HISTORY-NEWS-june-july-20151

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IN THE <strong>NEWS</strong> EXHIBITION – 13 JUNE TO 9 AUGUST ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS ‘THE INIMITABLE MR MEEK’. From 13 June – 9 August the Art Gallery of Ballarat is presenting an exhibition called ‘The Inimitable Mr Meek’. The RHSV is delighted to lend two works for this exhibition. Joan Luxemburg, curator of the exhibition writes: First house and store erected at Ballarat 1851-52, near Lydiard and Mair Streets, Ballarat; pen and ink drawing by James Meek [RHSV Collection : ART-0252.001] James McKain Meek (1815-1899) arrived early in the colony, in 1838, and was also an early arrival on the Ballarat goldfields in December 1851. Meek’s sketches and maps were well known in his day, but few survive. The two held in the RHSV’s collection are among the earliest known depictions of the Ballarat area. The First House in Ballarat was Meek’s sketch of his own dwelling (and sly grog outlet), drawn on the spot in December 1852. (Visible is an incorrect date, not in Meek’s hand, that has been added.) Meek’s other surviving sketch from this time records the first Police Camp on Golden Point. The central element is the Camp Tree, an agent of rough justice before a lockup was built. Wrongdoers, predominantly diggers without a licence, were secured to a bullock chain that ran around the base of the tree. The Prisoners chained to a gum tree, near to the centre of the Government Camp (later the site of the Ballarat Police Station), 1851; pen and ink drawing by James Meek [RHSV Collection : ART- 0252.002] troubled events on the goldfields erupted in the Eureka Rebellion on 3 December 1854. Like so many pioneers, Meek was astonishingly versatile. He worked as a miner, mariner, explorer, and entrepreneur. He also became a graphic artist of note, producing large, illustrated charts celebrating the colonies’ achievements. Interestingly, Meek returns to these early sketches forty years later, incorporating them into his large 1890s works that acclaim Ballarat’s history, development and success. The Art Gallery of Ballarat, 40 Lydiard Street North Ballarat Vic. 3350 Royal Historical Society of Victoria 239 A’Beckett Street Melbourne, Victoria 3000 Australia +61 3 9326 9288 www.historyvictoria.org.au 6 www.historyvictoria.org.au It’s that time of year when we invite you to renew your subscription to the RHSV. We thank you for your support during 2014 and hope we have provided services, access to the collections, a variety of programs and interesting publications that have brought benefits to our members and the wider public. Our Annual Report for 2014 is now up on our website: http://www.historyvictoria.org.au/publications/annual-report We value your membership. By subscribing to the RHSV you continue to support our work and the support we provide to 340 historical societies throughout Victoria. For the first time since 2007, we have had to increase our individual membership to $70.00 to meet raising costs. A renewal form is included with this newsletter for the period 1 July 2015 – 30 June 2016. Please encourage your friends to join – additional Membership Forms can be downloaded from our website or we can post them. Membership renewals can also be made directly online or by phoning the office 93269288 Click on the link for renewal forms and online renewals. http://www.historyvictoria.org.au/support-us/become-a-member Please encourage your friends to join – additional Membership Forms can be downloaded from our website or we can post them. VICTORIAN HISTORICAL JOURNAL ISSUE 283 VOL. 86, No. 1 – JUNE 2015 OUT NOW Read online at: www.historyvictoria.org.au and click on the Publications tab VOLUME 86, NUMBER 1, JUNE 2015 VICTORIAN HISTORICAL ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF VICTORIA JOURNAL
BOOKS RECEIVED BOOKS RECEIVED: Authors, publishers and Historical Societies are invited to contribute books to the RSHV for the library and for consideration for inclusion in Books Received. The Ian Potter Foundation 50 Years Looking Backward, Reaching Forward Ian Potter Foundation, Melbourne, 2014, pp. 84. ISBN 9780987160751. A commemorative celebration of 50 years of Potter Foundation philanthropy that details the diverse areas to which grants have been applied, its governors, its impact and the extent (more than $250 million) of its distributions. A substantial reminder of the importance of philanthropy applied to education, the arts, health and wellbeing and many other areas. The Wisewould Chronicles Grandchildren of James and Sophia Wisewould, Drewett and Davis Ancestors and Relations of Sophia Wisewould Beatrice Garner (compiler), 2014, pp.. 252. Henry Wisewould, Diary of a Private of the 16 th Queens Lancers, London Beatrice Garner (transcriber), 2010, pp.190. James and Sophia Wisewould (and their family) Beatrice