May 14, 2012
On Sunday 6 May I attended the opening of the Old Highercombe Hotel Museum’s new exhibition “Slab Hut to Dining Room”. The opening was held as part of the museum’s Gala Day in conjunction with the About Time History Festival and drew quite a crowd from the local area and beyond. History SA Chief Executive, […]
Keep readingMay 2, 2012
On 12 April, members of the Naracoorte Branch of the National Trust who run The Sheep’s Back Museum undertook a one day Disaster Preparedness & Response workshop. It was an opportunity for the group to learn what to do if disaster struck and their museum was flooded or underwent water damage after a fire. And […]
Keep readingMay 1, 2012
With much sadness we report the death of City of Mitcham Council’s Community Historian Maggy Ragless, who passed away unexpectedly in her sleep in March, just a few weeks off from her 60th birthday. Maggy had been Mitcham’s local history officer since 1986 as well as devoting many hours of voluntary service to promoting the […]
Keep readingApril 30, 2012
Had I stepped into an episode of ‘Cranford’? No, I was attending a very special historic birthday party. We were celebrating Charles Sturt’s 217th birthday on Saturday at his former home in Grange, now the Charles Sturt Memorial Museum, where members of the Victoriana Society certainly brought this early colonial style house in Adelaide’s western […]
Keep readingApril 26, 2012
Last Sunday I was involved with helping to send off a large number of classic fifties, sixties and seventies vehicles from the Torrens Parade Ground to the annual Rock and Roll Rendezvous up in the hills at the National Motor Museum. After an early start, the vehicles began to arrive on the expanse of grey […]
Keep readingApril 23, 2012
The Robe Branch of the National Trust of South Australia held its opening of the Customs House Museum DVD Project on Sunday, 1st April, 2012 in conjunction with a commemoration of the Baudin and Flinders meeting at Encounter Bay in 1802. The realisation of this project enables us to show historic photos of Robe dating […]
Keep readingApril 17, 2012
On a warm sunny day this week I got to work outside at Luhr’s Cottage Museum in the Barossa Valley. The Cottage houses a large number of books, framed prints and photos, textiles and a variety of other objects and the management group asked for a hand in working out how best to look after the […]
Keep readingApril 10, 2012
The Sunday before Easter I was invited to a picnic in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens; but not just the usual Aussie BBQ. This was the annual picnic of the Adelaider Liedertafel 1858, the longest continuing male choir in Australia. Amounting to 44 members, at full strength, it is also probably the second oldest choir of […]
Keep readingApril 4, 2012
At last, it’s time for About Time, South Australia’s History Festival. The program is out, the website is live. An amazing 513 events will be happening during the month of May ranging from walks to websites, talks to tours, and exhibitions to special events. In addition, the festival has a new element this year: Open […]
Keep readingApril 2, 2012
A bronze plaque honouring South Australia’s pioneer winemaker Thomas Hardy was unveiled on Monday 26 March by his great great grandson Thomas K. Hardy, at the former Adelaide Wine Cellars, now Temple Christian College, in Mile End. This public recognition of both the founder of Thomas Hardy & Sons and the State Heritage listed building […]
Keep readingApril 2, 2012
Last week I attended the inaugural conference of the Australasian Association for Digital Humanities “Building, Mapping, Connecting” at the Australian National University in Canberra. The conference ran over 3 days and was largely attended by almost 250 academics largely from worldwide universities. However History SA was well represented. I gave a paper on our Community […]
Keep readingMarch 27, 2012
Ever wondered how blankets are made? Most South Australian’s would have heard of Onkaparinga blankets – good quality pure wool made in Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills until 1993. At the Onkaparinga Woollen Mill Museum a knowledgeable group of volunteers can explain the production process, from the spinning and weaving to sizing and finishing. The […]
Keep readingMarch 23, 2012
The Angaston & Penrice Historical Society is launching the A&H Doddridge Blacksmith Shop Cultural Tourism Enhancement Project on Friday 30 March from 5.30 pm. Members of the public are invited to come and experience one of the few remaining main street smithies in South Australia. The heritage listed blacksmith’s shop at 19 Murray Street, Angaston is […]
Keep readingMarch 8, 2012
Every Year the Embroiderers’ Guild of SA and the Embroiderers’ Guild Museum hold an exhibition to coincide with the Adelaide Fringe Festival. This year the theme was ‘Medieval’ and last week I went to the launch of ‘A Bouquet of Medieval Stitches’. The annual Fringe event is an exhibition of Guild members’ work, showcasing the […]
Keep readingFebruary 28, 2012
There’s been a buzz in this office since my visit to Mill Cottage in Port Lincoln before Christmas when I spotted those extraordinary early daguerreotypes of Aboriginal men from the nearby Poonindie Mission dressed as ‘gentlemen’. Daguerreotypes, the earliest form of commercial photographs, were around for only a short period of time in the mid-19th […]
Keep readingFebruary 22, 2012
Amanda and Pauline spent a day in the Barossa this week, visiting Luhr’s Cottage at Light Pass and the Barossa Museum at Tanunda. So much German Lutheran heritage in one day! We’d been invited by the Luhr’s Cottage committee to come up and see the items they have displayed in the cottage and give some […]
Keep readingFebruary 16, 2012
