Blue Mountains Local Studies

Minnie Quinlan (c.1860-1949)

2012-01-05T10:47:00.017+11:00

Mary (Minnie) Quinlan was born about 1860 to Patrick Quinlan, quarryman, and Mary Maloney, in County Clare, Ireland. It seems the family left Ireland for personal reasons, perhaps following Patrick's death, as she appears in official records in the 1861 Census in Liverpool, England when she was 3 years old. She is listed with her brother Patrick age 2, a baby of three months and her mother then 22, all of whom lived with her father's brother, Thomas Quinlan, a tailor aged 45.

Mary arrived in Australia as an assisted immigrant in the early 1880s. A shipping arrival record for 1884 shows a Mary Quinlan age 22, arriving in NSW on the S.S. Abergeldie. She travelled in the company of other Irish girls in their teens and twenties, girls with names like Kate and Sarah, Mary and Bridget; all listed as domestics, from the counties of Derry, Kerry, Tyrone, Tipperary, Donegal, Leitrim, Meath and Clare.

How and when Minnie arrived in Katoomba is unknown, she appears on the Katoomba electoral rolls from 1920 to 1949, as a spinster and occupier of a house in Parke Street. During this time she was described as ‘well-loved and well known to many for her work for the Red Cross’. On afternoons after Red Cross stalls were held, Minnie would prepare tea at her home for all of the ladies who had worked on the stalls.

Minnie was widely known as the Town Charlady, but would only do such work for the Congregational Church ministers, although herself of Roman Catholic denomination. Apparently she also cleaned the nearby Children’s Library and Craft Club in Davies Lane, established in 1942 and managed by her close friend Miss Ebbs.

In her latter years Minnie became an old age pensioner and lived on about ₤l.0.0 per week. Although a single woman living alone, she was never lonely; on most days she could be found on a seat outside the Katoomba Post Office where she would chat to passers by, both friends and strangers.

Minnie's death certificate shows she died of heart disease at the age of 88 years, with no known relatives, and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery in the rights of the Roman Catholic Church. Minnie’s will left all her worldly possessions to the Red Cross, whose President paid for her funeral. At the following meeting of the Katoomba Red Cross, a service was conducted by the Church of England Minister and attended by friends and clergy of all denominations.

The undertakers record from Wood Coffill in Katoomba shows that Minnie died on Thursday 24th February 1949 at her residence ‘Mayfair ’in Parke St, Katoomba, the informant was Mrs L.T.A. Hodgson. A requiem mass was held in St Canice’s Church, Katoomba, at 7 o’clock the following Saturday morning, from where the funeral, consisting of a hearse and 2 cars, left for Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney an hour later. Minnie’s headstone is inscribed “My Dear Friend”, probably from her close friend Miss Kathleen Ebbs, who composed her obituary.

The interesting thing is, that according to the burial record, she was interred in the reopened grave of her brother Michael Quinlan, who died 14th July 1928 aged 66. Michael was unmarried and was residing in North Sydney after arriving from Co. Tipperary in Ireland only three years previously; his occupation is given as watchman. Michael would appear to be the baby listed in the 1861 Liverpool census.

Oral Accounts courtesy of Paul Innes
March 2004.
A guest at the Carrington Hotel mentioned she remembered ‘an old woman who lived in a little hovel behind the Post Office.’ (Katoomba Street). ‘The woman was called Minnie, and there is now a plaque, with her name on it, located on a seat in front of the Post Office.’

The original plaque on the seat outside the former Katoomba Post Office.
It would date from about 1950 and was probably due to the efforts of Miss Ebbs.

July 2004
A Katoomba resident called Ian Pattison took me on three walks up and down Katoomba Street, showing what shop was where, who owned what etc, circa 1930s-1950s. On one of the walks, Ian mentioned Minnie Quinlan’s name.

‘She used to clean shop windows, brass plaques on shop fronts etc, between 1920’s and 1950’s. She died around 1950 something. There’s a plaque for her on a wooden seat in Katoomba Street.’

November 2006
In answer to an advert request in the Gazette, seeking any information about Minnie Quinlan,
a Katoomba resident, called Joyce Thompson telephoned me with her memories of Minnie.
“I knew Miss Quinlan when I was eleven years old. She lived in the area around Parke Street, Davies Lane, close to the Children’s Library. In 1941, my mother brought us up to Katoomba. Miss Ebbs ran the Children’s Library. Minnie Quinlan’s place was behind the Library. She was a small lady, white curly hair, dapper, so old. Miss Ebbs kept an eye on Miss Quinlan. She would tell us to be quiet outside the Library – ‘Keep the noise down’”.

*****

Opening of the Katoomba Children's Library and Craft Club by Hon. Clive Evatt 1942, Minnie may appear in this photo. The well dressed woman in the light overcoat and hat, standing centre, may be Miss Kathleen Ebbs, the librarian.

"LIBRARY CENTRE AT KATOOMBA
After the Minister for Education, Mr. Evatt, had opened the Katoomba Boys' and Girls' Library and Crafts Club on Saturday afternoon, children stayed to read books beside the library fire. The club, which is the eighth centre of the Children's Library Movement, is built from six disused garages, which have been converted into one central library, opening into two craft rooms on either side. It features murals designed by Dahl Collings and Elaine Haxton. Those present at the opening included the president of the local auxiliary, Dr. E. Dark, and Mrs. Eleanor Dark; the Mayor of Katoomba, Alderman Freelander, and the organising secretary of the Children's Library Movement, Mrs. Mary Matheson."
SMH Monday 27 July, 1942

*****

Obituary

"A TRIBUTE LATE MINNIE QUINLAN
We have lost Minnie, our friend - how deep a loss!

Sweetness, graciousness and utter kindness, balanced with sincerity, courage, and an inner strength, lifted Minnie above class and creed: She belonged to everyone.

How intimately she belonged to the Boys and Girls’ Library - such a motherly soul she was to us all! Daily she inquired our needs: always she shared any small luxury that came her way. She had so little, but she gave so much. Ofttimes she said, with a heavenly smile, 'All I’ve got is yours.'

So quick to respond with gratitude for any trifle we did for her; humbly we were always in her debt. When she was not able to make return in material goods, then have we seen her puzzled brow lift in relief, 'I know what I can do: I’ll remember you in my prayers.'

How proud she was of her long record of years of service! To menial work she endowed dignity and honour.

With reverence we bow to so great a soul.

Ah! not learning of books is the ideal of our Boys and Girls’ Library; rather it is the inspiration of that sweet spirit radiated by our beloved friend - the spirit that comes to bless the world with happiness and with peace. (K.E.)" [Miss Kathleen Ebbs]
Blue Mountains Advertiser Friday, March 11, 1949

*****

"A Memorial to Minnie Quinlan
The annual meeting of the Katoomba Boys and Girls’ Library Auxiliary was attended by a large number of interested residents. The Mayoress (Mrs. F. Walford) presided.

Mrs. Gill gave the meeting a resume of the Auxiliary’s activities over the past year, and paid tribute to the amount of work performed by enthusiastic workers. Later in the evening she was elected president.

An interesting address was given by Mr. Parker who stressed the importance of such libraries to the community. He spoke of the happiness that resulted from reading.

A tribute was paid to the late Minnie Quinlan by Miss Ebbs. Miss Quinlan had given her long life to the service of others and had been loved by all with whom she came into contact.

Mrs. McMahon, President of Quota Club presented the Library with a cheque from the Ladies Golf Club."
Blue Mountains Advertiser, March 18th 1949

Image PF 481 from the Local Studies Collection: ‘Mini Quinlan’s House Katoomba, 8th August
1928’. Provenance: Miss M Fawcett, Katoomba. Minnie Quinlan’s house is marked with an X , the building in the foreground is the garage block that later became the Children's Library.

Rookwood Cemetery Record
First Name: Mary
Last Name: Quinlan
Death Date: 24 February 1949
Age: 88
Inscription: My Dear Friend
Plot: Section 9 ROW 27
Plot Number: 3476
Denomination/nationality: Catholic Mortuary 2 & 3

Images from the Local Studies Collection, from top
1. Minnie's seat outside the Katoomba Post Office, the original seat was replaced in 2010. (photo John Merriman)
2. The original plaque mounted on the new seat. (photo John Merriman)
3. Opening of the Katoomba Children's Library and Craft Club 1942, Minnie and Miss Ebbs may appear in this photo.
4. Minnie's house under snow.

Acknowledgement: Paul Innes who collected the oral history accounts.

Note: Kathleen Irene Ebbs was the daughter of Thomas Arthur Rowley Ebbs (b.1870, Kiama; d.1955, Manly) clergyman, and Alice Beryl Ebbs (d.1966, Sydney). She was born in Raywood, Victoria, in 1902 and travelled to the U.K. for a trip in 1955, when she is listed as a passenger from London to Sydney. The 1930 electoral roll for Manly shows her occupation as Teacher, living with her parents at The Rectory, Darley Rd. She lived in Manly until 1937 before moving to Ficus St. Katoomba where she appears in the 1943 roll - occupation Librarian; in 1949 she lived in Beecroft, occupation Librarian, then returned to Ficus St Katoomba, Librarian; in 1954 Beecroft, Librarian; then Wahroonga and Turramurra until 1980; her death notice appeared in January 1989, late of Castle Hill.

2012, John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian

Katoomba Children’s Library & Crafts Club

2012-01-04T12:49:00.015+11:00

The official opening by Hon. Clive Evatt

Elsie Rivett, and her sister Mary Matheson, were the founders of the Children’s Library and Craft Movement. In 1922 they opened the first Children’s Library and Crafts Club in Surry Hills, Sydney. The Katoomba branch was apparently the eighth to be established.The following is compiled from contemporary newspaper reports.

“Boys’ and Girls’ Library and Craft Club Nearing Completion
Most mothers have had, at some time, to cope with a complaint from their children that there is nothing to read or nothing to do. This particular problem should be solved by the establishment of the Katoomba Boys’ and Girls’ Library and Crafts Club, which is an offshoot of the Children’s Library Movement, founded many years ago in Sydney, by Mrs. Mary Matheson.

Situated in Davies Lane in what was, until a couple of months ago, an ugly asphalt yard, flanked by a row of ugly dilapidated garages, the new library is growing towards completion. Thanks to much generous voluntary work, the asphalt has given way to a stone crazy pavement; the garages, altered and renovated, wear a fresh coat of paint in cream and pastel colours; shelves of a height suitable for small people, area already well stocked with books; and what was once only a rubbish dump waits only for the Spring to become a garden.

The establishment is thus an accomplished fact – but development must take place slowly, depending at first mainly upon the library; but by degrees with the co-operation of parents and of the children themselves, it is hoped that various crafts such as carpentry, pottery, basket-making, bookbinding, etc. will be taught. Later, when funds permit the purchase of a piano, community singing and dancing will have their place, and children interested in painting, drawing or writing will be encouraged to exercise their talents.

The object of the Children’ Library Movement, however goes beyond the mere lending of books and teaching of crafts, and aims at providing for children a place which is “theirs” – a place pleasing to the eye, friendly and informal in atmosphere, where they can spend their leisure hours in absorbing and creative occupations.

Those interested in the movement feel that in time of war such a place becomes not less, but more necessary for children, as a psychological counter blast to the atmosphere of strife and destruction which prevails, and which children unconsciously absorb.

In Sydney the Phillip Park, Erskineville and Surry Hills centres have functioned with great success. It is hoped that because of the great influx of children which Katoomba has seen in recent months, not only our own residents, but long term visitors also, may recognise the usefulness of the centre and extend it a generous support.”
The Blue Mountains Advertiser, Friday July 3, 1942.

*****

“Hon. Clive Evatt Opens Children’s Library Tomorrow
Tomorrow Saturday afternoon at three o’clock, the Minister for Education, the Hon. Clive Evatt, will officially open the Young People’s Library, situated off Davies Lane near Woolworths.

A cordial invitation is extended to all townspeople to be present.

For many weeks past, a band of willing workers has engaged in transforming a row of brick garages into neat and comfortable quarters. The transformation is almost unbelievable.

In addition to the library, provision had been made for instruction is arts and crafts.

The fact of the minister consenting to perform the official opening is proof of the value of the movement and it is hoped to see many parents present.

The appeal to the children goes without saying."
The Blue Mountains Advertiser, Friday July 2, 1942.

*****

“Minister for Education Commends Children’s Library Movement
“This particular movement the Government wholeheartedly supports. …A Children’s Library should be established in every centre – in every suburb in the State.”

Speaking as above, and in the presence of a representative gathering, the Hon. Clive Evatt, Minister for Education, officially opened the Katoomba Children’s Library in Davies Lane, on Saturday afternoon.

Many people who viewed the premises for the first time were impressed by the transformation, and there was unstinted praise for all those whose voluntary labours had contributed to this result. The Minister, Mr. J. Jackson, M.L.A. , the Mayor, and others associated with children’s educational movements , expressed themselves in such terms.

Dr. E.P. Dark (chairman) in introducing the Minister, referred to this able administration (and the elimination of the cane), his interest, in music and cultural movements generally. “Some people believe that it is wrong to spend money during war time on a movement such as this,” he added, “but that is short sighted viewpoint, the war must not be allowed to interfere with the child’s mental development.”

Ald. Freelander (Mayor) in welcoming the Minister pointed out that it was his first official visit to Katoomba, and Mr. J. Jackson, M.L.A., ably supported his words of welcome.

Mrs. Matheson, (founder of the Children’s Library Movement), traced its development since 1924. There are now eight such centres in N.S.W. and public interest has quickened considerably in the past three years. Springwood is one of the centres where a library has been established. Mrs. Matheson paid a special tribute to the work of Mr. B. J. Milliss, whose vision and courage, she said, was largely responsible for the founding of the movement at Katoomba. She acknowledged the part also played by Dr. E. P. Dark.

Interior of the library, the mural above the fire place

depicts William Caxton with a printing press

Workers Praised
Mr. B. J. Milliss referred to the financial angle, and appealed to well-wishers for subscriptions to enable the supply of library books and materials for arts and crafts to be maintained. He stated that a sum of ₤350 in hand had been augmented by subsequent donations exceeding ₤30. The weekly rental was ₤1 per week, plus an outlay of about ₤4 per week for expenses. He spoke highly of the voluntary work of the following whose names appear on a brass plaque affixed to the building: Charles Smith, Hector Martin, Wally McGown, Harry Hammon, Keith Collins, Wally Weedon, James Ledger, Harvey Clark, George Barker, Frank Spicer, John Tomlin, Tom Butterfield; Dahl Collings and Elaine Haxton (artists) and Evelyn Bowker and Pat Seitz, who assisted them in the decorative work.

The Hon. Clive Evatt, who was warmly received, dealt at some length on the education of the children, and the responsibilities of the young people in helping to shape the better order of things which is to come. It was his view, he said, that the work of education must not be diminished because of the war; but, on the contrary, be greatly increased. This year the Education Department was expending six million pounds (a record); but he could easily spend double that sum.

The Better Tomorrow!
“The war is being fought largely for the children of today,” he continued, “in order to set up a new way of life. We all want to see a wonderful change in conditions, and children of school age will play an important part. The work of education must go on undiminished; we must keep striving for the improvement of the child physically, academically, culturally and spiritually… I want to see children grow up into a world that will be characterised by real equality and justice, economically and socially; where there will be no depression and unemployment and social injustice... this aim can be helped by education in its broadest sense, by leading people out of darkness into light, out of illiteracy into knowledge.”

The Minister drew a comparison between expenditure on cultural affiliations and the millions of pounds a day expended for the destructiveness of war. He referred also to the way Schools of Arts libraries had died out, and suggested that these too should have catered for the child mind.

The yearly grant of ₤250 to the Children’s Library Movement has been doubled by the Minister, and he expressed the hope that he would be able to continue such increases.

The ceremony ended with the unveiling of a commemorative tablet.

Among those present were the Revs. J.R. Le Huray, L.C.H. Barbour and A.E. Putland.”

Blue Mountains Advertiser, Friday 3 July, 1942.

*****

Exterior view of the Library and courtyard

LIBRARY CENTRE AT KATOOMBA
After the Minister for Education, Mr. Evatt, had opened the Katoomba Boys' and Girls' Library and Crafts Club on Saturday afternoon, children stayed to read books beside the library fire. The club, which is the eighth centre of the Children's Library Movement, is built from six disused garages, which have been converted into one central library, opening into two craft rooms on either side. It features murals designed by Dahl Collings and Elaine Haxton. Those present at the opening included the president of the local auxiliary, Dr. E. Dark, and Mrs. Eleanor Dark; the Mayor of Katoomba, Alderman Freelander, and the organising secretary of the Children's Library Movement, Mrs. Mary Matheson.

SMH Monday 27 July, 1942

*****

Images from the Local Studies Collection:
Top. The opening ceremony, at the podium from left: Mary Matheson, Joseph Jackson MLA, Hon. Clive Evatt, Dr Eric Dark, Eleanor Dark, Michael Dark on chair, Mayor Freelander, BJ Milliss
Centre. Interior of the library
Bottom. Exterior view of library and courtyard

Links:
http://craftvic.org.au/resources/craft-culture/2008/young-children-and-the-craft-movement-in-australia
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9428155

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian

The Catholic Bushwalking Club and the Shrine to Our Lady of the Way at Springwood

2011-12-21T14:46:00.015+11:00

“From its earliest days in 1943, the Catholic Bushwalking Club fostered the idea of a shrine to Our Lady of the Way. In the Tenth Anniversary Catholic Bushwalker magazine, it is recorded that enthusiasm for the idea gained momentum when on Walk No 266a (on Sunday, 26th September, 1947) a beautiful grotto was discovered in Rocky Creek, a tributary of Katoomba Creek. In due course a special block of Carrara marble was imported from Italy on the order of Fr Coughlan (it was the same material from which Michelangelo’s famous ‘Pieta’ was sculpted) and a statue modelled on the fresco Madonna Della Strada was carved by Mr Osvath Imre at the premises of Mr T.H. Tyrrell, monumental mason at North Ryde. The work was completed in October, 1951.

The Lands Department indicated a willingness to grant permissive occupancy of the land in Rocky Creek but doubts were raised because of the possibility of vandalism. Other sites were explored and eventually a Club sub-committee recommended a grotto in Blue Gum Swamp Creek, Springwood, at the outer edge of the St Columba’s College property, then the minor seminary for students for the priesthood. The site was known to the students as St Joseph’s Bower.

Providence intervened when in August 1952, timber getters making a road through the bush in an effort to get timber out of Lynch’s Creek, mistakenly cut a road into St Joseph’s Bower. The Spring that followed was dry and Club members took advantage of the conditions to place the statue in position in the Grotto on 30th November 1952. It was officially blessed by Monsignor Duane on Sunday 27th September 1953 in the presence of a large gathering of Club members.

It is perhaps significant that the formidable task entailed in the planning for the installation and the actual installation of the statue at the Grotto involved a large contribution from the late Jack Murphy. After the tragic death of Frank Cooper in New Zealand early in 1955 and Jack Murphy’s in Glenbrook Gorge later in that year, plaques were erected at the shrine site (as it came to be known) in their honour.

After the installation, in September of every year until 1983, the Club honoured Our Lady with Mass at the shrine site followed by a picnic. By 1983 however, concerns were being expressed as to the safety of the statue: regrettably, the Club was spending little time each year in visiting the shrine site. A motion was put and after discussion it was passed, not without strong opposition, that the statue be removed from the site and transferred to a safer venue. The venue ultimately decided on was the property formally owned by Fr Coughlan, ‘Wooglemai’, near The Oaks.” (CBC, pp.38-40)

Jack Murphy
“Jack Murphy was killed in a climbing accident in Glenbrook Gorge on 13 November of the same year as the Mt Cook climb (1955), while training Club members in the rudiments of rock climbing and abseiling. The Sydney Rock Climbing Club (SRC) erected a plaque to his memory at the site of the accident. On Glenbrook Gorge walks, it is Club tradition to recite the Rosary when passing the plaque.” (Barrett, p.24)

Frank Cooper
“Sandwiched between these massive assaults on the South-West Tasmanian peaks, was a lengthy mountaineering tour of the NZ Alps, undertaken by Frank Cooper, Jack Murphy, Iver Pedersen, Hugh Smith and Jim Barrett. This mini-CBC enclave in New Zealand climbed throughout the South Island, but Jack Murphy and Frank Cooper joined forces to tackle the more ambitious peaks like Tasman and Elie de Beaumont. By mid-February 1955, they had climbed every 10,000 footer in New Zealand with the exception of the big one, Mt Cook.

