news

Feb  2007                                                                                            by Dawn Juers

No 31

As usual it has been a busy time for us in the History Room and I think it will be that way for a while with the upcoming Wooden Boat Festival and then History Week in May. We will be celebrating History Week on Thursday 24^th May.

Graham Jaunay, in his ‘Proformat News’, informs that he and well known marine artist John Ford, have joined forces in depicting as a watercolour, the vessels which brought  pioneer families to Australia. We usually see John Ford at the Wooden Boat Festival with his interesting paintings of the paddlesteamers. Graham will be presenting a seminar on UK research, at the Fleurieu Peninsula Family History Group on 17^th March at 1.30pm. Please book through FPFHG on 8556 4302 if you wish to attend.

The National Archives will be presenting ‘Poverty and  pageants, propaganda and progress’  tracing the 1930’s in SA, at the Institute Building, State Library On Saturday 17^th March 2007, 2.00 to 4.30pm. Bookings are essential on 8207 7334.

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New Books in the History Room –

Strathalbyn 1839-2006 by Brian Simpson

Australian Riverboats A Pictorial History by Peter Christopher

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Lorraine Pomery lpomery@chariot.net.au is trying to record details, and photographs, of the WW1 men whose names are on the memorial in the Strand, Pt Elliot.

If you can help with information on – ALEXANDER Harold L; BAKER Wm R; BRIGHT Roy; DODD Howard; LANYON Vernon; LOVELL Ernest C; PADMAN Eric; PADMAN Clarence; PELLEW Leslie; PELLEW Eric; SNELL Gilbert; SWIFT Lance; SWIFT Sidney; WALKER Eric. Please contact Lorraine at 23 The Strand, Port Elliot 5212 or the above email address if you can help.

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Useful websites- http://aus-sagen.blogspot.com/

http://gen-tree.blogspot.com/

http://www.obituary.com.au/obituary

www.scoutsreunited.com.au for  past scouts in Australia.

http://www.rootschat.com

http://mariners.records.nsw.gov.au

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/CensusInfoFreed  (a petition requesting that the 1911 Census be released early).

NATIONAL TREASURES EXHIBITION

Friends of the Goolwa Library are visiting the ‘National Treasures at the State Library’ on Sunday 18^th March. We will travel by bus, which leaves Victor Harbor 9am;

Pt Elliot 9.15am; and Goolwa 9.30am.

The National Treasures encompass many facets of history from Ned Kelly’s helmet (complete with bullet hole); the only convict uniform in Australia to exist; pen owned by Henry Lawson; original illustrations for Norman Lindsay’s ‘The Magic Pudding’.

The cost of this trip is $25 per person and we require a deposit of $5.

 Bookings should be made by 28^th February to the Goolwa Library (phone 8555-7000)

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The official program is out for the SA Wooden Boat and Music Festival at Goolwa, to be held 10^th-12^th March www.woodenboatfestival.com.au   celebrating the 10^th Festival with many new highlights – 3 new music stages with top music acts, and a world first with the Ngarrindjeri  traditional raft making workshops. It should be a great three days.

THE FIRST WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL IN AUSTRALIA WAS HELD IN GOOLWA IN 1980.  Now I think there are two or three held BUT we were the first!   (Can’t help a little local pride).

The Friends of the Goolwa Library will hold their usual Book Sale, the same weekend on 9^th & 10^th March.

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This Wednesday 28^th February, the Goolwa National Trust will begin their 2007 program with a talk by Roly Bartlett entitled ‘Building the PS William Randell’. The meeting will be at 2pm in the Museum Meeting Hall, Porter St, Goolwa.

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Six years ago, two brothers Eric and Klaus Ganzert, were in the outback of Sth Aust in the vicinity of Innamincka, when Eric spotted what he thought was a piece of tin half buried in the sand. On picking it up, he noticed the crescent shaped object had an inscription “Presented by the Exploration Committee of Victoria for the Humanity shown to the explorers Burke, Wills & King 1861.”

The brothers brought the breastplate to their parents in Strathalbyn, who realised its historical significance, and deposited it in a bank safe.

Apparently, the breastplate was one of three awarded in 1863 to Aborigines who had tried to help Burke and Wills. The breastplate will be auctioned in Melbourne on March 26^th.

Taken from “The Age” 10^th February, 2007, p5.

Happy researching,

Dawn

 

Genealogy help is available by appointment on Thursdays, to guide you through your research. Please phone the Library on 8555-7000 to make an appointment. For comments, suggestions or to receive this newsletter – email

historyroom2004@yahoo.com.au or phone me, Dawn Juers on 8555-2885.

Back copies of this newsletter can be sourced on the Alexandrina Council website –

http://www.alexandrina.sa.gov.au/site/page/cfm

 

 

 

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