Monthly Archives: July 2011 Back

Oxley Library Connection to Early Works

Posted on 29 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

Recently, Brisbane resident, Sylvia Hodgson contacted the John Oxley Library seeking confirmation on works of fiction written by her great-grandfather – Alfred Bernie Bell. She was delighted to find that there are indeed works written by this author.

Since contacting us, Sylvia has visited over four weekends to read the content in these small journals published here in Brisbane.

The works include :- The pioneers (1893) RBJ A823.2 bel ; Wild rocket and The diamond of Glen Rock : Australian tales (1894) RBJ A823.2 bel ; Australian camp fire tales (1894) RBJ A828 bel ; Oscar : a romance of Australia and New Caledonia (1894) RBJ A823.2 bel.

“My grandmother Georgina Hodgson (nee Bell) had always said her father had written a book, but my father, Gordon ( Georgina’s only son) never believed her. He said she used to ‘romance on’. It is just as well that I, the curious daughter, decided to ‘Google’ my great-grandfather’s name. To my immense delight, not only is there one book but four, and that’s how I came to contact the John Oxley Library!”

Sylvia tells us that Alfred Bernie Bell was born in Melbourne in 1851, and came to Queensland in the 1870’s.

“Alfred’s father Joseph was an early Victorian pioneer. Bernie married in 1876 in Rockhampton – he was a drover at this stage, hence the story The Australian Camp Fire Tales. There are verses by some famous poets at the commencement of most chapters in The Pioneers, but one in particular in Camp Fire Tales that I think Bernie wrote himself. I personally like to write poetry and it’s nice to know that one of my ancestors did too”.

A search for Alfred Bernie Bell in the Brisbane Courier Mail provides a little more intrigue. In 1939, the columnist of ‘Brisbane Diary’ asks of his readers.

“This is what comes of lifting the curtains of yesterday. Several weeks ago I mentioned in the Diary that Alfred Bernie Bell, a well known man about town in the nineties, had given in ‘The Diamond of Glen Rock’ a native legend about the light that is said to be occasionally seen in a mountain near Esk.

The paragraph was read by an eminent book collector in Sydney and he is now seeking information about the author. He was able to get a copv of the book, but knows nothing of the writer. And he has me feeling like a small boy in an examination room with no knowledge of his subject. I know the books of Alfred Bernie Bell, but know little about him except that he used to contribute to the old Brisbane Courier. So I am depending upon my friends, who have come to my assistance many times, depending on them to tell me something that I can pass on to the Sydney collector and at the same time to the Oxley Memorial Library”. The Courier-Mail, 25 August 1939, Pg 6

It appears that the author of ‘Brisbane Diary’ received many letters from his readers, his next column stating:-

“to mention the names of all who have written to me about Mr Bell would change this paragraph into a kind of catalogue.”

Alfred’s stories were often published as Bush Yarns in The Courier Mail. The aboriginal legend referred to as The Diamond of Glen’s Rock was published with another short story, Wild Rocket.

For more information about the books, readers are encouraged to contact the Oxley Library on 3840 7880 or check the One Search catalogue for holdings on Alfred Bernie Bell.

Anne Scheu

Library Technician – Australian Library of Art

Margaret Olley 1923 – 2011

Posted on 27 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

Margaret Olley (1923-2011) who passed away on 26 July, was one of Australia’s best known and well-loved painters. Born in Lismore in 1923 she attended high school in Brisbane at Somerville House where she was taught by Caroline Barker, and later attended Brisbane Central Technical College and East Sydney Technical College. Best known for her still life paintings, a major retrospective of her work was held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1997.

She was twice the subject of the winning portrait in the Archibald Prize, the first in 1948 by William Dobell and this year by Ben Quilty. She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1991 and a Companion in 2006, for both her painting and her philanthropy of the arts.

Margaret Olley’s life is thoroughly documented in the Australian Library of Art with catalogues and posters of her exhibitions, books on her life and work and programmes for theatrical programmes for which she painted the scenery. Ten solo exhibitions of her work and thirteen group exhibitions were held at the Johnstone Galley in Brisbane and her career is documented through the records of the Gallery which are held by the Australian Library of Art. They include exhibition catalogues, photographs, exhibition reviews, newsclippings and other records.

