Table of contents for Edition 5 in Traces

The end of 2018 marks the first anniversary of Traces’s first release. Fast-forwad 12 months and I still love sharing a little more about Australia’s past with each edition. In Traces Volume 5, our cover story by Richard James shines a light on Australia’s little-known war with France (page 50). We also investigate the incarceration of Victoria’s ‘lunatics’ and the ‘criminally insane’, with fascinating insights by Jill Giese and Jacqui Sanders (page 22 and 38). On page 10, historian and author Dr Doug Morrissey butts heads with the Kelly Network in two special opinion pieces on the mythos of Ned Kelly. Was he simply a thug and criminal, or were his motives more altruistic? Have a read and make up your own mind. On page 26, you’ll find my firsthand…

Kelly was truly a legend in his own lifetime – and he knew it. Many people have a very particular idea in their head of Ned Kelly. He’s either a ruthless cop killer and thief, or a poor country boy turned freedom fighter. Like all good outlaw legends, he died early. He was not quite 26 years old – young, handsome, loyal and defiant – when he was hanged in Melbourne in 1880, a glamorous rogue, and a canvas upon which people could project their fears and desires, which is as true now as it was then. The story of Ned Kelly stokes in many modern Australians the idea of the ‘Aussie battler’, creating a touchstone for people who feel like underdogs, whether or not their situation is comparable. Kelly…

Traces: Your book features many great tragedies, especially over the war years, and reading the story of Vivian Bullwinkel and her fellow nurses who suffered at the hands of the Japanese soldiers was terribly sad. What other stories of heroism inspired you? Deborah Burrowes: I was inspired by so many of the stories I discovered. I especially appreciated those that emphasised the competence, ingenuity and self-reliance of Australian nurses. One example is from 1915; a small group of Australian nurses was deposited on a bare hillside on the Greek island of Lemnos. They arrived before the hospital tents, equipment and supplies, but still had to care for hundreds of desperately wounded soldiers from nearby Gallipoli. There was insufficient fresh water and for weeks, they treated their patients in the open,…

My great-great-grandfather, Stephen Neate Dark, came to Australia from Wiltshire, England, as a 25-year-old passenger on the barque Bengal in 1840. He was a qualified flour miller and soon found employment in the settlement of Liverpool, New South Wales. He married Eliza Whiteman (who arrived in Liverpool with her parents in 1837 from Sussex) in 1841 and in December of that year, their first child, Catherine Emily, was born in Sydney. Shortly after that, the family moved to the Hunter Valley of New South Wales where Stephen was employed to run water-powered flour mills. By 1848, the family was established in Dungog on the Williams River, where Stephen was a storekeeper, miller and produce agent. In 1854, Stephen purchased a steam-powered mill in Clarencetown and two years later built an…

It was the era of ‘Vichy France’, a murky and mostly forgotten period following the French surrender. When the Germans occupied Paris, a conservative – borderline fascist – French puppet government sympathetic to the Nazis was installed at the spa town of Vichy. The new administration controlled the various armies spread across the French empire: North Africa, Indochina and the Levant. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, was worried that Syria and Lebanon would be handed on a platter to the Germans. He ordered an Allied force, headed by the Australian 7th Division, to wrest the territory away from Vichy France. These young Australian troops assembled in British Palestine, nervous and untested in warfare, about to fire their first ever shots in anger… against the French. In the popular consciousness,…

Dear Editor, Thank you for your magazine; I’m enjoying all the Australian content. The story ‘Finding your Anzac’ had a lot of great tips; however, one of the best sources is missing. The AIF Project by University of Canberra gives basic information on each soldier [aif.adfa.edu.au]. You can search under name, regimental number and address (address is really helpful for researching your area). The information is easily printable and is being updated all the time. The Proserpine Historical Museum researched our World War I men with the assistance of some Year 9 students. They found the AIF Project and thus we found men we didn’t have, but should have. Lyn Burke Dear Editor, Love your magazines. My husband gives me a subscription for Christmas every year. I was interested to…

Were your ancestors affected by the Spanish flu pandemic? Like much family history research, it can be hard to uncover relevant records and the answers they provide may be questionable. Death certificates for the relevant period (1918–1920) are obvious resources, with a few caveats; in Spanish flu, the actual cause of death was often secondary bacterial pneumonia, and this may be what is recorded. Sometimes, the Spanish flu may have caused death by aggravating a pre-existing condition. Even when mortality is recorded as ‘influenza’, it may signify normal seasonal, rather than pandemic, influenza. The pandemic was, of course, very newsworthy. When local citizens were struck down, recovered or died, or were involved in providing medical services or were somehow otherwise impacted by the pandemic, it was often reported. So, the…

As we boarded the Air New Zealand flight to Norfolk Island on a Friday morning, my partner and I chatted about Marcus Clarke’s fictional convict classic, For the Term of His Natural Life. In it, Clarke describes Norfolk Island as a ‘dreadful place… set apart for all that is hideous and vile in our common nature… it realises to my mind the popular notion of Hell.’ Disembarking at Norfolk Island’s tiny airport, we discovered the island was nothing like the one encountered by Clarke – Norfolk Island is wild and remote, with a mild climate, a startlingly turquoise ocean, red-rock cliffs and impossibly huge pine trees, and green landscapes to rival the Irish countryside. Yet, against this idyllic backdrop, a dark and fascinating chapter of history played out. We were…