In the deteriorating conditions of late summer, it took them five days via the Hooker Glacier to reach the Empress Hut, the highest climbing hut in New Zealand. Three more days were spent weather bound before the weather cleared, and on 25 February 1955 at 0245 hours, they left the hut in clear weather to commence the climb of the three peaks of Mt Cook. The top of the mountain comprises three ‘Summit’ peaks The Low Peak, Middle Peak and High Peak ‘the highest mile in New Zealand’.

When they reached the High Peak the wind had freshened and a hog’s back (a distinctive cloud formation which is bad news to the New Zealand climber) was forming. Waiting only to eat a handful of scroggin, the pair set off on their homeward route, reaching the Low Peak around noon; the wind was now very strong indeed. On the descent to the Empress Hut, cloud rushed up from the Hooker Glacier and it began to rain.

In the poor visibility, they mistakenly entered a gully which they had not ascended. With only 500 feet to go, they slipped on snow-covered ice. Frank was killed in the fall and Jack suffered back and head injuries as well as breaking his wrist but he managed to dig himself out. Due to his injuries, he could not dig down to his friend. After a great effort Jack managed to reach the Empress Hut. After a traumatic few days alone in the hut, he was eventually rescued by the guides from the Mt Cook Hermitage.” (Barrett, p.23)

*****

Photo:
Jim Kohlhardt, his cousin Alison and her father Howard Roper taken about 1956 in front of the Catholic bushwalkers' memorial. Photo from Frank Hawkes.

Watercolour painting :
The Grotto, St Columba’s, Springwood; from the Local Studies collection, Blue Mountains City Library

References:
Catholic Bushwalking Club (CBC), 1983. The Catholic Bushwalker, Fifty Years.
Barrett, Jim, 2008. Through the Years with the Catholic Bushwalking Club.

Acknowledgements:
Frank Hawkes
Sue Russell, membership secretary Catholic Bushwalking Club.

Links:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/culture.cfm?cultureID=83

(2011) John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian

Dr. Eric Payton DARK

2011-08-31T15:43:00.024+10:00

DARK, Eric Payten (1889-1987) medical practitioner, social and political activist and writer, was born on 23 June 1889, the youngest child of the Rev. Joseph Dark, an Anglican clergyman, and his third wife, Adelaide (nee Goodwin).

In an intensely religious household the young Eric spent his Sundays reading religious literature. This gave him an extensive knowledge of the Bible from which he would quote often in later life. He suffered severe asthma and at the age of eleven was taken out of school on medical advice and allowed to ‘run free’ for two years on his father’s property at Mittagong. Besides having a beneficial effect on the asthma, this period of freedom also initiated his love of the outdoors.

Following a period of private tutoring, Dark was enrolled in July 1904 at Sydney Grammar School, where he demonstrated his innate intelligence and intellectual ability and quickly made up the academic ground he had lost. Skills in oratory and journalism were also nurtured in the school’s debating society and editing the school magazine. But intellectual pursuits were balanced by a love of physical activity. It was during his time as a student at Grammar that he and a friend made an epic 15-day canoe expedition down the Endrick and Shoalhaven Rivers. His enrollment at Grammar also saw the Dark family move back to Sydney, to a more permanent home at Greenwich. In 1909 he matriculated with honours and won the Sydney Grammar Medal for ancient history and physiology, a subject in which he discovered a deep
interest.

Half-way to being an agnostic he turned down a scholarship to Oxford offered with the expectation of a career in the Church. He had decided on becoming a doctor and, in 1910, enrolled in Medicine at the University of Sydney. As well as study, during his time at University he pursued interests in boxing, rowing, bushwalking, bicycling and rifle shooting. He founded and became captain-coach of the Sydney University Rifle Team.

When World War I was declared he took the opportunity offered to senior medical students to expedite their graduation and serve in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Though he graduated, third in his class, in 1914 he was not immediately called up and spent a short period as resident radiographer at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. In March 1915, however, having received his call-up papers he departed for England on the ‘Orsova’.

After basic training he spent five months at the 18th General Hospital before being assigned to the 9th Field Ambulance. Promoted to captain, he served in Flanders, at the Somme and in the Passchendaele offensive. During the Battle of Ypres he was awarded the Military Cross for “conspicuous gallantry” in evacuating the wounded under fire at Boesinghe on 31st July 1917 . As the offensive continued he was blinded and badly effected by gas after removing his mask to better attend the wounded. Returned to Britain he was given six months unpaid leave to recover and, following a period of convalescence in Scotland, he travelled at his own expense back to Australia.

While in Australia he married Kathleen Aphra (‘Daidee’) Raymond, whom he had met earlier at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where she worked as a nurse. Following an unsuccessful proposal in 1912 he had maintained a regular correspondence with her during his time overseas and she had finally accepted him in a letter received just before the Passchendaele offensive. The marriage took place on 25th January 1918. By March he was back in Europe and served the remainder of the war in the malarial Vardar Marshes of
Macedonia, a time he recalled as extremely boring. The war remained imbedded in his memory and, even towards the end of his life, experiences could emerge with sharp clarity.

He returned to Australia in July 1919. By the end of the year he and ‘Daidee’ had moved to Bungendore NSW where he established himself in general practice. Here he re-captured his earlier interest in physiology and purchased one of the earliest diathermy machines. On 26th July 1920 a son, John Oliver, was born. Tragically, within weeks Daidee’s condition deteriorated and on 8th September 1920 she died of septic peritonitis in St. Vincent’s Private Hospital, Sydney. She was cremated in Adelaide and her ashes buried in South Head Cemetery. Devastated, Dark returned to Sydney where, with the intention of becoming a surgeon, he became a demonstrator in the anatomy department at the University of Sydney.

Following his return to Sydney Dark renewed his acquaintance with the family of writer and politician Dowell O’Reilly, who had been a teacher at Sydney Grammar School during his student years. He had often visited the O’Reilly home and kept in touch with the family during the war. Photographs taken of Dark with the family in 1921 show the impact upon him of war and the loss of his wife. They depict a serious, melancholy man with a small moustache, “a grey bird” as Dowell O’Reilly described him . His friendship with the O’Reilly’s at this time was clearly beneficial. On 1st February 1922 he married the attractive, self-confident Eleanor O’Reilly, twelve years his junior.

The couple spent the first ten months of their marriage living in the inner Sydney suburb of Five Dock before Eric purchased a medical practice in Katoomba, possibly on medical advice regarding Eleanor’s health. They moved to the Blue Mountains in January 1923 and, in March, the “red-headed bloke with eyebrows like steam-shovels” bought ‘Varuna’, not far from Katoomba Falls. This would be the place where he and Eleanor would spend the rest of their lives, settling into the life of the local community and in the 1930s building a new two-story home on the property. Their son Brian Michael was born on 14th February 1928.

As well as maintaining a successful practice as a local doctor, Dark continued his interest in diathermy. In 1930 he published his innovative and highly praised first book, Diathermy in General Practice. This work went into a successful 2nd edition in 1935 and the Darks embarked on a tour of the United States of America between August and October 1937 to study and promote the use of electrotherapy in hospitals.

Dark enjoyed reading, especially English poetry, and listening to classical music. He also loved driving and he and Eleanor would take long drives through the Mountains as well as more extended family holidays, motoring and camping in different parts of Australia. A “small, wiry, energetic, extremely fit” man, Dark also shared with his wife an enjoyment of other outdoor pursuits including gardening, tennis, golf, bushwalking and rock climbing. In 1937 they found a cave in the bush near Katoomba and fitted it out as a private retreat. In 1940 they walked from Emu Plains retracing the route into the Blue Mountains taken by William Dawes in 1789.

In the 1920s the Darks became involved in a local circle of literary and bushwalking friends that included Eric and Nina Lowe, Osmar White and Frank Walford. They enjoyed bridge and music evenings, formed a writing group and were also involved in the Leura Amateur Dramatic Society. In 1930 this same group of friends established what was possibly the first organised rock climbing club in Australia, the Blue Mountaineers. Dark’s passion for climbing, which began during his student years, resulted in pioneering
climbs not only in the Blue Mountains but also in places as diverse as the Warrumbungles in NSW and Mount Lindsay and the Glass House Mountains of southern Queensland. His deep affection for the Australian bush inspired a strong nationalism that underpinned his later political and social activism.

In Katoomba in the 1920s he enjoyed a career as respected local doctor and businessman, becoming a director of the Katoomba Colliery and Katoomba Hotels Pty. Ltd., a company that proposed, unsuccessfully, to build a large hotel at the Katoomba Golf Course. At this time, despite his long friendship with the O’Reilly family, Dark was a political conservative. In the words of his wife, they “would go off to the polling booth together, he to vote Tory and I to vote Labor” .

With the coming of the Depression he underwent a radical political transformation. In the course of his work as a local doctor he witnessed the impact of an economic system under stress on the lives of his patients. Disturbed by what he saw he began to read and think more about politics, economics and history. He came to see his patients as part of a wider social fabric, in which their health was influenced as much by political and economic factors as by viruses and bacteria.

Frustration at what he saw happening and optimism that something could be done lead him to the Left. His trip to America in 1937 reinforced his new stance and by the end of the 1930s he was committed to socialism. Dark joined the Australian Labor Party and became actively involved in local politics. He donated land for a Labor meeting hall in Katoomba and became Vice-president of the local branch and a delegate to the Macquarie Assembly. In the 1940s he stood twice, unsuccessfully, on the Labor ticket in
local council elections. He came to count men like Chifley and Evatt among his friends.

With political commitment came involvement in movements for local community improvements such as the establishment of a children’s library, the provision of healthy ‘Oslo’ lunches at the school tuck shop and childcare facilities in the form of a day nursery for women munitions workers during the Second World War. In 1943 he was also involved in the setting up of a Current Affairs Library & Reading Room in Katoomba.

In May 1942 the fifty-three years old Dark enlisted in the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC). He spent three years as a sergeant in the VDC training men in the skills of bushcraft and exploring the Blue Mountains for suitable guerrilla bases in the event of a Japanese invasion. He was eminently suited to such work and was commended by the VDC High Command.

As his involvement in political and social activism grew, he began to write extensively on the social aspects of his profession and on wider political, social and environmental issues. In 1942 a collection of his articles appeared in book form as Medicine and the Social Order. He became a strong public advocate for the nationalization of medicine.

When the Federal government banned the Communist Party in June 1940 and moved to censor the publication and reading of left wing literature, Dark and his wife purchased shares in the People’s Printing and Publishing Company in protest. A developing interest in Russia and Soviet experiments in social reform saw his election as president of the Russian Medical Aid and Comforts Committee in 1941. In 1946 he published the pamphlet, Who Are the Reds?, drawing upon an accumulated knowledge of subjects as diverse as history and theology to comment on the rise of anti-communism in Australia. This was followed in 1948 by The World Against Russia. His concern with issues of censorship and freedom of speech saw him become vice-president of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties and, following the war, found further expression in a treatise on ownership and control of the media, The Press Against the People (1949).

His political commitment came with a price. The respected doctor and businessman of the 1920s became the subject of community suspicion in the 1940s and 1950s. Though he was never a member of the Communist Party and was insistent that his political philosophy was “democratic socialism not communism” , his left-wing views and association with known communists resulted in his being labelled a ‘Red’.

During his VDC activities rumours circulated about him hiding information and even guns and ammunition in preparation for a communist takeover. As a Government Medical Officer, he was accused of persuading men not to enlist and a dossier was begun on him by military intelligence. In 1946, press reaction to his radical stance undermined a potential appointment as Australian Ambassador to the Soviet Union. In 1947 the charter of the Katoomba branch of the ALP was revoked “to counteract the influence of left-wing elements within the party” and he and Eleanor were named in Federal Parliament as underground workers for the Communist Party. He received threatening letters, resigned under threat of expulsion from the RSL in 1950 and ex-servicemen were warned away from his medical practice, which began to suffer.

The Commonwealth Investigation Service (later ASIO) monitored the activities of both himself and his family.

The 1949 coal strike saw him at odds with the Chifley Labor Government. He supported the Lithgow coalminers and, by purchasing a truck, assisted local efforts to get food and other provisions through the army lines. In 1950 he and Eleanor joined the newly established Australian Peace Council and the following year expressed publicly their opposition to the proposed legislation to ban the Communist Party of Australia. Dark’s membership of the Australian Peace Council drew particular attention from ASIO and also roused further opposition against him within the ALP, becoming the trigger for his resignation from the party.

Dark sold his medical practice in Katoomba. In April 1951 he and Eleanor moved to Montville, north of Brisbane, where they had purchased a run-down citrus and macadamia nut farm near their friend Eric Lowe and their son Michael who had both embarked upon the production of pineapples. For the next seven years they alternated between Montville and Katoomba, spending the majority of winters in Queensland. On the farm Dark pursued a new interest in sustainable agriculture and land use, experimenting with organic
composting to produce his macadamia cash crop.

In 1957 Dark was offered the position of School Medical Officer in the Blue Mountains by the NSW State Health Department and the family returned permanently to Katoomba. Though he was still known locally as a ‘communist’, the political climate had relaxed somewhat and Dark enjoyed his job enormously. It was the kind of social medicine he had always thought important. He remained in this position for another seventeen years until a new government regulation prevented doctors being employed beyond the age of
seventy. Dark was eighty-five and he reluctantly retired.

Though his commitment to issues of peace and social justice remained strong during the years of his retirement, he no longer entered the arena of public debate. However, in this later period of his life his sustained work for social reform, especially in the field of medicine, achieved some degree of recognition. In 1981, at the age of ninety-two, he was made the first Honorary Life Member of the Doctors’ Reform Society and his book Medicine and the Social Order was put on the reading list for courses offered by the
University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine. His pioneering achievements in bushwalking and rock-climbing were also recognized at this time by the award of a life membership of the Sydney Rock Climbers Club.

Dark, now well into his nineties, cared for his wife Eleanor as her health declined and she became bedridden. He continued to chop wood for the fire and keep the house running. This final bond reflected the depth of their relationship. Widely known as ‘the husband of Eleanor Dark’, he expressed no frustration in pursuing his own career alongside his more famous wife. Eleanor’s death on 11th September 1985 had a profound effect on him. His sons, John and Michael, would often find him weeping and the garden at
Varuna grew wild. He died two years later on 28th July 1987 at the age of ninety-eight.

A man of moral rectitude and high personal standards, his ideas and actions were underlain with an intense physical and intellectual courage. In personal philosophy he moved from vague conservatism to socialism.
As an idealist, a democrat and a socialist who was also a member of a privileged profession, he felt compelled to speak in public debate. He was, however, also a man who cherished the privacy and security of marriage and family.

He was cremated and his ashes placed in Blackheath Cemetery, alongside Eleanor and Dowell O’Reilly. His two sons, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren survive him. An oil portrait painted by Brian ‘Bim’ O’Reilly hangs in Varuna The Writers’ House, Katoomba.

© John Low 2003

Note: a much shortened version of this article appears in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Images from the Local Studies Collection at Blue Mountains City Library.
From top -
1: Eric Dark portrait 1914-18, courtesy of Mick Dark
2: Eric Dark 1917, courtesy of Mick Dark.
3: Eric Lowe, Jim Starkey, Eric Dark, 1920s, photo by Jim Starkey
4: Eric Dark on the first ascent of the Boar's Head Rock at Katoomba 1931, photo by Jim Starkey
5: Eric Dark, Eleanor Dark and son Mick with Hennesy at Varuna, 1930s, courtesy of Mick Dark

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books & Pamphlets

B. Brooks & J. Clark, Eleanor Dark: A Writer’s Life (Syd, 1998)*;
J. Devanny, Bird of Paradise (Syd, 1945);

Periodicals

L. Baxter, ‘Fires in the Fall: the Story of a Rational Reformer’, New Doctor, (June 1984), no 32*; L. Brant, ‘The Warrumbungle Range’, Walkabout, (April 1936), p 32; ‘Clio’, ‘Dr. Dark: Portrait of a Pioneer’, Rock, (January-June 1990), no 12, p 18*; English, D. ‘The First Ascent of Belougery Split Rock – Warrumbungles’, The Sydney Bushwalker, (1936), No.3, pp 6-14; J. Low, ‘The Salt of the Katoomba Earth: A Series on Blue Mountains Labour Identities No.3, Eric Payten Dark’, The Hummer, (July-August 1987), no 17, p 7;

Newspapers

Blue Mountain Echo, 5th January 1923 [Dark’s arrival in Katoomba]
Sydney Morning Herald, 23rd October 1943 [Review of “Medicine and the Social Order”]
Sydney Morning Herald, 30th July 1987 [Death of EPD]
Blue Mountains Gazette, 12th August 1987 [Obituary by John Apthorp]

Theses

J. Boyd, That Dark lady’s husband, the forgotten life of Dr Eric Payten Dark (B.A. Hons thesis, Univ WS, 1992)*.

Manuscript Collections

Dark Papers (ML)*; Dark Files (Local Studies Collection, Blue Mountains City Library)*; John Dark correspondence (LSC, BMCL).

Unpublished Articles

Cottle, D. “Dr. Dark and the Secret State”; J. Smith, “The Blue Mountaineers: Rockclimbing, Bushwalking, Literature and Politics in Katoomba 1920-1950”; O. White, “Pioneer Rock Climbs in Australia”; W. Williams, “An Overview of Eric Payten Dark’s Contribution to Australian Rockclimbing”, Eric Dark Memorial Lecture (Escalade’95). [Copies held LSC, BMCL]

********

Note: follow this link to a digital copy of Dr. Dark's military memoirs written in the 1970s, courtesy of John Oliver Dark, original held in the Mitchell Library, Sydney -

THE MILITARY MEMOIRS of CAPTAIN E. P. Dark 1915 to 1919

2011 John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian, Blue Mountains City Library

The Sydney Rock and its Environs

2011-08-02T11:55:00.015+10:00

The current widening of the Great Western Highway is bringing home to us the engineering challenge of the transport corridor along the narrow east-west ridge of the Blue Mountains. How much more, when there was none of the earthmoving machinery to be seen today! These difficulties are highlighted by the work that is about to begin midway between Hazelbrook and Lawson with the re-routing of the railway and road to the north of Sydney Rock.

Sydney Rock was long recognised as a prominent landmark along the highway. Brian Fox in his Blue Mountains Geographical Dictionary records its recognition as early as 1882 and its being named Sydney Rock in guide books and newspaper reports from 1903. It was regularly listed as a tourist feature, which commanded a fine view of Sydney and of the intervening bushland. The Souvenir of 1903 records that ‘residents appreciate Mr Geggies’ prompt act in saving Sydney Rock from the vandals who had begun to blast it out for road metal’. In the 1940s I remember it as a popular picnic spot and a playground for us children. During the war one watched the searchlights waving across the Sydney horizon and the fireworks at the war’s end. In recent years increasingly heavy traffic on the highway has virtually closed access to the rock and tree growth has hidden it from view of passing motorists.

Three Aboriginal sites have been recorded in the neighbourhood, including rock shelters with deposit, axe grinding grooves and rock engravings. The Rock itself shows no sign of Aboriginal activities, but it could well have been a place with a story. The North Lawson Ridge, now traversed by Queens Road, shows signs of religious significance for Aboriginal people (Stockton 2009: 16-20, 46-7). For Gundungurra people travelling there along the main ridge Sydney Rock could well have served as a marker for turning north along this ridge.

The environs of Sydney Rock show signs of the original railway construction in the 1860s. The Sydney Morning Herald of 4 November 1868 carried a glowing detailed report of this engineering feat, described as ‘certainly the most remarkable in the Australian Colonies’. The railway from Sydney was constructed and opened to public use in stages: Parramatta 1855, Blacktown 1858, Penrith 1862, Weatherboard 1867, Mt Victoria 1868. Work on Section No.2 between Welcome Inn and Blue Mountain Inn, carried out by Messrs Duxberry and Kerr, was described as ‘very heavy, the line being carried alternatively along the ridges and round the spurs of the hills. The cuttings through hard sandstone rock (Hawkesbury Sandstone), and the embankments, are numerous, and some of them very large. One of the cuttings is 51 feet deep and required the removal of 33,000 yards of earth. The section is full of steep gradients and sharp curves; the steepest gradient being 1 in 33 and the smallest radius of a curve is eight chains’. This section required the construction of two bridges ‘in masonry’ to carry the road over the railway, and 61 culverts.