These and other items can be located via our One Search Catalogue.

On 25 January 2010 State Library of Queensland recorded an interview between Margaret Olley and Peter Underhill, available here.

Helen Cole

Librarian – Australian Library of Art

Fiesta Colombiana

Posted on 27 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

On Saturday 23rd July the Colombian community of Brisbane gathered at Kangaroo Point in the grounds of the historic Yungaba Immigration Depot to celebrate their food and culture. Colombian Independence Day occurs on 20 July every year making the week leading up to Saturday’s celebration a very important one for Colombians around the world.

In the beautiful sunshine there was an assortment of delicious cuisine to be sampled by the crowd and cultural displays of latin music and dance from the various regions of Colombia.

The census of 2006 recorded 5710 Colombian born people in Australia with 1040 living in Queensland.

Simon Farley

Manager, Client Services – John Oxley Library

The Work of L. J. Harvey and his school

Posted on 26 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

Lewis Jarvis Harvey (1871–1949) was born at Wantage, in Berkshire, England on 16 June 1871, the second son of the six children born to Enos James Harvey (an iron moulder and engineer) and his wife Elizabeth (nee Jarvis). His family came to Brisbane in 1874 and he attended the Kangaroo Point State School and began his work life as a telegraph messenger.

L. J Harvey was an important practitioner and teacher in the arts and crafts movement in Queensland and a figure of national significance. Harvey was an accomplished artist, carver, ceramist and sculptor, as well as the inspiration of the largest school of Art Pottery in Australia.

He studied art at the Brisbane Technical College, from about 1887 under the direction of Joseph Augustine Clarke. In 1915 he designed a new system for teaching pottery. He experimented with glazes and used local clays to fashion the pots he created and decorated them using Australian motifs.

He had a fondness for Renaissance Classical revival traditions which sometimes resulted in over decorated formal pieces. Harvey excelled as a wood-carver and had wide local impact on furniture design and manufacture. In 1888-90 Harvey won first and special prizes for carved wood panels in competitions restricted to apprentices.

In 1938 Harvey opened an applied art school in Adelaide Street, Brisbane and taught a wide range of people and was associated with the most significant Queensland artists of his day. Daisy Nosworthy and Florence Bland are just two students who began studying pottery with L.J. Harvey at the Central Technical College in the 1920’s. The College exhibited the students work at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, London. Below are samples of the work produced by the students of the Harvey School.

The State Library of Queensland holds material about Australian Art and Pottery, some titles include those about Harvey’s work such as: L. J. Harvey and his Times, L. J. Harvey and his School, as well as ephemeral material which includes articles, biographical information and exhibition catalogues. These can be found in the Australian Library of Art collection.

Janette Whitehead

Library Technician – John Oxley Library

A Passion for Life and Love: Queensland author of romance fiction, Helen Bianchin, tells her story

Posted on 25 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

Prolific Queensland author, Helen Bianchin, has been publishing romance novels since 1975. She has 60 novels to her credit and according to WorldCat Identities, has had them published in 27 languages, with 16,603 of those held in various Australian and overseas libraries. That, in anyone’s dictionary, spells ‘SUCCESS’.

Helen has provided many thousands of hours of enjoyment to readers around the world with her stories, but what is her story? Who is the person behind this incredible body of work? Here are some of the questions I asked Helen and her responses:

What is your writer’s statement? (What does writing mean to you? How does it improve your life? Why do you do it?)
To entertain the reader with a believable story, which hopefully will touch the hearts of many.
From early childhood I wove stories in my mind about imaginary friends, eventually pencilling short stories into an exercise book. An avid reader across several genres I delved into romantic fiction as a teenager, loved it so much it led to my initial foray into serious writing during the early 1970s. I have been published for thirty-six years, consequently creating characters and telling their story is so much a part of my life which I continue to find both fascinating and fulfilling.

Do you use any other noms de plume?
I did consider using a derivative of my maiden name prior to acceptance of my first book. However the publisher chose to use my married name.

How long have you been a writer?
My first serious attempt at writing a novel began in 1973, which following two rewrites, was formally accepted in September 1974 and published in June 1975.

