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SA Australiana Study Group 50

th Meeting, 7

th November 2019

We recommend readers to the Australiana Society website

https://www.australiana.org.au/ and encourage membership.

Attendance: 22

An Australian specimen timber work box, Tasmania C1860 or earlier.

Width 33cm, depth 30cm, height 17cm.

By an unknown maker, the rectangular box is veneered with a number of native timbers,

including huon pine, musk, myrtle, honeysuckle, cedar and ebony. To the front is an inlay of

two stars, while the top features a striking compass-like design. Formerly in the collection of

Dale Frank, it is illustrated in Australian Furniture Pictorial History and Dictionary 1788-

1938, Kevin Fahy and Andrew Simpson, Casuarina Press, Sydney 1988, page 206, plate 82.

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Boomerang from Ooldea siding, Nullarbor Plain, SA dated 27 February 1945. 44cm

The boomerang has pokerwork depicting a kangaroo, three emus and a swan on the

front and on the back hand written ‘Ooldea Tran’s Line 27th

Feb 1945’.

This boomerang was purchased on the 27th

February, 1945 by Mrs Pearl Wiseman from

Perth, at Ooldea siding, while travelling with her son Les, to see her husband, Les’ father,

who was on leave prior to his being deployed with the RAAF to the islands during WW2.

He served with Airfield Construction as a mechanic.

The Aboriginal people sold their craft to the passengers, while the steam train stopped to

refill with water, as they did at all the rail sidings at that time, making the journey a slow trip.

At the time boomerangs were selling for between four and six shillings.

Ooldea was an important camp during construction of the railway, as it is near a permanent

waterhole, first discovered by Europeans when Ernest Giles used it in 1875. On 17 October

1917 the final link of the railway was completed at Ooldea, linking the western section from

Kalgoorlie to the eastern section to Port Augusta. The town was dependent on the Tea and

Sugar Train for the delivery of supplies until 1996 when the train was withdrawn. The

longest dead straight section of railway line in the world starts west of Ooldea before Watson

at the 797 km post and continues to a point between Loongana and Nurina, a distance of 478

km.

Ooldea was the site of a mission for Aboriginal children which was visited twice by

Norman Tindale and was home for many years to Daisy Bates, both of whom were concerned

with understanding and protecting Aboriginal culture. The historic Ooldea Soak and former

United Aborigines Mission site and Daisy Bates' campsite are listed on the South Australian

Heritage Register.

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Queensland fretwork cabinet Toilet & Novelties / For Qld Australia.

Made from plywood, maker unknown. 66x62x25 cm

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On both outer sides of the box there is a page from The Queenslander, an illustrated weekly

magazine, price 6d, and dated 5th

May 1932. The magazine is accessible in Trove, and a

search through the magazine for that date does not show any reference to such a cabinet.

In the early years of the Great Depression the Queensland Preference League was

established to promote the state’s produce and manufactured goods by holding ‘Made in

Queensland Exhibitions’ and promoted the song ‘Queensland First’ written by Mrs M

Forrest. The exhibitions focused on commercial aspects of buying factory items and produce

grown in the state; the cabinet, whilst not ‘factory made’, has been attributed to this era and

would be closely associated with it. The cabinet was most likely exhibited at a regional

agricultural show. The previous owner believed it was made in the Ipswich region.

Scrimshaw of a Boobook Owl mounted in cedar. New South Wales, mid nineteenth

century.

Height 17.4 cm, width at base 19.3 cm.

A finely detailed scrimshaw of a Boobook Owl on a slice of ivory, and set in a wedge of

roughly worked Australian red cedar that functions as a standing frame. A scrap of label

formerly attached to the base was inscribed "1850".

When being purchased, it came with the story that it was made by a whaler, who then

turned to timber cutting in the cedar forests of New South Wales. On seeing a nesting

Boobook Owl in one of the trees he left it standing. When later finding the tree cut down, he

souvenired a piece of the timber and scrimshawed a picture of the owl as a memento.

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Silver meat dish from the service of Queen Adelaide (1792-1849), by Garrards of

London, 1827/28. 40.7 x 33.5 cm.

