Illuminated testimonial

Just received as a donation is a beautiful illuminated testimonial, made in 1919, presented by Manly Methodist Church to one of its Trustees, Mr W H Fletcher, who was retiring from Manly. Mr Fletcher was a former Alderman of Manly, so it is fitting that the Testimonial should find its way to Local Studies for safe-keeping. The donor found it in a skip as an item of rubbish, and went to the trouble of contacting us to arrange its preservation. Signatories to the Testimonial include fellow Trustees of the Manly Methodist Church, including well-known, and in their day influential citizens such as R J Wild, Philip Heard and Norman Goetze.

This is the second fine donation to have come in in recent months from rubbish tips, so keep a look-out: what's rubbish to some people is important heritage to many others.

New images

A collection of 15 glass negatives which recently came to light has been developed and forms a small display in Manly Library. The images proved to be of Manly Ocean Beach, Shelly Beach, and Fairy Bower, and evidently date from circa 1905-1910. One of the images shows a father and his two girls in front of a house named Ossory, since demolished, which was at the top of Darley Road, near the Cardinal's Palace. The owner of Ossory was a Mr Thomas Fitzgerald, which makes it likely that the photographs were taken by a member of his family, though we don't know for sure.

Two of the images show one of the young Misses Fitzgerald in the back garden of Ossory, with a view over to St Patrick's Seminary. The remainder of the images appear to have been taken on a day when Manly was in holiday mood. One image shows a motor launch for hire at Fairy Bower, with a long queue of eager trippers waiting to go on board for a 20-minute journey, presumably to Shelly Beach. The long dresses of the women must have been in danger of a soaking. Another image shows bathers at South Steyne, some of whom are perched on top of a ramshackle diving board in the middle of the surf: you'd have to time your dive just right or you would be in trouble. The detail of costume in some of the images is very good, and the collection as a whole has a real period charm.

Quarantine in 1855

A recent donation to Local Studies is the book "Humin Hopes" edited by Rob Wills. This book gives the 1855 diary of Charles Moore, and English immigrant to Australia on the Constitution, which was quarantined at North Head due to smallpox on board. Remarkably, survivors of the trip organised a 50th anniversary reunion at the Quarantine Station in 1905, and further reunions of their descendants have been held thereafter, most recently in 2005. An obelisk at North Head commemorates the Constitution's passengers. "Humin Hopes" gives a rich, rounded picture of immigrant life in the 1850s and thereafter, with some remarkable photographs. Its donor, Elaine Goggin, is herself a descendant of one of the passengers.

Those interested in the quarantine station may also like to read about the voyage of the Minerva, and its horrific spell in quarantine in 1838. A detailed article by George and Shelagh Champion, The Ship Minerva in Quarantine, has just been made available on the Library website under the Local Studies - Historical Articles page, and is recommended as a graphic portrayal of the struggles of dedicated medical men against officialdom.

Fact-sheets

The Local Studies content of the Manly Council website continues to develop. The latest pages to be added are a series of fact-sheets on buildings, organisations and individuals from Manly's past. There are around 40 fact-sheets to view or download, and it is hoped to add more in the course of the next few months. they should prove to be useful for school students looking for quick information on particular topics, such as the history of the Spit Bridge, or for researchers wanting to know a bit more about a location or a building. if you have any ideas for a fact-sheet you would like to see added to the list, drop me an email. Check out the list at http://www.manly.nsw.gov.au/Page.asp?z=2&c=64&p=750

Manly songs

The Sydney Folklore Project of the Australian Maritime Museum recorded dozens of songs which mention Sydney Harbour places. This parody number laments a visit to Manly:

TO MANLY (AND OTHER PLACES)
I went down to Manly one day,
Feeling happy and feeling gay:
A dip in the briny I thought was nice—
I have paid for it—once or twice.
Had a cheap bath, but I didn't go far,
Round by some rocks my clothes went ta-ta,
I had to go home wrapped up in the Star,
So I'll never go there any more.
Chorus. To Manly! To Manly! .
The next time I bathe I will pay my fare,
At Manly! At Manly!
So I'll never go there any more.

First film of Manly

September 1896 saw the arrival in Sydney of the first Lumiere agent, Marius Sestier, who held the sole franchise for Lumiere equipment in Australia. H Walter Barnett was his Australian business manager.

Sestier and Barnett opened Australia’s first auditorium devoted entirely to the showing of films. Their “Salon Lumiere”, as it was called, opened 28 September 1896, at 237 Pitt Street, Sydney. At first it showed films shot in Paris the previous year.

By the end of October Sestier and Barnett decided to put their camera-printer-projector to more practical use. In late September and early October they filmed experimental footage around the shores of Sydney Harbour. This was the first motion picture film to be exposed in Australia. The material was made up into several shorts, each of around sixty feet. The most successful of these, Passengers Alighting from Ferry Brighton at Manly, showed people leaving the ferry and walking along Manly Pier. Exhibition was delayed until after Sestier had filmed the 1896 Melbourne Cup, and it was then shown as a supporting feature at showings at the Criterion Theatre and then in December 1896, 478 George Street, Sydney. However, it is not known if any copies of this pioneering footage survive.

First Fleet Records

New on the Manly Local Studies website are the first two monographs from the series of First Fleet Records compiled by local historians George and Shelagh Champion. Mr and Mrs Champion have given us permission to reproduce their research on the website for the benefit of other historians, and we hope to add further monographs from the series in the course of 2006. These records cover Arthur Phillip's first three days exploring in Port Jackson in january 1788, and Hunter and Bradley's survey of the lower part of the Harbour.You can download the articles from the Manly Council website at http://www.manly.nsw.gov.au/page.asp?z=2&c=64&p=697

Cracking Awaba

Cracking Awaba - Stories of Mosman and the Northern Beaches during the Depression
This new book draws on seventy-two oral histories about life in Manly, Mosman, Pittwater and Warringah during the Depression of the 1930s.

By combining extracts of these interviews with an evocative selection of photographs of the period, author Paula Hamilton has provided a wonderful glimpse of the landscape, culture and community spirit that existed in these suburbs during a particularly difficult time in Australia’s history.

The curious title comes from an interview with Mosman boy Harley O’Regan who as a lad attempted to ride a billycart down Mosman’s very steep Awaba Street. Harley and his mates called this ride an attempt to “crack Awaba”.

This innovative project was made possible by a Library Development Grant from the Library Council of New South Wales to the Manly, Mosman, Pittwater and Warringah Libraries.
Cracking Awaba is available for $12.00 from Manly Library.

Greeting

Welcome to the Manly Local Studies weblog. I hope to use this space to share information about the history of Manly, NSW; to keep you informed of what we are currently researching; and to pick your brains about stuff that is puzzling us.

This year, we're going to be busy compiling fact-sheets on a number of historical topics, which you'll be able to download from the Manly Council website. Feel free to point out any mistakes!

This year also sees celebrations to mark the Centenary of Seaforth, which was first laid out by the developer Henry Halloran in 1906, so any memories of Seaforth will be particularly welcome. We are on the look-out for old photographs of Seaforth, which may be used in a commemorative booklet, so let us know if you have any.

John MacRitchie, Local Studies Librarian, Manly Library

Happy New Year 2006

Please click on this link for posts from January 2006 and later:

http://mmvii.blogspot.com/