Wyong’s World War One treasure survives the inferno

A precious piece of local history has been safely in storage since being rescued from the smouldering ruins of the Wyong District Museum at Alison Homestead in December 2011.

For Belgium 1915 from Wyong – embroidered signature teacloth – Wyong Museum & Historical Society.

On the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WW1, and on the eve of work commencing on the Museum rebuild, this delicate piece of fabric sealed behind glass has been cleaned of layers of soot and grime and was displayed at the Wyong District Pioneers Dinner on Saturday 18 October, 2014.

The gold frame is slightly charred and blistered on the bottom edge – evidence of just how close we came to losing this unique item to the fire which claimed so many of our heritage items.

It is believed the square teacloth was made by several local women to raise funds for the Belgian Relief effort. The names on the cloth appear to be signatures as they are not all written in the same hand, and then embroidered over in red thread.

Detail of embroidered signatures on the teacloth – Wyong Museum & Historical Society.

 

It is likely that people from the Wyong district paid to have their name embroidered on the cloth. The tablecloth was then auctioned by means of an art union prize on Belgian Day, 14 May 1915, to raise further money.

There are over 180 names on the cloth, most are well-known Wyong pioneers and settlers such as: Bailey, Barker, Beaven, Boyd, Chapman, Duggan, Earl, Gascoigne, Gavenlock, Hunt, Sharp, Smith, Tonkin, and Waters to name a few.

Detail of embroidered signatures on the teacloth – Wyong Museum & Historical Society.

This irreplaceable treasure will, once again, take pride of place in our Museum when the rebuild is completed, we hope by October 2015.

Detail of embroidered signatures on the teacloth – Wyong Museum & Historical Society.

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SOURCES: Wyong Museum & Historical Society; NLA Trove; Australian War Memorial.

Alison Homestead Rebuild – Update

Our 300+ members, on-the-whole, are extremely disheartened with the lack of progress on the Alison Homestead rebuild.

Since the arson attack in December 2011 destroyed the homestead, which housed our Museum and Historical Society, the heritage site has been left in this sad state.

Alison Homestead, Wyong – July 2014, two and a half years after the arson attack.

It is very depressing for our dedicated volunteers at the Museum who have been working hard to recover and catalogue the remains of our collection and resources.

The Deputy Mayor, Lynne Webster and Manager Community Partnerships & Planning, Julie Vaughan attended our Pioneers monthly meeting in June. A large number of our community raised concerns about the lack of progress and the continuing delays to the rebuild.

Julie acknowledged that initially the project was off-track for quite a while; but for the past 15 months she and her team have been working on the project it has been progressing well.

The homestead was insured for approx $586,000 for replacement of the building. In order to achieve development applications with current building codes (fire regulations, disabled access, driveways, parking etc), the cost estimate is around $1,000,000 to complete the building and to receive a certificate of occupancy.

Council are liaising and negotiating with the insurers to cover the additional costs of the project associated with rebuilding.

All indications are that provided the full insurance claim is accepted they will continue to work to the timeline in the Alison Homestead Rebuild Update – June 2014:

• Invite tenders for construction (July 2014)
• award tender (September 2014)
• construction from beginning of 2015 to mid-2015.

If all goes to plan we can expect the building to be up and running by September 2015 in time for our Pioneer Centenary Celebrations on the October long weekend.

Fingers crossed there are no further delays. We will be keeping the pressure on Council to deliver on time.

Unearth Wyong Newsletter – May 2014

Published by Wyong District Museum & Historical Society. 

Membership and Volunteers

We extend a warm welcome to all our new members and volunteers both at the Museum and the Men’s Shed.

We encourage those interested in preserving our local history to help support the Museum and historic Alison Homestead by becoming a member:

• $15 single per annum
• $25 family per annum

Membership fees for the year 2014/15 are due on 1/7/14.