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Made by the London firm of Garrard, gold and silversmiths, the meat dish was hallmarked

at the London Assay Office in 1827/28. It is engraved with the arms of William Henry, third

son of King George III as Duke of Clarence, acolée with those of Princess Adelaide

(Adelheid), the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen in Germany,

whom he married in 1818.

On the death of his brother, the extravagant and unpopular King George IV, William came

to the throne in 1830 with Adelaide as his Consort. It was also in 1830 that Garrard was

appointed Crown Goldsmiths. During his short seven year reign William saw the passage of

the Reform Bill through parliament. This was also the time during which the colonisation of

South Australia was planned and enacted.

There had been a suggestion to name the future capital of the new colony Wellington, after

the Duke, hero and statesman of the day, but that was already the proposed name for the

capital of New Zealand. Then the names of the King or Queen were suggested, with

Governor Hindmarsh being advised before departure for the colony that the King “…desired

that the capital might be named Adelaide.”

On the death of William in 1837 Adelaide became the Dowager Queen, leaving Windsor

Castle as Queen Victoria came to the throne. It would have been during this later period, but

before her own death in 1849, that the crowned monogram of Adelaide would have been

added, engraved on her family silverware.

The hallmarks shown are the lion passant (for sterling silver), the leopard’s head (to denote

the London Assay Office at Goldsmiths’ Hall), the date letter for the 1827/28 assay year, and

the sovereign’s head to show duty had been paid. Alongside these is the registered mark

entered by Robert Garrard as the responsible entity for the standard of the silver, the crowned

RG

Wax relief portrait medallion, Theresa Walker (1807-1876), Adelaide c 1840s.

The wax is mounted on slate, and the circular wooden frame is modern, similar to

original frames, outer diameter 21 cm

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Wax relief double portrait medallion, Theresa Walker (1807-1876), Adelaide c 1840s.

Glass 9.5 x 11 cm

In the early 19thC, making a modelled profile portrait head in wax was a very popular form

of recording famous people or family members. The original was often carved from a circular

block of wax, from which it was possible to make a mould and then produce several identical

profile portraits of the person concerned.

Theresa Walker’s works were shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1841,

and it is thought that they were perhaps taken back to London by her father William

Chauncey when he returned to England after visiting his two daughters in Adelaide - the

other was Martha Berkeley - earlier in the same year. The two profile wax portraits shown in

London, of Kertamaroo and Pretty Mary, were distinctive in that they are the only known

aboriginal portraits of the day in wax relief – and their framing, in velvet and carved wood

was also very unusual. These two works are currently on display in the Elder Wing of the Art

Gallery of South Australia.

On the night of the 50th

meeting two wax relief portraits were shown. Both are thought to

be by Theresa Walker. One, of a female head, has not been identified, but it was suggested

that the second example which was of the heads of two children, could possibly be the

profiles of Martha Berkeley’s first two daughters – Georgina and Emily.

To conclude the evening, a newly discovered Marriage Proposal from Charles Berkeley to

Martha Chauncey was read out – with much laughter at the polite but entreating words of a

desperate suitor trying to win the hand of a woman he knew would be sailing on the same

ship – the John Renwick. Together with Theresa Chauncey, they all arrived in Holdfast Bay,

South Australia on 10 February 1837.

N.B. An account of Theresa Walker is to be found in Colonial Sisters – Martha Berkeley

and Theresa Walker by Jane Hylton, published by the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1994

to accompany the exhibition of the same title. ISBN: 0730830721.

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Transfer printed jug commemorating the coronation of King William IV and Queen

Adelaide in 1831. Height 19 cm.

A glazed earthenware jug transfer printed with half-length portraits of King William IV

and Queen Adelaide. The King is shown wearing the Order of the Garter, and with a banner

above reading His Most Gracious / Majesty / King William. Queen Adelaide, quill in hand,

has a banner above reading Her Most Gracious / Majesty / Queen Adelaide. Other decoration

includes floral garlands emblematic of the nation, and to the front, the royal crown within a

garland.

