept
plans for the Wanderer replica, followed by detailed drawings for submission to the maritime regulator.
Mr Lynch emphasised that the Wanderer Replica Project aims to provide employment, education/training and tourism opportunities throughout the build process as well as when she is a sailing concern,
The construction phase will include the participation of local shipbuilding apprentices and provide facilities for visual inspection by school and tourist groups as the hull takes shape at Boydtown.
Fundraising for the replica project began in 2013 with the “Purchase a Plank” program offering interested supporters a
specified plank of the replica for $50 each. The Wanderer group will now look to initiate the larger fundraising program
needed to fund the start-up of the construction site at Boydtown.
Apart from Morrie Lynch as President, the newly elected Executive Committee for the Wanderer Replica Project includes:
Vice-President, Allan Drummond (Wallagoot); Treasurer, Jim Morris (Eden); Secretary Clare Whiter (Eden) and Committee Members: Jon Gaul (Tura); John Seckhold (Tathra); Ian Whiter (Eden) and Dave Brown (Merimbula).
Anyone interested in becoming involved with the Wanderer Replica Project is welcome aboard. Please contact Clare
Whiter at the Eden Community Access Centre on 6496 3970 or at accesscentre@eden.nsw..au
Background on Ben Boyd in Australia
The Scottish entrepreneur, Benjamin Boyd, arrived in Sydney harbour in his luxury topsail schooner, Wanderer, in 1843.
Crowds lined the Sydney foreshore to applaud his arrival. Boyd soon proposed to base his Steamship Company at Twofold Bay, Eden.
As well as extensive holdings in the Government town of Eden, Boyd purchased a large section of land in the southern
part of Twofold Bay where he began to build Boydtown and East Boyd in 1843, commencing with the “Seahorse Inn”, now
restored as a boutique hotel, and later that year the area’s first Post Office. Boyd also commissioned the building of
Boyd’s Tower from Pyrmont sandstone blocks shipped from Sydney as
an unofficial lighthouse and whale spotting structure on the south headland of Twofold Bay.
In a census of 1849 only 49 people were listed as living in Eden town,
whereas over 200 resided in Boydtown. Boyd himself spent little time in
Twofold Bay preferring to operate from his property in Neutral Bay,
Sydney.
Benjamin Boyd was a colourful and controversial figure in Australian
history. He soon became one of the largest landholders in Australia
with over two million acres in the Monaro, Gippsland, along the Murray
and other parts of the colony. As well as interests in whaling, shipping,
export, banking and finance he was also elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly.
He instigated many grandiose schemes but his financial empire was
plagued by shipping losses, labour disputes and financial mismanagement until he was ultimately declared bankrupt in 1848 and departed in
the Wanderer in 1849 for an unsuccessful bid to revive his fortunes on
Ben Boyd’s schooner Wanderer in Sydney 1846
the Californian goldfields.
painted by Oswald Brierly
[National Library of Australia]
Boyd disappeared presumed dead in the Solomon Islands in 1851 after leaving the ship to hunt ducks ashore. His body was never recovered despite searches initiated by his creditors. Caught in a major storm, Wanderer was wrecked on the NSW coast near
Port Macquarie a few months later, her timbers salvaged over the years to form parts of smaller vessels.
By this time, Boydtown had become a virtual ghost town, with its church roofed but otherwise unfinished as it remains today. Jon Gaul
PS Jon Gaul will speak about this project at the general meeting on Monday 30 March 2pm
RSL, Merimbula!
Invitation!
Morning Tea Reflection of the Bega library’s World War One Honour Board.
Each library in the Shire will have an Honour Board installed as part of the Poppies for Anzac Day project.
Based on the research of local historian Pat Raymond, the Honour Boards list the names of the local men
who enlisted to fight in World War One and who lost their lives. Members of the community are invited to
craft a poppy to pin next to the name of one of those men as a commemoration in the lead up to Anzac
Day. The Bega Honour Board will be installed in the foyer between the Regional Art Gallery and the library.
We hope you can make it to:
WWI Honour Board Morning Tea Reflection
Tuesday 14 April at 10.30am
Bega Library/Regional Art Gallery foyer
Feel free to bring a crafted poppy to pin next to a name!
RSVP: to me Linda Albertson by Monday 13 April.
Email: LAlbertson@begavalley.nsw.gov.au Phone: 6499 2243
A camera on Gallipoli
The Australian War Memorial’s digital exhibition A camera on Gallipoli, featuring First World
War photographs taken by Sir Charles Ryan, will open at the Old
School Museum, Main St Merimbula on Saturday 28th March
at 2pm. There will also be a special presentation given at the Historical Society’s general meeting at the RSL on Monday 27th
April at 2.30pm.