Or volunteer to give us a hand with any or all of the following:

• Gardening work
• Building Maintenance
• Housekeeping
• Act as a guide for our tours
• Once a month Duty Roster
• Cataloging
• Office Work

Some of the benefits besides the great feeling of personal satisfaction are:

• Fun, friendship
• Tea, coffee and biscuits

Contact: Secretary of Wyong District Museum & Historical Society, PO Box 241, Wyong NSW 2259, Phone: (02) 4352 1886.

Construction

We are fast approaching the commencement date for demolition of the destroyed section of the Homestead. We should have plenty to report in the next Newsletter (July 2014) on what has been demolished and any other work in progress on the construction site.

Fundraising

We still have a variety of plants available for sale as part of our ongoing fundraising efforts. If you are interested, do not hesitate to either visit us here at the Homestead or ring us for information on 4352 1886.

Plants for Sale at Alison Homestead

Colonial Fair & Market Day – 3 May

What a wonderful day this turned out to be. We had many stalls and had quite a few volunteers for the day. The Cow Lotto was exceptional with Sue selling quite a lot of tickets. Everyone had fun and enjoyed watching and cheering on the cows in the paddock waiting for one to plop on their number. We had a fairly good attendance, considering the weather, and had lots of sales on the day. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves and we had a lot of positive feedback. Some comments include:

“Considering the appalling weather forecast for the day, I think there were an excellent turnout, and a lot of happy vibes. It was a great learning curve for the next time around –Pat

A lovely day and everybody said they enjoyed themselves and we received many compliments for the Celtic Band – Liz

The weather was good. The Band helped to make it a lively atmosphere. People reflect they’ve had a good time with good items to buy including the food stalls. Some said they now have more of an idea of Alison Homestead, which is always good – Ateekah

Our Fair and Market Day was quite a success. The weather was good. There were lots of activity and many stalls. I thought the day was fun and enjoyable – Anita”

The Marine Corps showed their colonial spirit and pride

Many visitors enjoyed the day out at Alison Homestead

If you would like to see more photos taken on the day, check out our Facebook Page.

Raffles

The lucky winner of the beautiful han- made Quilt was Pat Bray with a purple ticket F99.

The lucky winners of the Mother’s Day Raffle were Pam Parker (who chose the pamper hamper) and Jann with Red ticket E 069 (who won the Dick Smith food hamper).

The winner of the Cow Lotto was Chris from IGA at Kanwal.

Waiting for the Cow Lotto results.

We would like to extend our thanks to the following people and groups for all their support and donations towards our Colonial Fair & Market Day:

• Chris, owner of IGA Kanwal
• McDonalds, Tuggerah
• Tolar Pharmacy, Northmead
• Woolworths, Lake Haven
• Kmart, Lake Haven
• Sam’s Bakehouse, Wadalba
• Sue Buck, Network Printing Studios
• Chris, APIA
• Dick Smith Foods
• Judith Angel
• The Celtic Band
• Graham Keating, Town Crier
• Vintage Fire Engines
• Veteran’s Car Club
• Central Coast Historical Car Club
• The Marine Corps
• Sheep Shearer
• Gary Lee, Auctioneer

And we would also like to thank all our volunteers, pioneers, members, stallholders and many other helpers who helped make it a successful day.

Grants

We have been promised a grant from Wallarah 2 for the community gardens, water tanks and pumps.

Donations

Morrie, from the Men’s Shed, built the two Ned Kelly’s displayed on the grounds of the Museum. He has built and sold another Ned Kelly and has very generously offered to donate the proceeds to the Museum.