One of the many commemorative objects produced by British potteries to cash in on the

coronation, this example is of higher quality than most, but is unmarked. It is noted that the

image of Queen Adelaide is based on the portrait of Adelaide as Duchess of Clarence by

Samuel Raven, dated to the year of her wedding in 1818 (Art Gallery of South Australia).

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Transfer printed jug commemorating the coronation of King William IV and Queen

Adelaide in 1831. Height 18.5 cm.

Similar to the previous item, this transfer printed earthenware jug is of slightly lesser

quality, but bears a reference to the Reform Bill which passed in 1832, and extended the

voting franchise (but not to women). Each of the portraits sits above the name of the sitter,

and the date of the coronation, 8 September 1831. Included on the portrait transfers is the

name of the presumed portraitist credited with the image, by the name of Kennedy. It is

somewhat ironical that Queen Adelaide was opposed to the passage of the Reform Bill.

The graceful trademark printed on the base of the jug of C&R has been credited to the firm

of Chesworth and Robinson of Staffordshire (1825-1840), or possibly another Staffordshire

factory, that of Chetham and Robinson (1822-1837).

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South Australian Volunteer Military Force water bottle, "Italian pattern", 1874 - 1882,

manufactured by 'Fratelli Gugielminetti', Turin, Italy. Height 19.5 cm, diam. at base

10.5 cm

Following the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 and the threat of Russian expansion into

India, colonial defence in South Australia was reviewed. By the end of 1877 the South

Australian Military Force was reorganised around volunteer rifle companies (the 'Adelaide

Rifles') and two volunteer artillery companies. Construction began at Fort Glanville in 1878

and HMCS Protector was ordered in 1882. After the British defeat by the Zulus in 1879 the

government also volunteered to send troops to South Africa.

The Italian pattern water bottle was standard issue to the British army and colonial forces

from 1874 - 82. It is constructed from a hollowed out single piece of timber and is D-shaped

in cross section. Our example is stamped, in the timber, with a broad arrow and "SA" (South

Australia). Manufactured in Italy, they continued to be used by the Italian Army until the end

of WW1.

This item was destined for a skip when rescued by its new owner the day before our

meeting.

Please note that if the metal band around the bottle is considered to be galvanised iron, as

opposed to just iron, this tightens the date range to 1877 - 82.

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Commemorative teaspoon for the South Australian sesquicentenary of 1986.

Length 10.8 cm.

The spoon, apparently cast and stamped, was produced as one of many souvenirs of the

sesquicentenary celebration of the 1836 establishment of the colony of South Australia. The

finial represents the ship HMS Buffalo, which carried the first governor to SA, Captain John

Hindmarsh. Built in India in 1813, and launched as the Hindostan, she was bought by the

Royal Navy and renamed, then put into service as a storeship and timber carrier. In a varied

career, the ship carried convicts to Australia, British forces to Quebec to put down a

rebellion, and was the scene of a foiled mutiny. Eventually reverting to carrying timber, she

was wrecked in New Zealand in 1840.

The silver plated spoon carries the mark of the supplier, the initials W.A.P.W. Numerous

internet references to such marks have been found, crediting the name to the Wales

Association of Pewter Works, but without giving any concrete provenance.

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Adelaide International Jubilee Exhibition 1887, cased medal awarded to F.H. Faulding

& Co. Bronze, 76 mm.

Obverse: Bust of Queen Victoria facing left, surrounded by ADELAIDE JUBILEE

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION MDCCCXXXVII and in minute letters under the

bust the engravers name and address: EA ALTMANN MELBOURNE [engraver]

Reverse: FIRST ORDER OF MERIT within a wreath. Edge: plain. Struck at Stokes &

Martin, Melbourne.

F.H. Faulding & Co was a pharmaceutical company founded in Adelaide by Francis Hardey

Faulding (1816-1868) who arrived in Adelaide in 1845 and opened a pharmacy that year in

Rundle Street, and later established a manufacturing and wholesale business in Clarence

Place also in the city. In 1861 Luther Scammell (1826–1910) became a partner in the

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business and upon the death of the founder in 1868 he became the sole proprietor. At the time

of the Adelaide Exhibition the head office was in James Place, Adelaide. The company has

changed hands a number of occasions and the current owner is Pfizer, a New York based

company.

