All posts by qldmuseum

Recreating the past

29 July, 2019 qldmuseum

By Dr Elizabeth Bissell, Senior Curator, Cultures and Histories, Queensland Museum and Solitaire Osei, Senior Conservator, Textiles, Queensland Museum

When Queensland Museum’s long-awaited Anzac Legacy Gallery opened its doors in November 2018, visitors may have been surprised to see a women’s mourning suit displayed near Mephisto, the rarest tank in the world.

The suit was made for Mrs Christina Massey of Mayfield Road, Belmont, by Janet Walker, a popular Brisbane dressmaker during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Christina Woolridge was born in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, around 1865. She immigrated to Australia and married Thomas Massey at Roma in 1888. They had four children – James, Heywood, Helen, and Thomas Junior. Christina’s eldest son Heywood (known as Woodie) was serving in France with the 31st Battalion when his father passed away in Brisbane in 1918. It’s possible that Mrs Massey wore the mourning suit to her husband’s funeral that same year.

Christina and Thomas Massey_cropped — Mrs Christina Massey and Mr Thomas Massey

The mourning suit is an important object to have in the gallery because it represents one woman’s story, but also the stories of many women – mothers, sisters, daughters, and aunts – who lost loved ones during the First World War. It also reflects a particular time in Queensland, and how the war affected social customs. Because there was such an unprecedented amount of death during World War 1, Victorian mourning customs, which were very elaborate and public, were replaced by more private, modest acknowledgements as whole communities mourned. The silk satin suit reflects the design and styling that was popular during the war years, comprised of a jacket and skirt of simple design lines with military-like braid and button decoration.

Christina and daughter Helen_cropped — Christina and daughter Helen

The fabric of the original suit was deteriorating and too fragile to go on display so it was painstakingly re-created by Queensland Museum Textiles Conservator Solitaire Osei. The process of reconstructing the suit was a challenge she hadn’t faced before, but with her textile conservation experience and training in fashion construction, Solitaire knew it was achievable.

I spent a total of 420 hours re-creating the suit in matching materials. Starting with a thorough analysis of every fabric, thread and stitch, I was able to piece together how it was originally constructed. It wasn’t an easy process, however. Normally you start with people’s measurements to make a dress, but I had to go the other way as I had no idea what size or shape Mrs Massey was. So, after numerous measurements were taken, I drafted patterns and set out to reconstruct the mourning suit made by Janet Walker one hundred years ago.

When recreating the suit, it was the braid on the jacket back that proved the most difficult to obtain. The braid wasn’t available anywhere as it was made more than a century ago, so I had to break down the components of the braid and source the material. I ended up finding it at a military store in the UK and I then had to teach myself how to braid it and constructed a replica.

With the reproduction complete and ready for display, I still had a few unanswered questions. It was my hope that one of Mrs Massey’s descendants could shed some light about the alterations made to the garment, which were found during the reconstruction process. However, the process of tracking down descendants was complicated. The relationship of the donor to the Massey family wasn’t recorded at the time of the donation and the curatorial team were unable to trace living descendants through desk-based research, which led them to seek a broader audience through a media call out.

Postcard sent to Christina from Woodie during WW1

Fortunately, Peta Geisel, Christina’s great granddaughter, contacted Queensland Museum within hours of hearing the call-out on ABC Radio Brisbane.

She and her late mother Erna Olsen (daughter of Helen Wruck nee Massey) had donated the gown in 2008. Ms Geisel said the dress had sat for many years among the Christmas decorations at the top of her mother’s cupboard in Eudlo near the Sunshine Coast, before she housed it at her home in The Gap until the time of the donation.

Christina and daughter Helen 2 — Christina and daughter Helen

In September 2018, Queensland Museum hosted a morning tea for the family, including Peta Geisel, her daughter Jasmin Forsyth and granddaughter Asha. Peta’s brother Jason Olsen also attended, as well as a nephew Adam Craven. The family admired the reproduction and viewed the original suit, which prompted a few memories. Peta described dressing up in the suit as a child and even wore it on horseback in a parade one day, resulting in a rip in the skirt that is still there today.

