national trust (wa) quotes compendium for nyr12

The National Trust of Australia (WA)

for the National Year of Reading

2012

Presents: The #NYR12 Compendium of

Quotes.

CONTENTS Introduction 1. Marshall Walker, The Pump 2. Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines 3. Gary N. Smith, History News 4. George Fletcher Moore Diary of Ten Years of an Early Settler in Western Australia

5.

Olive Gear, Wandoo Heights: a wildflower journal 6. Kim Scott, That Deadman Dance 7. John Dowson, Fremantle Port 8. Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia

9.

Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and the Western Australian Society 1829-2010

10.

Lowitja O'Donoghue CBE AM Successful Tourism at Heritage Places 11. Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines 12. Graeme Davison & Chris McConville (eds), A Heritage Handbook 13. Joy Lefroy & Diana Frylink, The Pipeline CY O’Connor Built 14. Graeme Davison and Chris McConville (eds), A Heritage Handbook 15. Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines 16. Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia

17.

Anne Brearley, Ernest Hodgkin’s Swanland: Estuaries and Coastal Lagoons of South-western Australia

18.


19.

Olive Gear, Wandoo Heights: a wildflower journal 20. Cyril Ayris, C.Y. O’Connor: a brief biography 21. John Boyle O’Reilly, Moondyne: a story of life in West Australia 22. Elizabeth Hof, The Curtin Family Home 23. Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand & Stars 24. Joy Lefroy & Diana Frylink, The Pipeline CY O’Connor Built 25. Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia

26.

John Dowson, Fremantle Port 27. 28.

Gordon Stephenson, The Design of Central Perth: some problems and possible solutions Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia

29.

Iain McCalman, Alexander Cook, Andrew Reeves (Eds), Gold: Forgotten histories and lost objects of Australia

30.


31.

John Dowson, Old Albany 32. Iain McCalman, Alexander Cook, Andrew Reeves (Eds), Gold: Forgotten histories and lost objects of Australia

33.

Jenny Gregory, City of Light: A History of Perth since the 1950s 34. Jenny Gregory, City of Light: A History of Perth since the 1950s 35. Ron C. Bertelsen, Geraldton to the Abrolhos 1898 - 1964 36. A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor 37. A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor 38. Heritage Politics in Adelaide by Sharon Mosler 39. Colin Amery & Brian Curran, Vanishing Histories: 100 Endangered Sites

40.


41.

Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia

42.

“A Saturnine New Chum”, A Colonial Christmas Ode 43. George Grey, Expeditions in Western Australia 1837 to 1839 44. Conclusion 45.

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INTRODUCTION In January 2012, the National Trust of Australia decided to participate in the National Year of Reading . The National Year of Reading is a Federal Government initiative aimed at supporting reading, while respecting the oral tradition of storytelling. It's about helping people discover and rediscover the magic of books. On social media, this event was tracked using the hashtag #NYR12; these are the quotes we shared under that tag, from a miscellany of texts that focus on history or cultural heritage.

#NTWA - #NYR12 1

“Kalgoorlie, principally a mining

town, was far more than that in the

1940’s. It was a mini metropolis that

had flourished in utter isolation and

yet achieved a self-contained,

integrated strength. A maverick town

where the conquest of a near endless

range of difficulties provided the city

planners with impetus to succeed.”

Marshall Walker, The Pump pp. 15

ISBN: 085905 323 7

#NTWA - #NYR12 2

“Geoff (Harcus) and Thomas (Bropho) first met on the Esplanade, the site of open discussion and free speech in the city. Mostly left- wing groups used the grasses open are between the city and the river as their public meeting ground amid a sea of conservatism.”

Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines (2003) pp. 329

ISBN: 1 86368 237 6

#NTWA - #NYR12 3

“In most communities funding for cultural heritage runs well behind the visual and performing arts, education, and social service agencies. The public wants their heritage touchstones preserved, but often don’t feel the urgency to continue funding them once they are saved.”

Gary N. Smith, ‘House Museum Partnerships with Local

Governments: A Broken Model?’ History News (Spring 2011) pp. 24

#NTWA - #NYR12 4

“How often I wish that some of you were here! for this wild life although it has its inconveniences, has it pleasures too. I am sure you would enjoy it, if once for the roughing was a little over ... I feel very happy just now in every respect except my solitude. Great rumours of ship arrivals! – are they true? – any from England? –any letters?”