In all, 1970 First Order of Merit medals were awarded. These medals were given for the

exhibit being of a high standard rather than ‘the best’. Seventeen South Australian firms were

awarded this medal (and a Diploma) under the ‘Jury III Chemical Manufactures’ section and

the above medal being one of those. Fauldings exhibited ‘Eucalyptus preparations’.

The Exhibition organizers held a competition offering ten guineas to design the medal, 39

submissions were received and the judges were appalled at all the mediocracy of designs, and

decided on a ‘sort of copy on a large scale of a [British] shilling or sixpence’. There was

confusion amongst the design artists; was the exhibition to celebrate the colony’s jubilee or

the Queens Jubilee! Local designers held a protest but nothing came of it. Ernest August

Altmann (c 1850-1900) of Melbourne won the contract to engrave the dies and strike the

medals and it appears all his medals were struck at Stokes or the Royal Mint, Melbourne. He

also made the dies for the Exhibition’s ‘For Services’ medal. .

South London School of Pharmacy Junior Chemistry award medal presented to Mr

L.R. Scammell in 1879 Bronze 52 mm

Obverse: Centre, SOUTH LONDON SCHOOL OF CHEMISTRY AND PHARMACY

within a shield, supported by two standing figures, all within a wreath. Above: a ribbon

with a Latin motto and pot. Below: in minute letters NEAL [medal manufacturer], and

PRIZE MEDAL Reverse: Engraved: PRESENTED TO / Mr. L.R. SCAMMELL. /

JUNIOR CHEMISTRY / APRIL 1879. Edge: Plain.

Luther R Scammell (1858-1940) was born in Hindmarsh, a suburb of Adelaide, and his

father, Luther Scammell (1826–1910) was at the time a partner of F.H. Fauldings & Co. LR

Scammell studied at the South London School of Pharmacy in the 1870s and was awarded

the above medal. Upon his return to Adelaide he worked for his father’s company, and in

1889 with his brother WJ Scammell became directors in the family business and later LR

Scammell became managing director and chairman of the Board.

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A carton of six “Metal Petal” drinks holders, 1950s. Length each approx. 56 cm.

Manufactured originally by the SA firm of Rainsford Metal Products, established in 1954,

these colourful and useful novelties were originally made (by some accounts) as a way to

make use of metal offcuts. Rainsford designed and manufactured light engineering products,

such as wheelbarrows, roof racks, swimming pool liners, as well as sunroofs, mirrors and

seatbelts for cars. In the mid-1980s the business was purchased by Britax International plc of

the UK and changed direction, concentrating of making automotive mirrors for the (then)

Australian motor industry and building exports, and phasing out other products.

The popularity of “metal petals” and their nostalgic appeal has seen them return to the

market, being made in Adelaide and Melbourne, and again in a bright range of colours. So

very convenient for that barbecue in the backyard or the park!

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Carte de visite photographs of two pages from the Adelaide edition of the "Illustrated

Melbourne Post" (June 1865), depicting engravings of the bushrangers Ben Hall and

John Gilbert. "Anson & Francis" photographers, Adelaide, 1865. 9 x 6 cm.

Carte de visite format photographic prints were introduced to Adelaide in 1861. Normally

used for portraits, photographic prints were also made of items of general interest and sold as

souvenirs. These two cartes - with their focus on the dramatic deaths of the infamous

bushrangers Ben Hall and John Gilbert - were pirated from the "Illustrated Melbourne Post"

(1862 - 1868). This monthly periodical (the Adelaide edition carrying a page of Adelaide

advertising), extensively illustrated with engravings, was published by the daily Herald

newspaper. Aimed at an urban middle class readership it frequently ran stories and images of

bush life and this style of publication is said to have influenced Tom Roberts and Frederick

McCubbin. Three of the four woodcut engravings here are by the prolific engraver Samuel

Calvert (1828 -1913) who migrated to Adelaide (1848 - 1852) before moving to Melbourne.

Henry Anson and William Francis were brothers in law whose partnership in Rundle Street

ran from 1863 - 1866. Both continued as photographers afterwards, with Francis

photographing the Barossa Goldfields in 1868.

