NEWSLETTERMAY, 2017 Number 19

MACLEAY RIVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY

2016 was an eventful year with our success in grantsand other awards. In January, I was awarded aCertificate of Recognition as part of the Australia DayAwards Nominations. In May, I received an AustralianGovernment Volunteer Award by Federal Member ofParliament, Luke Hartsuyker. In August, Dianne Nolancompleted a week’s placement at New South WalesState Records developing her research managementskills, particularly in online resources; and alsodeveloping an understanding on how to managedocuments and other items. Dianne and the KempseyMuseum acknowledge the support of the NSWGovernment through Arts NSW and Museums &Galleries of NSW for her placement. In November,Noeline and Dianne were awarded a cultural grant of$500 from the 2016 Royal Australian Historical SocietyConference to complete a special edition of theMuseum’s journal in 2017. This project is supported byArt NSW’s Cultural Grants Program, a devolvedprogram administered by the Royal AustralianHistorical Society on behalf of the NSW Government.At the same Conference, I was presented with an RAHSCertificate of Achievement.

Waterways – Our Rivers Our History, a project we hadbeen involved in during the previous year won the 2016Museums and Galleries Award for permanentexhibitions project budget $20,000 to $150,000category.

Finally in December we learned we had been successfulin obtaining a Volunteer Initiated Museum (VIM) Grantfor the installation of shelving in our shed, and also aCommunity Building Partnership (CBP) Grant from theNSW Government to install security fencing around ourSettlers Cottage and shed complex. A big thank you toNoeline and other people who put a lot of work into thenominations and Grant Applications.

During the year, we carried on our volunteer training

and development by attending a workshop in GrantFunding.

Also during 2016, we were involved in what becameknown as the Ravenswood dig, and one of ourvolunteers, Leah Taylor, got the opportunity to workalongside professional archaeologists.

Garry Munday organised a bus trip for our HeritageWeek activity with Museums of the Nambucca Valleybeing visited.

We hosted visits to our Museum by Wauchope DistrictHistorical Society, Port Macquarie Uniting Church andPort Macquarie Probus, and did presentations toKempsey Probus and Cedar Place. A Childrens Fun Daywas organised by Lee Hoinville in October and was agreat success.

Involving the wider community, we participated in theDifferent Kettle of Fish Photographic Exhibition heldby the South West Rocks Arts Council in January, alsoa display at the Kempsey Flood Workshop held at theBelmore River Hall by State Emergency services.Richard Mohr assisted in setting up a display of

President’s Annual Report

CONTENTSPresident’s Annual Report 1Research Annual Report 2Photography Annual Report 2Museum Annual Report 3President’s Report 3Research Report 3Photography Report 4Museum Report 5Remembering Moira Hodgson 5Miriam Kebby Once had a Bus House by the Sea 6Exploring our Collection 7Our Affiliations 8Office Bearers 8

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MRHS Newsletter May, 2017

photographs of the Trial Bay internment camp period atthe Trial Bay. We also had a stall at the Macleay RiverFestival and ran a History Tent with the help ofKempsey Shire Council where we showed historicalfilms about the Macleay.

We received an excellent write up on the M&G NSWwebsite entitled “Five Things that make KempseyMuseum kid cool”. The things were Moving Models,Taxidermy, Machines, Sound and People (Lee’seducational game of matching the rats). CatherineTimbrell wrote “It sheds light on the appeal and successof regional museums that some of their city cousinscould learn from”. In the same week, a letter appearedin the Argus “Kempsey Museum heaped with praise” rethe St Joseph’s school visit saying what a greateducational resource we were in Kempsey. It confirmsmy belief that we are one of the best Museums inregional NSW.

Thanks to all our volunteers for their efforts and also toour patrons Liz, Geraldine and Terry for their support.

Phil LeePresident

We were fortunate in having donated to us electroniccopies of the complete set of Dawn and New Dawnmagazine covering the years 1952-1975. The magazinescovered many aspects of Aboriginal History includingmany articles on the Macleay River area. The files areinstalled on our shared drive and are accessible from allcomputers

We are currently trialling Ancestry.com with a view togetting a permanent subscription for the Society.Initially it will be used by researchers only but may beextended to allow access to members.

The compactus we had donated by retiring Doctor PeterHatton holds twenty-four metres of research files andhas made them much easier to locate and access.