The cuttings and embankments, which we now take for, granted were the result of heavy manual labour. Mark Langdon has described it for me as “a combination of strong arms and blasting powder” (this was before the invention of dynamite or gelignite). He goes on to explain: “Three man teams would drill holes for blasting powder, with one man holding a drill and the other two taking turns to swing sledge hammers, between each blow of the hammers the man holding the drill would turn it a quarter of a turn. Once the hole was to the required depth it would be filled with blasting powder and the working face then shattered by the explosion. The working face would be formed by a series of benches, with the spoil being shovelled from one bench to another and then into tip drays, which would carry the spoil away to form the embankments”.

The transverse ridges between Woodford and Lawson, along the north-south Tomah Monocline, required exceptionally deep cuttings and at first tunnels were planned at these points. However the shortage of filling in such rocky country, almost devoid of soil, necessitated the substitution of 50 feet cuttings so that the spoil could be used on the intervening big embankments. Where the road crossed the rail line at these deep cuttings (at Linden and through Sydney Rock) stone arch bridges were provided (Wylie and Singleton 1957:165-6).

In the 1890s attempts were made to alleviate the sharp curves in the line. In 1897 there was a 44 chain curve improvement near Sydney Rock. A curve of 8 chains radius with adjoining flatter curves was replaced by a single transition curve of 12 chains radius (Wylie and Singleton 1957:165-6). The line was duplicated in 1902 with the widening of the original cuttings. The same methods were employed. However the later deviation of the line between Emu Plains and Valley Heights (1911-12) saw the first use of steam shovels (‘a Steam Navvy’).

The ruling gradient up to Katoomba of 1 in 33 proved too steep for the steam engines of the time and a second engine had to be attached to assist passenger and freight trains up the ascent. At first this was done at Penrith and later at Valley Heights after the construction of the Depot there in 1914. There were instances of descending trains running out of control in the 1880s, with a particularly serious accident on 22 March 1886. After leaving Katoomba the driver had difficulty stopping the train at stations until it finally collided with buffer stops at a dead end at Lucasville platform, injuring eighteen passengers (Langdon 2006: 23-5).

The gradient at Sydney Rock was particularly steep, at 1 in 32, and I remember as a child listening to steam engines chugging laboriously through the cutting and feeling the vibrations through our home nearby. Ken Ames (1993:99) describes the sound of the big three-cylinder locomotives (57 and 58 class) as similar to saying slowly ‘a bucket of bolts’. The proposed re-routing of the railway, with a new cutting, north of Sydney Rock offers the opportunity of preserving the relics of the original pioneering work. The redundant cutting immediately south of the Rock has its southern face resulting from the original work of 1866-7 and the northern face the result of the 1902 duplication. It would be interesting to compare closely the marks left on the two faces. The large embankment east of the cutting gives a good idea of the scale of the work undertaken with basic tools and manpower.

The existing old bridge over the railway, now used only by pedestrians, is a concrete Monier arch bridge built in 1902. It replaced an earlier bridge with the reduplication of the railway line. Monier arch bridges were commonly constructed between 1897 and 1914 as railway overbridges. Crossing the line squarely necessitated two sharp right-angle turns in the road, which resulted in many car accidents. I have known at least four fatalities in the last seventy years. Near the north-western corner is the concrete pedestal base for a beacon light. In the 1920s flashing lights, powered by gas, were used to warn motorists of sharp curves ahead in foggy weather.

Below the old bridge on the southern side can be seen the remains of a masonry abutment, consisting of 8 courses of squared sandstone blocks with drafted margins. This would have been part of the original bridge over the 1866-7 railway cutting, an arched sandstone structure - one of the two ‘in masonry’ mentioned by the Sydney Morning Herald, between Blaxland and Lawson. Three of the 61 culverts of this section occur nearby. These were solid constructions of large sandstone blocks, but one is faced by a brick arch.

The re-routing of the road and railway north of Sydney Rock leaves redundant not only the old cutting, but also railway property to the east and south. It is proposed that this small area, dominated by Sydney Rock and rich in railway heritage features, be turned into a reserve. Sydney Rock would be restored to its former prominence, ‘our own Uluru and part of the cutting be left exposed to show its 1867 and 1902 faces. It is recommended that the western facade of the 1902 bridge and the 1867 masonry abutment at its base be left to view.

The area has further educational value in its geology and botany. These have been detailed by the author in the Hut News, March 2010 (Blue Mountains Conservation Society). Sydney Rock is the western most bastion of Hawkesbury Sandstone and the stratigraphy of the cutting shows clearly how it overlies the more friable Narrabeen Series of shale and sandstone. Nowhere have I seen the contact between the two so clear and accessible. It is well recognised that railway land often preserves remnant bushland, long free of disturbance and grazing. A botanical survey by Judy and Peter Smith in 2007 has revealed a rich diversity of native vegetation communities and plant species, some quite rare and of special conservation significance.

The support of the Blue Mountains Historical Society and other like-minded bodies is being sought to urge the Blue Mountains City Council, negotiating with the RTA and SRA, to have this small area declared a history and nature reserve.

References

Ames, K., Reflections of an Engine Man. New South Wales Transport Museum, 1993.

Berger, I., ‘Statement of Heritage Impact, Great Western Highway Upgrade. lawson IA, from Ferguson Ave to Bass Street. Proposed Railway Realignment’. Environmental Technology Branch. Road Transport Authority. 2006.

Fox, B., Blue Mountains Geographical Dictionary,’ (2nd edition). 2001

Langdon, M., Conquering the Blue Mountains. Everleigh Press, Sydney. 2006,

Stockton, E., in Blue Mountains Dreaming: The Aboriginal Heritage ( 2nd edition). E. Stockton and J. Merriman, eds., Blue Mountains Education and Research Trust, Lawson, 2009.

Stockton, E. and Whiteman. C., ‘Proposed Blue Mountain Reserve at Sydney Rock’. Hut News. Blue Mountains Conservation Society. Wentworth Falls. no, 268.. March 2010.

Wylie, R. and Singleton C., ‘The Railway Crossing of the Blue Mountains, 2, Faulconbridge to Bullaburra’. Australian Railway Historical Society, vol.. VIII. no. 241, 1957, pp 162-:172.

Captions, from top
Image 2: Men at work on a railway cutting (Langdon 2006 p.116)
Image 3: Two locomotives pulling a goods train up the Mountains, photographed from Sydney Rock 7.40 am, June 18, 1929 (Blue Mountains City Library, Local Studies Collection)

© 2010 Eugene Stockton, with additions by John Merriman

Note: Article first published in Hobby’s Outreach, June-July 2010. The history and nature reserve was declared in 2011.

The Royal Visit to the Blue Mountains 1954, "the sight of a white gloved hand in the distance..."

2011-01-12T12:50:00.043+11:00

THE ROYAL VISIT
The Queen’s first royal visit to Australia commenced with the entry of the S.S. Gothic through Sydney heads at 8.00 am on Wednesday 3rd February 1954.
On the Blue Mountains leg of the tour, the royal train arrived 10 minutes late at Katoomba and the reception at Echo Point ran longer than planned. Aldermen and their wives "agreed to forgo the pleasure of being presented, allowing the royal guests time to enjoy the scenery". This allowed the tour to make up time and depart Leura only 5 minutes late. The following extracts are from official publications and local newspapers, supplemented with images from the Local Studies Collection.

ITINERARY FOR THE ROYAL VISIT TO NSW
SYDNEY
WEDNESDAY, 3rd FEBRUARY
Her Majesty will receive Their Excellencies the Governor-General and the Governor of New South Wales, the Prime Minister and the Premier of New South Wales on board S.S. Gothic. Her Majesty will land from the Royal Barge in Farm Cove at 10.30 a.m. to be received by them

SYDNEY
THURSDAY, 4th FEBRUARY.
Her Majesty will attend a State Banquet with His Royal Highness on the night of Thursday, 4th February, after having opened Parliament, attended a Parliamentary Reception, presided at a meeting of the Executive Council, and had lunch with representatives of Women’s Organisations during the day.

SYDNEY
FRIDAY, 5th FEBRUARY.
Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will attend the Lord Mayor’s Ball at the Sydney Town Hall at 9.30 p.m. .

SYDNEY
SATURDAY, 6th FEBRUARY.
After lunch with the Chairman and Members of the A.JC. Committee, Her Majesty will present the Cup for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Her Majesty and The Duke will witness a Surf Life Saving Display at Bondi at 3.35 p.m. In the evening they will attend a Royal Gala Performance at the Tivoli Theatre.

NEWCASTLE
TUESDAY, 9th FEBRUARY
Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will arrive at Newcastle by Royal Train at 1.10 p.m. After the Royal Progress they will attend a Civic Reception at the City Hall. They will attend a School Children’s Display and an Assembly of Ex-Servicemen. An inspection of the B.H.P. Steelworks will follow, and the Royal Party will by ‘plane from Williamtown at 4.45 p.m.

LISMORE
TUES. WED., 9th & 10th FEBRUARY
Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will arrive at 7 p.m. on 9th February, and after a night free of official engagements, they will make a Royal Progress through Lismore at 10 am, next day. They will attend a Civic Reception and will depart by car for Casino.

CASINO
WEDNESDAY, 10th FEBRUARY
Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness will arrive at Casino at 11.26 a.m. They will make a Royal Progress through the streets of Casino and attend a Civic Welcome. They will depart by ‘plane from Evans Head at 1.30 p.m.

DUBBO
WEDNESDAY 10th February
After lunching on the Royal ‘Plane during their flight from Evans Head, Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will arrive at Dubbo at 3.30 p.m. They will make a Royal Progress through the main streets and attend a Civic Welcome and a Western Districts Display, after which they will depart for Sydney by ‘plane.

WOLLONGONG
THURSDAY, 11th FEBRUARY
On the way to Wollongong by car, Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will stop for morning tea at the Returned Servicemen’s Convalescent Camp at Mt. Keira. They will arrive at Wollongong at 12.35 p.m., make a Royal Progress through the streets and then attend a Civic Welcome. Her Majesty and The Duke will lunch with His Worship the Mayor and Aldermen. They will attend an assembly of School Children before departing at 2.47 p.m.

BATHURST
FRIDAY, 12th FEBRUARY
Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will arrive by ‘plane at Raglan Aerodrome at 11.25 a.m. They will make a Royal Progress by car through the City and attend a Civic Reception at the Civic Centre. After attending an Assembly of School Children, they will depart by Royal Train at 12.40 p.m.

LITHGOW
FRIDAY, 12th FEBRUARY
The Royal Train will arrive at Bowenfels Station at 2.10 p.m., and Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will resume their Royal Progress by car through the main streets of Lithgow. They will attend a Civic Reception, and will depart by the Royal Train at 2.45 p.m.

KATOOMBA
FRIDAY, 12th FEBRUARY
Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh will arrive by Royal Train at 3.40 p.m. They will continue their Royal Progress through Katoomba, attend a Civic Reception at Echo Point and view the mountain scenery en route to Leura. They will entrain and depart from Leura at 4.28 p.m.

WAGGA
SATURDAY, 13th FEBRUARY
Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will arrive at Forest Hill aerodrome at 1 p.m. and will travel by Royal Car to Wagga. They will continue the Royal Progress through the main streets and attend a Civic Reception, a Rodeo and a School Children’s gathering. They will depart by ‘plane at 3.05 p.m.

SYDNEY
Thursday, 18th February
On arrival at Mascot from Canberra, Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will depart by car for Balmoral. From 12.20 p.m. to 2 p.m. they will visit H.M.A.S. Penguin, returning to Farm Cove by Royal Barge. At 3.30 p.m. Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will attend a Garden Party at Government House

BROKEN HILL
THURSDAY, 18th MARCH
Her Majesty and His Royal Highness will fly from Eagle Farm Airport (Brisbane) after completion of the Royal Visit to Queensland, arriving at Broken Hill at 1.50 p.m. (S.A. time). They will make a Royal Progress by car through the city streets, and will attend a Civic Reception. After inspecting the Flying Doctor Base, they will inspect the Zinc Corporation Mine surface workings. They will depart for Adelaide by plane at 4.20 p.m.

From: Souvenir Programme, The Royal Visit to New South Wales 1954.

===========================================================================

IN LOYALTY, AFFECTION
AND DEVOTION
WE GREET AND
WELCOME TO OUR CITY
HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY
QUEEN ELIZABETH II AND HIS
ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE
OF EDINBURGH

Half page copy, Blue Mountains Advertiser, Thursday, February 11, 1954
===========================================================================

BRILLIANT LIGHTS AND GAY BUNTING TO GREET THE QUEEN

Katoomba and Leura are gay with brilliant red, white and blue festoons of lighting, interspersed with banners and bunting, for the great occasion of the Royal Visit to the Blue Mountains.

Business houses have been repainted and decorated with matching draped red, white and blue bunting; and banners and emblems are flying the whole length of the Royal route.

The Katoomba and Leura railway stations have undergone a complete face lift in painting and decorating. The colour scheme at the stations is zircon blue and royal blue and beautiful banners and bunting are rich and colourful befitting our Glorious Queen. One hundred and fifty thousand people are expected in Katoomba and Leura for the great event, the first visit by a reigning Monarch to the Mountains.

The streets will be lined by 3500 lucky Blue Mountains schoolchildren, who will all have picked positions, in front of the barriers, and will be only a matter of feet away from the Royal Car. The day will not be a holiday from school, as children will be assembled at school and marched to their respective positions. The Blue Mountains Highland Pipe Band will play at the intersection of Katoomba and Waratah Streets, and Blue Mountains City Band will play special music on the Royal route throughout the day.

At Echo Point, the National Anthem will be played by the Ingleburn Garrison Military Band. Girl Guides, Boy Scouts and members of the Australian Air League will also be at Echo Point with full Colour Patrols. Members of the R.A.A.F. will form a Guard of Honour for the Queen and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Diggers, members of the R.S.S. & A.I.L.A. [RSL] will form a Guard of Honour at the exit from Echo Point. Doctors have been appointed for special duty near the Queen and at special points along the route.

Blue Mountains Ambulance Service will be assisted by the Blackheath Brigade for special duty. A massive arch in Lurline Street will be gay with flowers and bunting and special donations of real flowers are to be placed near Leura station by women’s organisations of Leura.

Cup Winner
To-day the winner of the “Advertiser Cup” will be announced, for the best decorated home and garden on the Royal route. Many homes have been repainted for the occasion and bunting will be seen on every home in the district. Till tomorrow, the great day.

The Watson home in Railway Parade, Leura, has been visited by many residents, to view the beautiful floodlit crown, which adorns the highest point on the home. The Crown is a colourful replica of King Edward’s Coronation Crown and is worth a special trip to Leura to view.

Collecting for the Bands on Sunday last at Kingsford Smith Park, was ex- Bombardier Killeen, of Katoomba, who is the proud possessor of the C.M.F. Long Service Medal awarded for 21 years continuous service in the Army. In all Mr. Killeen has done 29 years and 9 months’ service as a member of the Australian Military Forces. A fine record.

Blue Mountains Advertiser, Thursday, February 11, 1954

==========================================================================

TIME TABLE FOR TOMOROW

The following is the itinerary:
3.40 p.m. Her Majesty I will arrive at Katoomba Railway Station by train from Lithgow; 3.43 p.m. Her Majesty will depart for a Civic reception at Echo Point;
3.55 p.m. Her Majesty will arrive at Echo Point;
4.06 p.m. departure from Echo Point;
4.21. p.m. arrival at Leura Railway Station;
4.35 p.m. depart by train for Sydney.

ALLOCATION TO CARS
Car 1. State Marshal, Police Officer and Royal detective.
Car 2. Royal car tourer. Her Majesty, His Royal Highness and Equerry.
Car 3, Lady-in-Waiting, Private Secretary.
Car 4. Premier, State Director, State Executive Officer.
Car 5. Commonwealth Minister in Charge. Director General.
Car 6. Reserve Royal car (Landaulette).
Cars 7 and 8, Press cars, each with three Pressmen.
Car 9. Spare car.

ECHO POINT
3.55 p.m. Her Majesty will arrive at Echo Point. Her Majesty will alight from the left side and will be met by the Minister for Housing and Co-operative Societies, the Hon. C. R. Evatt, Q.C., L.L.B., M.L.A., and Mrs. Evatt. The Minister will present the Mayor and Mayoress and the Town Clerk, and the Mayor and Mayoress will then conduct Her Majesty and His Royal Highness to the dais.

ROYAL SALUTE
Those on the dais will be Her Majesty, His Royal Highness, the Mayor and Mayoress, the Town Clerk and members of the Household as required.
While Her Majesty is moving to the dais troops, who will be within hearing of the Anthem, will Present Arms.
The Mayor will ask Her Majesty if she will take the Royal Salute, and when Her Majesty is ready in the centre of the dais the band will play one verse of the National Anthem.
On the first note of the Anthem the Royal Standard will be unfurled.
4 p.m. The Mayor will read an Address of Welcome and will hand it to Her Majesty.
4.02 p.m. Her Majesty will read a reply and then hand it to the Mayor.
4.05 p.m. The Mayor and Mayoress will escort Her Majesty and His Royal Highness to their car.
4.21 Her Majesty will arrive at the overhead railway bridge at Leura.

LEURA’S FAREWELL
Her Majesty will alight from the left hand side of her car and will be met by the State Minister and his wife.
Her Majesty will be farewelled on the roadway by the Mayor and Mayoress and the Town Clerk as she walks towards the station entrance.
Her Majesty will then be escorted to the Royal coach. At the foot of the steps the Minister will present the Station Master, Mr B Gale.
4.25 p.m. Equerry’s permission to depart will be sought, and Her Majesty will then depart for Sydney.

Blue Mountains Advertiser, Thursday February 11th 1954

==========================================================================

Welcome Address to HRH Queen Elizabeth II
by Mayor AFC Murphy,
Echo Point, Katoomba,
4.00 pm Friday 12th February 1954.

Her most Gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the first Reigning Monarch to visit our City, and today the Queen has come to this spot, the far famed Echo Point on the Blue Mountains of N.S.W., over a route that has been travelled in turn by a Duke of Clarence - in the 1880s, by the Duke of York (later King George V) in 1901, by the Prince of Wales now Duke of Windsor in 1920, by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI) and the present Queen Mother, in 1927 and by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester in l934. All this Royal patronage is now crowned by this visit by Her Majesty the Queen in person. [dates corrected]

Just across the Park you may see the old mansion of Lilianfels the former home of Sir Frederick Darley, and where successive Governors and Premiers and important State visitors were entertained, and where the late King George V, as Duke of York slept when he stayed overnight in Katoomba in 1901. Down the years the successive owners of Lilianfels have been proud to show visitors the room in which the Royal guest slept on that occasion [Urban myth only the Duchess visited Lilianfels].

In the 43 years since I came to Katoomba, the small town of 1910 has become the progressive City of 1953. The beautiful spot where we are now gathered to welcome our Queen was the private property, which was purchased by the council about 1920 and developed into the lovely gardens, traffic loop and parking area as we see them today. In 1910 the Echo Point lookout was reached by a narrow rough track which ran alongside the extensive park-like grounds of Lilianfels, whose Emu’s used to come to the fence to accept tid-bits and provide interest for visitors. About 1923 a large section of the grounds was bought by the Council and developed into the present public park and children’s playgrounds.

In those days all our Cliff frontages were private property and tourists could only gain access to most of the vantage points by permission of the various owners some of whom at their own expense railed in the lookouts and made them accessible to visitors. The greater length of our Cliff frontages are now Public property. A circular drive well made and black topped now follows the Cliff tops for some five miles, whilst the Prince Henry Cliff walk follows the undulations of the cliff face for several miles, linking up at the Katoomba Falls, the Giant Stairway and Leura Falls with the several Passes that thread the Valley floor 800 to 1000 feet below.

In the early 1900s the township was scattered along the Western Road half a mile or so west of the Railway Station. There stood the Local Inn, the Dance Hall or Meeting place, a private Boys school, the Bakery and the Store, not forgetting the palatial home of the Mine Manager, since destroyed by fire [Essendene]. The frontage now is Main St. but was a high rocky bluff, at the back of which, on the hill, stood the Carrington Hotel. Owners of these frontages gradually excavated their holdings, shops appeared one by one, and Main Street became the promenade for residents and visitors alike every Friday night, which was late shopping night. The trends for shopping then turned down Katoomba Street, and with the abolition of the late shopping night the habit of promenading on Friday night passed, and has now been forgotten, but for a long time the weekly gatherings and the opportunities for gossip were sadly missed, as there was practically nothing else to do after dark, the street lighting being by gas lamps, and even these extended over a very limited area of the town.