How did you feel when you received that first letter from the publisher saying they wanted to publish your manuscript? What were the circumstances?
Disbelief! Amazement, pleasure … A sense of achievement! I was alone at home at the time, my husband was on a fishing trip, my two eldest children were in school and the youngest at Kindergarten – so my first phone call was to the friend who’d encouraged me to write a book. It took a while for the news to sink in, and became a reality when the contract for that book and a further two books arrived in the mail.

How do you research your novels?
The Australian-based books are mostly set in places I’ve personally visited, with the exception of Bedarra Island. Books set elsewhere, e.g. Italy, Greece, Spain etc require extensive research acquired from DK Travel Guides, travel DVDs and the Internet.

How did you come to write romances?
I wrote letters to a dear friend in New Zealand about my adventures as an Italian tobacco sharefarmer’s wife whilst living in Mareeba. Letters filled with cooking for workers, living in very basic sharefarmers’ quarters, the feeding chickens (and the killing, cleaning and preparing of same for the table). My friend encouraged me to write a book … Which I did, although being a Mills & Boon romance, the hero owned the farm, the house modern with every modern amenity for its time. There was an electric stove, a washing machine etc – (not a temperamental wood-fired range and initially washing done by hand, and water that had to be heated!)

What writers have influenced you?
So many writers have influenced me across several genres. Within the romance genre, too many to name … A few in no particular order – Georgette Heyer, Laura Kinsale, Lisa Kleypas, Nora Roberts, Linda Howard Debbie Macomber, Anne Gracie, Anna Campbell.

Are you a member of any writers organisations?
Yes, Romance Writers of America; Novelists Inc; Romance Writers of Australia; Romance Writers of New Zealand, The Authors Guild.

What is your advice to aspiring romance writers?
Love what you do, attitude is everything, and never never give up.

You are such a prolific writer – how do you stay focussed? Arrange your day’s timetable to write? … Basically be so productive?
I’m a slow writer, known to rewrite my first chapter several times – thirty, at one count! And I plot – extensively, a process I call my prep work. I’m fortunate in being able to visualize the characters, the background, together with an almost auditory sense of dialogue. A little like a movie in technicolour running through my head. If it doesn’t play out to my satisfaction, I rewrite until it does. For me, remaining focussed requires quiet time and few if no interruptions. I prefer to do my creative writing in the mornings, and rewrite the day’s work in the evening. I have a grown family and six grandchildren who all live within a 15-km radius, and I regard family time as an important part of life.

Do you have any other interesting stories you would like to share?
Arriving in Alice Springs during a six month tour of Australia and needing to check in with the local police before continuing to Ayers Rock. The time was mid 1961, the road between Alice Springs (immediately after the township itself) and Ayers Rock was all unsealed road (more of a track than a road) marked with white posts quarter of a mile apart. In some instances a post would be missing, and consequently quite easy to veer off onto one of a few tracks leading to a remote cattle station. There was only one tin shed enroute with a petrol pump two thirds of the way past Alice Springs. In those days traffic between Alice and Ayers Rock was rare, and there had been instances of vehicle breakdown, the driver and/or passenger walking off into the desert in the hope of seeking help, becoming dehydrated and an isolated death. Hence it was advised for any travellers driving that route to check in with the police at Alice Springs, who radio-ed the ranger at Ayers Rock that a vehicle was travelling that route, registration noted, the trip involved 2 days minimum driving, advice not to drive after dusk, and the time allowed was 4 days maximum – if the expected vehicle hadn’t arrived by the 4th day, the ranger notified the police in Alice Springs and a search party was despatched. We were fortunate, we had a sturdy vehicle, water bags on the front bumper and extra water stored on the roof-rack, Jerry-cans of petrol, and of course – a map! Remember those were the days before mobile phones …

