From the President, Bruce Smith What's On Following sold-out shows last September BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL! IN MEMORIAM Sadly, Member DON NEIL passed away peacefully on 3 February, aged 83 years. Don's grandfather, Arthur Smith, a Boer War veteran, owned Beaconsfield Farm opposite the Thornlands dance hall. In the early 1900s, he operated the Horse Drawn Mill which is on display at the Museum next to the Blacksmiths shop. Don spoke of his memories of the Wirraways colliding during World War Two. For many years, Don worked at Moore's Garage, Redland Bay, servicing farm machinery. Don's funeral was private. He will be remembered by many. Collision of Two Wirraways 13 February is a memorable date in Redland's history. On this day in 1942 two No.23 Squadron Wirraway aircraft collided in mid-air over the Ormiston/Thornlands area. Debris from the aircraft fell over the local school and cemetery and onto the shores of Moreton Bay. One Wirraway ended up near the Cleveland cemetery and the other in a nearby park. The young men flying these aircraft took off from Archerfield Airfield to practice air fighting tactics over the lower end of Moreton Bay which No.23 Squadron used for tactical training exercises. Sadly, the young men lost their lives. Four other Wirraways were taking part in the exercise. They trained in pairs. At the time of the incident, one was at Jacobs Wells and the other was out to sea off South Stradbroke Island. In 1995, a memorial was installed at the Cleveland Cemetery and was followed, on 24 March 2000, by a plaque showing the names of the four men. The plaque was funded by Federal Member for Bowman, Con Sciacca, and Redland Shire Council supported by Mayor Eddie Santagiuliana. Redland Museum has a connection to this incident through volunteer Bob Gray, whose uncle was SGT Frank Pledge. In the past, Bob has lent the Museum Sgt Pledge's flying helmet and other memorabilia. Courtesy of No.23 Squadron - "While these young men never saw action, their loss of life was a consequence of training for the defence of Australia and was a tragic loss to the RAAF and their families and retains the dedicatory respect of the people of our Nation and are now perpetually embodied in the 'esprit' of our No. 23 Squadron's Battle Honours." explore and learn at Redland Museum Reindeers and Financial Reports Training Day 2021 By Paul Ledington, Volunteer This is THE major lesson that emerged loudly from our volunteer/member training day at the Redland Museum on the 20 February. There were many other excellent presentations in the day covering a wide range of the technical aspects of the Museum’s operations and management, but it was the reindeer speaking a mixture of Chipmunk and Klingon at 1000 KPH that created the fun but serious, modest but highest quality vibe for the day. A triumph! Above: Debbie Spearritt as Betty the Reindeer We learned about labelling items in the collection from an expert rocket engineer, about health and safety from a maritime fireman with a Father Christmas habit, and that Roger the Elf is alive and well in Cleveland. We covered technicalities of the new e-mail/Office system, the progress in managing the digitisation of the Museum’s photograph collection, and what the financial reports actually mean (ho ho ho!), and so much more. Yet it was perhaps the fascinating stories that emerged from our collective research activities that illuminated why our efforts are so relevant and intriguing. Bev Shields told the story of a recent student intern whose efforts produced the Sailing South exhibition plus research outcomes and a new exhibit providing insight into the life of a local American war bride during, and after, the Second World War. Unfortunately the student could not attend but her comments were presented by one of the new volunteers present. Amazingly, that new volunteer turned out to be the student’s mum who has become inspired to become part of the Museum through her daughter’s efforts. Finally, Rick described significant research work on the women’s land army in the Redlands that the Museum has undertaken and the high level recognition that the work has achieved. We also experienced the outstanding expertise of the event management and catering teams, activities that operated to the published timetable and presentations plus supporting technology that simply worked. It was overall a very successful day led, with his usual cool, low key style, by the President. I do however have to declare my interests. I’m a relatively new volunteer who now enjoys himself by walking around with a camera in his hand taking photographs of the amazing Museum that I am privileged to be part of. In over 30 years of corporate life I attended many such meetings and training/development days. They were of course so interesting that when I reached an appropriate level I had it written into my employment contract that I no longer had to attend such days. Yet I now think that the Museum should run such days at regular intervals and charge people lots of money to attend. It was great value for money. However it was that pesky reindeer that really caught my imagination! Theatre Redland, a theatre company integrated into the Museum, is a recent, highly creative, major innovation by the Museum. It is already a prize-winning innovation that has developed new dramatic ideas, new staging methods involving the Museum and its collection and new responses to the COVID-19 situation. It also developed the Reindeer, the ghostly washerwoman, and Roger the Elf. The 2021 training/development day showed us that there is so, so much more to the Redland Museum than you would imagine. High quality activities, high quality outcomes, interesting participants and an irate Reindeer that can reduce a room to uncontrollable laughter. There is so much more to our Redland Museum than you would imagine, perhaps you should find out for yourself! Vive La Reindeer! Special guest presenter was Dr Robert Mason, Senior Lecturer School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences at Griffith University. Dr Mason is a cultural historian, whose research focuses on social memories and heritage connected with violence, displacement, and difficult pasts. His research rests on archival records and oral testimonies. His workshop explored why small museums might conduct oral histories and how they should go about this. Thank you to the organisers, presenters, caterers and participants who made the day memorable. First Aid and CPR Training On 25 February, volunteers learned about First Aid