In 1914, at the age of 61, Sir Charles Ryan was appointed consulting surgeon to the AIF, embarking from Melbourne in October
towards the Middle East and on to Gallipoli.
A camera on Gallipoli showcases a series of 39 candid photographs captured by Charles Ryan while serving with the AIF in
Turkey in 1915.
The Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson,
says Charles Ryan’s photographs capture the reality behind the
1915 Gallipoli campaign, depicting a unique and often harsh view of our soldiers’ experiences.
“Ryan’s photographs reflect the Australians’ true experience of war, depicting the dry, forbidding
landscape, tired troops in the trenches, and squalid dug-outs,” Dr Nelson said.
“Ryan also managed to capture the true spirit of the Australian soldiers who fought at Gallipoli.
Their mateship, stoicism and endurance underpin the photographs and embody the meaning of
the Anzac spirit.”
Behind the photographs in the exhibition is the story of Charles Ryan’s remarkable life. He
served as a doctor with the Turkish army in 1877–78, treated Ned Kelly at Glenrowan, was a
leading Melbourne surgeon and gave long service as a senior military officer. He was extended
high civil and military recognition by his peers.
The exhibition is a centenary initiative to commemorate the centenary of the First World
War.
For further information please contact Shirley Bazley 6495 9231
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket
fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger
and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower 1890 - 1969 34th President of the United States from his ‘Chance for
Peace’ speech 16 April, 1953.
Cologne - a brave pigeon
I wanted to put this lovely story into our Compassion and Conflict display at the OSM but as it referred to WW2 and we were only focusing on WWI I had to leave it out. However I felt you should
all read the story anyway so here it is.
In World War 2 messenger pigeons delivered messages from the Front that saved lives.
Cologne (pictured left) was a carrier pigeon who
served with the National Pigeon Service and carried
out over 100 missions with Bomber Command before being downed. The RAF bomber crashed over
Cologne, Germany, in 1943 killing all on board. The
pigeon, who was named after that city, made her
way back to the pigeon service officer’s house in
Britain a fortnight later with a broken breast bone.
She received the Dickin Medal for bravery in service
during WW11, from the People’s Dispensary for Sick
Animals in 1947. The citation on Cologne’s medal
read “For homing from a crashed aircraft over Cologne although seriously wounded, whilst serving
with the RAF in 1943”.
This story was also told on the BBC’s production Antiques Roadshow during which it was revealed that the medal was valued at around £10000, because of the rarity and provenance.
The PDSA Dickin Medal was instituted in the UK in 1943 by Maria Dickin to
honour the work of animals in war. It is a bronze medallion (see picture right),
bearing the words “For Gallantry” and “We also serve” within a laurel wreath,
carried on a ribbon of striped green, dark brown and pale blue. The medal
was awarded to animals that displayed conspicuous gallantry or devotion to
duty while serving or associated with any branch of the Armed Forces . It has
been commonly referred to as the animals’ Victoria Cross. A total of 32 birds
have received the PDSA Dickin Medal for their life-saving action in conflict.
During the war years PDSA Animal Rescue Squads helped to save and treat more than a quarter
of a million pets injured and buried under debris during the blitz. Today in the UK the PDSA continues to care for pets of people in need and provide free veterinary services to their sick or injured animals. More than 2 million animals are treated each year in pet hospitals that are run by
hard-working vets and nurses. The PDSA is funded entirely by public support.
Olwen Morris [Information supplied from internet sites Wikipedia & PDSA]
Books you need to read!
One of the best books I’ve read recently is Girt - the Unauthorised History of Australia by David
Hunt. It is a laugh-out-loud look at our history from “megafauna to Macquarie”. Hunt takes historical
facts about Australia, such as we know them, but adds his own humorous touches to create a fondly
satirical and slightly irreverent approach to our heritage.
Since Christmas I have been obsessively reading a series of novels by the British writer C J Sansom
set in the reign of Henry VIII. There are six novels in the series so far and I bought the lot on line after I read some of the reviews. The main character, Matthew Shardlake, is a hunchback lawyer who is
called upon by Thomas Cromwell in the first two books, Dissolution and Dark Fire, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in Sovereign and Revelation and by Queen Catherine Parr in Heartstone and Lamentation, to solve mysteries and murders. Excellent historical detail and great plots. I can’t put them
down! Olwen Morris