Are you working on your next novel now? If so can you give us a ‘sneak tempter’?
Yes, the prep work is complete, the first two chapters in place. No working title as yet. A brief synopsis follows:
Alexei (hero) was employed by Natalya’s (heroine) father who owned a very successful electronics firm. Alexei and Natalya had an affair, her father ran interference, sacked Alexei and blacklisted him with every electronics firm in Australia, hence Alexei’s decision to return to America, where he surpassed his own expectations in the electronics field, invented a widget which was adopted worldwide. Global downturn, ill-advised decisions sent Natalya’s father’s firm to the wall, and the story begins with Alexei’s successful takeover bid for her father’s firm – Alexei is back, successful beyond measure, and seeking revenge. Yet nothing is as it seems. Alexei’s scrutiny of Natalya’s father’s business affairs reveal siphoning of company funds and tax evasion, together with leading a double life via a mistress in London and another in Paris. Information which if made public would destroy her father’s life and shatter her mother. Leverage which Alexei doesn’t hesitate to use in providing Natalya with no choice but to work for him as his PA. The sensual chemistry between Alexei and Natalya remains, no matter how they each attempt to deny it. Neither were aware messages sent to each other at the time Alexei’s employment with her father was abruptly terminated never reached them. The truth eventually surfaces, and they realise Natalya’s father had stopped at nothing to keep them apart – a fact which changes their preconceived and erroneous perception of their relationship, and consequently their emotional journey – their future. Of course, as in romantic fiction, love conquers all …

As State Library’s Queensland Authors Librarian, I am always interested in our authors’ connection with Queensland. When I spoke to Helen she told me her travels have included most of the length and breadth of Australia, initially arriving in Queensland via the Northern Territory to Townsville, travelling north to Cairns before settling in Mareeba for five years. After which her parents’ ill health meant her return to New Zealand for several years, before she moved back to Queensland in 1981 to settle permanently on the Gold Coast. Places she has visited in Queensland range from the Qld/NSW border to Cooktown, Cairns, Green Island, Port Douglas and Brisbane. Helen’s very first novel was set in Mareeba. To date this is the list of her novels that feature places in Queensland – in order of date of publication:

The Willing Heart features the tobacco farming community of Mareeba in Far North Queensland (1975)
The Hills of Home features the sugar cane farming community of Mossman in Far North Queensland
The Savage Touch features the tobacco farming community of Mareeba (FN Qld)
Wildfire Encounter is set in Brisbane
Yesterday’s Shadow is set on the Gold Coast
Bitter Encore is set on the Gold Coast
The Tiger’s Lair is set in Brisbane
Reluctant Captive is partly set in Port Douglas
The Bridal Bed is set on Bedarra Island in North Queensland
Mistress by Arrangement is set on the Gold Coast
The Marriage Deal is set on the Gold Coast
The Husband Assignment is set on the Gold Coast
The Pregnancy Proposal is set in Brisbane
A Christmas Marriage Ultimatum (a novella set on Sovereign Islands, Gold Coast
His Pregnancy Ultimatum is set in Brisbane and the Gold Coast
The Marriage Possession is set on the Gold Coast
Public Marriage, Private Secrets is set on the Gold Coast

(To discover more novels, songs and poems that feature Queensland places click on this link to State Library’s Literature Map of Queensland.)

State Library supports Queensland authors of imaginative writing by collecting all domestic and foreign editions of their published novels, play scripts, books of poetry and song lyrics. We hold 257 of Helen’s novels, so to all you romance fiction enthusiasts and researchers – happy reading and researching!

Dr Leanne Day
Queensland Authors Librarian

Ernie Lane: The Making of a Queensland Rebel

Posted on 22 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

In this month’s Out of the Port session, 2010 John Oxley Library Fellow, Brisbane author and historian, Dr Jeff Rickertt presented his findings on journalist Ernest Henry Lane, one of Queensland’s early labour movement pioneers. Dr Rickertt is presently working on a political biography of Ernie Lane.

Ernie Lane in later life. Photograph courtesy of Iris Lane.

Born in Bristol England in 1868 to a poor working class conservative family with a hard drinking father, Ernie followed his dreams of a better life to Australia, only to be met by the hard realities colonial Queensland. Although Ernie came to Australia in 1884 a bible carrying traditionalist, he had a propensity for rebellion and became a passionate opponent of the wage earning system (wherein people had become to quote Shelley, “scarce living pulleys of a wage machine”) and a thorn in the side of the Labor Party moderates. Unlike many before him Ernie remained “a dangerous believer in pipe dreams and a splendid example to the youth of the Labor party.”