George Fletcher Moore Diary of Ten Years of an Early Settler in Western

Australia

ISBN: 1104172054, 9781104172053

#NTWA - #NYR12 5

‘Tread softly through the bush, tread softly

The forest floor composed of leaf and twig,

Flower petal, seed pod and bush debris

Rests lightly on the ground.

Compact it not, lest doing so

Regrowth is impeded, flowers suppressed,

Nature thwarted.

…

Tread gently through the bush, tread gently

Then you will spare the life of insect and of flower

The fairy orchid and moss and fern.

The bush so independent and so vulnerable…’

Olive Gear, Wandoo Heights: a wildflower journal

ISBN: 978-0-9577570-0-4 (095775700X ) #NTWA - #NYR12 6

“Bobby climbed the fence surrounding the yam

grounds, and was still quite a long way from the house when a soldier yelled out for him to halt. Bobby had not seen the man, and now he

waved, friendly-like, but the soldier gesticulated angrily and raised his gun to his shoulder... Horses and carts of various kinds

began arriving a little later. Under a full moon the buildings of The Farm huddled, surrounded

by tethered animals, wagons and sulkies and carts. Soldiers moved around its perimeter, and the windows were small rectangles of

brightly glowing amber. The high tent beside the house shone like a lamp, human figures

flickering and flowing within it. “

Kim Scott, That Deadman Dance pp. 364

ISBN: 978140504 044 0 #NTWA - #NYR12 7

Norman Lindsay sketched a boat pumping water whilst transiting Fremantle in 1909 on

his way to London aboard the new Orient Steam Co. ship Osterly. Years later, in 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, when he

was in Fremantle on his way back from overseas aboard the mailboat Mongolia, the

press asked him about the art market in Europe. He told them that: "Art had crashed all

over the world".

John Dowson, Fremantle Port, pp. 61

ISBN: 978 0 9805395 3 0

#NTWA - #NYR12 8

“That the Barracks and the Old Observatory had an important role to play in Perth's sense

of place was never envisaged by those concerned with imagining and realising Perth's

future; nor was there a discussion of the cultural or environmental implications of the

plan to reclaim large sections of the river. Increasingly, however, a significant number of

the population did think these things mattered, and they took to expressing their views in the

local media and through active forms of protest.”

Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in

Western Australia, pp. 40

ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6 #NTWA - #NYR12 9

“Ever since the earliest years of the Swan River

settlement, the governor and his wife had been closely associated with a range of

charitable activities that aimed to ameliorate the position of colonists in need. This crucial aspect of vice-regal patronage was a shared responsibility; and the governor's wife often

took a leading role in organising and dispensing charity.”

Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and the Western Australian Society 1829-2010,

pp. 174

ISBN: 9781742583402

#NTWA - #NYR12 10

"Who better to interpret our environment for tourists than Indigenous people who have developed an understanding and knowledge of their country which can

never be duplicated by non-Indigenous tour guides?"

Lowitja O'Donoghue CBE AM Successful

Tourism at Heritage Places. Australian Heritage Commission, 2001.

#NTWA - #NYR12 11

“The overhead tree branches shield the lakes,

flowerbeds and walkways from the harsh Western Australian light, and bear witness to all that happens beneath them. Each year the leaves become filled with the stories that they hear winding their way around the tracks that

circle the park... Each story captured in the branches and collected in the leaves, creates

another ring of history around the trunk of the tree's skin and becomes another earthly layer in the park's foundations. These stories amass

and rupture the tarred surfaces of the pathways ringing the lakes as the tree roots break through the surface of any substance that the city attempts to layer over them.”

Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines (2003) pp. 228

ISBN: 1 86368 237 6 #NTWA - #NYR12 12

“What really makes the house of a great man or woman historically important is what makes

any building historically important – namely, that it throws light on a significant aspect of

the lives of people in the past. It is not just as an antique, nor as a shrine, but as a document,

as a piece of vital evidence about the past society that created it, that a building deserves

to be regarded as historic.”

Graeme Davison & Chris McConville, A Heritage Handbook, pp. 71

ISBN: 0048200409

#NTWA - #NYR12 13

“Here is the weir dammed by concrete Approved by parliament

Who argued and argued about giving money To Forrest the Premier

Who visited the goldfields and met the nurses Who cared for the sick

Who used the water carried by camels For men from the east

Following the digger looking for gold Who needed the pipeline O’Connor built.”