In those years the town had no qualified Civil Engineer, and any construction undertaken by the Council was usually supervised by the Mayor of the day. I well remember the local butcher, when Mayor, supervising the grading and construction that part of Katoomba Street where the shops now are, and he made such a grand job of it that to my knowledge it has only needed to be tar sprayed on a few occasions since.

Two of the main factors at have encouraged the progress of the Blue Mountains were the completion of the Railway deviations at Glenbrook about 1913 and the construction and tar topping of the Parramatta Road from Sydney to Parramatta and thence the Great Western Road on to Penrith. Prior to that a trip to Sydney and back by car with 70 lb. pressure tyres bumping over a succession of pot holes was nothing short of a nightmare.

In 1910 most of the Tourist traffic to Jenolan Caves was carried by coaches or Drags with 4 or 6 horses, travelling out one day and back the next, changing horses at the various staging Inns en route. Gradually motor cars took over, the early fares being £2/2/- for a one day trip, or 50/- if staying over night. For these folk accommodation was available at the Caves House, or at the several Inns on the road. Vehicles could not pass on the five mile descent to the caves, making it necessary to impose one way traffic for certain hours of the day, which frequently caused travellers much delay if they were unaware of the restrictions. For many years Mount Victoria was the Rail Head, and the jumping off point for Coaches and all horse drawn traffic to Jenolan Caves and the rest of the State, but the enterprise of those in the Tourist business in Katoomba soon caused our town to become the recognised Tourist centre, resulting in much benefit to all business people and the town generally, thus encouraging the development of our own local lookouts, scenic drives and walks.

In 1910 the Narrow Neck Road was a bush track, only used by timber cutters, and even in 1925 one could only drive a car to Narrow Neck at the risk of spoiling the paintwork or striking some hidden stump. During the Depression years the N.S.W. State Govt, as an unemployment relief measure, straightened, graded and constructed the road from Echo Point to Gordon Falls at Laura, thus giving the town the five miles of the Cliff Drive with its ever changing panorama of views that are such a delight to the Tourists of today.

The Giant Stairway, which starts off alongside the first of the Three Sisters to be seen a few hundred yards from here, was for the most part the work of one time Chief Ranger. [James McKay] He carved the steps out of the sheer face of the sandstone cliffs, crossing crevasses and indentations here and there with stout ladders. There are some 800 steps connecting the cliff top with the Federal Pass in the valley below, where may be found various prepared picnic spaces with tables and benches, water and fireplaces, all in the shelter or shade of magnificent tree ferns and jungle growth of tall trees and hanging vines.

And so today, the Citizens of Katoomba and the Blue Mountains, heirs of the pioneers of the past, enjoying the advantages of the present, and responsible in a great measure for the progress of the future of this area, pay homage to our Queen, express our gratitude that she should have come amongst us, and thank her for providing an experience that we shall all remember for the rest of our days - GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

From the Royal Visits clippings file, held by Blue Mountains City Library, annotations and corrections by Local Studies Librarian shown thus [ ].

==========================================================================

THE DAY I SAW THE QUEEN

It was dull and threatening weather...at 9.30 am there was a choice of almost any position, from the railway gates at Katoomba to Echo Point...a tour of the same area at noon revealed very little change...

At 1 p.m. I secured three positions for three chairs at the barricade across Katoomba street at Waratah Street, giving a view of the whole of Katoomba Street and Waratah Street...the Katoomba Band 36 strong in their new uniforms... the Highland Pipe Band with their two girl dancers...the Air League Band...the Ingleburn Band at the head of the parade of large contingents of Boy Scouts and the Air League...the arrival of the tiny tots from Miss Long’s primary school, all laden with flags...

The excitement among the Katoomba High girls over the election of their captain was for Jill McInerney the new captain and vice-captain (what a day it was for Jill McInery the new captain!)...the little girl and boy who had been blackberrying and come to see the Queen on their own...the small girl in a tartan skirt who kept following the Katoomba band even up the hill...the black pup with four brown legs which chased every police motor cyclist and was then placed on a lead just before the Royal Progress started...

The way the crowd favoured the right side of the route, knowing Her Majesty would be sitting on the right hand side of the Royal car..the big improvement in the weather as the great moment arrived...the playing of The Yeomen of England on the radio..and then the arrival of the Royal Progress...the sight of a white gloved hand in the distance, and with complete disregard for anything else until I saw Her Majesty for the first time...

I barely noticed a Blackheath girl hand a posy to the Duke, though I saw him give it to the Queen...I had a lump in my throat and my eyes were misty...I had seen the queen of Australia for a few fleeting seconds...as Her Majesty passed many tried to follow the Royal car down the street...the crowd broke up very quickly and I stopped outside a radio shop and listened to the Echo Point reception and was delighted with the address of welcome by the Mayor and Her Majesty’s reply...

I then took the car to Laura and arrived there several moments before Her Majesty reached the station steps...I found a perfect position in Railway Parade and saw the final farewells and Her Majesty and His Royal Highness wave from the Royal coach as the train left for Sydney.

Blue Mountains Advertiser, 12 February 1954.
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ROYAL VISITORS RECEIVED IN MAJESTIC MOUNTAIN SETTING

Echo Point, with its background of scenic grandeur, provided a magnificent sunlit backdrop for the official reception on Friday afternoon of our Royal visitors, Queen Elizabeth II and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. Observers covering the tour stated that nowhere had there been such a beautiful setting for the Royal Couple.

Earlier in the day, weather forecasts for the afternoon were not at all hopeful, but fortunately well before the arrival of the Royal train, sunshine bathed the Mountains in a grand brilliance.

ROYAL DAIS
The mountains, with their traditional deep-blue haze, provided a glorious background for the Royal dais. Banked at the rear of the dais was a mass of gladioli blooms, in shades of gold, pink and red, and on either aide wore masses of red flowering gum and native evergreen. To the front were pots of prize begonia in red and pink.

The floral work was arranged with the help of Miss Judy Meek, Mrs. Nimmo and Mrs. Trudy McPherson and others. The canopy of the dais was of pale blue plastic and bore on front drop the words “Hail Elizabeth the Queen,” which was surmounted by a replica of King Edward’s Crown and the coats of arms, including that of the City of the Blue Mountains. The carpet was royal red interwoven with the pattern of the Fleur-de-lis.

COLOURFUL SCENE
When the Royal visitors arrived at Echo Point the scene was made even more colourful as Her Majesty had chosen a simple tailored coat of blue and wore a tiny white hat with matching shoes and hat. At the entrance to the enclosure, were lines of Girl Guides and Brownies, Boy Scouts and Cubs and the R.A.A.F. Guard of Honor.

The Royal Couple were met as they stepped from their car, by the Mayor of the City of the Blue Mountains. Alderman A F C Murphy, wearing his mayoral robes and chain, and the Mayoress, Mrs. Murphy, the Town Clerk, Mr P. Scrivener in wig and gown; and then escorted the royal Couple to the dais.
Replying to the address of welcome by the Mayor, the Queen said, “My mother has often told me of the rare beauty of these mountains and today I have been delighted with them myself. The photographs you have given me will always serve to remind me of this happy day. I shall certainly show them to my children and when they see them I feel sure that they will wish to visit you themselves.”

Also on the dais were the Premier, Mr J.J. Cahill, the Minister for Housing, Mr Clive Evatt and Mrs Evatt.

BOUQUET OF WILDFLOWERS
Rosemary Barrow, a ward of Legacy, then presented Her Majesty with a delicately beautiful bouquet of wildflowers, comprising many varieties of Blue Mountains wildflowers. Included were two varieties of flannel flower, also flowering gum, honey flower, mountain devil, Christmas bush, geebung, boxthorn flower, trigger plant, wild violet, parsley plant, lilly-pilly, heather bluebells and maidenhair fern. The bouquet was made by Miss Judy Meek. The Duke paused to speak to Rosemary, and asked what Legacy Group she belonged to. Rosemary replied, “Wentworth Falls.”

Four people were presented. They were Mr. Joseph Jackson. M.L.A., and Mrs. Jackson: Colonel Neil Strachan (Deputy Marshall of the royal Visit, and Mrs. Strachan. The Mayor explained to Her Majesty that his aldermen and their wives had agreed to forgo the pleasure of being presented, allowing the Royal guests time to enjoy the scenery of the Blue Mountains.

The Queen replied. “That, it was the nicest gesture that had been made on the tour.” Her Majesty agreed to the Mayor’s invitation to view the scene from the lower lookout and the party spent and extra ten minutes at this point.

The suggestion as been made that this point be named The Queen’s Lookout. Prior to their departure from Echo Point, the Royal Couple proceeded past groups disabled service- men and women, members of the Blue Mountains Branch of the War Widow’s Guild, Returned Servicemen and then on to Leura, by way of the scenic Cliff Drive.

LEURA’S GRAND WELCOME
On their arrival at The Mall Leura, they received a tumultuous reception. Many people who had witnessed the Royal visitors' arrival at Katoomba rushed to Leura to see then, again. Leura itself. was beautifully decorated for the great occasion with masses of lowers banked at Railway Parade and The Mall corner.

This floral decoration was arranged by the ladies of Leura under the guidance of Miss Cameron, of Megalong Street, Leura. Prior to the departure of the Royal train, the Queen said to the Town Clerk, Mr. P. P. Scrivener, “Thank you, we’ve had a wonderful time in your beautiful City.”

At 4.30 p.m. the Royal train moved out from the farewell cheers of the huge crowds scattered at all vantage points, and the Royal Couple waved their farewells from the observation platform.

Blue Mountains Advertiser, Thursday. February 18, 1954.
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Images from top:
1. Souvenir Programme
2. Souvenir Booklet
3. The white gloved hand
4. The royal car in Lurline St, Katoomba, en route to Echo Point
5. The civic reception at Echo Point
6. The illuminated address
7. The royal party travelling to Leura via Cliff Drive
8. Lawson shop window decorated with fancy plait breads - crown and Q.E.
9. The Queen and party on the projecting platform, later renamed the Queen Elizabeth Lookout
10. Route of the royal motorcade from Katoomba to Leura

All images from the Local Studies collection.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
© 2011 Blue Mountains City Library

Bushwalking and the Conservation Movement

2011-01-04T11:51:00.012+11:00

During the years of the Great Depression the popularity of walking in the Blue Mountains revived. The impact of the motorcar had deflected interest away from the old walking tracks until the general decline in prosperity meant that hiking guides replaced motoring guides as sources of popular recreation and visitors to the Blue Mountains began to rediscover the bush. With the increasing popularity of bushwalking, the early 1930s also saw the emergence of the modern conservation movement.

Myles Dunphy, who began walking in the Blue Mountains before World War I, had been influential in forming the Mountains Trails Club in 1914. The members of this club, and the Sydney Bushwalkers Club founded in 1927, had a different view of walking from ‘tourist’ walkers – the mainly family groups who strolled the well-maintained tracks close to the townships.

Dunphy and the Mountain Trailers marked the beginning of a new era of walking in the Blue Mountains. Their emphasis, while still recreational, was on developing the skills of bushcraft, self-reliance and adventure. Earlier walkers who yearned for such elements as part of their walking experience would tramp the Six-Foot Track, the bridle path opened in 1884 to link Katoomba and Jenolan Caves. The new generation of walkers, the ‘bushwalkers’, left the well-marked tracks and headed into the rougher country, often charting new routes for their comrades to follow.

Public concern for the preservation of the natural environment was sown among the bushwalkers. On the Certificate of Membership of the Mountain Trails Club the following words appeared: “remember a good bushman is a fellow you will surely want to trail with again. You were not the first over the trail; leave the pleasant places along the way just as pleasant for those who follow you.” During the early 1920s, far-sighted Myles Dunphy formulated a plan for a Blue Mountains National Park, which was adopted by both the Mountain Trails Club, in 1922, and the Sydney Bushwalkers, in 1927.

The Blue Gum Forest, a magnificent stand of tall Blue gums growing in the Grose Valley near the junction of Govett’s Leap Creek and the Grose River became the subject of what many consider the seminal conservation campaign. Beginning in 1931, it was conducted by those whose environmental concern was nurtured in the bushwalking and wildlife societies of the time. It generated considerable interest and co-operation, pointing the way for successful future action.

The story of the campaign begins with a chance meeting which occurred during the Easter holidays of 1931, when a group of bushwalkers led by Alan Rigby entered the forest of Blue gums and encountered two men prepared to ringbark the trees. One of the men explained that he had leased the area and planned to replace the Blue gums with walnut trees. The walkers were appalled. Those beautiful gums at the site of Eccleston Du Faur’s 1857 Junction Camp, circled by soaring sandstone cliffs, were to be destroyed. Surely the authorities had made a mistake in granting a lease for this purpose. It was a situation that required some fast thinking so, boiling the billy; the walkers discussed the matter over lunch.

It was proposed to seek time to place the issue before the full membership of their bushwalking clubs. There must have been persuasive talkers in the group for the lessee, assured that it would be to his profit, agreed to postpone the ringbarking for the time being. Returning to Sydney, Alan Rigby got things moving with a full report to the next meeting of the Mountain Trails Club. The upshot of this was a request to the Sydney Bushwalkers to assist in a campaign to save the Forest by buying out the lease and ensuring the area be reserved for public use.

When the sanction of the Lands Department was obtained the first step was successfully accomplished. The most difficult task still remained, to raise the one hundred and fifty pounds required by the lessee, C A Hungerford of Bilpin, to allow him to obtain an alternative site for his walnut trees. Their agreement called for fifty pounds to be paid by November 1931, with the balance spread over the following twelve months.

A Blue Gum Committee was established to co-ordinate the campaign. Donations were solicited and fund-raising dances and socials were organised. In a time of economic depression, meeting the lessee’s terms proved a difficult job. On Sunday 15th November, a meeting of the committee and Mr Hungerford took place to assess the matter. It was held at the site among the mighty blue gums whose future was in the balance. Myles Dunphy, a member of the co-ordinating committee, has written about this important gathering. “The business meeting, about midday, was held in pouring rain; the members of the party sat around in a circle in a space between the trees. Each shrouded in a cape. The weather was unkind, but the great trees standing up all around appeared magnificent – except one fine specimen which lay stretched out close to the riverbank, a victim of the lessee’s salesmanship. No doubt it was felled to give point to the necessity for saving the trees.”

The meeting resulted in new terms being settled which required payment of a reduced total of one hundred and thirty pounds by the end of December. The committee channelled its energy into a renewed effort and a donation from the Wildlife Preservation Society allowed an immediate deposit to be made. With the assistance of an anonymous loan to supplement the amount already raised, the deadline was met.

The united action of the bushwalking societies and numerous other supporters had secured a beautiful piece of bushland for public use. The Blue Gum Forest was notified as a public recreation reserve on 2nd September 1932 and a management trust appointed. In 1961 the area was absorbed into the Blue Mountains National Park.

In 1931, the same year that the Blue Gum Forest campaign was being waged, Miles Dunphy formed the National Parks and Primitive Areas Council (NPPAC). Adopting the slogan "Progress With Conservation" and made up of representatives of all the major bushwalking clubs of the time. The Council set about promoting Dunphy’s plan for a Blue Mountains National Park. In August 1934 it published a four-page supplement to the Katoomba Daily in which the idea was presented in detail and Dunphy’s beautifully drawn map of the proposal was reproduced. Six thousand of these supplements were distributed throughout the Blue Mountains and Sydney.

It still took more than two decades before the plan achieved any kind of reality. The Blue Mountains National Park, comprising much of the central part of the original plan was gazetted in September 1959. Over the next twenty years, as a result of intense campaigning on the part of conservationists, further large areas of the Blue Mountains region, including Kanangra-Boyd in the south and Wollemi in the north, were dedicated as national park. By the end of the 1970s, the vision of the early bushwalker-conservationists had been vindicated and most of the areas covered by the NPPAC proposal had been secured for public recreation.

Images
1. Bushwalkers in the Blue Gum Forest 1957, Blue Mountains City Library, Local Studies collection.
2. Image of the Blue Gum Forest 1957, Blue Mountains City Library, Local Studies collection.

Reference
Blue Mountains Heritage Study 1982, Croft & Associates in association with Meredith Walker for Blue Mountains City Council.

John Merriman
Local Studies Librarian
(c) 2010 Blue Mountains City Library

The Coo-ee March, 1915, “The biggest wash-up I ever heard of!”

2010-09-01T11:33:00.030+10:00

“The Allies”, said the editor of the Blue Mountains Echo of 13 August 1915, “can make no further progress in the Dardanelles until reinforced with troops. Our own men there are calling for assistance.” One response to the desperate need for reinforcements originated in Gilgandra in October 1915 with 26 men, the brain wave of local plumber WT (Bill) Hitchen, captain of the Gilgandra Rifle Club and his brother Richard. The Coo-ee March was the first of many privately organised recruiting marches of the time, which gathered recruits as they progressed and became known as snowball marches

As the march wound its way to the Sydney Domain through country towns and villages with names such as Wongarbon, Mumbil, Boomey and Yetholme, the recruits were decked with roses and treated to lunches of roast lamb and plum pudding. After ascending the western side of the Blue Mountains via Berghofer’s Pass, they reached the Explorers’ Tree at Katoomba on 5 November, where the mayor, Alderman George James, welcomed “the boys from the western plains”. The recruits responded as one with their rousing Coo-ee war cry and wearing their new blue dungaree uniforms and white canvas hats, marched into Katoomba to the accompaniment of the Leura Brass Band and the cheers of locals from footpaths and balconies, “streamers and brightly coloured bunting arched the principal thoroughfares and many public and private housed were gaily bedecked.”

After further speeches of welcome and loyalty at the official dinner at the California guesthouse that evening, Alderman Tabrett proposed the toast to “Our Boys at the Front”, declaring “the whole world would ring with the praises of the Austral heroes who were ably defending the liberty of the world. We want thousands more like you”, he told the Coo-ees, “I sincerely hope Australia will always be noted for its workers and not its shirkers.” The recruiting rally after the dinner was one of the “biggest meetings ever seen in Katoomba”, at which “no less than 21 recruits offered and were accepted”, reported the Echo. The Katoomba Red Cross Comforts Fund presented the Coo-ees with a bale of socks knitted by local ladies, including ten pairs from the industrious Mrs James, the Mayoress.

At Wentworth Falls, a road worker downed tools and stepped into the ranks to rousing coo-ees from the men, although his two mates decided “to think it over”. At Lawson they were addressed by the Governor General and ten new recruits were welcomed to the ranks.

The Coo-ees entered Springwood on Monday morning 8 November through the smoke from nearby bushfires and bearing their banner with the motto “First Stop Berlin”, accompanied by an escort of four mounted policemen, a piper playing stirring highland marches, a squad from the Springwood Rifle Club and cheering school children. “Hitchen’s Own” then made camp on the Homedale Estate.

A thousand people from Springwood and surrounds attended the evening open-air concert and recruiting meeting where more young men joined up. A local reporter wrote: “How well Springwood entertained is best told in the words of a lady who helped, ‘It was the biggest wash-up that I ever heard of,’ she said, and that is saying something coming from the sex that reckons life is one wash-up after another.” The next morning at nine o’clock with the piper again in attendance the Coo-ees marched out of town.

The 263 Coo-ees who reached Sydney on November 12 went into action on the Western Front, in particular the Albert, Pozieres and Moquet Farm battlefields; many now lie with their comrades somewhere in France and a number were decorated for bravery. The bible on which five Springwood recruits were sworn in is held in the Local Studies collection at Blue Mountains City Library.

Images
top: Coo-ees march through Springwood
Centre: Katoomba Comforts Fund workers with socks and clothing for the troops, Mrs James may be number 10, in black, seated left
Bottom: Coo-ees in Macquarie Rd, Springwood

© 2010 Blue Mountains City Library
John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian

Hidden History – Mickies and Polers

2010-08-16T13:20:00.009+10:00

Do we still have colourful characters or do they exist only in the past, when communities were smaller and society had room for the ordinary life lived eccentrically, without compromise, endearing, picturesque, vivid. The Blue Mountains has had its share of colourful characters but perhaps none more so than the men and women who drove bullocks for a living.

From the building of the first road over the Blue Mountains until the early decades of the 20th Century, bullocks were a significant and dependable source of draught power, whether it was clearing land, carting massive logs to local saw mills or carrying heavy loads over the mountain passes, and although some bullock drivers never swore, relying solely on gesture and whip movements; many were renowned for their strong language.