According to Jeff, Ernie’s greatest influences were poverty, migration, work and the constant voices of those around him. Those voices included his brother William Lane founder of Cosme, the breakaway utopian colony established in Paraguay, political idealists Marx and Engels, William Morris, Francis Adams and poet Percy Bysshe Shelley…Shelley was memorably described by Jeff as the “Bob Dylan and Rage Against the Machine of his generation” and the importance of literature and particularly poetry for idealistic socialists in the nineteenth century was foregrounded.

Ernie started as a grocer’s assistant and earned a pittance. He later became an A.W.U. delegate and a political journalist writing for The Daily Standard and The Daily Mail. His political activism in a time of positive change made it easy for him to believe in the strength of collectivism. He was buoyed by the success of early activism such as the Brisbane painters who stuck by their demands for restricted hours and higher wages. Lane became disillusioned with the Labor Party he helped to found but remained optimistic with the workers’ movement.

The audience listened intently to the presentation and many questions followed. The talk included a description of the influence of political and social events in Brisbane as well as internationally (such as the “Haymarket Affair”) on the development of this Queensland rebel.

Thanks to Jeff for his lecture, the fruits of many hours of research carried out in the John Oxley Library during his Fellowship and indeed in other libraries and archives around Australia.

Join us on Wednesday 24 after the August Exhibition holiday for our next talk by Trish Fielding. Trish will explore how people once lived in Townsville’s main street in “Beating Heart: exploring the role of the main street in the life of a regional Queensland City”. Trish Fielding works for CityLibraries Townsville and her first book Flinders Street, Townsville: A Pictorial History was awarded a High Commendation at the National Trust of Queensland Awards in 2010.

Out of the Port free lunchtime talks are held from 12.30 – 1.30 and are presented once a month by the State Library’s John Oxley Library and the Department of Environment and Resource Management.

Jeff’s Out of the Port presentation, as well as previous talks, are available on the State Library’s website as webcasts for those who were unable to attend on the day.

Karen Hind

Librarian, John Oxley Library

Tom McDonald – Aviation Pioneer

Posted on 19 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

Bundaberg had Bert Hinkler but Cairns had its own aviation hero in Tom McDonald who opened the way for aviation in north Queensland. Tom was born in Rockhampton but moved to Cairns in 1923. A jewellery shop owner, Tom McDonald used planes to overcome the poor transport routes from North to the South where he bought his jewellery stock.

Tom bought a Gypsy Moth from QANTAS, although there was no official airport to land it in at Cairns so he landed it on a runway he made from ashes from the gas works and laid a 100 yard runway on a saltpan, now the site of the current Cairns airport. In 1936 he formed the company North Queensland Airways with Puss Moths, Dragons and Rapides. He founded the first commercial flights between Cairns and Townsville and Cairns and Cooktown and the post office used his services to transport airmail between the centres.

Although initially a transport service operator Tom Mcdonald soon became known for his daring exploits in rescue operations in his plane in the 1930s. He answered calls for help from people in isolated parts of North Queensland and other parts of the state when there were no real roads, saving countless lives in mercy dashes, flying in terrible conditions and landing on beaches, paddocks and any other makeshift airstrip he could find.

Modest about his heroic exploits he said “ I am more or less used to bad flying weather in the north”. The Tom McDonald air race was held in 1976 for the Cairns centenary and a memorial was erected at the Cairns airport in recognition of his bravery and contribution to aviation.

Information on Tom McDonald can be found in the John Oxley Library newspaper clippings files, Picture Queensland and on Trove digitised newspaper database.

I found this information on Tom McDonald whilst answering a query for a client about him.

Karen Hind

Librarian, John Oxley Library

Cycling in Queensland

Posted on 18 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

France is of course world renowned for its famous Tour de France with cyclists competing from all over the world including Brisbane rider Robbie McEwen who has riden in 11 Tours and of course the 2011 Australian winner of the great race Cadel Evans

Queensland also has an active cycling history of its own…

The first shipment of tricycles arrived in Brisbane in 1870 and the first race is reported to have been between a cyclist and a Cobb and Co coach from Brisbane to Sandgate. No official timing was recorded.