The full-scale replica of Captain Cook’s ship Endeavour operated by Sydney’s Australian National Maritime Museum arrived in Adelaide today. The beautifully crafted square-rigger will be moored at Port Adelaide, Inner Harbour. It will be open for inspection from 16 to 23 February from 10am to 5pm (last entry 4pm). Endeavour departed Sydney on 15 April […]
Keep readingJanuary 19, 2012
The topic under discussion in the Loxton Waikerie Council Chamber on Monday 16 January was About Time: South Australia’s History Festival. People representing a diverse group of previous and potential event organisers came along to talk about the festival and hear what Mandy Paul, Karen Blackwood and Pauline Cockrill from History SA had to say […]
Keep readingDecember 15, 2011
Saturday December 3rd saw Strathalbyn’s Police Station & Old Courthouse Museum change its name to the Strathalbyn and District Heritage Centre. Museum volunteers gathered in the Centre’s beautiful old courtyard for an evening that combined a celebration of the new name with the branch’s annual Christmas party. National Trust of South Australia President David Beaumont, […]
Keep readingDecember 7, 2011
I went with Mandy Paul, History SA Senior Curator, on a speedy fieldtrip to the South-East this week. We went to the Sheep’s Back Museum in Naracoorte, the Millicent National Trust Museum and Beachport National Trust Museum. Thank you to everyone who took the time to meet and catch-up with us, it is greatly appreciated. […]
Keep readingDecember 6, 2011
The Minister for the Arts, the Hon John Hill, has just announced the successful applicants of History SA’s two annual grant programs for 2011-12. The $35,000 South Australian History Fund will assist 18 organisations and individuals from across the State. It is an opportunity for the State government to support the growing numbers of enthusiastic […]
Keep readingNovember 30, 2011
Today was a day to take in some more of the community history around Port Lincoln before heading home this evening. First up I headed for the local RSL whose salmon pink club rooms have a large and varied collection of war memorabilia on display which include some unique souvenirs such as a small rock […]
Keep readingNovember 29, 2011
Day Two on my Eyre Peninsula field trip. This morning I left both Tumby Bay and the bitumen and wound my way gingerly inland on an unsealed road to Koppio. The landscape was dramatic – the deep blue rain-filled sky contrasted with the biscuit coloured hills and every so often there were flashes of green […]
Keep readingNovember 28, 2011
Earlier in November I attended the Museums Australia National Conference in Perth. I gave a paper about the South Australian Community History Website and caught up with lots of interstate colleagues about community museum matters. The conference was in conjunction with interpretation Australia, so there were lots of interpretation focused sessions to go to and […]
Keep readingNovember 28, 2011
Today I took the ‘red eye’ from Adelaide to Whyalla and headed south by hire car avoiding both emus and giant grain trucks that indicate it’s harvest time on the Eyre Peninsula. Over the next three days, I’m visiting as many community museums as I can over here to photograph and help members write up […]
Keep readingNovember 26, 2011
I was looking forward to visiting Swan Reach Museum this week – and not just because you get to take the car across the Murray on the ferry or even because there was the promise of birthday cake to celebrate their 10th anniversary! This would be my first visit to the museum since joining History […]
Keep readingNovember 21, 2011
Stansbury Museum’s new Weighbridge display was officially opened on Friday 18 November by Steven Griffiths, Local Member for Goyder before a large gathering of locals and others from further afield within the Yorke Peninsula. Also in attendance were Martin Hamilton-Smith, Member for Waite and his young son Thomas. Mr Hamilton Smith’s family has had long […]
Keep readingNovember 9, 2011
This week I attended the silver anniversary celebrations for the museum along with a large group of museum volunteers, councillors, friends of the museum and former curators. After drinks and finger food Unley Mayor Lachlan Clyne, spoke about the commitment of council to maintaining the museum, and Anne Milne, president of the Friends of the […]
Keep readingOctober 21, 2011
I headed north last week through the just-budding vineyards of the Clare Valley and towards the Port Pirie smelters to spend some time at one of the 61 registered museums in our program, the Crystal Brook Heritage Centre. Located in the centre of this small country town, close to the Big Goanna, this National Trust […]
Keep readingOctober 14, 2011
At the beginning of October I was invited to a very special picnic. Since 1974 the Polish Hill River Church Museum has been holding an annual picnic but this year it was in honour of the 140th anniversary of their church – and the 175th anniversary of the founding of South Australia. After a 2 […]
Keep readingOctober 9, 2011
I took my two year old son Cameron to the Aviation Museum which was open for free during the Port Festival 8 to 9 October. What a great, lively family atmosphere! Heaps of kids and Mums and Dads milling about, going up the steps into the big plane and the Vietnam helicopter. Cameron had a […]
Keep readingOctober 7, 2011
Last week when I drove to the Magill campus of the University of South Australia to attend part of the Narratives of War (NOW) two-day symposium, I wasn’t expecting music. This biennial seminar program is a showcase for the NOW Group’s research based at UniSA’s School of Communication, International Studies and Languages. Headed by Professor […]
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