Nearly 140 separate research requests were received andhandled by the Research Section during the past year.Research requests included a number of requests forstreet naming from Kempsey Shire Council and aprivate developer.

Dianne NolanResearch manager

Research Annual Report

The year began sadly with the passing of long timemember Billie Crawford. She was a special friend whois deeply missed. We also said farewell to Cecil(Ghandi) Chapman who passed on in September 2016.He was a kind, quiet man, generous with his knowledgeand assistance to the Society. Debbie and Judy won’tforget the “Christmas concerts”, when Cecil arrivedunannounced with a variety of instruments and playedChristmas Carols - for an audience of two or three.

As we reflect on the year that has passed, it is time tosay “thank you” to so many people who help us in manyways.

Peter Lovedee is proving himself time and time again.He is our backstop, checking our photo files andcatalogue and marrying any errors and discrepancies hefinds. It is a thankless job but Peter does it well. Thankyou Peter.

Val Miles has been a part of our department for yearsby attending to the photographs published twice a weekin the Macleay Argus. We never see her but she reliablykeeps us before the public with her efforts. Thanks againVal. And Richard Mohr attends to our photo orders andkeeps that side of the museum satisfied. ThanksRichard.

Former Kempsey resident, Roger Wilson, contacted usconcerning the remarkable collection of photographs hedonated in 2015. He had given us a number of pagesfrom an album concerning Kempsey and the Macleayin c.1893 and planned on donating the remainingphotographs to another museum. On reflection, Rogerand his wife Maureen decided that rather than split thealbum, it should all be donated to the KempseyMuseum. Roger and his wife duly arrived and thepresentation was made. Now we know where some ofthe buildings we had only read about, really were. It issuch a fantastic collection.

Debbie’s first love is the Angus McNeil Collection. Sheis still as passionate now as she was when she firststarted scanning glass negatives in 2001. In April 2016we were excited about passing the 50,000 mark for allphotographs we had catalogued and ended the year witha total of 56,371 - of them 26,624 were Angus McNeil’sglass negatives. That’s a lot of glass negatives. ThanksDebbie. This would not have happened without yourdedication.

Photography Annual Report

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MRHS Newsletter May, 2017

We had been considering building a replica of the

Dondingalong Methodist Church at our Museum

site for some time. At the March General Meeting,

it was resolved that we proceed with this providing

suitable grant funding can be obtained for the bulk

of the cost. The replica should fit on our land on

the southern side of the storage shed without

obtaining further Lands Department extension of

our part of the Park. The Church would be

protected by the new security fence and be used for

Museum display and also for functions such as

services, weddings etc. The Church contents could

then be moved into it, freeing up our storage space.

A pioneer village was originally proposed in

addition to our Museum and the church could be

the first step towards this. We have received a

substantial donation towards the construction of the

replica and can commence fund raising once a

Development Approval has been obtained.

We have also received funds from the Everson

family for republication of the Everson family

history. The book is to be reprinted with the

original information, only changes would be for

errors and omissions. No new generations are being

added.

The Angus McNeil exhibition at the Slim Dusty

Centre during February and March was very

successful, bringing in much needed revenue in

entry fees and photographic sales. We are

encouraged to put in for a grant to frame more

prints for another exhibition.

We hope that 2017 will be a good year for us and welook forward to what lies ahead. It should see the lastglass negative scanned and catalogued. It will be quitea day when that happens. Perhaps celebrations will bein order.

Judy WatersPhotographic Department

During 2016 we safeguarded our digital records byinstalling a Network Attached Storage (NAS) system.Our critical data is continually backed up on two harddrives while there is a third hard drive which can betaken offsite for further security. Data included isphotographs, family file indexes, electronic copies ofall of our Journals, and some books from our library.The NAS also means databases can be shared overseveral computer terminals allowing more volunteers towork on the same programmes. The Library andArtefacts database can now be accessed from allcomputer terminals including the computer in the publicarea.

Our Student Volunteer programme has again beensuccessful, in 2016 we attracted more young volunteersworking in filing, artefact cataloguing, digisation of rarebooks and arranging presentations. A procedural manualhas been developed and we have had interest from otherMuseums and Associations on what we are doing evenfrom the National Library of Australia.