The initial Brisbane Bicycle Club meeting was held in 1881 at the Belle Vue Hotel. High wheel bicycles including the Penny Farthing were the only bikes available and novelty Penny Farthing races were held in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens where more riders fell off than stayed on. By 1886 Brisbane had 200 bicycles and 50 of these were used for racing.

The Safety bicycle most like the bicycle we know today, was introduced into Australia in 1891 and cycling clubs boomed in the 1890s with the Brisbane Cyclist published for members in 1890. Tandem pacing, record breaking, century runs, cyclist versus runner and motor pacing were all features of the early years of cycling.

The first Queensland championship was held at the Breakfast Creek Sports Ground in 1891 and was won by Lou Isles. Isles also rode long distance, riding from Brisbane to Sydney in 1891 a 700 mile trek which he completed in 7 days. Imported bicycles cost £30 although local bicycles could be bought for two pound ten. Successful Queensland riders of the day included Ben Goodsen, Billy Dowd and Percy Davies.

In 1895 a record of 1 hour 2 minutes and 10 seconds was set by George Stombaco for a 34 kilometre race over rough dirt roads from Brisbane and Cleveland. That same year, The League of Queensland Wheelmen held a Christmas Carnival with over 8000 attendees. Brisbane wasn’t the only town with a club as Maryborough, Townsville, Ipswich and Rockhampton also had successful clubs.

Karen Hind

Librarian, John Oxley Library

WE ARE RED!!!!

Posted on 15 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

It has been sixteen years since Queensland won the Super Rugby competition held between all of the major clubs from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Last Saturday – we did it! Those supporters who still had a voice by the end of the match would tell you the atmosphere in the stadium was electric!

… and he’s OV-ER!! Claire Wharton and her father, Geoff Wharton (above) were part of the capacity crowd who cheered the St George Reds (Qld) to victory over the Canterbury Crusaders (NZ) last Saturday evening.

Thanks to Geoff Wharton, the John Oxley Library can add Super 15 Rugby memorabilia to its ephemera collection. Items he has donated include:

Semi-final Super 15 Rugby game ticket, Suncorp Stadium, 2 July 2011.
Semi-final Super 15 Rugby Programme, Suncorp Stadium, 2 July 2011.
Final Super 15 Rugby Game Ticket, Suncorp Stadium, 9 July 2011.
Final Super 15 Rugby Game Programme, Suncorp Stadium, 9 July 2011.
Supporter’s banner used at final (pictured below)

Geoff and his brother, Dick Wharton, flash the Reds banner. Organisers distributed these banners throughout the stands for supporters to display during the match and keep as mementos. This one is part of the donation Geoff made to the John Oxley Library. It is the survival of these so-called ‘throw away’ items that give later generations a glimpse of how things were done ‘way back then’.

Whether it is a ‘how to vote’ flyer, an invitation, a restaurant menu or a footy banner, these pieces of memorabilia are prized by heritage collections like the John Oxley Library where we make them available for researchers today and in the future. Thank you Geoff for thinking of us!!

Dr Leanne Day

Queensland Authors Librarian

A whirlwind visit to the John Oxley

Posted on 13 Jul 2011| by JOL Admin |

The John Oxley Library hosted a quick visit by England-based historian James Holland and producer/director Aaron Young. They were in Brisbane to film a section for an upcoming documentary on the Dam Busters. The two men previously worked together on the documentary Battle of Britain: The Real Story, screened on the BBC. On this visit, Holland and Young were particularly interested in the Charles Rolland Williams Papers held in the Library.

Charles Roland Williams was born in 1909 at Torrens Creek, Queensland. He joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1941 and commenced training on 3 Feb 1941. He left for England on 16 Oct of the same year. He commenced as a Pilot Officer in No. 61 Squadron on 22 Sep 1941 and as a Flying Officer in No. 617 Squadron on 22 Mar 1942. C.R. Williams was Wireless Operator in the crew of the Lancaster Bomber, E for Edward, when it crashed during a bombing raid on the Mohne Dam in Germany on 16 May 1943. He was to have been married the following week to Gwendoline (Bobbie) Parfitt, a secretary at NAAFI in Nottingham, England.

The collection includes heart-wrenching letters from Willams to his fiancee and material kept by his family in Australia.

Gavin Bannerman – Manager, Original Materials – Queensland Memory