The most useful sources are found in local archives or museums or records held at your state library or records office. And a good tip is to do a name search in the National Library’s Trove digitised newspapers site (www.trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper). In addition: • Trade and post office directories, digitised in each state, contain lists of nurses and are available online through state libraries.• Noelene Kyle’s website, www.writingfamilyhistory.com.au, includes a free index of more than 600 midwives and their private hospitals on the mid north coast of New South Wales between 1900 and the 1940s.• The Australian Nursing and Midwifery History Project, hosted by the Department of Nursing at the University of Melbourne, collects historically important nursing and midwifery resources, accessible at www.anmhp.unimelb.edu.au• Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association records, 1899–1976, include the…

All the newspapers I refer to in this article can be found in the State Library of Victoria archives. Copies of archives are also kept at Friends of J Ward in Ararat, Victoria (www.jward.ararat.net.au). Aside from Trove, some other resources I have found useful include: • Family History Centre, State Library of Victoria: www.slv.vic.gov.au/explore/familyhistory-resources• Genealogical Society of Victoria: www.gsv.org.au• Family History Connections (formerly known as Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies): www.familyhistoryconnections.org.au• Public Records Office Victoria (PROV): www.prov.vic.gov.au• Ballarat Mechanics’ Institute (Newspaper Collection): ballaratmi.org.au/heritage/newspaper-collection• Ararat & District Historical Society (via MyAncestors.com.au): www.myancestors.com.au• The Ararat Advertiser: www.araratadvertiser.com.au• The National Archives of Australia (NAA) RecordSearch: recordsearch.naa.gov.au…

Tess Chodan’s creative vision was sparked when she stumbled upon her first antique collection of moths (which dated back to 1910 and was perfectly preserved). She left her career as a dealer in antique furniture and has since been pursuing her passion for antique entomology collections through her art. Traces: Tess, you create unique and beautiful artworks that feature antique insects. Tell us a little about your process and vision. Tess Chodan: I have created a varied series of artworks using my own precious butterflies, moths and beetles over the past few years, and I spend a huge amount of time scouring this vast continent for the best specimens I can find! I have struck gold a few times recently, in particular with a beautiful Edwardian collection of tropical butterflies…

Bennelong’s burial site to be preserved The burial site of Woollarawarre Bennelong will be preserved after the New South Wales Government announced in November that it has purchased the Sydney property on which it sits: 25 Watson Street, Putney. Bennelong was a mediator between Indigenous people and the first European settlers. New South Wales Housing Minister Anthony Roberts says that Bennelong was one of Australia’s greatest leaders and early ambassadors. Bennelong volunteered for a journey to England with his nephew, and had many high-profile friends during his life, including James Squire, the brewer. When Bennelong died in 1813, Squire buried his friend in an area within his orchard. A committee that includes members from the local Aboriginal community is now discussing the site’s future. Archaeologists discover Cook’s Endeavour Australian and…

It seems there is no escaping Ned Kelly and his sordid tale of bushranging and murder. The Victorian Government recently pledged one million dollars of taxpayers’ money to restore, and develop as a tourist hub, Kelly’s birthplace at Beveridge. A vacant block of land at Glenrowan, the site of Ann Jones’ pub where Kelly made his last stand against the police, entered the news recently when it went up for sale. The Beveridge home, a site on the Ned Kelly tourist trail, marks the innocent beginning of a notorious life, while the Glenrowan landmark is a tourist destination that celebrates the scene of planned mass murder. Former prime minister Gough Whitlam’s childhood home was recently demolished without government funding or any official effort made to preserve it. The irony is…

Kristyn, tell us about the Diploma of Family History at UTAS. The diploma suits anyone with an interest in exploring their family’s past, plus those who work in a library, archive, or other institution where people seek help to find information about their ancestors. Some of our students have researched their family history for decades, yet are amazed by how much more they have learned. Others are newcomers to family history and to university study. Staff and students work together to foster an environment that supports everyone’s learning. One of the wonderful aspects of our diploma is its accessibility. Students study eight units and geography is no barrier to participating. With trillions of records available online, and more being added daily, we make use of these wonderful resources by delivering…

Harold ‘Pompey’ Elliott (1878–1931) was Australia’s most famous fighting general in World War I. A charismatic, controversial and highly successful commander, he embodied exceptional intellect, authenticity and resolve. An accomplished tactician and astonishingly brave, he was renowned for never sending anyone anywhere he was not prepared to go himself. A fierce disciplinarian with an explosive temper, he was exuberant, wholehearted and utterly dedicated. Elliott identified himself with the formations he commanded and with the men he led. He formed a strong bond with them and cared deeply about what happened to them. Four men in his 7th AIF Battalion were awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous gallantry at Lone Pine (Gallipoli), and at the Western Front no-one was more pivotal than Pompey Elliott at iconic Australian successes, such as Polygon…