Joy Lefroy & Diana Frylink, The Pipeline CY

O’Connor Built, pp. 13

ISBN: 192073160-1

#NTWA - #NYR12 14

“We may liken some old buildings to palimpsests – parchments which have been

successively written upon, crossed out, erased and written over by different hands so as to

leave several distinct ‘layers’ of writing. Reading such a manuscript calls for high skills

in palaeography (the study of obsolete scripts), contemporary idiom, and knowledge of the various periods in which the document was

composed.”

Graeme Davison and Chris McConville (eds), The meanings of heritage’, A Heritage

Handbook, pp. 74-75

#NTWA - #NYR12 15

“They are always with us, the people of other eras that exist alongside our own, quietly watching the new psyche of the

city take form as the world that they inhabited is redrawn, torn down,

reclaimed and redeveloped.”

Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines, (2003), pp. 377

ISBN: 1 86368 237 6

#NTWA - #NYR12 16

“[In 1970] The Trust argued that all Class A

reserves, state forests, and other reserves in

any part of the state, required protection from

mining unless parliament decreed otherwise. It

believed that the north of the state required

equal protection to the south-west, citing

particular concerns for the fauna of Barrow

Island, the ecologies of Hamersley Range,

Windjana and Geike Gorge national parks.”



ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6

#NTWA - #NYR12 17

“What a sight as the visitor arrives at the small

coastal town of Augusta; a grand vista of

houses nestled between gum trees along the

banks of a peaceful river in the lee of Cape

Leeuwin, the grey-green treescape

(peppermints) to the east and in the distance

the vast expanse of the Southern Ocean where

waves roll onto the long sandy beach.”

Anne Brearley, Ernest Hodgkin’s Swanland: Estuaries and Coastal Lagoons of South-

western Australia, pp. 311

ISBN: 1 920694 38 2

#NTWA - #NYR12 18

“[On the death of QV1] While consular officials and prominent citizens called at Government House to pay their respects to the late Queen, and the building, like many others, was draped in black and purple, it was not a focal point for public mourning; in fact, the military parade to mark Victoria’s funeral marched straight past Government House, and the eighty-one gun salute by No. 1 Battery of Field Artillery was fired on the Esplanade.”

Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and Western Australian Society 1829-2010, pp. 179

ISBN: 9781742583402

#NTWA - #NYR12 19

“The air was hot and heavy The path like an unswept waste

Thick with twigs and debris And alive with ants in haste. But above and all around us

On trees some great, some small Were blossoms of such radiance And white as the purest snow.

The trees which bore these blossoms Had barks both rough and gnarled

Many showed signs of hardship With (red)gum dried on their bark.”

Olive Gear, Wandoo Heights: a wildflower journal

ISBN: 978-0-9577570-0-4 (095775700X )

#NTWA - #NYR12 20

“By the time he turned fifty C.Y. O’Connor was known in Perth and on his many construction

sites as The Chief. He had a reputation for protecting the welfare of his workers – perhaps

this was something he had learnt from his father during Ireland’s potato famine. He

introduced an eight-hour day in his department and he was invariably a soft touch

for any Irishman who went to him seeking work. He was even more meticulous in his

work and he insisted that those working for him were equally diligent.”

Cyril Ayris, C.Y. O’Connor: a brief biography (2007) pp. 34

ISBN: 0 9578853 4 2

#NTWA - #NYR12 21

“The mahogany sawyers had left their logs and were

sleeping in the cool sand of their pits.

Even the travelling ants had halted on their wonderful roads, and sought the shade of a bramble. All free things were at rest; but the penetrating click of the axe - heard far through the bush, and now and again a harsh word of command, told that it was land

of bondmen.

From daylight to dark, through the hot noon as steadily as in the cool evening, the convicts were at

work on the roads - the weary work that has no wages, no promotion, no incitement, no variation for

good or bad, except stripes for the laggard.”

John Boyle O’Reilly, Moondyne: a story of life in West Australia (1879)

ISBN: 1 920897 03 8

#NTWA - #NYR12 22

“Elsie Curtin’s support at home during John Curtin’s years in parliament was critical to his success in the electorate of Fremantle. Curtin

wanted Elsie, whom he called Nippy, to maintain a presence in their family home and

in his electorate. At a time when electoral offices and staff were not provided to

members of parliament, she dealt with mail, press cuttings and other day to day

administration, and gave tireless assistance to constituents. She was president of the

Fremantle Labor Women’s Organization from 1944 to 1946 and supported other

community groups.”

