John Oxley Library staff member Dianne Byrne visited Pialba last Saturday to meet a very special donor. He is Mr John Bingham 95, author and artist who for many years has been a popular resident of the Fraser Coast.

“Jack” Bingham served with the RAAF during World War Two and was captured by the Japanese in Batavia (Dutch East Indies). He was imprisoned in Changi and sent to work on the Burma Railway. The story of his time as a POW and his courageous escape is recounted in his book My Life (2008).

Now in retirement after a long career as an engineer John Bingham devotes his time to producing vivid and expressive landscape paintings. Two of these have been generously donated to the John Oxley Library by their creator and the Library is honoured to accept them. They are full of the great charm, good spirits and love of life of the extraordinary man who made them.

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In the midst of the John Oxley Library’s White Gloves Tour to Longreach last weekend a special detour was made to Barcaldine to coincide with Sunday’s Community Cabinet meeting. 

A feature item of this year’s White Gloves Tours has been the Manifesto of the Labour Party to the People of Queensland, 1892. Recently added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register the Manifesto is a very special document, particularly in relation to the central west where the modern day Australian Labor Party had its origins.

On Sunday evening the Manifesto was displayed under the Tree of Knowledge monument and generated a great deal of interest from those who had gathered for the open air BBQ dinner with Premier Anna Bligh and members of her cabinet.

Folklore has it that the Manifesto was read publicly under the Tree of Knowledge in Barcaldine some time after the shearers’ strike of 1891.

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On Saturday 31 October the John Oxley Library White Gloves Tour continued to Longreach. As the sun went down on a beautiful outback afternoon the Oxley’s treasures were displayed in the charming interior of the Stockman’s Hall of Fame, R.M. Williams Cottage. Adjacent to the cottage 150 locals were gathered for the latest At Our Table banquet held in the Cattlemen’s Bar and Grill.

On the following Monday afternoon locals made their way to the Longreach Library where they donned the white gloves and examined the John Oxley Library materials on display. These included a range of items relating to the central west including fascinating letters from Aramac Station written in 1889, a scrapbook kept by John Howe, son of the famous shearer Jackie Howe, the first QANTAS Log Book from 1921, and Queensland’s earliest known handwritten journal of recipes and remedies from 1866.

Thanks to Carmen from the Longreach Library and the hospitality and interest shown by the people of Longreach. Thankyou also to those who shared their stories and donated materials to the John Oxley Library collection during this fantastic White Gloves Tour to the Central West.

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We’ve just finished installing the latest Treasures Wall exhibition on Level 4 – Meriba Gidhal: Torres Strait Island Treasures of the Margaret Lawrie Collection.  The install is the culmination of many months of preparation, and it is very satisfying to finally see all the collection and loan items up on display. 

 ”Amipuru” by Ephraim Bani, 1967.  Call No: TR 1791/349

Exhibition installation can be an exhausting few days – climbing in and out of the wall; carrying table-tops and fitting mounts;  getting artworks hanging in just the right spot; adjusting lights; stretching and bending and squeezing in to small spaces! But at the end of the day it is lovely to look back on what you’ve done and see the transformation of an empty space in to a colourful display.  It’s one of the highlights of our job.

For the Exhibitions Conservation team, the preparation of items for Meriba Gidhal has primarily involved mounting and framing the watercolour paintings and pencil drawings, and preparing the loan items for mounts. For every item there are photographs taken and condition reports written, mount assessments done and light levels established. Behind the scenes has been a flurry of activity. We breathe a sigh of relief that everything has been safely installed, and we now begin work on the next one!

 Watercolour by Kala Waia.  Call No: TR 1791/345

 The exhibition opens tonight and will be on display until February 28, 2010.  Enjoy!

 Rhiannon Walker - Exhibitions Conservator

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Throughout 2009, the John Oxley Library has been celebrating its 75 years of existence with a range of programs and events to mark this significant milestone. It has also been a time to reflect on the value of the collection and those who have contributed to its growth. 

It is thanks to the generosity of donors that many of our remarkable collection items are available to researchers in the John Oxley Library Reading Room.

In September, a special morning tea, organised by the Queensland Library Foundation, was held in the State Library of Queensland’s boardroom. The Governor-General, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC and Mr Michael Bryce AM AE joined the State Librarian, Ms Lea Giles-Peters, and her staff to thank the many donors in attendance for their wonderful contributions to the John Oxley Library.

Among the valued guests present were Mrs Joyce Hewitt, who had donated a diary written by Ms Lucy Adams whilst on voyage from Ipswich to England in 1866 and a letter from the bushranger James Macpherson, written from Brisbane Gaol in 1869. Mrs Hewitt’s Great-Great Uncle was the turnkey at Brisbane Gaol at that time.

Well known former Brisbane TV personality, Mr Hugh Cornish, also enjoyed the event. Hugh donated his entire archive to the John Oxley Library and this provides a great insight into his personal and public life.