Henry Kendall Cottage

Henry Kendall Cottage celebrated its Quartoseptcentennial (175^th year) recently and had a Fair marking this special occasion on the 5^th April 2014.  The Homestead was invited to have a stall at their Fair, which we gratefully accepted, and Liz, Anita and Sue G were there to man the stall for us. The day was quite successful as they sold a number of raffle tickets for our beautiful Quilt, which was 1^st prize in the raffle drawn at our Colonial & Fair Day on the 3^rd May 2014.  They also sold a variety of other bits and pieces.   As this was Anita’s first visit to Henry Kendall Cottage she took the opportunity to wander about and take in everything. She found it all very interesting, informative and enjoyable.  The Homestead also extended to Henry Kendall Cottage an invitation to have a stall at our Colonial Fair & Market Day and they accepted our invitation.

Men’s Shed

The men did a brilliant job running the BBQ at the Fair, and they had the grounds looking wonderful. A lot of work went into organising various jobs essential to making things go smoothly on the day, i.e. collecting gate money, parking, marking up the paddock for Cow Lotto and arranging for all the signs to be put up. Bikes restored by Kerry Braslin were auctioned off on the day. So don’t forget, if you have or know someone who has, an old bicycle they would like to donate, it can be left at the gate at the Homestead for Kerry to restore and donate to various charities.

Historical Note

We received from Royston Petrie Seeds in Mudgee a copy of Sergeants Bus Lines Timetable circa 1930s-1040s. Not only does it show the various bus times for the different routes, it also is full of amazing advertisements for the various retailers in Wyong Shire. Some of the more interesting advertisements included the following:

 ––––––––––––––

Wyongah Post Office Store

H.J. & T. FERGUSON

GROCERIES, SMALLGOODS, CONFECTIONERY
SOFT DRINKS, NEWSAGENCY
Orders collected and delivered

––––––––––––––

TURTON’S PHARMACY

WYONG

——

For all your Pharmacy, Veterinary &
Photography Requirements
A Large Variety of Gifts for All Occasions
Prescriptions Delivered to Buses
Phone: Wyong 72 – Day or Night”

 ––––––––––––––

How wonderful is the advertisement for Turton’s Pharmacy, not only could you get all your veterinary requirements at the Pharmacy, they also delivered your prescriptions to the Buses. I can just see the patients, waiting at their local bus stop, waiting for the prescriptions to be delivered by the Bus Driver. You certainly wouldn’t get this service these days.

Catch up with you next edition, cheers for now.

Chris Hodges (Writer & Editor)

Unearth Wyong Newsletter – March 2014

Published by Wyong District Museum & Historical Society. Written by Chris Hodges.

Membership and Volunteers

We extend a warm welcome to all our new members and volunteers both at the Museum and the Men’s Shed.

We encourage those interested in preserving our local history to help support the Museum and historic Alison Homestead by becoming a member:

• $15 single per annum
• $25 family per annum

Or volunteer to give us a hand with any or all of the following:

• Gardening work
• Building Maintenance
• Housekeeping
• Act as a guide for our tours
• Once a month Duty Roster
• Cataloging
• Office Work

Some of the benefits besides the great feeling of personal satisfaction are:

• Fun, friendship
• Tea, coffee and biscuits

Contact: Secretary of Wyong District Museum & Historical Society, PO Box 241, Wyong NSW 2259, Phone: (02) 4352 1886

New Website

Our new website is now up-and-running after a couple of hiccups. http://alisonhomestead.com.au

Please make a note of the changes to our contact details for future reference.

Construction

During late February we took another step forward with Council appointing Douglas & Partners to do a geotechnical/acid report on the Homestead’s soil where the foundations are. They attended at the Homestead and proceeded to drill the holes for testing and the results have come back all good. Construction is still expected to begin sometime in July.

Fundraising

We have a variety of plants available for sale as part of our fundraising efforts. If you are interested, do not hesitate to either visit us here at the Homestead or ring us for information. We are also in urgent need of large pots and any storage crates (preferably with lids) for storing books.