Ben Hall (age 27) and John Gilbert (age 23) were members of the same gang. They were

ambushed and shot dead, eight days apart, near Forbes, by New South Wales police, in May

1865.

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H. Beaufoy Merlin & Charles Bayliss, B. O. Holtermann with 'Holtermann nugget', 1872.

albumen silver carte-de-visite, mounted on paper, hand-coloured. 9 x 6 cm. (variable)

H. Beaufoy Merlin & Charles Bayliss, Hawkins Hill, Hill End, NSW. c.1872, two

albumen silver photographs, mounted on card. 58 x 78 cm.

Photographers H. Beaufoy Merlin (1830-73) & Charles Bayliss (1850-97) of the American

and Australasian Photographic Company were commissioned by one of the most successful

Hill End miners, Bernhardt O. Holtermann to record all of the built structures in the township

of Hill End. Holtermann was part owner of the Star Of Hope Mine, on Hawkins Hill, where

the largest single nugget of gold ever found was extracted. It weighed 630 pounds (285kg),

stood 4’ 9” (1.45m) high, was 2’ 2” (.66m) wide and comprised an average thickness of 4”

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(.1m). It is reputed to have taken more than a dozen men to raise the nugget from the mine.

Keast Burke (Gold & Silver Photographs of Australian Goldfields from the Holtermann

Collection, 1974, p.19) records that the Star Of Hope Mine was the fourth built structure from

the right hand side, demarcated as structure No. 18 on this original photograph.

The view-point of the photograph is appropriately known as Merlin’s Lookout, where the

photographer had a special platform constructed from which he managed the exposure and

development of his large plate negatives. The Holtermann Collection of 3,500 negatives were

donated to the Mitchell Library in 1952 by Bernhardt O. Holtermann’s grandson, Bernhard

Holtermann, after having been discovered in a garden shed in Chatswood, where they had

lain undisturbed in cedar boxes and lacquered tins for nearly 80 years.

A Parramatta River Steam Tram travel pass for six months, late 19th

to early 20th

century, struck in unmarked silver. 26 x 29 mm high.

The obverse shows a large ringed numeral 2 believed to refer to a section, surrounded by

the initials P R S T. The reverse is machine engraved with a large letter B, the owner’s

identity number 196, and the period 6 Months. The pass would have been attached to a key

ring or watch chain for ready identification.

The Parramatta River Steam Tram service opened in October 1883 and ran from its

terminus in George Street at the Park Gates, through the town and then through the tract of

land known as Elizabeth Farm Estate and continued on to its terminus at the wharf at

Redbank near where the Parramatta River meets Duck River. The tram transported

passengers as well as goods and serviced a number of industries from sidings along the main

line, and at the wharf passengers and cargo transferred to the Parramatta River Ferry and

travelled on to Sydney. The entire trip from Parramatta to Sydney took over an hour, but

considerable time was saved by using the tram for the initial part of the journey. The tramway

eventually closed on the 31st March 1943. The identification number of 196 on the pass

suggests that at least 196 were produced, but most passes have since been lost or destroyed

and we now know of only six examples remaining.

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Book Blood, Sweat and Fears by Verco, Summers, Swain and Jelly.

ISBN 9780646927503

Published in 2014 by the Army Museum of South Australia in Adelaide, and written by an

eminent group of medical friends, members of the South Australian Medical Heritage

Society, This book records the military service of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps

in SA. This initial volume covers the period of WWI, including those who were born,

educated, or practised in SA before the war, regardless of where they enlisted or served, or in

which branch of the Australian or British armed services they served.

The book records details of the 215 doctors from South Australia who served, including ten

who died, 18 who received the Military Cross (MC), 12 who received the Distinguished

Service Order (DSO), and the Military Medal awarded to Phoebe Chapple (who as a woman

could not be deployed and thus although recommended for an MC was not eligible).

The individual stories recorded of this remarkable group of medicos range from those

serving on the home front to those in the most harrowing and dangerous fields of battle.