We continued to accept donated items during the yearfor our collection despite our space rapidly being usedup. We received more archives from the Macleay Argusincluding news files, photographs and documents; abound copy of Picturesque Atlas of Australasiapublished in 1886, plus several volumes ofsupplements; a Buttinski (Telecom test phone); 1890barber’s chair; a collection of around eighty Aboriginalstone tools collected on the Macleay during the early1960’s; a collection of old dolls formerly belonging toBev Rangi; and a collection of rare cigarette cards andpost cards

We also received many self published family history

books for our library plus purchased other books to fill

gaps in our collection. The fit out of our Library (in the

Shed) was completed at the beginning of the year

enabling us to empty boxes of books to put onto shelves.

Museum Annual Report

President’s Report

Research Report

The research inquiries and requests for the three monthswere many and varied and on one day in April, eightwere received. Requests were as follows:Family names: Dyson, Fitzpatrick, Macklin, Chambers,Chapman; Wilkinson; Johnson; Whittaker; Waters,Slattery; Weeks; Kerr; Flanagan; Reeves and Jacky.Locations: Boat Harbour/Mariaville, 34 BelgraveStreet.; Dungay Creek; Hickeys Creek; Mungay Creek;Beranghi Street; Trial Bay Gaol; and North Street.Topics: Local Aboriginal stories; Antimony mining;Rifle Club; German Internees; 1988 murder; Gravelocations; Border Police; and Native Police.

MRHS Newsletter May, 2017

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Photography ReportThe new Research Form is now in use and is mucheasier to complete by the public compared to the oldertwo sided form. There will probably be need to makesome minor changes in the future.

We were fortunate in having donated to uselectronic copies of the complete set of Dawn andNew Dawn magazine covering the years 1952-1975. The magazines covered many aspects ofAboriginal History including many articles on theMacleay River area. The files are installed on ourshared drive and are accessible from all computers

We are currently trialling Ancestry.com with a viewto getting a permanent subscription for the Society.

Debbie, Noeline and Phil attended the Royal AustralianHistorical Society workshop on researching LandRecords at Wauchope on 18 March and found it veryinformative. They learned which records could still beaccessed free from the Lands and Property Informationwebsite, and which ones had to be purchased throughbrokers. The prices charged by brokers are not asexpensive as first thought. So even after all the changes,we may still be able to carry out property research.

Jonathan Gooding, Warwick Fairfax Professor of CelticStudies at Sydney University, called in during April tosee what we had on his great grandfather HubertMacklin, Kempsey’s first Town Clerk. He copied someof his research for us including a paper he is writing onthe Gaelic inscription on Hubert’s tomb in WestKempsey Cemetery. He believes the monument is oneof the most remarkable Gaelic commemorations inAustralia and has come up with a plausible translationof its meaning.

We were successful in using our new found propertysearching skills to work on a research request for aproperty at Crescent Head. We came up with copies ofthe original deeds for the enquirer with lists oftransactions showing that the property at one stagebelonged to Hugh Keneally, storekeeper.

Following the sale of Land Records by the NSWGovernment, the future of researching land records atreasonable cost is now in doubt.

We welcome Carol Smallman and Ken Brown tothe research Team.

Dianne NolanMRHS Research Manager

We were delighted to receive a telephone call fromWendy (Harriott) Smith who was looking for apermanent home for a beautiful bridesmaid’s frockworn by one of the Gamack girls at her sister’s weddingin the 1950’s. We were to find that it became traditionalfor the girls to swap their frocks around as the girlsmarried and became brides. They must have all beenmore or less the same size. The frocks were differentcolours but all beautifully made.

Wendy arrived at the museum with the treasured frockwhich her late mother had been keeping and we gladlyaccepted it. We happened to ask Wendy if she had aphotograph to go with it and she said “Of course” andpromised the photograph so we could scan and copy it.

We then asked, “Do you have any other photographs wecould scan and copy for our records?” and Debbie wasinvited to go and see what she wanted. With 3 cd’s, 2albums and a number of loose photographs, we lookedas though we could piece the Camack/Harriott familiestogether. Wendy’s mum was Nola Gamack, daughter ofRadford and Cora Gamack, a very historic familycoming down from Dr Alexander Gamack assistantColonial Surgeon on Norfolk Island from 1830 to 1836.He took up a selection at Rollands Plains and was wellknown on the Macleay. His grandson Radford was theMember for Raleigh from 1953 to 1959, succeeded byJim Brown.