Rotary Raffle

• 1st prize – Jacob Ouimotoji
• 2nd prize – Marlene Davidson
• 3rd prize – Linda Donaldson
• 4th prize – Christine McConnell

Colonial Fair & Market Day

As some members may already know, we are no longer having a Car Boot Sale, but we are having a “Colonial Fair & Market Day”. This will be held on Saturday 3rd May 2014 from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Advertising has been arranged for the local markets guide, local newspapers, radio, flyers and cards. Ellie has been very busy sending out emails to various organisations to set up stalls on the day, which Liz and Ellie will organise.

There will be a Raffle (1st prize will be a beautiful handmade and machine finished patchwork quilt) and Kerry Braslin will be donating a couple of the bikes he has restored. These, along with other donations, will be auctioned off on the day. Graham Keating has agreed to be our Town Crier and there will be plenty of food, music and entertainment including a Celtic Band, Vintage Fire Engines and a number of other stalls and attractions. This is intended to be a family day so there will be plenty of activities for the children. We hope you can come along and bring your family and all your friends. Entry for adults is only $2.00 whilst children have free entry.

As you all can see, we will need extra volunteers for the day, setting up the stalls, manning some of the stalls and activities, dismantling stalls, collecting entry fees at the gate, selling raffle tickets etc. You don’t have to volunteer for the whole day, just a few hours will be very helpful, so don’t hesitate to call if you think you can help on the day. If you have any cakes, jams, preserves, craft item or anything else you would like to donate to us to help make the day a great success please ring, email or bring it along on the day. Anything we receive will be greatly appreciated.

Grants

We have received from Wyong Council a grant to assist in the relocation of the telephone lines and electricity to the Slab Hut. Sue has applied to Wyong Council for an Assistance Fund. Sue has also spoken to the Council about a grant for the restoring of the “contents in the flower shed.” At the last Committee Meeting a motion was put forward to apply the funds we made from the Rotary raffle together with an application to Council to match the funds, towards this restoration. This motion was carried forward and seconded at that meeting (4th February). Dave Young has volunteered to carry out of lot of this restoration. He would love some help as there is a lot of items to restore, e.g. chairs, machines, organs, desks and painting to be done.

Donations

We have recently received a number of generous donations including 3 large maps (circa 1930’s) of the Ourimbah area, the Wyong to Gosford area, and the Wyong to Lake Macquarie area from Leone Wickham, old photos, baking dish (1930) and a number of books including 3 cookery books from Andrew Smith, and a painting of Trigg’s Dairy by “Yvonne D Kalg, donated by Debra Raymont. Also when the homestead has been completed Jason Milan has offered us a number of paintings (circa 190os) to hang in the new Museum on loan.

Guy Luther Retires

The Wyong District Museum & Historical Society and members would also like to congratulate Guy Luther who is retiring after celebrating his 75th birthday at the end of March. Guy has been a part of the team here at the Museum, who has put in a lot of hard work keeping the grounds looking so good. He has worked here for over 20 years and will be sorely missed. We all hope he enjoys his retirement as he definitely deserves time to slow down.

The Men’s Shed

Roger Dixon has now started organising the Men’s Shed. He will be in liaison with Kevin Callinan, who is head of the Men’s Shed Association. Many thanks are extended to Greg for looking after this job after Roman had to leave due to ill health.

Kerry Braslin has also refurbished over 25 bikes which he donated to the Fire Relief Program which were delivered just in time for Christmas. So don’t forget, if you have, or know someone who has, an old bicycle they would like to donate, it can be left at the gate at the Homestead.

Secretary’s Note

On behalf of the Committee and Volunteers, I would like to say a big thank you to Sue Geary for all her hard work and dedication in researching and applying for all the grants which we have received from the Council and other organisations over the last 12 months which have benefitted the Homestead and the Men’s Shed. Sue has been very successful in securing these much needed funds to allow us to purchase much needed equipment and everyday items for the running of the office and for the restoration of our artefacts. I would also like to thank Chris for her great effort writing our Newsletters. They are informative and make interesting reading and keeping our members up to date with what’s going on at the Homestead.