Elizabeth Hof, The Curtin Family Home (2010) pp. 8. ISBN: 1876507497

#NTWA - #NYR12 23

“A civilization is a heritage of beliefs, customs, and knowledge slowly accumulated in the

course of centuries, elements difficult at times to justify by logic, but justifying themselves as paths when they lead somewhere, since they

open up for man his inner distance.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand & Stars (Terre des homes, 1939).

ISBN: 0151970874

#NTWA - #NYR12 24

“In 1895 Premier John Forrest visited the Goldfields. It was clear to him there was plenty of gold in the region but he also observed how

the acute lack of fresh water was causing widespread health problems and deaths from

diseases such as typhoid and dysentery. Forrest asked Charles Yelverton O’Connor, the

State’s Engineer-in-Chief, to devise plan to supply fresh water to the goldfields.

O’Connor’s scheme was simple yet effective. It involved pumping water from a storage dam at

Mundaring near Perth through a pipeline to Kalgoorlie 560 kilometres away ”.

Joy Lefroy & Diana Frylink, The Pipeline CY O’Connor Built.

ISBN: 192073160-1

#NTWA - #NYR12 25

Many, especially historic houses, had been abandoned and were barely intact or

representative of their original use…. The restoration of properties was closely allied with the desire to put Western Australian heritage

‘on the map’, to register its presence in the face of development pressures which seemed

to have completely disregarded it. In the context of heritage battles in the 1960s and

1970s, restoration was a political act. It resisted the erasure of Western Australia’s

historic built environment. ”.



ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6

#NTWA - #NYR12 26

“RMHS Ellinis in Fremantle in the early 1970s:

This well-loved ship had a long career spanning almost 50 years. Beginning in 1932 as Matson

Line’s SS Lurline, she became a US naval transport in World War Two and took Prime

Minister John Curtin to the USA to meet President Roosevelt in 1944. John Curtin, the Federal Member for Fremantle 1928-31 and

1934-45, had a heart attack a few months after his return and died the next year while in

office. In 1963… she became a 1,688 one-class passenger liner for Chandris. For some ten years the Ellinis made regular voyages to

Australia.”

John Dowson, Fremantle Port, pp. 157

ISBN: 978 0 9805395 3 0 #NTWA - #NYR12 27

“Perth was founded as a capital on 12 August

1829. The site chosen has fresh water and building materials… the earliest recorded town plan was printed in London by J. Arrowsmith in

1833 ‘from documents furnished’ to the Colonial Office by the first Surveyor-General, John Septimus Roe. It is essentially the street

layout of today’s central Perth. The only major alterations have resulted from the reduction of

northern and eastern parts of the proposed Crown reserve or domain, the insertion of the

railway on drained wetland, [and] road building on reclaimed river land.” (pp.1)

Gordon Stephenson, The Design of Central Perth: some problems and possible solutions.

ISBN: 0 85564 107 X

#NTWA - #NYR12 28

“During the two and a half hours we were in the house [Tranby] the two family dogs,

several cats of every colour and the pet joey kangaroo wandered through. The ‘pets’

presence was clearly visible throughout the House having been laying in the babies cradle,

on the bed, in the chairs, on the table-cloth and cushions...the family pet dog was quite

comfortable sleeping in the Grand Father chair in the lounge room.” (pp.182)


Western Australia.

ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6

#NTWA - #NYR12 29

“The party was numerous; the tent one of the largest in the camp, was lined with green baize;

one end of it was fitted up with sofas, arm-chairs, and a grand piano. Small, round tables were tastefully dispersed, on which some very

pretty ornaments, books, portfolios of drawings were placed. At the other end there

was a large table with cups and saucers of every size and pattern, a large mud and stone

fireplace, with a blazing fire, on which two immense kettles were singing. Loaded pistols

decorated the mantelpiece.” (pp.229)

Iain McCalman, Alexander Cook, Andrew Reeves (Eds), Gold: Forgotten histories and lost

objects of Australia.

ISBN: 0 521 80595 3

#NTWA - #NYR12 30

“[I had] a proud swelling of my heart to see how loyal Englishmen are, all over the world,

and specially in Australia; loyal even when such thousands and thousands of miles of sea

stretch between them and their Queen and Empress.... So whenever I tell you of all the

honour and hospitality shown to your father and me, you must always first think that it is

really our darling Queen to whom all her distant subjects vie with each other in showing their love and loyalty.” (pp.143) – Lady Barker, the

Governors wife, to her child, about arriving in Albany.

Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and Western Australian Society 1829-2010.

ISBN: 9781742583402

#NTWA - #NYR12 31

“This wonderful harbour is naturally defensive, and could be made almost impregnable by sitting guns in a central permanent position

west of the entrance to the inner harbor. Considering however that the importance of Albany has been greatly diminished by the establishment of Fremantle as the Port of

Western Australia, I think that the only reason for its defences would be to deny the port to

any cruiser of fleet engaged in attacking commerce. For this the present defences

suffice, and might be maintained.” (pp. 205) - Lord Kitchener, 1910, on Albany.

John Dowson, Old Albany.

ISBN: 978 0 9805395 0 9

#NTWA - #NYR12 32

“A place of tall grass and some flowers blushing unseen, as two miles from Lombard Street is too far to travel on shanks pony, so the Botanical Gardens is merely a tale that is told to the majority of Ballarat people. Plenty

of gum trees and graceful lightwood adorn the reserve. The curator has planted some tree’s

he brought from home. Some day these might be worth a long journey to see. About Seven acres are enclosed by a post and rail fencing, but the rest of the 60 acres is a wilderness.”

(pp. 278)

Iain McCalman, Alexander Cook, Andrew Reeves (Eds), Gold: Forgotten histories and lost

objects of Australia.

ISBN: 0 521 80595 3

#NTWA - #NYR12 33

“Along… St George’s Terrace…it seems there’s not even a façade I can recognize. Great ugly boxes of glass and concrete-oppressive to the soul and offensive to the eye…But before the soul withers in this alien atmosphere, you are

saved and refreshed by the sight of the old Palace Hotel, miraculously preserved on the corner… Further down the terrace glows the

soft rose - the crumbling soft brick rose - of St George’s old cathedral...With any luck they

might be able to save at least a church and a pub to keep something of beauty and dignity

and history along the terraces of Perth.”

Jenny Gregory, City of Light: A History of Perth since the 1950s. (pp. 219)

ISBN: 0 9594632 5 9

#NTWA - #NYR12 34

“The Barracks archway became a symbol. People tended to identify its planning

destruction with so much of the recent casual scarring of the city in the name of progress-

and, in a general sense, with governmental and departmental arrogance… Whatever the aesthetic value of the archway, it is to be

hoped that the successful fight for its survival has taught the Government a lesson- That it cannot consistently act on the basis that Big

Brother knows best.”

Jenny Gregory, City of Light: A History of Perth since the 1950s. (pp. 118)

ISBN: 0 9594632 5 9

#NTWA - #NYR12 35

“[Off the Abrolhos] In the early days the loading of the crayfish would be carried out on the mothership / carrier vessel which would be rigged with mast and sail. The halyards which

were used for hoisting the sails would be, sometimes in conjunction with davits, adapted to hoist the holding crates out of the water… Then the crayfish would be bagged ready for the trip to town... Fishermen on the whole

were innovative people who by their distant lifestyle away from amenities quickly adapted to improvising equipment to suit a purpose.”

Ron C. Bertelsen, Geraldton to the Abrolhos 1898 - 1964 (pp. 78)

ISBN: 978 0 646 50707 1

#NTWA - #NYR12 36

The emergence of cities and states in different

parts of the world has many consequences, among them the appearance of the world’s

first written literature and the development of scientific and mathematical knowledge. These early cities and states did not exist in isolation, but were connected through extensive trade

networks by road and sea…these people created many sophisticated objects, notably of materials such as bronze and golf which have often survived. Many of these objects were clearly made as demonstrations of power, designed to impress subjects, visitors and

possibly posterity.”

A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor, pp. 95

ISBN: 978 1 846 14413 4 #NTWA - #NYR12 37

“Technological innovation [has] enabled more

objects to be produced and used by humankind than at any previous time in

history, changing the way we relate to each other and to the material world. But many of these objects (particularly since the invention

of plastic) have been ephemeral and disposable, which has given urgency to

questions about the environment and global resources. As has been true for almost two

million years, the objects we have produced over the last century convey our concerns, our creativity and our aspirations, and will continue

to reveal them to future generations.”

