Table of contents for Mar-Apr 2016 in Traces

It’s no secret that, here at Inside History, we’re big fans of libraries, museums and other cultural institutions around the country. All kinds of treasures from our history abound in their collections — physical and digital alike. But how do these all-important institutions connect with new audiences in today’s increasingly digital world? Check out an illuminating project from the State Library of South Australia on page 28, and turn to page 44 to learn how the South Australian Migration Museum piques the interest of tomorrow’s historians: children! For those of you who already have the history bug (you’re in good company here), don’t miss the fascinating encounter between two Aussie icons, Ernestine Hill and Daisy Bates. See page 48 for more. In time for Anzac Day, we share two very…

• The UK National Archives catalogue is online. This includes War Office records (WO files), mainly on officers, as well as unit war diaries and records of passenger ship embarkations and arrivals. Not all records are digitised, so a visit or a local researcher may be required. Visit nationalarchives.gov.uk • Ancestry can provide the UK Census up to 1911, as well as birth, marriage and death records. Visit ancestry.com.au • The Commonwealth War Grave Commission has searchable records of graves and memorials. Some biographic details, such as next of kin, may be given. Visit cwgc.org • The Great War Forum brings together knowledgeable and helpful enthusiasts who love a challenge and often have access to honour rolls, books of remembrance and so on, and will do ‘look-ups’. Visit 1914-1918.invisionzone.com…

ONCE AGAIN, Ernestine Hill was spending her days in Central Australia, collecting notes for the book on the Australian interior that she planned to call The Great Australian Loneliness. First, she celebrated Christmas and New Year with her family in Alice Springs, the town that would be her base for the next three months. Alice Brown, the doctor’s wife, was a good friend and Ernestine always found it a pleasure see her. Alice could ride and shoot as capably as any man, and tell a good yarn, too. She had moved from the Alice to Katherine with her husband the year before, but she came down to spend a few days with Ernestine during the Christmas holidays. The two met at the ice-cream parlour to catch up on the latest…

21 — ‘...The convict is then to be supplied with his cell badge, by the number of which he is only to be addressed and referred to while in the new prison. No convict must ever be called by his name.’ 64 — ‘The convicts, upon no pretence whatsoever, are to attempt holding any communication with each other, either by words or signs, and must never read aloud, sing, whistle, dance or make any other noise in their cells, exercise yards, corridors or chapel. The convicts are only to be addressed by the number of their cells, and no man must ever use his name in communicating with the officers placed over him.’ 70 — ‘Before the convicts leave their cells, they are invariably to draw down their cap-peaks, and…

Shauna Hicks “Ask our Experts”, page 20 My great grandmother’s brother, Denis Patrick Finn, who enlisted in September 1915. He had only just turned 17. He joined the 52nd Battalion and was wounded in France in 1916. His army dossier contains a copy of a postcard he sent to his older sister Sarah Jane Jewsbury. Denis said he was ‘getting on very well and my wound is nearly better’. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his 18th birthday while recovering from wounds in a German POW camp. My thoughts will be with that young boy who so bravely enlisted all those years ago. Tracey Parnis “Shining a light on the past”, page 28 In my thoughts this Anzac Day are the men and women of Australia who have and…

Theatre company Bell Shakespeare is celebrating this year’s 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death with a production of Romeo and Juliet. Set and costume designer Anna Cordingley takes us behind the scenes. How did you get into theatre set and costume design? My father had studied opera singing and worked briefly as an opera singer, so we grew up with a love of theatre. It was very much in my blood, and it’s all I ever wanted to do. As as soon as I finished school, I toddled off to the VCA (Victorian College of the Arts). I went there when I was 17 and did an undergrad degree in set and theatre design, and have always worked in it since then — very luckily! Recently you designed the costumes for…