A language which it seems, like other less respectable parts of our history, is now all but lost except as oral tradition. When taking steep hills or on narrow winding roads, when the bullocks closer to the wagon, known as polers, risked strangulation or a broken neck, the driver would talk continuously to the team, calling each bullock by name to adjust its pace and effort. Talk that took the place of halters and reins and we can now only imagine.

Unlike the horse, which is subject to erratic displays of emotion, the working steer, known as a micky, tends to remain calm and collected and is more dependable in a predicament. Competent bullock drivers developed a philosophical, sanguine temperament, saving the strong language for the most difficult situations, otherwise their swearing reserve would have been exhausted before it was really needed. At the right moment the normally complaisant teamster would explode into profanity, the sudden shock of the awful words provoking the bullocks to bore into their yokes, all pulling together to overcome their load. The bullocky would then regain his usual easy-going composure, reserving his store of swearing until the next difficult situation.

Some of our well known bullockies were Bob Duff, Ted Duff and James Lewis Duff; in fact the Duff family has been associated with the Blue Mountains for over 150 years. Robert ‘Bob’ Duff was born at Hartley in 1845, his parents having arrived from Scotland five years earlier. At the age of nineteen Bob married sixteen year old Caroline Smith from Campbelltown and the couple settled in the Megalong Valley, farming 1100 acres on the Cox’s River. Between seasons Bob worked his team of bullocks, sometimes on the road for up to five months. Physically he cut an imposing figure, standing 6’3” and weighing 17 stone. Bob Duff died in March 1893, killed while breaking in a colt, he was forty eight years old and left a family of sixteen children. His wife Caroline eventually moved her family to Blackheath where she died in 1942 at the age of ninety seven.

Perhaps it’s not just the bullocky’s language that may fascinate us; there is also a lesson in self reliance in what was one of the most difficult and challenging of occupations. One old driver remarked that when faced with the seemingly impossible or extreme danger, you will have your doubts and will feel like not going on, but remember to always look on the humorous side and never lose your temper for a man who can drive bullocks can do anything.

Images from the Local Studies collection 1900-1920s
1. Mrs Foy cracks the whip outside the Hydro at Medlow Bath
2. Team outside Collers Stores at Blackheath
3. James Duff and daughter Peggy outside Collier's General Store, Blackheath
4. Road roller at Blackheath

Reference: The Bullock Driver’s Handbook, Arthur Cannon, 1985.

© 2010 Blue Mountains City Library
John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian

Catalina Park, Katoomba

2010-06-18T15:05:00.011+10:00

CATALINA PARK, KATOOMBA AND THE FLYING BOAT

Many visitors and local people have fond memories of the flying boat at Catalina Park, a natural amphitheatre to the west of Katoomba. Although officially named Frank Walford Park, it has more recently been called by its earlier name The Gully. In the mid-1940’s this area of bush, swamps and springs was largely undeveloped and home to a small settlement of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

The land was owned by Horace (Horrie) Gates, owner of the Homesdale Guest House with its Wentworth Cabaret nightspot. In 1946, he felt that a new attraction was needed to bring tourists back to the Blue Mountains after peace was declared. Accordingly he dammed Katoomba falls creek to form an ornamental lake where he constructed an amusement park offering ‘every facility for fun and food’.

The park was an instant success and in 1948, the shell of a Consolidated Catalina PBY-5 flying boat was added to the attractions, which included speedboat rides, tearooms, miniature train, Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, swimming pool and a Giggle House showing Charlie Chaplin films. Although many people believed the plane had flown there, it had in fact been dismantled and brought to Katoomba by truck, where it was re-assembled and anchored to a concrete block in the middle of the lake.

Up to thirty passengers paid two shillings to be taken out to the flying boat by punt where in the dark, stuffy interior, they viewed film of a flight over the Sydney area, heard the story of the Catalina and tried out the controls. While the film was showing, an assistant would stand on the wing rocking the plane to simulate flight while the speedboat would circle the lake providing waves and engine noise. Fun seekers emerged from this sensory experience dizzy and gasping for air, many too ill to enjoy further amusements.

For many years the lake operated as Katoomba’s swimming pool and provided a fireworks display after the New Year’s Eve street parade. However as the town’s population increased, it became run down, its reputation unsavoury and its water polluted.

Council purchased the land in 1952 with the purpose of turning the area into a public park and treated water swimming pool. In 1954 the Catalina aircraft, showing signs of age and wear, was pulled up onto the bank and left to the ravages of weather and souvenir hunters, until in 1958 it was sold to Sheffield Welding & Engineering, Auburn NSW, where it was dismantled and cut up for scrap.

In 1957 the Gully Residents were evicted to make way for the Catalina racing car circuit that was completed in 1961. A new Olympic Pool was opened adjacent to the original swimming pool in 1972. In 2003, the Katoomba Indoor Sports and Aquatic Centre opened on the site where a new generation of fun seekers relax in the heated spa in place of the murky water and tadpoles. In 2005, the Gully was declared an Aboriginal Place.

Top photo: Blue Mountains City Library collection
Bottom photo: John Merriman

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
© 2010 Blue Mountains City Library

Rev. Robert Alexander Redmond B.A. (1869-1911)

2010-06-02T16:37:00.012+10:00

Robert Alexander Redmond was born on April 6, 1869 in Northern Ireland, the son of Samuel Redmond, farmer of Slievenaboley in County Down and Catherine (Piddock). In 1896 aged 27, he entered divinity studies at Assembly’s College, Belfast, the theological college for the Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland. In his final year he was awarded the blue ribbon of the college: the Magill Bursary for pulpit eloquence. He graduated BA in 1898, and received his licence to preach in 1901.

Rev Redmond was ordained on November 6, 1900 in First Broughshane congregation, one of the largest country congregations in Ulster, where he spent the next two years. During this time he applied himself to his work with such diligence that his health began to suffer and he applied for leave to travel to Australia to rest and recuperate. It appears from his marriage certificate, that he may have first gone to Scotland where he married his wife Sarah.

Rev Redmond travelled initially to New Zealand but came to NSW in 1904 with his wife Sarah (Wilson) and daughter Molly, and was appointed by the Home Mission Committee of the Presbyterian Church to minister to the Parish of Leura - Wentworth Falls. In 1905 he was inducted into the combined Presbyterian Churches of Leura and Wentworth Falls; and as a sign of his growing community involvement, was also listed as a founding member of the Katoomba & Leura Tourist Association when their inaugural guidebook was issued in the same year.

Widely regarded for his oratory; the power, the wit and the eloquence of the Irish rector could move an audience to laughter and tears, and they would come again and again to listen spellbound as he preached. Eloquence that was also believed to have contributed to the success of the record fundraising effort of ₤200 for extensions to the original 1898 sandstone church in Leura. In fact such was the popularity of his sermons that even after the Leura church was enlarged to twice its original size, it was often unable to accommodate the overflow congregation that flocked to his services. A congregation that included many Sydney residents with holiday homes in the Mountains, as well as those staying in guest houses, for whom a stirring Redmond sermon was among the highlights of their stay.

Rev Redmond was actively involved in the establishment of a golf club in Leura and was one of the first directors of the original company. When that company went out of business he set about raising capital for a new company. In an unpublished history of the Leura Golf Club, it is stated that 'Rev R A Redmond canvassed Sydney businessmen as well as local residents and his untiring efforts resulted in the amount of three thousand four hundred pounds being raised'. At the first general meeting of the Golf Links Estate held in 1909 he was elected a director, although he resigned the position later that same year.

However the health concerns that had prompted his trip to Australia again surfaced and in September 1911 he underwent surgery for stomach cancer, from which he did not recover and died quietly on November 11, 1911. The official cause of death is listed as carcinoma of the stomach and exhaustion, over a period of seven months. His wife and daughter were away visiting Ireland at the time of his death and there is no record of their returning to Australia.

Following his death, a public subscription raised funds for a memorial in Leura Mall, on which the inscription reads:

Erected as a mark of esteem to the late
Rev R A Redmond, BA,
by the residents of Leura,
November 11th, 1911

The Blue Mountains Echo newspaper recorded the funeral on November 17, 1911:

By the death of Rev. R. A. Redmond - news of which was received in town on Saturday - Leura loses one of her foremost citizens, and the Presbyterian Church a most eloquent and able preacher. The deceased gentleman had been associated in all movements for the advancement of the district, and his demise at so early an age will cause a vacancy difficult indeed to fill. A large number of representative townsfolk paid their last tribute to his memory on Monday when the funeral took place at Wentworth Falls. A well-worded re¬ference to his untimely death was made by the Rev. W. Ellis at the Anglican Church on Sunday last. The hymn, “'Now the Laborer's Task is O'er”, was rendered by the choir, and at the evening service, Mr Inman played The Dead March in Saul.

The obituary reads as follows:

Dead! And there's many a man could have been better spared, was the general verdict when the news flashed through from the city hospital that Rev. Redmond, the popular Presbyterian Pas¬tor of Leura, had paid life's penalty - the victim of a malignant growth, which, for the past year, had caused him trouble.
His death was not unexpected. It was well-known that the good man was booked for his last long journey, but nevertheless, a deep gloom settled over both centres when it was known that his spirit had fled. Rev. Redmond was a man of strong personality. He was a cultured and convincing preacher, and worked wonders for his Church in both Leura and Wentworth Falls. Blessed with a heart as big as a house, he had a large fund of sympathy for human frail¬ties, and his good deeds, performed in every instance with almost apologetic secrecy, will live for ever with Leuraites. He was a happy combination of human and divine, and was beloved by all denominations on the Mountains.
About a month ago he went to Sydney to undergo an operation. Although the surgeon's skill was successful, the suf¬ferer never rallied, and on Saturday morning he was summoned to meet his Masses, for Whom he had laboured so loyally in this Vale. The funeral cortege started from Messrs Woods' Funeral Parlours, Sydney, at 7.45 am on Monday, and was entrained at 8.27 am for Wentworth Falls, several ministers and other friends accompanying it. At various stations en route, many of the deceased minister's co-Presbyters joined the train. On arrival at Wentworth Fails, a large number of people from his late charge and district were sorrow¬fully waiting.
The Right Reverend, the Moderator of the State General Assem¬bly (R. Kay, M.A.,), who had travelled from Germanton, joined with the Rev. James McKee, Moderator of deceased's Presbytery, headed the procession. These were followed by the members of the Presbytery, the Rev. Steel, M.A., J. Paterson, A. Dandie, W. R. Milne, H. Wilson, R. B. Garner and the Rev. Prof. Clouston and Rev. J. J. Gilmore.
The Church at Wentworth Falls was overfilled with a sorrowful congrega¬tion. The suitable music was kindly arranged for by Rev. Mr Robison, C.E. Minister, whose organist officiated. Within the Church, where the coffin, covered with beautiful wreaths, rested, the Rev. J. McKee presided, prayers were offered by the Right Rev., the Moderator and Rev. J. Paterson, and the lesson was read by Rev. R. Steel. Upon leaving for the cemetery, the Ministers formed a double line, between which the coffin was borne to the hearse, and the procession, largest and most solemn ever seen at Wentworth Falls, wended its way to the last resting place of mortality. Here reverently the Rev J. McKee committed the body to the ground, which loving thought had beautifully carpeted and lined with ferns and white flowers.
The resurrection lessons were read by the Rev. J. J Gilmore, and prayer was offered by Rev. H. Wil¬son. The Rev. Professor Clouston pronounced an eulogy on the beloved Minister, whose mortal remains were now consigned to the tomb. He referred to his success as a student and as a pastor of one of the largest and most important Churches in Ulster before threatening sickness urged him to come to Sunny New South Wales. He testified, as they all knew, to his success at Leura and Wentworth Falls, the Church at each place being a monument to his earnestness. Though dead, he would still speak to them, for the memory of one so singularly gifted and of such happy nature would remain green. Before the benediction was pronounced by Rev. W. R. Milne, it was announced that the Rev. J. J. Gilmore, a long-time friend of the late Mr Redmond, would conduct memorial services at Leura and Wentworth Falls on Sun¬day, 19th November. Mr W. Wood, Financial Secretary, and Rev. R. Steel made the arrangements for the funeral.

There are actually three local memorials to Rev Redmond: a wing in the Leura Fairways retirement village on land formerly held by Leura Golf Club was named the Robert Alexander Redmond Wing; there is a plaque on the wall of St Andrew’s Church at Wentworth Falls, and the obelisk in Leura Mall. There is also a larger reminder of Rev Redmond in the form of the Katoomba Presbyterian Church on the corner of Waratah and Lurline Streets, which was built on land purchased with funds of ₤500 he had raised for the purpose before his death. The church cost ₤2,000 to build and was opened on 25 January 1914. Subsequently a Church Hall was built for ₤600 and a manse purchased for ₤2,500.

The Redmond obelisk was designed by EP Andreas of Leuralla "in the form of an obelisk in freestone, upon a blue stone base, bearing upon the apex two bracket lamps". A committee of ladies, including Mrs Andreas, was asked to choose a suitable site, probably in the Mall. The obelisk was originally located at the intersection of the Mall with Megalong Street and held two small, rather dim, copper lamps on brackets. The Echo newspaper complained as early as 1913 that "from a utilitarian point of view, it is very nearly a failure, the old lamp post adjacent disseminating more light to the acre than the monument does to the square inch". As a result, in 1914, the twin lamps were replaced with a "single modern lamp of high candle power". The lamps appear to have been removed at the time it was relocated to its present location on the median strip around 1930.

It now stands opposite the old Post Office building in Leura Mall, on a grassy bank among the flowering cherry trees in Spring, where picnickers and tourists relax, enjoying the sunshine, few if any noticing the now weathered, ornate stone column, dedicated to the fervent Irish preacher once so beloved by his flock.

Photos:
Top: The Redmond Memorial in Leura Mall, photo (c) John Merriman
Bottom:. Leura Mall 1946 showing the memorial on the median strip, Rose Series Postcard 5534, Local Studies collection

References:
- Ye Are God’s Building, a centenary history of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Wentworth Falls NSW, 1905-2005, by Eve Sinclair, 2006.
- Blue Mountains Echo newspaper, November 17, 1911
- Redmond Memorial, Blue Mountains Heritage Inventory, 2001

Acknowledgement:
Prof L S Kirkpatrick, Union Theological College, Belfast, correspondence 2009.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
© Blue Mountains City Library, 2010

Kingsford Smith Memorial Park and Wadi Shaifa, Katoomba

2009-11-16T12:20:00.039+11:00

This park sits in a natural gully amphitheatre near Katoomba railway station bounded by Gang-Gang Street, Lurline Street and William Street. It covers portions 52 and 53 originally granted to James Henry Neal in 1877-78.

Wadi Shaifa
Until the park was acquired by Blue Mountains City Council in 1921, the area was known as Hudson’s Gully or Hudson’s Park, from the family who had owned most of the surrounding land. Their nearby home, Wadi Shaifa, still overlooks the park at 2 Lurline Street. Mary Davidson Hudson nee Talbot married Ernest A K Hudson in 1900, and with their sons Kenneth, Cyril and Laurence and daughter Dorothy, moved to Katoomba around 1910, acquired part of portion 52 in 1914 and built the house in 1916. The rate book entry for that year shows the value of the house to be ₤2,100.

Ernest purchased the bankrupt emporium business of Mullaney & Co. in Main Street and soon became known as a live-wire and a fighting force in the Bowling Club, the Jockey Club, the Rifle Club, the School of Arts, the Show Society and other posts, the business however failed to prosper. He had formerly held the rank of Captain in the NSW Lancers and in 1915 re-enlisted in the ANZAC Mounted division, and with his horse Tango, served in Egypt and Palestine in WW1. In 1917, he was posted to Divisional HQ with the rank of Major. Henry Gullett described him in the official war history as “the most effective supply officer in adverse circumstances in all Palestine”, he was decorated DSO and mentioned in despatches three times, he died in Palestine of Pneumonia in 1918.

The name Wadi Shaifa commemorates a battle in Egypt about 150 km west of El Alamein described in The War Effort of New Zealand, by W S Austin 1923. The Light Horse was there, with the Kiwis, the Sikhs and the Scots, so perhaps Major Ernie Hudson was too. Major-General Wallace transferred his headquarters from Alexandria to Matruh on December 7th, 1915, and four days later had his first encounter with the Senussi forces. From five to six miles south of Matruh is a tableland some 300 feet high, dropping to the coastal strip in a steep escarpment. The outline of the plateau is irregular, and ten miles to the west of Matruh, it is only two miles from the sea. Intersecting the escarpment at right angles are numerous ancient watercourses, or wadis, which are steep, dry and rocky, and in some cases miles in length.

In one or other of these wadis, the enemy would establish a temporary stronghold. Hudson had been located at Wadi Senaab, eight miles to the westward, and on December 11th, a column moved out to attack his position. The Yeomanry, aided by a squadron of Australian Light Horse, inflicted over 100 casualties and cleared the wadi. The force, which included the Sikhs, camped on the ground won. Being reinforced by the Royal Scots, the column started again on the 13th for a spot 12 miles farther west to engage the enemy, but in crossing Wadi Shaifa, was itself attacked by a force of 1,200, with artillery and machine-guns. The enemy was defeated, however, leaving 180 dead, and was pursued until dark, when the column returned to Matruh.

Following her husband's death, Mrs Hudson ran Wadi Shaifa as flats from the 1920s through the 1950s; she died in 1968 aged 88. It still operates as flats today, one of which was sold in 2009 for $260,000.

Kingsford Smith Park
Hudson’s Gully was in effect the front garden of Wadi Shaifa, when Katoomba Council resumed the land for a park in 1935. After removal of the blackberries and rubbish, it was landscaped according to a plan drawn up a Mr Kerr of the Sydney Botanical Gardens. The labour force was composed of men on unemployment relief and the stone for the many retaining walls was carted in from the surrounding bushland.

The park's first name, in 1935, was Jubilee Park to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. This however was changed only a year later to Kingsford Smith Memorial Park and Playground, in honour of the pioneer Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897-1935).

In 1928, Kingsford Smith, in the aircraft Southern Cross, with co-pilot Charles Ulm, and navigation crew Harry Lyon and Jim Warner, had made the first trans-pacific flight from San Francisco to Brisbane, with refuelling stops at Hawaii and Fiji. Leaving Oakland Field on 31 May, they crossed the coast over Ballina at dawn on 8 June and turned north along the coast for Brisbane to refuel, landing at Eagle Farm. They then flew south to Sydney on the same day, where they were welcomed by a crowd of 300,000 people at Mascot. Smith and Ulm had spent over 83 hours in the air in an open cockpit, numbed by cold and lashed by storms, without sleep and deafened for several days after the flight by the engine noise. Being unable to hear, the only way they could communicate with each other and with Lyon and Walker in the cabin behind was via pencilled notes passed between them, these jottings on scap paper are now preserved in the State Library of NSW. On 8 November 1935, Smithy, at the age of only 38, was killed when he crashed into the sea near Aye Island in the Bay of Bengal, while making an attempt on the England-Australia speed record in the Lady Southern Cross, only the nose wheel of the plane was recovered.

On 7 March 1938, Lord Wakehurst, Governor of NSW, dedicated the entrance pavilion with a slate plaque, the lintel bearing the words Kingsford Smith Memorial Park. This was topped with a hemispherical metal dome showing a relief map of Australia, with a two foot scale model of Southern Cross, constructed by Mr Evan Cork of Randwick, mounted above it . In 1939 Katoomba Council constructed the band rotunda and public lavatories at a cost of ₤329 in time for the official opening on 1 January 1940, by the Hon. L. O. Martin, KCMG, Minister for Works and Local Government, a brass plaque on the pavilion commemorates this.

The park is one of many memorials throughout Australia to its courageous pioneer aviator, an unparalleled breaker of long-distance records, a trailblazer and remarkable visionary, and a man whose party trick after singing and playing the ulelele was to drink a glass of beer while standing on his head.

The inaugural Carols by Candlelight was held 8.00 pm to midnight on Christmas Eve 1947, under the auspices of radio station 2GB with proceeds going to Blue Mountains Hospital. By then the park had an ornamental pond and a children’s playground.

Over the next 40 years, the park gradually fell into disuse and disrepair until local residents began to lobby Council to fund improvements and maintenance. In July 1987 high winds tore the dome from its base on the entry pavilion, it was repaired and replaced five months later. At the same time a scale profile of Southern Cross replaced the scale model, which had been vandalised and removed some years before.

In 1991 a friends group was formed and a Carnivale and parade were staged. Restoration of the gardens and rotunda was commenced in 1993, and since the inception of the Winter Magic Festival in 1994 and the Blue Mountains Music Festival in 1996, it has regained much of its earlier popularity as a music venue and picnic spot, weather permitting.