Many returned to the armed services in WW2, and were there were those who went on to

achieve remarkable careers in medicine. The authors met regularly over several years at the

naval Military and Air Force Club of SA to discuss and collate their research, and have also

produced a Volume II under the same title covering the period from the end of WW2 to the

end of the official Vietnam War in 1975.

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Bernaldo Recollections, A lifetime with Water Colours.

Heritage Australian Art Series, published 1976, 59 pages

This publication reveals the life and thoughts of a Victorian based artist and illustrates

many of his paintings. Allan Thomas Bernaldo was born in 1900 (he recorded his year of

birth as 1898 when he enlisted) at Creswick, Victoria. His father was of Spanish stock and his

mother was of Scottish descent. He was the first-born of four children born to Thomas

Bernaldo and his wife Florence.

Having won a senior technical scholarship awarded by the Victorian State Government, he

entered the Ballarat School of Mines, Art and Industry in 1914 to study architecture.

In June, 1918, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and was demobilized in.

December, 1918. Following his return to civilian life Allan studied for his D.T.S.C. (Com.

Art Cert.), at Ballarat Technical Art School. On completion of his course at Ballarat

Technical Art School, under the tutelage of Harold B. Herbert, Allan joined the Victorian

Artists’ Society,

In 1920 Allan Bernaldo moved to Melbourne and took his first job with the Successful

Advertising Agency in Collins House. The experience gained over the subsequent two years

as a commercial artist, plus his previous studies, enabled him to enter the teaching profession

as Industrial Art Teacher at Brighton Technical School in Berwick Street, Brighton.

In 1928 he married Miss Florence Elliott in Sydney. Early in the 1930s he painted floral

works of art, which were exhibited with much success and, at the same time, continuing his

teaching career at Brighton Technical School. Upon retirement Allan and his wife travelled to

Europe and the United Kingdom where Allan painted extensively.

His work often appears at auctions particularly in Melbourne and as such many of his

paintings can easily be found on the internet.

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Linen lace cloth with Tenerife lace detail. 162.0 x 42.0cm

Unknown maker: possibly Isobel Spink 1779-1816 or Hannah Johnstone 1801-1878.

A reference to the collection from which this cloth is derived was made in an article in the

Adelaide newspaper, News, Wednesday 28th

June, 1933. The article celebrated the 100th

birthday of a woman who remembered Victoria’s marriage to “that wee bit German laddie.”

Agnes, the birthday girl was seventeen when she left Arbroath with her parents and seven

siblings to relocate to South Australia on the Hydaspes. Placing this in historical context, the

family arrived in Adelaide in 1851, just fifteen years after the Proclamation of the South

Australian colony.

So what has this linen seen? The linen was in stored in a large case in the hold of the

Hydaspes and Agnes recalled convincing the First Mate to check on the trunk. When she

spied it down below, she said “yons ma kist”, a phrase the First Mate tormented her with for

the rest of the journey. The family travelled by bullock wagon to Strathalbyn to join the

Scottish enclave there. The linen was in a trunk on the bullock wagon when they passed a

number of Aboriginal men on whom she commented to the reporter of the News article: one

who wore a widow’s bonnet and white collar, another called ‘Old King’ wore just a coat and

she remarked that his grandson was called Bonaparte and very friendly towards her. To put it

expediently, this cloth has seen women’s enfranchisement, Federation, two World Wars and

various depressions, recessions and booms.

Why did Agnes mention it at the anniversary of her 100th

birthday? Arbroath was a centre

of linen production at the time that Agnes was born. The flax (and hemp) was imported from

Russia and processed there in pits of rancid water to soften it before it was cleaned, spun and

woven. Much was used for sail cloth. This linen cloth was not Agnes’s because she never

married. It belonged to successive female ancestors before her, and descendants after her.

Agnes’s own mother, Hannah, was given it in a chest of linen upon her marriage as the first

born girl as was the tradition. In 1933, the 100 year old Agnes told the reporter that some of

the linen given to her mother in her marriage chest, which was by then was over 200 year old,

still existed in the custodianship of relatives

Therefore, this cloth is an early remnant of fabric used in the first 50 years of South

Australia as a colony.