and CPR under instruction from Shane Urban (far left), Surf Lifesaving Queensland. Participants say the course was excellent and a day well spent. We can feel safe in their capable hands! excite your imagination at Redland Museum Education The Museum’s Education Program provides the opportunity for students to learn how a successful museum operates, and about the history of the Redlands district, to appreciate social changes, to understand cultural differences and environmental challenges. Teachers bring groups of school children to the Museum for guided or self-guided tours that meet curriculum requirements. For those who are not able to experience the Museum first-hand, the Museum offers School Curriculum Kits for loan. We currently have four kits available: Communications, Milk and Cream, Toys, and World War II conflict – for high school writing stimulus. Each kit contains, teacher’s notes on the history of the artefact or industry, student activities, labels for the artefacts, generic worksheet templates, and support materials which might include specific worksheets relevant to an appropriate primary or secondary level, relevant photographs, six prompt question cards, and gloves. The Museum has gained an excellent reputation for providing an informative and interesting program for Year 10, 11 and 12 work experience students thanks to the efforts of volunteer Sandra Davis and others. Sandra, a former teacher, has been guiding students in this regard for the past 15 years. Participants focus on achieving a number of work experience goals which include performing specific delegated tasks, learning new skills, working within a team and communicating with others. More recently, Bev Shields has been leading the charge in offering Museum internships - short term structured work experience usually for students to gain exposure to a particular industry or field. Interns have specific learning goals and spend time working on relevant research and practical projects, making industry connections, and acquiring new skills.
An Intern's Journey by Sarah Vanden Berg My name is Sarah Vanden Berg and I am currently a third-year university student at the University of Queensland studying a Bachelor of Arts with an extended major in ancient history. I was able to complete an internship with the Redland Museum as part of my course during the University’s Summer Semester. During this internship I was given the opportunity to develop display cabinets for the Sailing South exhibition and a display cabinet based on my own research. This display cabinet developed from my research depicted the life of Shirley Nella Watts, a Redland War Bride who travelled to the United States. This was a fascinating task for me to complete as I was able to conduct extensive research on Shirley using genealogy skills I have developed from researching my own family. The other display cabinets were designed to match the Sailing South exhibition. I created these display cabinets using items found in collections and textiles as well as books from the library. During my time at the Redland Museum, I worked with Ross and the collections team to develop a procedure document on how to uniformly and correctly label items in collections. I also assisted in the creation of the labelling kit that is to be used by volunteers. Throughout this experience I also worked with Liz in the library where I learnt how to catalogue books by applying spine labels and completing eHive records. I really enjoyed my time at the Redland Museum and look forward to returning as a volunteer. Photos by Sandra Davis escape to a different world at Redland Museum A Change of Currency Do you know what happened on 14 February 55 years ago? Do you remember this song, to the tune of Click Goes the Shears? In come the dollars and in come the cents, to replace the pounds and the shillings and the pence, Be prepared folks when the coins begin to mix, on the fourteenth of February 1966. It was "Changeover Day" or "C-Day" when Australia converted from the British based monetary system of pounds, shillings and pence to decimal currency. Decimalisation gave Australia the opportunity to create a currency that reflected how the Nation saw itself. Then Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, wanted to call the currency "The Royal" but this was not popular. The "dollar" was more acceptable to the public. The original currency included one and two cents pieces made mainly of copper. These were withdrawn from circulation in 1992. Many of them were melted down and turned into bronze medals for the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. A cartoon character, Dollar Bill, was created in advertising to raise awareness and knowledge of the new currency. Our currency has changed over the years. The first indigenous Australians used a barter system with tools, ochres, shells and other items. Early European settlers used a varied collection of international coins, tokens and promissory notes while soldiers participated in the rum trade. In 1813, Governor Lachlan Macquarie bought 40,000 Spanish dollars (pieces of eight) and punched a hole in the middle of them creating a currency - the holey dollar - that stayed within the colony. The part punched out was called a "dump", had "New South Wales 1813" one side and "Fifteen pence" on the reverse. In the 1820s, Britain provided an adequate supply of coins and legislated for these to be the only recognized currency. The holey dollar was eventually withdrawn in 1829. Australia created and produced its own currency in 1910 based on the imperial British monetary system of pounds shillings and pence, introducing silver coins (florins, shillings, sixpences and threepences) with King Edward VII on one side. The following year Australia circulated bronze pennies and half-pennies. In 1913, the first series of Australian notes was issued. See "The Story of Money in Australia" at the Museum.. a fascinating look at how our money has changed. Click the icon above to access our Facebook page! Follow us on Instagram and share with the younger (or the young at heart) members of your family and friends. The editors, Sharon Vassallo and Sylvia McGarry, will endeavour to provide you with articles about items in our Collection and historical facts on the Redlands. But we would like to hear from members. What would you like for inclusion? Do you have a story to tell? The newsletter will continue to be sent at the end of each month (except for December which maybe earlier). Editors can be contacted at recollections@redlandmuseum.org.au |