In 1998, a landslip caused by a leaking water main resulted in extensive damage, and a $300,000 repair bill. Around this time, there were also numerous complaints from nearby residents, of anti-social behaviour and drug dealing in the park, which were addressed with tree and foliage thinning, security lighting and police patrols.

In 2001 the entry pavilion became unstable and was dismantled and re-erected on new foundations and reinforced pillars with a rebuilt retaining wall.

Kingsford Smith Park is one of three aviator memorials in Katoomba, the others being Bert Hinkler Park in Lurline Street and Melrose Park in North Katoomba named after Charles James (Jimmy) Melrose (1913-1936) the only solo flier to finish the 1934 Melbourne Centenary Air race.

Images from top:
1. 1930s tourist guide entry for Wadi Shaifa
2. Subdivision plan, Wadi Shaifa is located on lot 1.
3. 1940s view of the main entry with model of Southern Cross
4. Panorama of the park in 1938
5. 1940s view of rotunda and early plantings
6. 1947 Carols by Candlelight program

See also a set by Merryjack

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
(c)Blue Mountains City Library, 2009

Eurama & Weemala at Faulconbridge

2009-07-29T14:33:00.028+10:00

Eurama
This burnt out building ruin on the side of the Great Western Highway at Faulconbridge was once a grand house with a tower built for a wealthy businessman named Andrew McCulloch in the early 1880s. The stone used in its construction was quarried nearby and the work was carried out by a well known local stonemason, Patrick (Paddy) Ryan. McCulloch furnished his country house using the exclusive Sydney firm of Lyon Cottier and Co. The property boasted a tennis court, flag-staff and beautiful gardens and an ornamental lake made by damming a gully.

McCulloch named his new residence “Weemala”, an Aboriginal word said to mean “an expansive view”, and spent the next few years developing the grounds. However, at the end of the 1880s, he began to experience financial difficulties and sold the property to J. W. Cliff in 1889.

When Cliff sold the property, then totaling about 113 acres in 1907, the new owner, a solicitor named George Evans, changed the name to “Eurama”, said to be a Greek word meaning much the same as the earlier Aboriginal one. Evans had also purchased the neighbouring house, “Numantia”, a wooden cottage adjacent to the railway line with its own rail platform, built in 1877 by Sir James Martin, and to this he transferred the name “Weemala”. This has proved to be a source of great confusion and many people today still refer to “Eurama” as “Weemala”.

When George Evans died “Eurama” passed to his daughter, Mrs Emily Ethel McLaurin. It was later sold to Mrs Katherine Nathan in the 1920s and around 1930, to Mrs Daisy Brown. Following Mrs Brown’s death the building was left vacant for a time and suffered from some vandalism. Over the ensuing decades many owners had their dreams cut short. The depression, war and other hard times, falling on the owners. In the early 1960s the then owner, Mr Adams, set about restoring the decaying property. Restoration had been completed just prior to the disastrous bushfires on 1968. The fire consumed the house in all its grandeur and the building remains a ruin today.

As a postscript to the “Eurama” story, the Blue Mountains City Library was given permission by Mr. Watkins, the then owner, to stage an open air children’s adventure theatre performance there during the Bicentennial celebrations in 1988. With the ruins as a backdrop the property proved a most effective site for this project.

Weemala
“Weemala” is now situated close to the rail line behind the high stone wall.
The cottage originally on this site was erected about 1877 for Sir James Martin K.C.M.G. It was to be his country residence and was named Numantia. Numantia being a region in Spain and it has been said that Sir James thought the countryside here similar to that of Numantia, Spain. It was a wooden house set behind a high stone wall.

Sir James had acquired a large amount of land from Sir Henry Parkes and it was his intention to build a huge mansion after he had built this small wooden cottage. The grand mansion never eventuated. The foundations only were laid. They later c.1914-18 became the foundations for “Banool” now “The Bungalow” on the corner of Martin Place at Linden.

In 1876 a railway platform was erected to service the well-to-do residents of the area. It became the Numantia Platform but ceased operation in 1892 with the platform being removed in 1897.

In 1898 Adolphus Rogalsky purchased Numantia and it was he who changed the name to Weemala. This coincided with the name change for the other Weemala to Eurama.

The high stone wall of “Numantia”, later “Weemala”, still stands. The cottage was destroyed by bushfire in December 1977. Since then a new three bedroom brick veneer cottage has been erected behind the stone wall.

To summarise:
Weemala (1880s) became Eurama (1907)
Numantia (1877) became Weemala (1907)

Photos from the Blue Mountains City Library collection, from the McLaurin family album.
1. Ruins of Eurama after 1968 bushfires
2. Ornamental lake, Eurama
3. Emily Ethel McLaurin
4. Eurama in its heyday
5. Map of Eurama and Weemala c1920, Local Studies map collection.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
© 2009 Blue Mountains City Library

The Giant Stairway, Echo Point, Katoomba

2009-04-24T09:01:00.041+10:00

First Steps
At 540 metres in length, with 911 steps hewn from the cliff face and 32 steel staircases, the aptly named Giant Stairway drops almost 300 metres to the floor of the Jamieson Valley below the Three Sisters. At the official opening in 1932, the Newcastle Morning Herald saw it as a "triumph of nerve and skill", while the Sydney Morning Herald concluded that "patience and courage have had their reward".

Such comments, made in relation to the official opening of both the Giant Stairway and the Projecting Platform at Echo Point on Saturday October 1, 1932, were among many offering tribute to Ranger McKay, the man who almost two decades previously had conceived the idea of a track linking the cliff top at Echo Point with the Federal Pass below.

James Henry McKay was born in Balmain on December 4, 1869 and died in Katoomba on September 12, 1947. He appears to have been the third ranger employed to care for reserves in the Katoomba area, following in the steps of John Smith and Charles Deeves. His appointment as Chief Ranger in 1901 came a year after the opening of the Federal Pass, which traversed the valley floor between Katoomba Falls and Leura Falls, an event representative of a new phase in the leisure use of the Blue Mountains. Gaining full time employment with Katoomba Council may have also helped Jim McKay make up his mind in 1902 to marry Emily Cole, a twenty year old widow and mother of four, and have six more children; William 1903, Letitia 1904, Isabel 1908, Dorothy 1910, Edna 1914 and Laura 1921. Emily’s daughter Ruby Cole, born 1901, was killed in Katoomba in 1910 by a kick from a horse; her father Henry Cole had died in a fall from a horse outside the Katoomba Railway Hotel in 1902. Both were attended by Dr John Spark; Henry and Ruby Cole share an unmarked grave in Katoomba cemetery.

Prior to 1890, the development of the Blue Mountains bushland for the benefit of visitors had been concentrated primarily on the cliff tops - constructing lookout access to the most popular views. The 1890s and early 20th century saw interest moving downwards into the valleys with the emphasis placed now on the active enjoyment of walking. Track-walking remained the primary motive behind the development of the area for leisure until the 1930s, when the motor car, speeding from sight to sight with its cargo of ‘sightseers’, revolutionised tourism and re-directed attention once again to the cliff edge. Indeed, Echo Point, with its Giant Stairway down into the valley and its Projecting Platform looking out over the valley, could be said to represent both the end of one era and the beginning of another.

It was from the Dardanelles track that, in 1914, he conceived his idea of a new pass that would junction with the Three Sisters at Echo Point. Scoffed at initially, his project eventually received Council approval in July 1916 following an all-day inspection of the reserves by the Reserves Committee (Aldermen C.L. Dash, G. James, G. Davies and R.V. Smythe), In their report to Council, they recommended "that it be left in the hands of Chief Ranger McKay to construct a new track from the vicinity of Echo Point to connect with Federal Pass at a point below the Three Sisters". Council adopted the report and the work began under the direction of McKay, his assistant Walter Botting and their team of labourers, which included Reubin Esgate, father of the noted Mountains identity Ben Esgate.

An article in the "Blue Mountain Echo" in 1916 reports that McKay "took to the work from the first" and with a dedication few could match today. On one occasion, the writer asserts, his wages were eight months in arrears and he survived only on large credit accounts with local stores. Before he began work on the Giant Stairway, the Federal Pass had 1,764 steps, 500 of which were in reasonable condition. By 1916, McKay had increased this to 6,464 steps, including a new track from near Bull's Head, which skirted the cliffs and led to the top of the Leura Cascades and he planned and opened the Dardanelles section of the Federal Pass. In 1908 he had led the construction of the Furber Steps, his first great stairway into the Jamison Valley.

Delay... then renewed interest
After proceeding for almost a quarter of the distance, however, the work of hacking the steps from the sheer cliff face was deemed too costly by Council and the project was brought to a halt in August 1918 and in 1922 Council's Chief Engineer estimated that a further 300 steps needed to be cut. The whole idea then lapsed for over a decade.

In the early 1930s, Harry Phillips, the noted Mountains photographer, published a small pamphlet outlining his suggestions for the future tourist development of Katoomba. Among these was the completion of the Giant Stairway which, he argued, "Can be completed at a small outlay; it leads directly into the most prolific and prettiest Fern Glen Forest in the Jamieson Valley, Leura, where magnificent motor tracks and camping areas can and should be, opened up immediately." Following vigorous agitation on the part of Alderman W.C. Soper, a close friend of Phillips, a renewed interest in the scheme was awakened early in 1932. A motion put before Council by Soper was passed and work, again under the control of Chief Ranger McKay, recommenced. This proceeded with sufficient speed for a decision to be made in July to arrange for the official opening to take place on the first weekend of October. An extensive publicity campaign under the direction of the Town Clerk, Mr. F.C. Taylor, was set in motion, circularising the provincial and city press, various radio stations and arranging with Cinesound to make it, as the Katoomba Daily put it, "a boost day for Katoomba".

Official Opening
The official opening duly took place at 3.30 p.m. on the Saturday of the Eight Hour Weekend. Following the speeches of welcome by the Mayor Alderman A.E. Packer, and the local members of Parliament, Hon. J. Jackson, Minister for Local Government and Mr. J.N. Lawson M.H.R., The Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. B.S.B. Stevens, responded and declared both the Giant Stairway and the Projecting Platform open. In his speech, the Premier paid tribute to those who carried out the hard physical work, work that on occasions was so dangerous that they had to be roped to prevent them falling. He praised their skill and courage and assured them that "they will always have the satisfaction of knowing that their initiative and labour will bring pleasure to countless thousands in the years to come", and to "have shaken the hand of Chief Ranger McKay made this a memorable day".

The ceremonies over, the huge crowd witnessed an exciting exhibition of rock-climbing by three members of the Blue Mountaineers Club: Dr. Eric Dark, Mr. Osmar White and Mr. Paddy Ellis.

"These intrepid mountaineers first appeared on the sheer wall of the western precipice about 4.00 p.m. and quickly ascended 500 feet of cliff face to the summit of the Second Sister, where the Australian Flag was flown. The descent proved even more spectacular and although the climbers did not take any unnecessary risks, and were on no occasion in danger of falling, many of the spectators literally held their breaths as they witnessed the amazing ascent of the beetling crags". (Katoomba Daily).

While the motor car was ushering in a new era of leisure activity in the mountains, which reduced somewhat the popularity of walking tracks, the Giant Stairway, though perhaps representative of this earlier phase, has, with its panoramic views and as a companion to the Scenic Railway, survived as a popular tourist attraction for the eight decades since its completion. As a memorial to the work and vision of Chief Ranger Jim McKay, and others like him, its value to the Blue Mountains is even further enhanced.

Photos
Top: Chief Ranger Jim McKay poses on the Stairs with his assistant Walter Botting (Harry Phillips photo).
Second: McKay with workers, showing use of picks, hammers and chisels to cut back rock prior to step making.
Third: The official party, The Premier Sir Bertram Stevens 4th from right, the man in the bowler hat at rear is Percy Wilson, President of Blue Mountains Shire.
Bottom: The crowd at the official opening, Echo Point.

References:
"The Giant Stairway 1932-1982", by John Low, Blue Mountains City Library 1982.
"The Giant Stairway", by Keith Painter, Mountain Mist Books 2005.
"Walking the Federal Pass, the first 100 years", by Jim Smith, Den Fenella Press 2001.

John Low, John Merriman, Local Studies Librarians.
© Blue Mountains City Library 2009

Stratford Girls' School, Lawson

2009-04-06T12:06:00.059+10:00

Stratford Girls School, San Jose Ave. Lawson

The original building with its three floor levels and tower was constructed in 1879 and named “San Jose”, by Joseph (Jose) Guillermo Hay, an official in the Lands Department, who had received a grant of 300 acres at Lawson the previous year. In the 1880s Hay took advantage of the Mountains’ new and growing reputation as a health and recreation retreat, and by 1882 the name “San Jose” had the words “The Blue Mountains Sanatorium” added to it and described in a local guidebook as “the best for private families” and “with grounds laid out with romantic paths in all directions”. In 1889 Hay applied for a publican’s licence for the property then known as “Hay’s Family Hotel”, described as having fourteen rooms for public use. During the 1890s the property was acquired by John Ralston who ran it as a guesthouse known as “The Palace” for the next two decades until, in 1919, it eventually took the name and function for which it is best known.

The original Stratford School was founded in Lawson in 1915 by Miss Edith Townsend Wiles who began classes with six pupils in a rented cottage named Tahlia, on the Bathurst Road as the highway was then known. By 1919 the old cottage was “bursting at the seams” and a move became imperative. The school made the move across the highway and railway line taking the name “Stratford School for Girls” with it. In 1924 Miss Wiles and her sister, who was also a member of staff, purchased the building from the Ralston estate and were then able to make additions and alterations to accommodate the school.

When Miss Wiles died in 1930, the enrolment was 49 girls of which 31 were boarders, five girls sat for the Intermediate Certificate exam and two girls sat the Leaving Certificate. Control then passed to the Stratford School Council and subsequently, in 1936, to the Church of England, and the school entered its heyday as “Stratford Church of England School for Girls”.

“The development of capable Christian gentlewomen in an exceptionally healthy, bracing and invigorating climate” - that was the promise of Stratford School, to prospective students and parents in the 1940s-50s. According to a 1950s school prospectus, boarders at Stratford enjoyed an atmosphere of individuality and co-operation. Pupils were “fitted for practical business”, whilst encouraged to regard life from the stand-point of high ideals and to further their studies at the university.

Stratford’s curriculum, extending from primary to leaving certificate, included scripture, English, history, geography, French, Latin, mathematics, physiology, biology, business principles, book-keeping, art, handicrafts and speech training. Music and singing also featured as an important part of school life and students could choose to sit for Australian Music Examinations Board grade exams.

The girls wore an attractive grey uniform, but jewelry was strictly forbidden, with the gracious exception of the school badge and a wrist watch. Money was also controlled, with all funds going to a pocket money account. Statements on expenditure for outings, church collections and incidentals were issued to parents. There were three school terms, each 13 weeks long, though the girls were allowed one weekend mid-term to visit relations or friends. Travel to and from Sydney for vacations and mid-term holidays, was always supervised by a mistress from the school.

During term, visitors were allowed, by arrangement with the headmistress, but no student could accept invitations without written permission from her parents. Non-vacation weekends were devoted to healthy activities and visits to places of interest in the district. As with most Mountains boarding schools of the era, great emphasis was placed on fresh air, healthy diet and wholesome activities. The dining room menu boasted copious quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, home¬made jams and preserves and plenty of milk. Prospectus photographs showed bright, healthy young ladies, poised with grace and decorum in the dining room, clearly enjoying their healthy, wholesome meal.

Recreation was also high on the list at Stratford with tennis, netball, Vigoro and swimming at the nearby Lawson Pool offered to all pupils. The girls were accommodated in bedrooms for two and four boarders and there is also mention of a fine glassed-in balcony with an eastern aspect which appears to have housed a few beds as well. During the winter, swimming lessons were abandoned and wood fires were lit in the assembly hall and classrooms. Stratford girls, unlike their counterparts at Osborne College, Blackheath, were also afforded the privilege of a hot water service. The prospectus makes no mention of students’ academic records, but in the early 1950s, following a report by the Department of Education; the school was reduced to Intermediate Certificate level.

The 1957 fees brochure shows that the Leaving Certificate had been reinstated and announced the launch of a building fund to raise ₤5,000 for the erection of new and modern classrooms and to “gain help for Stratford to develop along modern lines.” Two coaches from the Lawn Tennis Association had joined the staff to provide coaching to pupils for which a fee of ₤2.10.0 per term was charged. It appears however that all this was unsuccessful, so with the buildings and furniture run down, changing trends in education and competition from Public schools and other private schools such as Blue Mountains Grammar at Wentworth Falls - Stratford finally closed in 1961.

In 1966, the building was sold to a Sydney couple, who refurbished the interior to house wedding receptions, dinners and private patties. The establishment lasted until the late 1970s, when in 1977, the Blue Mountains Community School moved in with 18 students, a new teacher and Government grants for a library and mini-bus.

By 1980, the building was owned by brothers Lionel and Vivian Coleman of Sydney, but there would be no more tenants for Stratford. On June 4, 1980, as the result of an electrical fault, the building was gutted by fire. Today, the only reminder of Stratford’s former glory is a large stenciled sign on the building's tower, the rest has gone. The remains of the building, except for the tower section, were demolished by a developer in the early 1990s. No further move has been made, at the time of writing, to develop the site, which is listed on the local heritage register.

Stratford at Tahlia and the Japanese Cherry Tree
In 1915 the first home of the school was the rented cottage Narbethong on Bathurst road, then until 1919 at a house named Krawaree, later known as Tahlia House, situated near the Lawson Community Hall. In 2008 Talia was threatened by road widening plans for Lawson and was re-sited back from the highway alignment by the RTA. While the school occupied Tahlia, in 1916, Woodford resident Toranosuki Kitamura, manager of Kinematsu (Australia) Ltd, imported a Yedoensis flowering cherry tree which he planted at the school as a token of respect for the high quality of education his three daughters, Jean, Una and Beth had received. The tree thrived for many years but due to its age and poor health could not be moved to make way for traffic. However over 100 young trees were successfully propagated from cuttings which are to be incorporated into landscape plans for the new highway and town centre. In 2002 a farewell ceremony for the old cherry tree was organised by a former Stratford student from the 1940s, Mrs Kathleen Hooke nee Barwick, and attended by the Japanese Consul General, the Mayor and the Member for Blue Mountains, local councillors and the grandchildren of Mr Kitamura.

Headmistresses of Stratford Girls School
1908 - Miss Edith WILES, “a woman of high ideals and rare courage.”
Edith Wiles, the daughter of a Methodist Minister, the Rev Henry Wiles, was educated at the Maitland High School and at Burwood Methodist Ladies’ College. In 1908 she opened a small school at Lawson, in a cottage called Narbethong. At first there were six pupils, but it was not long before larger premises became necessary and Miss Wiles opened the school in a larger cottage named Kawaree, and it was she who chose the name ‘Stratford’(SMH April 1930).

1919 – Move to the building in San Jose Ave.
Miss Wiles and her sister moved from the rented house to Stratford School for more class rooms. Later teachers were Mrs Senga Erratt, nee Rose, a pupil of Miss Wiles and also a gifted musician and a triple certificated nurse; Mrs Tibbits (nee Plummer) and Lady G. Cassidy, nee Waterhouse, a former Stratford School captain, were pupils of Miss Wiles.

1929 - Placed under management of Stratford School Council

1930-33 - Mrs Jeanette ASHTON
When Mrs Ashton became the new Headmistress in April 1933 the pupils still were devastated by the news of Miss Wiles’ death. She found the fiancial situation difficult and eventually left in 1933. A small committee had been formed to address the financial situation and it was agreed that £100 be borrowed from the Diocesan Education and Book Society on the personal guarantee of Mr R Allen and the Rev F H B Dillon

1934-35 - Miss Rita J ALLAN
In l936, the Rev Barwick was asked to leave the Kurrajong Parish and to come to Lawson to become the Treasurer of the Stratford Council. In the same year, the Archbishop, the Most Rev HWK Mowll D.D. asked Miss GML Watkins to consider becoming the Headmistress of Stratford School, she ‘graciously consented’ to accept the position as Headmistress.