Garner (compiler), 2011, pp. 158. Extensive collections of carefully preserved family material with strong connections with Victoria from the 1850s, with many photos and reproductions of documents. Emporium: Selling the Dream in Colonial Australia Edward Barnard, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2015, pp.192, $49-99. ISBN 9780642278685. A beautifully produced collection of 19 th century Australian advertisements drawn from published material. Arranged thematically, the advertisements tell much about the milieu of colonial society suggesting that there is considerable scope for major studies of advertising. Red Cross in Brighton, A History of the Brighton Unit of Red Cross (Victorian Division, Australia) 1914-2014. Alleyn Best, Red Cross Victorian Division Brighton Unit, 194 Bay Street, Brighton,, 3186, 2014, pp.. iv + 149. ISBN 9780646925837. This informative book charts the activities of a local Red Cross unit, formed soon after the outbreak of World War 1 and continuing its voluntary humanitarian work at home and abroad to the present. The Brighton unit was involved in: raising funds and supplying food, clothing and materials during the war and assisting in running rehabilitation centres like Anzac Hostel in the aftermath; providing auxiliary service in hospitals during the influenza pandemic of 1919; providing community service including the establishment of the Blood Bank in 1929; responding to the need for services during World War 2; providing aid for refugees and migrants in the post-war period; running Meals on Wheels in Brighton for 30 years; and continuing to provide assistance for those affected by natural disasters and wars here and overseas. Wild Bleak Bohemia, Marcus Clarke, Adam Lindsay Gordon and Henry Kendall, A Documentary Michael Wilding, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2014, pp. 580. ISBN 9781925003802. This massive work brings together the lives of three 19 th century literary giants, who all spent time in Melbourne. The blurb rightly describes them as ‘troubled geniuses’ in a ‘world of poetry and poverty, alcohol and opiates, horse-racing and theatre, journalism and publishing’. This ‘documentary’ is founded on masses of contemporary material and it has an exhaustive bibliography but, unaccountably, there is no index or even chapters to allow easier access to its impressive scholarly content. A good story, well told, nevertheless. Colony, Strange Origins of One of the Earliest Modern Democracies Reg Hamilton, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 2010, pp. 311, $34.95. ISBN 9781862548930. In the second half of the 19 th century, Australian colonies laid the foundations of modern democracies at a steady rate and well before their major Home country. This book deals with the case of South Australia by following the author’s forebears from Dover to make their fortune and participate in the making of democracy. The story in Victoria may be different but this book reminds us that British immigrants to the Australian colonies responded to the need to develop separate governments in similar ways. Royal Visits to Australia Jane Connors, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2015, pp. 232, $39.99. ISBN 9780642278708. A comprehensive, wellillustrated account of royal tours to Australia. The pivotal 1954 tour is dealt with at length, but also covered are: the 19 th century tours of the royal princes; the federation visit of the Duke (later George V) and Duchess of Cornwall and York; the Prince of Wales in the aftermath of the Great War; the Duke (later George VI) and Duchess of York for the opening of Parliament House in Canberra; and the Duke of Gloucester’s visit for the Victorian centenary. There are also short sections dealing with visits by non-British royals as well as the multiplicity of British royal visits after 1954. The book charts the fascination that the tours have had for Australians. It has a lively text and many splendid captioned images. From Guano to Gold, The Diary and Letters of Vicary Gibbs from 1883-5 Shirley Hinkly (ed.), Crawcour Books, Chichester, UK, 2014, pp. xvi + 394. ISBN 9780992872007. Vicary Gibbs, a young partner in his family’s firm, Antony Gibbs & Sons, kept a diary of his lengthy visit to their outposts. His journey took in the USA, New Zealand, parts of Australia including four occasions in Melbourne before his return to England via Ceylon, Egypt, and western Europe. The diary was discovered in the early 1980s and has been meticulously researched by the editor who supplies extensive informative notes and illustrations of much of the content. The whole is also extensively indexed. A worthwhile addition to both 19 th century travel accounts with a young man’s interesting observations of Melbourne society and much more. www.historyvictoria.org.au 7
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