Hugh is seen pictured above with Ms Shirley Lahey, who has donated artworks, papers, and awards belonging to her aunt, the famous artist Vida Lahey.

We are always interested in collecting materials that document Queensland’s unique history, so if you have something tucked away under a bed, or at the back of a cupboard, please consider the benefit to future generations of donating these precious items to the State Library of Queensland. 

Contact the Heritage Collections Unit on 38407880 for more information.

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A two hour presentation on Irish records filled the State Library’s auditorium 2 to capacity this morning, proving once again that there are more than a few sons and daughters of Erin in our midst with a passion for tracing their family history.

Senior Family History Librarian Stephanie Ryan covered the range of materials available to researchers including maps, directories, county records, books, indexes, reports and online resources such as Ask about Ireland.

Interesting insights into the historical context of Irish immigration to Australia were provided and key documents were considered such as Griffith’s valuation of Ireland 1848-1864 and reports on the potato famine of the 1840s, including the Devon Commission: Report from Her majesty’s Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of the Law and Practice in respect of the Occupation of Land in Ireland: with minutes of evidence, supplements, appndices and index, 1845.

The State Library’s Family History Unit has a guide titled Resources for Irish history: a select list available onsite and a range of other useful information guides available via the State Library of Queensland’s website.

Thanks to Stephanie for her entertaining, informative talk and to all who attended.

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Two local studies librarians, Jamie Treble from Logan City Council Libraries and Kyla Stephan from Gold Coast City Council Libraries recently took part in the Storylines - Q150 digital story workshops.

Jamie has told an evocative story about the floods that passed through Logan in 2008. Kyla shares the tale about Southport’s World War I digger memorial and all the places he has been stationed. For more information about the project and other stories that people have made, visit the Storylines website.

On 18 September local studies librarians and staff from the John Oxley Library attended the South-East Queensland local studies librarians meeting. During the meeting, attendees discussed the multitude of interesting projects they’re involved in. Below are just two examples.

 Southport’s Digger, by Kyla Stephan

 Let the rivers run, by Jamie Treble

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  Steve Irwin, 2009 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame inductee

Eleven new digital stories are now online as part of the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. These stories celebrate, record and retell the history of outstanding Queensland business leaders, leading businesses and their contribution to Queensland.

Terri Irwin talks about the life of her husband and his lasting legacy; Frank Burnett of Castlemaine Perkins tells the story about well-known character “Mr Fourex” and Sister Angela Mary, Queenslander of the Year in 1989, reflects on her time as Chief Executive of the Mater Hospitals. There are stories on many other businesses and business leaders, including QANTAS, Clem Jones, Don Argus, Bob Bryan, Burns Philp, Jim Kennedy, Joe Saragossi, John and Valmai Pidgeon.

View all the stories via Queensland Stories website

These stories are available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommerical - No Derivative Works license.

These stories were created as part of a joint partnership between the State Library of Queensland, QUT’s Faculty of Business and the Queensland Library Foundation.

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In 2009 Australia Post launched a fantastic project called Letters of a Nation to mark its 200th anniversary. This  project aims to form an archive of some of the more interesting letters delivered by posties throughout this period. A book will be compiled later in the year.

Members of the public and major archives and libraries around the country have been asked to contribute their best letters for the project and these are available through a searchable online database:

https://200years.auspost.com.au/html/loan/archive/ 

 Dame Nellie Melba photographed outside the Gresham Hotel, Brisbane, ca. 1909. neg 36747

If you do a search on the database you will discover two letters contributed by the State Library of Queensland. One is written by a young Nellie Armstrong (Dame Nellie Melba) to her singing teacher, Signor Cecchi, in 1883:

https://200years.auspost.com.au/html/loan/archive/view_detail/1172

 Bert Hinkler alighting from his plane, 1928. neg 65644

The other is by Bert Hinkler in London to his parents in Bundaberg written in 1919 which details his plans to fly his ”Sopwith Dove” from England to Australia.

https://200years.auspost.com.au/html/loan/archive/view_detail/1177

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The collection on display in the John Oxley reading room on level 4 is only a small percentage of our total collections.  The State Library building at South Bank has repositories containing around 24 km of shelving.  You can order items from this Closed Access collection, and view them in the reading rooms.  Orders can be placed through our OneSearch catalogue or ask our staff to help you find what you want.

        Views of the South Bank repository

From Monday to Friday, requests submitted before half past the hour are delivered on the next hour when the library is open.  Did you know that we keep your requests for you for 3 days?  This means you can plan your visit to the library, and order in advance.

Changes in delivery times on weekends

On weekends there will be fewer delivery times, starting from 3rd October.
The new delivery times:
11am (order by 10.30am)
12 noon (order by 11:30am)
2pm (order by 1:30pm)
3pm (order by 2:30pm)

To avoid having to wait for a delivery, simply order ahead!  Orders for the weekend can be placed as early as Thursday. This will ensure that the items you want are available for you over the weekend.

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