1936 – 1948 Miss Gertrude Mary Lethbridge WATKINS
Miss Watkins exerted a unique presence throughout the school by her kindly smile, a quiet nature and yet maintaining strong discipline and by her long and saintly leadership, as well as her Sunday evening ‘Devotions’ conducted by her in her lounge for the Boarders with discussion of problems and the sermon of the Rector delivered at the Church that morning.
All helped to ‘mould’ the school together into a ‘more or less’ unified whole. She had been in charge of the ‘Holmer’ School, in Parramatta for about 10 years (1915 -1925) and then there is a break between 1925 and 1935. She may have gone to Bedford College, London to do extra teacher training there. She started at Stratford Girls’ School, Lawson early in 1936.
On her staff were the following:

Senior School: Miss M C Day, Miss Jean Frazer, Mrs A L Gorrod, Miss A. Howard, Miss I A Sawkins, Mr Bernard Schleicher BA Oxon.(languages, mathematics, history, ref. John Low).

Junior School: Miss Blaikie, Miss B M Holt, Miss R Missing and Miss G E Waring (ref. Autograph Book of K H Hooke).

The Assistant Headmistress, House Mother, Music Teacher and Matron was Miss Lilian Murray, from Wellington and Kelso, who was at the school in Miss Wiles’ time and then continued till 1952 and died on 23rd June 1953, about 24 years.
Miss Watkins wished to retire at the end of 1947 but there was no successor to replace her so she offered to stay until there was someone who would continue her work. All this was done for 13 years without any salary! (ref. Kathleen Hooke)

1949 – Miss Nina BRENTNALL B.A. died 1984
Miss Brentnall was chosen by the newly elected Stratford Council and warmly congratulated after the first few months of her being in office, in registering the school, reintroducing inter school Sports and for getting a new Playing Field for the girls. Though the girls had to help in the kitchen in making meals, maintaining discipline seemed to prove difficult and the school seemed to be on the wane after Miss Watins left. She extended her time at the school till another
headmistress was chosen. On her staff: were the following Miss Adam, Miss Carnarole, Mrs Eastman, Miss Graham, Miss Daphne Kellet (3rd Class Art and Drama, Shakespearean plays), Miss Parr, Miss Thomson and Miss Nancy Walsh (ex C.M.S. India).

1951 – Mrs Helen McT WAYNE
Mrs Wayne improved the appearance of the school with painting and new furniture, and the Inspector of Education was impressed with the educational standard of the school, but it was reduced to the Intermediate Certificate Level. ‘A lovely
person’ (ref Miss J. Thomas) Mrs Wayne resigned in Dec. 1955 after being there for 9 as a teacher and 5 as Headmistress, 14 years in all. (ref. Kathleen Hooke)
1956 (1st and 2nd terms) MISS Mary THOMSON B.A. Work greatly appreciated by the School Council, lived out of the school grounds.

1956 (3rd term) Mrs Deirdre HAYTER The Council acknowledged that she had worked untiringly.

1957 (January) Miss Judith THEWLIS, B.Sc. Dip.Ed.
Miss Thewlis was appointed by the Council. She insisted on the wearing of gloves when girls left the school grounds, she also introduced a new summer uniform, a beautiful cotton frock with a window frame check, in blue and gold, and no white dresses for Speech Day to save expense. She fell down some polished stairs and broke some bones and then died of pneumonia just 42 years of age (1960). She was greatly loved and sorely missed. On her staff were the following: Mrs Baker (Primary 1st to 4th class), Miss Gwen Thompson (English and History), Mr Trask, from Penrith, teaching Etiquette. Stratford almost burnt down. A miracle that it was saved. (ref. Kathleen Hooke)

1958 – Miss Bannerman (Ascot Aggie, her brand of cigarettes, thanks to Kerrie McNamara)

1961 – School closes

Stratford School Song
The mountains are rolling around us,
And the blue sky is arching above.
Stands the old Stratford grammar at Lawson,
The school that we honour and love.
Chorus:
Stratford, Stratford the school of the blue and gold,
Gold for the sunshine and blue for the mountain tops cold.

The future lies glorious before us,
And though we are eager to try -
Its pleasures, we’re all of us ready
For the duties that close to us lie.
Chorus: repeat

Though all of us cannot be clever,
We all can be useful and kind.
Or learning to cherish forever,
The treasures of spirit and mind.
Chorus: repeat

Whether defeated of winning,
Heads high we shall smile and press on.
‘Til at last we shall sigh to remember,
Our school days at Stratford are done.
Chorus: repeat

End

Fees 1957
Boarders
Primary per term ₤85.0.0
Secondary per term ₤88.0.0
Laundry per term ₤3.10.0
Yearly linen fee ₤2.2.0
Entrance fee ₤3.3.0

*****

References
Stratford School Headmistresses, notes by Kathleen Hooke, 2000
Stratford Prospectus, Anglican Diocese of Sydney, c.1950
Stratford Girls School – Local Studies clippings file, Blue Mountains City Library

Images from top
1: Stratford ruins after the fire, photographed by Neil Billington(1983) for Blue Mountains City Library.

2: Advertising poster for San Jose, The Blue Mountain Sanatorium, note Blue Mountain was the earlier name for Lawson from the 1840s until 1879.

3: Stratford girls in uniform (centre) at the opening of the relief map of Australia at Lawson swimming pool 1932, Lawson public school pupils on left and Percy Wilson, Blue Mountains Shire President, in bowler hat with his wife on the bridge; a Stratford mistress appears to be with them on left of bridge. The cement model was constructed by Mr Higgison of Allen St Lawson who was to die on the Sandakan Death March in 1943, he is one of the men standing centre left.

4: Stratford about 1960, colour slide by Milton Porter from the Local Studies Collection.

5: Miss Judith Thewlis, photo courtesy Mrs M E Patrick, Local Studies collection.

Note, July 2010: Kathleen Hooke (nee Barwick) died in October 2009 having published her memoirs of Straford as:
Hooke K.H. (2008) Blue Mountains Heritage and Nostalgia including Stratford Church of England School for Girls, Lawson and Memoirs. Self published, Kathleen H Hooke, 2008, Printed by Cliff Lewis Printing, Sydney. 585pp
Thanks for Brian Fox for this reference.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
© Blue Mountains City Library 2009

The White Cross at Mt York

2009-03-12T16:57:00.015+11:00

THE WHITE CROSS AT MOUNT YORK

For many years one of the Blue Mountains’ most distinctive landmarks was a large white cross on the cliff-edge of Mount York that could be glimpsed from the highway between Little Hartley and Victoria Pass. Although now removed, the cross has been a continuing source of speculation and enquiry since its erection early in the 20th century. It stood facing west, just off the Mount York road, some distance before the obelisk which marks the western descent of the explorers, Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson in 1813.

The cross was formed of a large upright and transverse steel girder bolted together, and was erected about 1911 by Henry Marcus Clark (1859-1913) who founded the business known as Marcus Clark & Co. Ltd. From a modest start in the Sydney suburb of Newtown in 1883, Marcus Clark & Co rose to become one of the city's largest department stores with a network of branches in towns and suburbs across Australia.

The cross commemorated the death, on April 1st 1899 of his son Byron Henry Clark at the site of their Mount York home known as "Drachenfels", which stood near the cliff edge facing Victoria Pass. The house and its extensive outbuildings, coach-house and orchard were lost in a bushfire in 1902.

On the day of the tragedy, Mr. Clark was in Sydney, while his second wife Georgina and several friends were staying at "Drachenfels". Two of the Clark children, Hazel, aged 14 and Roland, 10, and a couple of companions decided to visit a small cave on the cliff face about 15 metres below the top and some distance along a ledge.

The children were experienced in scrambling around the local rocks and cliffs and the descent presented no difficulties. However, on this occasion, just as they had almost reached the cave, it was noticed that their younger brother, Byron, aged 6, was following. He had already descended from the top of the cliff and was just commencing the traverse, when one of the girls, realising the danger, called to him to go back.

The words had hardly left her mouth when the ledge of rock on which he was standing broke and he fell about 50 metres to the foot of the cliff, striking a ledge about half way down in the course of his fall. Two of the girls and young Roland Clark climbed back to the top of the cliff and informed Georgina, who set off with her companions by a round-about route to the base of the cliff.

In the meantime, Hazel and Roland climbed down to the base of the cliff, where they found young Byron lying badly injured but scarcely marked amongst the fern and bracken. The women decided to carry him to the top but Byron died during the ascent. The family never again lived in "Drachenfels", which they placed in the care of Sam Wilson, a storekeeper at Mount Victoria, who made occasional visits to the property until the buildings were destroyed by the bushfire. Byron is buried at Waverley Cemetery in the family plot.

The property has changed hands a number of times in recent years and although the cross was removed by the owners around 1989 to discourage sightseers and access to the property is not permitted; the site of the Marcus Clark Cross received Council heritage listing in 1991. It is believed the White Cross remains on the site.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
© 2009 Blue Mountains City Library

References:
* P.W. Spriggs, ‘Blue Mountains cross recalls tragedy´ Daily Telegraph, September 7,1964
* Local Studies research & clippings files.

Coal and Shale Mining Near Katoomba

2009-02-04T12:18:00.017+11:00

Introduction

As early as 1841 Rev. W B Clarke noted the presence of coal in the Blue Mountains and in 1866 made the first systematic description of the deposits of oil shale in the Hartley area, where its existence had been known from as early as 1824.

Early exploitation of resources

Seams containing both coal and shale outcrops were noticed by the early settlers in the valley walls of the Blue Mountains and in the 1860s the imminent construction of the western railway encouraged considerable local exploration. The most extensive and successful oil shale operations took place in the Hartley region where, prior to the rail connection, bullock teams carted shale to the railhead at Mount Victoria. With the building of the Lithgow Zig Zag rail line and the consequent extension of the railway to the west, the growth of the Hartley-Lithgow region into a large industrial center founded on the local coal and shale deposits was assured. While the Grose Valley near Mount Victoria also attracted some freelance small-scale exploration from the mid 1860s, it was the Katoomba area that was next to profit from the exploitation of the Blue Mountains’ coal and shale resources.

In the 1860's Campbell Mitchell discovered three seams of kerosene shale on the Megalong Valley side of the Narrow Neck Peninsula. With Thomas Sutcliffe Mort he acquired 640 acres here (Portions 14 and 15, Parish of Megalong, County of Cook) and established the Glen Shale Mine. To ascertain whether the shale deposits extended into the adjoining Jamison Valley, he then explored the eastern side of Narrow Neck, including the area of the Ruined Castle Ridge. His investigations revealed profitable seams but the difficulties of transporting it over the rugged terrain to the Western Railway appeared too daunting.

In the 1870's, John Britty North purchased a substantial quantity of land, much of which later formed a large part of the developing town of Katoomba. Included in his purchase was most of the land along the cliff front from Echo Point to Narrow Neck and across to the Ruined Castle. North also rented the substantial home ‘Essendon’ (or ‘Essendene’), owned by the Henderson family and built near the present junction of the highway and Cliff Drive. The building, with a large tower was later used as a school and guesthouse, until destroyed by fire in 1929. He later built his own home, ‘Lassie Brae’, in Katoomba Street, which was eventually demolished as the commercial centre of Katoomba developed.

To exploit the coal seams, which outcropped at the base of the cliffs near the Orphan Rock, North registered a company under the title of Katoomba Coal Mine, in 1870. Once the coal mine was under way, North began an examination of the Ruined Castle area in the Jamison Valley in the early 1880's and, locating two substantial outcrops of kerosene shale, formed another company known as the Katoomba Coal and Shale Co. Ltd. in 1885.

In 1882 a loading depot, known as North's Siding was opened on the Western Railway on the Sydney side of what is now ShelI Corner on the western edge of Katoomba. There developed a whole system of interconnected tramways linking this depot with the various coal and shale mines, which opened up in the Megalong and Jamison Valleys to the south.

With the opening of the Ruined Castle mines, North imported engineers from Germany to construct an elevated tramway known as the Flying Fox from the company's engine bank - now the site of the Scenic Railway - across the Jamison Valley to the Ruined Castle ridge. A fault in construction resulted in a short working life when, after carrying only 500 tons of shale, it collapsed into the valley below where the wreckage still remains. Considerable money had been invested in this project and the disaster spelled the end of the company. Shale mining at the Ruined Castle ceased and while the coalmine continued for a time, the company soon went into liquidation.

In 1890 the Glen Shale Mine in the Megalong Valley was purchased by The Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company, which operated a shale oil industry at Joadja near Mittagong. The following year this company leased the shale mines at the Ruined Castle formerly operated by the Katoomba Coal and Shale Co. Ltd., together with that company's tramway system linking its coalmines near Orphan Rock with North's Siding.

The new company concentrated its effort on the Glen Shale Mine. As well as bringing a large quantity of machinery and transport equipment to Katoomba from their operations at Joadja, they tunnelled through the coalmine at the base of Engine Bank and then through the Narrow Neck to link the Megalong Valley operations with those in the Jamison Valley. A single-track horse tramway was laid out beneath the eastern ramparts of the Narrow Neck Peninsula linking the Ruined Castle mines with the double-tracked skipway before entering the Narrow Neck Daylight Tunnel.

From 1895, the shale mining activities at the Ruined Castle and Glen Shale Mines gradually decreased. The seams were becoming exhausted and the returns from sales were reduced. By 1903, the shale industry at Katoomba ceased to exist. Most of the equipment was transferred to the Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company's operation at Torbane. The lease at West Katoomba expired in 1906.

Miners' Settlements During This Period

1. Settlement in the Engine Bank/Katoomba Falls Area.

Several streets of weatherboard cottages extended from the Engine Bank to the intersection of the road now known as Golf Links Road, (the location of this raod is currently unknown). A hotel, The Centennial, later known as The Falls House, was destroyed by fire in 1973. A small store also existed but has long since disappeared. When the mine closed the miners’ cottages were bought by Paddy Mullaney who rebuilt them at the lower end of Leichhardt, Clissold and Vale Streets, Katoomba where many still stand.

2. Nellie's Glen Settlement.

At the foot of Nellie's Glen existed a sizeable mining settlement with a large hotel, butcher's shop, bakery and public hall but this settlement did not survive the end of the shale industry in 1903. In 1904 the hotel was moved in sections by bullock team and re-erected in Lurline Street where it became a guesthouse known as ‘Maldwin’.

3. The Ruined Castle Settlement.

The settlement here was predominantly made up of quarters for single men. The building materials used consisted of bush timber, bark, kerosene tins and whatever was at hand. This settlement also faded away with the end of the shale works.

Later Mining Operations at Katoomba

In 1925 there occurred a revival of North's long abandoned coalmine below the cliffs at South Katoomba. A local syndicate formed the Katoomba Colliery Ltd. and resumed mining activities on a lease of 160 acres. The old workings supplied a substantial quantity of coal, which was sold on the local market, principally to the Katoomba Electric Power House and in smaller amounts to the hotels, guesthouses and local residents.

During the Depression however, capital costs increased and the local market was reduced. Despite its decreasing viability, the mine continued to operate until the Second World War. However as the company progressed toward liquidation, one aspect of its operation had a parallel rise in fortune, and helped to augment the mine's declining income. The rehabilitation work carried out on the coal haulage system up the cliff face opposite Orphan Rock integrated into the booming Katoomba tourist industry of the 1920's and 1930's. The "Mountain Devil" of the early 1930's became eventually the "Scenic Railway" of today.

The exploitation of the coal and kerosene shale deposits in the Jamison and Megalong Valleys brought the Katoomba region to wider public notice than its earlier use as a stone quarry and began to establish it as a population centre. During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Katoomba was known principally as a coal-mining town. However the influence of the mining operations upon Katoomba's early development coincided with another vastly different trend, which began to make itself felt at about the same time: the development of the Blue Mountains as a tourist and recreational destination and recognition as a valuable natural and wilderness area, culminating in its recognition as a World Heritage Area in December 2000.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
(c)2009 Blue Mountains City Library

Reference
Blue Mountains Heritage Study 1982, Croft & Associates in association with Meredith Walker for Blue Mountains City Council

The Anvil Rock, Blackheath, NSW

2008-11-24T15:26:00.015+11:00

Anvil Rock, Blackheath, NSW

Anvil Rock is a weathered sandstone rock formation, situated on the top of the cliff line above the Grose Valley. It is accessed by Hat Hill Road, Blackheath that runs north along Anvil Ridge. At 900m before Perrys Lookdown there is a left hand intersection and 500m along this is the Anvil Rock car park.

Anvil Rock was so named as this rock formation resembles the shape of an anvil. The Rock is a popular location for overseas tour groups as the local road to this site allows an easy and short walking access to one of the best views of the Grose Valley. Blackheath Council had named this rock formation, Anvil Rock in 1938 - the same year that an access road was constructed to this picnic area.

In 1948 an anvil was donated by Stan Miller, Company Secretary, Bradford Kendall Industries Pty Ltd. Stan was an ardent bushwalker and used to take his holidays at Blackheath. The anvil was a standard size manufactured by this company and made at the Number 1, Botany Plant, 340 Botany Road, Mascot. After the anvil was placed at Anvil Rock the company appointed a Custodian of the Anvil in the person of Mac McCarthy, paymaster of the Botany Plant and resident of Leura, (he used to travel from Leura to Botany every day). He continued his role as custodian for a number of years. In the 1950s a brass directional plate was made and attached to the anvil.

Sometime in 1970 that the anvil disappeared, probably pushed over the cliff.

Local historian and author Brian Fox interviewed Kevin Browne, a former National Parks Ranger on the 26th August 2001, who had this to say:

The anvil was carried to Anvil Rock on a stretcher type construction by four people owing to its weight. Jack Grady and Ted Smith were two of the people carrying it. (Kevin could not remember the other two) about 1940. Jack Grady at the time was a council worker.

Geoff Bates, another local historian had mentioned that the Police Rescue Squad conducted a training day (no date given) at Anvil Rock with the intention of looking out for the anvil, but it was not located.

On the 26th February 2005 the Police Rescue Squad had the unpleasant task of conducting a body recovery at the base of Anvil Rock. Through the local grapevine Brian was informed by David West and Peter Rickwood of Blackheath that during the recovery the anvil had been located.

On Saturday 21st May 2005, Brian and his brother John walked in to the base of the cliff and finally located it. The anvil was lying at the base of a tree which had stopped its fall.

The anvil had remained completely intact despite being dropped onto sandstone from a height of 300m. This was no surprise as, being made of hardened steel; it had been designed to be pounded with a blacksmith’s hammer. It was light grey in colour and inside an ellipse was engraved the letters: “BK/Sydney/Aust” and below that “6 CWT”. This denoted the manufacturer, Bradford Kendall, where the anvil had been manufactured and its weight (672 lbs or 305 kg).

In 2008, thanks to a joint effort by NPWS, Blackheath Rotary, local police and community members, the anvil was retrieved, restored and re-bolted to the Rock.

Reference:

Article by Brian Fox 2005, with additional information supplied by Mike Keats.

Blue Mountains Geographical Dictionary, Brian Fox 2006
Photo: Blue Mountains City Council, publicity photo, 1960

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
(c) Blue Mountains City Library, 2008

William Andrew Murphy (1841-1927) the Hermit of Hat Hill Road, Blackheath,

2008-07-02T16:09:00.031+10:00

William Andrew Murphy (1841-1927) the Hermit of Hat Hill Road, Blackheath

The following is utilises an oral history recording held by Blue Mountains City Library: "Mr Murphy as remembered by Jack and Ted Harris". The Harris boys, during their schooldays, became acquainted with the old solitary who lived at the foot of Hat Hill overlooking the blue expanse of the Grose Valley.

"At this particular spot there was an old gentleman, an old Irishman, by the name of Murphy who with his own hands had built himself a stone house. The stones he collected from the area, a very very rocky area. He used the local soil and mud mixed together for mortar and he built himself what was quite a weather proof and comfortable little cabin.

Now I don’t really know how Mr Murphy took up residence there. I first remember him in 1913 but he was a man, I think, who would be known as a remittance man. I think he probably had been sent out here to Australia because of the fact that maybe he had disgraced himself in his homeland. However, he lived out there, he made his daily trip into Blackheath, which was a five mile trip return, to pick up his money and to buy his provisions.

He was a great nature studier and he fed all the animals and birds in the area and, of course, they became more or less dependent on him for food. And a most interesting man to talk to and one of the attractions of a Sunday afternoon was for our tourist coach to take people, tourists, out to see Mr Murphy just about sundown, all congregate at his stone hut and then he would bring out the food and whistle and call up the animals and they would come – wallabies, possums, all sorts and sizes of birds – and it was something which you would liken to a miniature Taronga Park.