Living in Port Free; iOS compatible Take a selfguided walking tour around Port Adelaide’s historic precincts with this informative app by the South Australian Maritime Museum. Building on the Museum’s popular ‘Living in Port’ exhibition, this app encompasses streets, wharves and major landmarks alike, contrasting their modern-day appearance with historic photographs. Read stories of daily life for Port Adelaide’s sailors, wharfies and other colourful locals, as well as notable events here — such as the foiled 1841 mutiny of Ville de Bordeaux. An Android version is also in the works. Sydney Harbour Islands Free; iOS and Android compatible Sydney Harbour Islands is the latest walking tour on the Dictionary of Sydney app. With its informative, interesting content, and referenced links to further reading, it lives up to its predecessors’ high…

IT IS unclear whether Sapper H Percy (HP) Cornell, of the 1st Field Company Engineers, knew that he, along with a small group of other Australian engineers, would be responsible for constructing the now iconic Pozières war monument and memorial to the 1st Australian Division. Less anticipated by HP and his fellow sappers must have been the moment when, during construction of the monument on that brutal Pozières battleground, they decided to place a time capsule in its base — a moment that held a family secret for nigh on 100 years. The existence of this time capsule and its contents were penned into his daily war record, along with sketches and photos of the building of the monument at Pozières. But also important in this diary is the wartime…

Where to stay • There are many hotels and motels around the Tasman Peninsula. We picked the Norfolk Bay Convict Station, a cosy B&B dating from 1838, for its unique historical links to Port Arthur. convictstation.com Tips for history lovers • Familiarise yourself with the site before arrival. portarthur.org.au/planner • Even if you nurture a healthy scepticism regarding ghost tours, the opportunity to see Port Arthur’s iconic structures at nightfall, and hear some of the folklore surrounding the site, make a ghost tour worth considering. • Other nearby convict history highlights include the Coal Mines Historic Site, and Eaglehawk Neck. • Port Arthur isn’t the only convict site to recently unearth its convict history: in January and February, an archaeological dig took place at Triabunna in eastern Tasmania. Stay tuned.…

RUTH JOYCE Townsend was born on 4 February 1909 in St Leonards, Sydney. She was the youngest of seven children born to Amelia Grace (née Elworthy) and Albert John Townsend and was the only one to go on to tertiary education. She graduated from the University of Sydney in 1931 with Honours and, after winning a Teachers’ College scholarship, a Diploma of Education. In March that year she was appointed to Cootamundra Intermediate High School to teach English and history. This photograph shows her in her Bachelor of Arts regalia, looking quietly proud and professional. Ruth was my mother. Achieving these results had not been easy. While attending school and university, she was also helping her parents in their “ham and beef” shop, where she served customers. Ruth married Charles…

ANCESTRY • Australia, Handbook and Almanac, 1886 • Australia, Pastoral Directories, 1913–54 • Fox’s History of Queensland • Ireland Census Search Forms, 1841; 1851 • Ireland, Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland Membership Registers, 1733–1923 • Ireland Gravestone Index, 1600–2012 • New South Wales, Bailliere’s Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1870 • Norfolk Bishop’s Transcripts, 1685–1941 • Northamptonshire Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1532–1812 • Northamptonshire Marriages, 1754–1912 • Port Stephens Area Cemeteries, 1845–2010 • Queensland, Bailliere’s Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1876 • South Australia, Bailliere’s Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1866 • Tasmania, Bailliere’s Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1877 • UK Police Gazettes, 1812–1902; 1921–27 • Victoria, Bailliere’s Gazetteer and Road Guide, 1879 • Victoria, Outward Passenger Index, 1852–1915 • Western Australia Railway Records, 1872–1949 Visit ancestry.com.au FINDMYPAST • Britain Knights of…

WHEN WAR came in August 1914, few Australians hesitated to fight for distant Britain. Some did not wait for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) to embark, but sailed eagerly for the Front instead. With a six-week sea passage, this was no sudden whim but a commitment to a common cause. One such willing soldier was Sydney Burdekin, of Macquarie Street in the city whose name he bore. Having returned in 1912 to his native Australia after seven years in England, he chose to go back and fight with the British. Burdekin was born into a notable Sydney family. His grandfather Thomas Burdekin arrived in 1828, opened a branch of Burdekins & Hawley, Ironmongers and General Merchants, and built a fortune from finance and land deals in New South Wales. As…