We have now been given a plastic tub with even morephotographs to scan. There are probably close to 500photographs in the collection.

Ian Hodgson called at the museum recently and left withus an incredible collection of scanned photographs anddocuments relating to the Hodgson family. There are2,400 entries to catalogue and so they are in the pipelineat present. Ian has since been in touch and, with all theinformation he has given us, we were able to give himsome additional information we had received for acaption for one of our Hodgson photograph some timeago. Pretty amazing when you see what he has.

To date Debbie has scanned 27,711 glass negatives andthey are numbered and on the catalogue. We estimatethat there are about 3,000 glass negatives to beprocessed but we won’t really know how many untilthey are scanned and numbered. The total number ofimages in our photo catalogue is 57,149 which is prettyamazing.

Judy Waters

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MRHS Newsletter May, 2017

We were offered a 1:24 scale model of the originalKempsey Traffic Bridge which had been built by DMRapprentices. We are still negotiating to try to obtain this.

Material donated recently included a set of TheAustralian Encyclopedia, Irish family history books, abrass bed and the archives of the Girl Guides inKempsey.

We will trial selling merchandise from our Museum.We are starting with Kempsey Museum branded pensto be sold at $5.00 each.

We have an external contribution for this Newsletterfrom Helen McMaugh, these are always welcome. Thetheme of Peace in 1918 has been selected for our 2018MRHS Calendar.

We will be forming a committee to plan for theupcoming Kempsey Railway Centenary in November,anyone interested in contributing is asked to contact us.

Phil LeePresident

Museum Report

We welcome new volunteers who commenced this year,Carol who will join the research team on Wednesdays,Pamela is on Reception some Saturdays and Colin whois working in our Research Records area. We are nowin a position where we have some weekdays with novolunteer vacancies although weekends are still aproblem.

Now that the compactus has been moved into theRecords Room, work can begin on clearing the northwall of the storage shed ready for installing the shelvingwe received the Museum & Galleries NSW grant for.We are expecting NSW Government grant money tocome through shortly so we can commence our securityfence.

The Artefacts Database and Library database have nowbeen installed on our shared hard drive and can now beaccessed from all computers including the one in thepublic area. They are read only and can be accessed bythe general public and volunteers by logging in as“Guest”.

Moira Hodgson was a long time volunteer at theKempsey Museum. Moira retired some time agobecoming a resident of Autumn Lodge Macksvillewhere she passed way aged 94 on 4 April 2017. Along life with much to be celebrated by her lovingfamily, her many friendsand her fellow volunteers atthe Museum. Moira is remembered for thevaluable and substantial contribution she madeover many years to the Kempsey Museum.

Moira grew up on a cattle property on the centralhighlands of Queensland. Her mother, a Scottishlass, worked the property after Moira’s father diedin 1931. Moira was influenced by strong womenincluding her grandmother, a talentedneedlewoman, who taught her many of the arts andcrafts that Moira would bring with her andtransform the way in which women’s textiles wouldbe viewed, collected, recorded and valued at theMuseum.

It was Moira’s forethought and creative energy thathelped to further the building of the Museum’s

Remembering Moira Emma Hodgson

MRHS Newsletter May, 2017

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collection of women’s handicrafts. In November1995 Moira wrote to Rosemary Shepherd, Curatorof Lace at the Powerhouse Museum to ask if theKempsey Museum could borrow lace from theircollection to make a special feature in a plannedlace exhibition at Kempsey.

Moira had completed a 12 month distance learninglace making course with Rosemary and knew herwell and thus began an important initiative for thecollection of women’s work on the Macleay. Thesubsequent Lace Display proved a great successattracting visitors from overseas as well as from thelocal area. The collection now holds many significant pieces

WW11 loomed large during my time in the Guides. Ionce went with another Guide collecting canned foodin a billy cart in East Kempsey for food parcels for wartorn Britain. Guides and Sea Rangers marched on AnzacDay to East Kempsey war memorial.

The Guides went on hikes, church parades, and trainvisits to Wingham and Port Macquarie. A largecontingent of Guides and Sea Rangers went to Graftonin October l947 to meet Lady Baden Powell.