A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor, pp. 627

ISBN: 978 1 846 14413 4 #NTWA - #NYR12 38

“In March 1980, Lord Mayor Bowen announced that ACC would undertake a heritage study of the City of Adelaide. According to Bowen, the

study would end debate about the historic merit or otherwise of individual buildings. The

motive was not solely to preserve the built heritage… The development industry and the heritage lobby wished to identify once and for all those buildings in the City which could be

redeveloped. Through a reverse twist, the Heritage Register in Adelaide began by identifying sites for redevelopment and

heritage items by default.”

Heritage Politics in Adelaide by Sharon Mosler, pp.80-81

ISBN: 978 0 9870730 4 4

#NTWA - #NYR12 39

“The archaeological remains of ancient empires litter the soil of Africa and the Mediterranean. Some of the most famous sites of the ancient

world are suffering from the depredations that accompany mass tourism… The museums of the West are conscious that they hold a great many

artifacts that rightfully belong to Africa, and some items are occasionally returned. But the

rationalization of the world’s treasures is a subject for long term debate, whereas the

important thing for Africa is to secure as much of its fragile heritage on the ground as is

possible.”

Colin Amery & Brian Curran, Vanishing

Histories: 100 Endangered Sites. (pp. 116)

ISBN: 0 8109 1435 2 #NTWA - #NYR12 40

“There has been a growing awareness that Government House itself is a public institution that both belonged to Western Australia and is not longer a symbol of imperial dominion. This

shifting awareness in the late twentieth century coincided with rising republican sentiment but

also reflected the strength of the heritage movement that resulted in the house’s official registration under heritage legislation in the early 1990s. The protection afforded by this

legislation ensures that in the future Government House will continue to occupy its special and unique place in Western Australia’s

history.” (pp. 324-325)

Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and Western Australian Society 1829-2010.

ISBN: 9781742583402

#NTWA - #NYR12 41

“The history of the Trust in Western Australia also shows that the politics of the people involved in it

cannot be reduced to a simple nostalgic conservatism. A significant number were among the first social historians in the country, with a

concern to document and preserve the history of convicts and the working classes as much as that

of the ‘gentry’. They were also ahead of their time in realizing that the significance of landscapes lay

as much in their cultural as in their natural heritage. Although they did not do much with this realization until recently, they were not unaware

of Indigenous heritage issues.”



ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6 #NTWA - #NYR12 42

Oh, let England boast of her snow and frost.

That make to her Christmas dear;

But in summer time of this sunny clime

We welcome old Christmas here.

They may find relief from their "Old Roast Beef”

And their plum puddings hot and warm,

In drinking old ale till the night grows pale

At the fear of the coming storm.

But the mutton cheap, from our scabby sheep,

Is the grub that most pleaseth me;

And pneumonia meat is a greater treat

Than the beef of the old "countree."

Excerpt from A Colonial Christmas Ode By “A Saturnine New Chum”. From Melbourne Punch

reprinted in The West Australian, Thursday 14 April 1864 via Trove.

#NTWA - #NYR12 43

“For a few minutes we lay on the bank of this clear spring, resting our wearied limbs, and

admiring the scenery around us. There is something in the wild luxuriance of a totally new

and uncultivated country, which words cannot convey to the inhabitants of an old and civilised land, - the rich and graceful forms of the tress, the massy moss- grown trunks which cumber the soil, the tree half up-torn by some furious

gale, and still remaining in the falling posture in which the winds have left it, the drooping disorder of dead and dying branches, the

mingling of rich grasses and useless weeds.”

George Grey, Expeditions in Western Australia 1837 to 1839 - Volume 2.

ISBN: 0 85905 048 3

#NTWA - #NYR12 44

CONCLUSION In Australia nearly half the population struggles without the literacy skills to meet the most basic demands of everyday life and work. There are 46% of Australians who can't read newspapers; follow a recipe; make sense of timetables, or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle. In 2012 Australian libraries and library associations campaigned to turn the year into the National Year of Reading, linking together all the great things that are already happening around books, reading and literacy, and giving them an extra boost, with inspirational programs and events taking place across the country. The National Trust of Australia (WA) used quotes relating to cultural heritage to share our passion for reading, and participate in this National Year of Reading.

Why Reading Matters, from the National Year of

Reading 2012, & the National Trust of Australia (WA).

#NTWA - #NYR12 45

The National Trust of Australia (WA)

The Old Observatory 4 Havelock Street

West Perth ABN: 83 697 381 616

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