Well, Mr Murphy lived on there for many years and he was no trouble to anybody. He was always happy to interview people, talk to them, discuss the local environment and so on. Then he set his hands to making what would be a millet broom out of a particular shrub which grows in that area and he made a machine to make what looked like a very, very good replica of our millet broom today. But unfortunately for Mr Murphy, although his machine worked wonderfully, as my dad always said, when his brooms dried you had to have another broom to sweep up the mess that his broom left.

However, Mr Murphy was burnt out in a bushfire very similar to the Grose Valley fire of November 1983. He was completely wiped out and we up here on the top end of Hat Hill Road thought for sure that Mr Murphy must be incinerated. That bushfire occurred somewhere around 1918-1919. When the fire cooled off I can remember quite plainly a party of us set out to find what we thought would be his remains and what we found was his stone house still standing, red-hot, no roof, nothing at all left inside it, everything charred and Mr Murphy missing. Scouting around we found the old gentleman, only just barely clad, standing underneath a little waterfall which was his shower, his own private ablution, and he was alive. So a voluntary party set out to make his stone house habitable again. Of course, the old gentleman had received quite a great shock over this fire and he was not able to get about as he did before. He was given a horse as transport but that didn't work out and the horse escaped. From then on we feel that Mr Murphy was picked up by some of the welfare people and taken to a home.”

The death certificate shows that that William Andrew Murphy was born in 1846 in Maitland to Peter Murphy, farmer, his mother is not shown, he died at the age of 81 of heart failure and gastric carcinoma, his occupation is shown as carpenter, he was not married and had no known children. Mr Murphy started living in Hat Hill Road around 1913 when aged about 67 and left Blackheath around 1926, the date of the photo. He was then taken in by family friends, Mrs Helen Drane and family of Kogarah, where he died on November 30th, 1927 aged 81 and is buried in the Roman Catholic section of Woronora Cemetery. His grave has been recently restored by Helen Drane’s son Charlie and his daughter.

Charlie Drane writes:
“I must have been 5 years old when our Dad took us to this place called the Hill. My brother Bill would have been 7 years old. After all these years I can still hear our Dad saying you will have to be quiet as it’s time for Mr Murphy to feed the birds, what a great sight is was.”

A baptism certificate has been located for a William Murphy born East Maitland NSW in 1846, denomination Roman Catholic, which would generally appear to fit; but the father is Daniel Murphy, labourer, and mother Mary Kearns, is this our Murphy?

Although his brooms were a main source of income, he augmented this by fortune telling, although just what kind is unknown. His drinking water came from a spring near his hut, but he used the waterfall on a nearby creek for bathing, it was probably the latter that saved his life in the bush fire. His horse which died in the fire, or bolted afterwards, was given to him by the Byron brothers who ran a dairy in Blackheath.

His obituary reads:

"HAT HILL’S HERMIT DEAD

Lived life of loneliness for years

Why did Mr W Murphy turn recluse and live a life of almost complete isolation in a
little wooden hut which he constructed amid the rugged splendour of Hat Hill?
For years he lived there and in his loneliness won the affection of many
plumaged birds in the adjacent bush. The wild thrush used to perch on his
shoulder and eat meat from his hand. He had a fine, generous nature, it is
said of him. But he didn’t die in his little hut in the foothills. Instead he
died at the residence of Mrs Drane, Wallace Street, West Kogarah, on Wednesday
night. Those who knew 'The Hermit of Hat Hill' will regret to hear of his
death."

Pictures:
1. Murphy with one of his brooms, from Blue Mountains City Library Local Studies Collection, courtesy of Charlie Drane.
2. Murphy's house at Hat Hill, same.
3. Murphy's grave in Woronora Cemetery, courtesy of Charlie Drane.

Please contact me if you can add any more information to this entry.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
© 2009 Blue Mountains City Library

Ref. The Mud, the Millet and the Magic of Mysterious Murphy, John Low 2006.
Thanks to Charlie and Lynne Drane for extra information.

Note: John Low's brother, Jim Low, has written and performed a song to Murphy, which is available on CD.

Everyone Ate Meat - Butcher shops in the Blue Mountains

2008-06-25T16:34:00.022+10:00

Everyone ate meat – the butcher shop

Butcher shops in the Blue Mountains in the early 1900s were an important and vital part of the community. These were places where the sight and smell of raw meat was pervasive, quite different from the packaged meat at the supermarket counters of today. Butchers were men of influence and closely associated with the life of the local community. At the funeral of the Blackheath butcher Nick Delaney in 1928 it was said “It would be difficult in the future to know or appreciate Blackheath without his kindly face and fine figure. He never tired of doing good deeds, and extending a helping hand to people in trouble, without thought of reward.”

These were times when most Australian families ate meat at every meal, in the 1890s per capita meat consumption was 2.6 kg per week compared with 1 kg in Britain. Meat was widely available, fresh and local because unlike most shopkeepers, many butchers retained control of the whole process from selection and purchase of stock from local farmers, some even ran their own stock, slaughtering in or near their shop, butchering of the carcase and preparation of sausages and corned meats.

William Rayner, Springwood’s first butcher, opened his combined butcher shop, general store and bakery in Macquarie road in 1877, now the Old Bakery Arcade; he had slaughter yards at Yellow Rock and did his own boiling down for tallow. In December 1892 Rayner bought up a shipment of cattle that had been killed and maimed in a goods train derailment just west of Springwood station and proceeded to boil then down at his shop. With the hot weather and the stench, eau de cologne was said to be at a premium and after two court sessions Rayner was forced to move his operations to Cable’s Spring near St Columba’s.

Katoomba’s early butchers included George Davies who advertised his state of the art refrigeration in 1912, George Shaw and Sons and ‘Honest’ George James, who opened his first shop in Main Street in the 1890s and had shops in Katoomba Street 1913, Leura Mall 1905, and Wentworth Falls.

George James was not only a butcher but a prominent citizen, businessman, man of property, alderman and twice mayor of Katoomba Council in 1909 and1914. As a member of the Council Parks and Reserves Committee he was active in establishing many of the lookouts and walking tracks we have today. Among the many buildings he owned and erected in Katoomba, he considered James’ Building 1925, still standing opposite Katoomba Station, his proudest achievement for the town; his home McClintock in Abbotsford Rd is now a B&B. Four of his five sons also became butchers and operated James Bros Quality Butchers at Circular Quay in the 1920s.

Transformed during the 20th century by refrigeration and electric cutters, mincers and saws; the offerings have diversified to include chicken and game which was once never sold by the butcher, and fancy sausages, marinades and seasonings. Although we now eat less meat, the greatest threat to the traditional butcher is the supermarket which now accounts for over 70% of meat sales. Yet butchers do survive and continue to offer quality and service to their customers, many of whom they know personally, something few supermarkets would claim.

Photos from Blue Mountains City Library
Centre

Delaney's butcher shop, Blackheath, from left - a police trooper, Charles Delaney, the horse, Dave Barosse a Solomon Islander, Tom Baster, Adeline Delaney, Reg Delaney, Nick Delaney, unknown, c.1900.

Top

The butchers' picnic at Berg's Falls Hotel, Katoomba 1910

Bottom
Two photos of Shaw's Butchery, Katoomba 1930s: the staff in the chiller room; behind the counter - Tom Porter, Bill Gilroy, George Shaw, Ern Howard, Eric Shaw, Jack Breen.

Postscript
In fact when you think about it, butchery is one of the oldest human skills and may even predate hunting by our human ancestors; because evidence suggests they may have scavenged kills from other more powerful carnivores such as lions. When we look at the massive bone smashing hammer stones and cleavers from Bed II at Olduvai Gorge made by Homo ergaster, this layer dates to around 1.5 million years ago, we can see the importance of bone marrow in the early diet and the need to dismember carcases for ease of transport back to base camp to feed families, how's that for an apprenticeship and line of descent for modern butchers!

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
(c) 2008 Blue Mountains City Library 2008

Mr Evans, the Felixman of Echo Point

2008-06-25T15:36:00.025+10:00

Mr EVANS, the Felixman of Echo Point

Mr David (Dave or Dan) Evans, also called the Felixman, was a widely known local identity at Echo Point, Katoomba from the 1920s to the 1950s, with his Felix the Cat and later, Mountain Devil props. Visitors, mainly families with children, would pose for a souvenir photograph which he developed while they waited. A number of these surviving photographs are held in the Local Studies collection of the Blue Mountains City Library.

One early photo in the collection is a tintype, the rest are printed on photo paper and mounted in a card frame. Few facts of Dave Evans' life are known, he was apparently Welsh and lived in Kurrawan St Katoomba, within walking distance of Echo Point. His income would have been highly seasonal and dependent on weather and holidays, never large enough to warrant a shop or staff and professional darkroom setup.

One witness says he would be at Echo Point taking pictures 'rain, hail or shine'; so his business address was right there in the open air where his customers were - what a workplace! A little draughty perhaps but in the absence of customers one always has the view, or the mist, or both.

The early photos from the 1920s and 1930s show the child size Felix the Cat mannequin accompanying one or more children or family groups, some kids needed mother close by as their looks of apprehension suggest. The later images from the 1950s show the large Mountain Devil doll. This may be a response to the commercial success of Felix and concern with copyright.

The majority of his surviving photographs are taken at Echo Point and they cover few other subjects but tourist portraits; although he may possibly have also operated at the Scenic Railway and there is a group portrait of working men at the Hydro Majestic with a Felix figure. He was quite unlike a photographer such as Harry Phillips who took few intimate photographs and published widely and commercially on landscape subjects.

Mr Evans is not listed as a property owner in councils rate records and local cemetery records make no mention of a David Evans, although he is listed in a 1933 commercial directory as D Evans, photographer of Katoomba and he is absent from the 1950s Katoomba phone books.

In April 1932 the Blue Mountains Times reported that Mr Evans, the Felixman at Echo Point, had complained to Katoomba Council of unlicensed persons plying a somewhat similar business without paying a fee. Katoomba shopkeepers were also complaining of the many street musicians collecting from passers by – they had become so common as to be quite a nuisance. The Great Depression produced many unemployed men who tried their hand at busking for a few coins.

In 1962 the “late D Evans” photographic license was transferred to Souvenir Snapshots of Katoomba. His name is too common to identify him in any NSW birth, death and marriage records and his final resting place remains a mystery.

Images

1. The Lillas family at Echo Point with the Mountain Devil 1960; Ron Lillas, son Timothy, Robin Lillas (sister of the donor, Colin Slade)
2. John and Jim Low with their parents May and Basil, Echo Point, about 1954.
3. Unknown, original tintype photograph
4. The child is Jan Koperberg
5. Unknown
6. Unknown
7. Unknown
8. Jim and Gladys Ryan on their honeymoon, Nov. 1950

Please contact me if you can add more information about Dave Evans, The Felixman of Echo Point, or have any of his photos.

© 2009 Blue Mountains City Library, revised 2011
John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian

The Sidneys of Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains

2008-06-25T15:24:00.007+10:00

The Sidneys of Megalong

Isaac Walter Sidney was born in Bristol, England (circa 1857) and emigrated to the U.S.A. There he took up building as a trade although he described himself as a "skilled labourer" on his marriage certificate. He became an American citizen but later moved to Australia and Megalong where he purchased land neighbouring Donald Boyd's "Yaralta" (Parish Kanimbla Portion 25).

On Australia Day 1903, Isaac married Eliza Ann Campbell, described as a domestic servant from Hartley, at the home of Edgar Chapman, with the Reverend Pratt, Congregational Minister, officiating. Eliza had been previously married to a man by the name of Campbell but was known by her maiden name of Hunt. Eliza purchased land (Parish of Kanimbla Portion 170 & 166) and later her daughter, by her first marriage, Doris Fennell, took up land with Isaac and Eliza's son, and only child, Isaac Junior (Parish of Kanimbla portions 20 & 171). Isaac senior and Eliza built a pise cottage on their land which is still extant.

They were known as "poor" farmers as they had little stock. He did some building in the Valley and is chiefly remembered for his long and bitter arguments, for the British side, at the time of the Irish "troubles".

Eliza acted as the local midwife and was responsible for seeing some of the present residents of the Valley into this world. She died in 1943 aged 78, and is buried in an unmarked grave with her husband Isaac in Blackheath cemetery.

Isaac senior’s step daughter, Doris Fennell and her husband Harold, built a pise cottage near her mother and stepfather. She is alleged to have taken a stock whip to her husband, quite frequently, lashing him around the ankles, "because he moved too slow!". Harold died, aged 53, in May 1948 and Doris lived alone in her cottage until she too died in August 1960, aged 73. They share an unmarked grave in the Blackheath cemetery.

Isaac Walter junior (1905-1982), known as Ike, enlisted in 1942 and served as a private in ordnance during WW2; he married late in life to Esther Mildred Cox in 1957 and moved to Faulconbridge where he died, having sold the property to William and Joy Pringle in 1963 which is now named “Yapunyah”. Ike junior is also buried in Blackheath Cemetery in an unmarked grave.

Note on the photo: in the early 1900s Ebenezer Vickery of Kanimbla Station established a freezing works on Blackheath Creek to process rabbit carcasses which were transported to the railway at Mt Victoria for sale at the Sydney markets; it is said over 1 million rabbits were processed out of the Megalong Valley.

John Merriman, Local Studies Librarian
© 2008 Blue Mountains City Library
Photo: Blue Mountains City Library Collection

Ref: Historic Megalong Valley (1988) Mary Shaw

Lennox Bridge, Lapstone, NSW - A Convict built bridge

2008-06-25T15:22:00.006+10:00

LENNOX BRIDGE, LAPSTONE, NSW - A CONVICT BUILT BRIDGE.

Work began on Surveyor-General Thomas Mitchell's "Pass at Emu" in August 1832. About half way up the proposed route it was found necessary to take the road across a creek, a plan that required the bridging of a 30 foot deep gully with a span of 20 feet.

Mitchell, who considered well-designed bridges a sign of civilised society, seized the opportunity to experiment with a bridge designed to stand the test of time, unlike the flimsy wooden structures that characterised the colony's roads at the time. For this he needed the services of someone who possessed both the necessary technical knowledge and the experience of building stone bridges, a difficult request in a land where the art of bridge construction was virtually unknown.

The right man did, however, appear in the person of David Lennox, a recently arrived master mason of 20 years experience who had worked on a number of major bridges in Britain. Legend has it that Mitchell discovered him working as a day labourer constructing a stone wall in Macquarie Street, Sydney.

By November 1832, much of the stone for the bridge had been quarried and cut and, obtaining lime from Windsor, Lennox began the laying process. He selected his work party personally and carefully from the larger road gang working on the Pass. The party consisted of about 20 convicts, an overseer, a constable and an armed sentry and worked at the site from about 7am until 4pm, when it returned to the stockade at Emu Plains.

Despite the absconding of one convict, which held up the sawing of timber for the arch centering, Lennox's relationship with his convict workers appears to have been a good one. Assistant Surveyor John Abbott described Lennox to Mitchell as "indefatigable in instructing them how to work". Indeed, so effective was he that Governor Bourke let it be known that he would try to prevent the services of these newly skilled workers from being lost to the Department of Roads & Bridges after the Lapstone job was finished.

Lennox's confidence in his men was apparent later when, in May 1833, he was beginning to transfer operations to his next job. He petitioned the Governor to remit the remainder of the iron gang sentences of 8 convicts he wished to take with him. Although some of the sentences were, he said, "for heavy crimes, it appears to me to have been more the effect of a bad system at that time in regard to prisoners than any particular depravity of the prisoners themselves".

The convicts in question were: William Brady; John Carsons; Robert Hyams; John Johnson; Patrick Malowney (or Maloney); Thomas Nelson; James Randall; Daniel Williams (an "American black"). The sentences of Brady, Carsons, Malowney and Nelson were remitted while Randall and Williams were promised remittal of their sentences after a further 6 months good behaviour.

When Lennox moved his headquarters to the site of his next assignment - construction of a stone bridge over Prospect Creek on the Great Southern Road near Liverpool - he left the completion of the Lapstone Bridge in the hands of his young overseer, George Neilson, to whom he paid periodic visits until the work was finished. Lennox reported the bridge completed in early July 1833.

Text ©John Low 2006

Harry Peckman - the poetical whip (1846-1934)

2008-06-25T15:16:00.008+10:00

HARRY PECKMAN, THE BLUE MOUNTAINS POET (1846-1934)

Harry Peckman was a true ‘Blue Mountaineer’. Born at Kurrajong in 1846, he lived the whole of his life in the Blue Mountains region and died in Katoomba in 1934. As a young man, in the days before the western railway line was built, he drove wagons and coaches on the road between Penrith and Hartley. Then, when the Mountains developed its reputation as a tourist destination, he began taking visitors to the local scenic attractions.

In the early 1880s he and his brother, John, established livery stables in Parke Street, Katoomba, at the back of the Carrington Hotel. Their business flourished. Both men were expert horsemen and knew the Blue Mountains intimately and their patrons soon included a growing number of holidaying dignitaries and their families. In 1887 Lord and Lady Carrington were taken over the newly opened Six-Foot Track to Jenolan Caves1 while, in 1893 the Duchess of Buckingham and Chandos was entertained with a billy tea and damper picnic at Govetts Leap2.

But knowledge of horses and the bush were not the only skills Harry possessed. To the many visitors who engaged him he became known as ‘the poetical whip’ who would take them to places off the beaten track and entertain them en route with selections from his repertoire of mostly self-penned songs and recitations. As more than one observer commented, his verses, performed in the midst of a grand, open landscape, provided visitors with a glimpse into the heart of the Mountains that no other driver could offer.

While no one could claim that Peckman was a great poet, it is clear that his skills as a performer made up for any deficiencies in craft. “No free verse for this poet”, observed cartoonist and journalist Hal Eyre in 1922, “but rhymes tuned to the beat of his horses’ hoofs.”3 His subjects ranged over the Blue Mountains itself and included dramatic and patriotic war ballads and heart-felt ‘farewells’ to friends who had died. There were also tributes to popular heroes like the sculler Edward Trickett, the first Australian to win a world sporting title, and the popular aviatrix Amy Johnson who visited Katoomba in 1930.

Like many self-educated men, Peckman was clearly a wide reader and his verses are dotted with various literary and Biblical allusions. He was also acquainted with a number of Sydney literary figures who sought him out when they visited Katoomba, among them the poets Roderick Quinn and Henry Lawson.

Though he performed for the gentry his audience was in the main a popular one and his work, when published, appeared almost exclusively on privately printed broadsides and later, when a newspaper became established in Katoomba, in the local press.

It seems that he was performing his songs and poems and peddling his broadsides from the time he worked as a young labourer and coach driver in the Hartley area in the 1860s and 1870s. In some of his reminiscences, recorded by local journalists, he mentioned the lively sessions of song and recitation he participated in at this time, particularly at ‘Kelly’s in the Glen’ halfway to Jenolan Caves.

Some of his work attained for him what is possibly the highest accolade a popular audience can bestow, a passage into the anonymous oral or ‘folk’ tradition that carried it to places far removed from the Blue Mountains.

Towards the end of his life Harry Peckman experienced hard times and, though visitors still often sought him out even in the late 1920s, he watched as the age of the motor car gradually rendered his coach and pair obsolete. At the time of his death he had become something of an icon, a symbol of a past era. On a slow news day the local journalists would seek him out and trawl his still alert mind for reminiscences of the ‘old days’.

For his 88th birthday, in August 1934, his friends organised a party. He performed his poems for the last time and, some seven weeks later, died. His grave in Katoomba Cemetery looks out over the tributaries of the Grose River that flow into what he once described as “the Hawkesb’ry silver Rhine”.

His name is publicly remembered in Peckmans Plateau and Peckmans Road, both in Katoomba.

Note: In 1993, nearly 60 years after his death, a small biography and collection of Peckman’s surviving poems and songs, The Prince of Whips: The Life and Works of the Blue Mountains Pioneer Harry Peckman, Jim Smith and John Low, was published. Copies of this book are still available, for more information contact Blue Mountains City Library Local Studies.

© 2008 John Low

1 For an account of this trip see Smith, Jim. From Katoomba to Jenolan Caves: The Six Foot Track 1884-1984, Katoomba: Second Back Row Press, [1985], pp. 33-4.
2 Duchess of Buckingham & Chandos. Glimpses of Four Continents, London: John Murray, 1894.
3 Hal Eyre wrote of his experiences touring with Peckman in the Sydney Daily Telegraph of 13th September 1922 and 26th September 1922. Three caricatures of Harry were also included.

Image Library

2007-12-07T10:39:00.002+11:00

The Local Studies image library now holds several thousand images of the Blue Mountains covering the last hundred years. These images are free to use for private study and research but should not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder, contact the library for more information.