As an enthusiastic Guide I covered my arm in

.On a weekend in April, l948, I went with several SeaRangers for a weekend at Mrs. Kebby’s bus beachhouse, Crescent Head. As well as ‘Skipper’Kebby, myphotos show Judith Ireland, Joy Pike, Ellen (whosesurname I have forgotten), and me. I think MargaretDick was also there.

I can’t recall how we all fitted into the former bus, butpossibly it had bunks. We had a wonderful time andpractised first aid and Semaphore (flag signalling). Wewent surfing, paddling surf boards on the lake, and ona nature ramble. I enjoyed the camaraderie but it wasnostalgic, for in the following month I left Kempseypermanently.

The little bus house was a familiar part of CrescentHead scenery on King’s Bus weekend trips. The SeaRangers spent many sunny summer Sundays there andthe Boy Scouts must have loved Crescent too, judgingby my several group photos of Sea Rangers and Scouts.

I joined the Sea Rangers in l946, after about three yearsin the 1st Kempsey Girl Guides, Galah Patrol. I wasBosun, Starboard Watch, in Sea Rangers. As well as herorganisational skills with the Guides, Mrs. Kebby wasSea Rangers’ Skipper.

Guides and Sea Rangers met in the then Scout Hall onthe Verge Estate. I understand the hall was destroyed inthe l949 floods. My sisters Dawn, Alison and Carolwere also involved in the Guides or Sea Rangers, duringthe years 1938-l948. Alison was Guides’ Lieutenantfrom about l945-l948, with ‘Miffy’ Halliday

and the descriptions written for these can be readas a demonstration of the dedication, skill,knowledge and understanding Moira brought to thetask.

Moira was active in her community. She wrote forthe local paper and was a long time member of theMacleay Spinners and Weavers since its inceptionin 1974. Moira was also active in lacemakerorganisations promoting women’s handicrafts, apassion she carried with her all of her long life. TheKempsey Museum was lucky to have this amazingwoman as a colleague, friend and fellow volunteer.

Noeline Kyle

MIRIAM KEBBY ONCE HAD A BUS HOUSE BY THE SEA

Kempsey Sea Rangers 1946: Left to Right – Elaine Kelly,

Phyllis Everson, Mrs Kebby, Helen McMaugh

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proficiency badges, often neglecting High Schoolhomework. The Sea Rangers made their own macramélanyards, using eight different knots. I still have mineand Sea Rangers’ badge. Before padded envelopes, Itied parcels with string, using correct knots.

The Sea Rangers loved singing, marching and havingparties. Phyllis Everson’s father played the piano for usat one of our Scout Hall parties.

In today’s speedy electronic communication, it seemspointless now that we spent hours learning Semaphore.Likewise, in the Guides we learnt the once highlyimportant Morse Code.

Mrs Kebby’s leadership instilled survival techniques inGuides and Sea Rangers, and a spirit of self reliance.My friends Joy Pike and Shirley O’Leary, with whom Iam still in contact, would doubtless agree, as well as mysisters Dawn, Carol and Alison (the latter now deceased).

Working in large cities here and overseas, without

Frank Smith seated in jeep with other aircrew of 100

Squadron RAAF Beaufort Bomber (Photo: Macleay Argus)

Francis (Frank) Owen Smith was born at Manilla, NewSouth Wales on January 25, 1922. He was the only sonof William and Gladys Millicent Smith and Frank alsohad two younger sisters, Peggy and Rhonda. Frankwas schooled at Manilla Primary and Tamworth Highbefore moving to Kempsey where he completed hisIntermediate Certificate. Leaving school at this stage,Frank then worked at Savage’s Department Store thenStan Brown’s Menswear. He enlisted in the RoyalAustralian Air Force (RAAF) in April 1942.Following training in Queensland, Victoria andWestern Australia, he was posted to 100 SquadronRAAF in August 1944 and soon saw action from theSquadron’s bases in New Guinea, including Tadjiairstrip, near Aitape. Whilst Japan was on the verge ofdefeat, the Imperial Japanese 18th Army based atWewak, northern New Guinea was still a major forceand was under attack from the Australian SixthDivision with naval and air support.

On leave, Frank returned to Kempsey for the last timeat Christmas 1944 where he was noted for his naturalmodesty and manly bearing in his flight officer’suniform. The following month, he was part of the crewof a Beaufort Bomber which was carrying out abombing mission in the Torricelli Mountains in northwest New Guinea when a forty pound (18 kilograms)

home’s “comfort zone”, calls for inner strength. Thereare rapacious landlords and landladies, difficult bossesand challenging career hurdles. Our Guides/SeaRangers’ experience taught us to be team players. Wehad the youthful optimism of the early post war years.

Miriam Kebby was kind, dignified, humane andinspirational. There was limited entertainment for youththen, but she gave us a meaningful social life. My sisterAlison and I stayed with Mrs Kebby in her Sea Streethouse on our last night in l948. She came to KempseyRailway Station in the early morn to farewell us to anew life in the city. Some Sea Rangers and workmatesfrom Lane’s Chemist and Library also came.

It was a warm, memorable farewell. Sadly, except forJoy Pike, I never saw any of those friends again. I evenlost touch with Mrs Kebby after a few years. However,like the song, the melody lingers on.

Helen McMaugh© 11 April 2017

Exploring our Collection – Flight Officer Frank Smith’s RAAF Uniform

bomb became stuck in the bomb bay. The pilot, FlightLieutenant Jack Fowler, after trying unsuccessfully todislodge the bomb by diving sharply, then attempted toland at Tadji airstrip without flaps to avoid shaking thebomb free. The plane however was travelling too fastand the brakes partially failed causing the plane to slewsideways into some jeeps, killing one serviceman on theground and injuring another. The bomb fell harmlesslyinto the seat of one of the jeeps and none of the aircrewof four was injured. The Beaufort bomber, A9-557,never flew again but was recovered recently andrestored to form part of the Australian War Memorial’scollection.

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MRHS Newsletter May, 2017

Macleay River Historical Society

Office Bearers:President

Phil Lee

Vice Presidents

Garry Munday

Dr. Noelene Kyle

Secretary & Public Officer

Ruth Woodward

Treasurer

Barbara Coughran

Patrons

Terry Eakin

Geraldine Yabsley

Ald. Liz Campbell

Postal Address

P.O. Box 390, Kempsey, NSW 2440

Phone: (02) 6562 7572

Email: mrhs5@bigpond.com

Website: www.kempseymuseum.org

Membership

$20 pick up journal

$25 including journal postage

$30 large envelope

General Meetings

Meetings are held at 3pm

every third Tuesday of the month

Research

Tuesday: Desley Nunn

Wednesday: Dianne Nolan

Thursday: Ken Brown

Photographic

Friday: Judy Waters, Debbie Reynolds, Phil Lee

MUSEUM OPEN

10.00 am to 4.00 pm daily except

Good Friday and Christmas day

Australasian Federation of Family History

Organisations

Australian National Maritime Museum

Historic Houses Trust

Museums Australia

Museums and Galleries NSW

Royal Australian Historical Society

Our Affiliations

On 13 March 1945 Frank was in another Beaufortbomber again piloted by Flight Lieutenant Jack Fowlerwhich was involved in a bombing raid on Maprik, aJapanese strongpoint in the Torricelli Mountains.Approaching the target, the plane was observed by otherpilots to explode in a great ball of fire. The Squadronhad lost another good crew, ironically all four werenearing completion of their tour of duty. The reason forthe loss was initially a mystery as there was no groundfire observed at the time. Three days later, 100Squadron RAAF lost another plane in similarcircumstances, an investigation later finding out a faultybomb fuse was the cause in both cases.

Frank’s Flying officer’s uniform in which he made sucha good impression on his return to Kempsey is now ondisplay in the Miliary History section of our Museum.Frank was twenty three years old at the time of hisdeath. At the dedication of his former Beaufort A9-557at the Australian War Memorial in April 2001, Frank’sformer fiancée Edith Zupp (nee Blight), and his sistersPeg Skewes and Rhonda Vogt were present to paytribute to the courageous Australian serviceman.Francis Smith Place in South Kempsey was named afterhim under Kempsey’s Streets of Honour programme.

ReferencesKing Colin M 2008 Song of the Beauforts

Macleay Argus March 16 1945Macleay Argus May 18 2001Riggs, Patricia and Brown, James Hill 1995 Streets of

Honour