“I have many memories of my sister and I trying on this dress,” said Peta.

“However, back then, we had no idea it held such historical value. Granny Massey’s dress has such a story to tell, and I’m delighted to be learning even more about it, as this journey continues.”

Peta used to be a dressmaker herself, so was especially interested in the reproduction process.

“Solitaire’s work is outstanding,” she said.

“You can see in the detail, her level of skill and passion for this project.”

A large part of the curatorial team’s work on the Anzac Legacy Gallery has involved tracking down and meeting with descendants of those people whose stories are featured. Consultation and collaboration are so important when designing a gallery, and we try to find someone related to every single object we display. Stories enrich objects, providing context and connection.

Read more about the Anzac Legacy Gallery here.

Collection, Queensland Stories

Tune in to early TV transmission in Queensland

22 July, 2019 qldmuseum

by Peter Volk, Assistant Collection Manager, Social History, Queensland Museum

On 1^st July 1959, nearly 60 years ago, Brisbane television station QTQ9 went on the air. A few months later, on 2^nd November, ABQ2 started broadcasting as well. If you are of the right age, you can remember growing up on a steady diet of 1960’s era TV, all served in black and white, with monophonic sound, all delivered on a 576 line screen.

However, QTQ9 wasn’t the first TV station in Queensland, not by a long way. TV transmission in Queensland started on 10^th April 1934, and the first TV broadcast license was issued to radio station 4CM in 1935.

What did TV look like in those days, and why did it take 25 years (!) before it became generally available?

H44978.6 & 7 b — Nipkow DIsk and Photocell used for the first successful transmission of a television signal in Queensland on 10 April 1934. This was the heart of the TV system. The rapidly spinning disk with pinholes in the rim scanned the subject with a moving dot of light, and the “TV Eye” acted as the camera. It was a simple photocell that measured the light intensity and output a proportional electrical signal. Notice the use of cotton reels and Meccano in the construction of the supports and frame.

Experimental radio station 4CM broadcast from the convict-built Old Windmill on Wickham Terrace in Brisbane. The initial TV experiments were made late in the evening after the radio station had gone off the air. Dr Val McDowall, who owned the radio station, worked with Thomas Elliott, a local engineer and one of Queensland’s first licensed HAM radio operators, to build a TV transmitter. There were no standard components for such a thing at the time. This technology was beyond the cutting edge, so they had to improvise. The transmitter included wooden cotton reels, parts from a Meccano set and hand-cut aluminium disks. They worked with another gentleman named Alan Campbell, who went on to be a co-founder of QTQ-9. Mr Campbell had a TV receiver that was an equally home-made affair, with a screen 11 cm wide, about the size of a mobile phone screen today. Together these three men made history.

The first successful transmission of a television signal in Queensland was made on 10 April 1934, and was picked up in Mr Campbell’s home at Wilston. The first image seen was that of Mickey Mouse, followed by a picture of actress Janet Gaynor. The first news transmission took place on 9 October 1935 with a reading from a section of a local newspaper. The first entertainment included cartoons of Mickey Mouse, and a film called “The Chocolate Soldier,” using a projector Mr Campbell had built.

The TV signal could be charitably described as low resolution. The more scan lines a TV has the better the picture is. A modern hi-definition TV has a minimum of 720 scan lines, and more commonly 1096. 4000 line (4K) TV’s are available now, and 8000 line sets (8K) are entering the market. The old B&W TVs had 576 lines. The early TV signal from 4CM’s apparatus had 30, though a later version of the equipment used a 180 line scan.

The early 30 line transmissions used a rather long radio wavelength, which gave them a good range. It was reported that 4CM had been picked up by receivers in Melbourne. Soon after, along with the shift to 180 line scans, the transmission frequency was raised. The resolution of the image was now much better, but the range was reduced to about 25 miles.

The receivers were about the size of a regular computer monitor, but most of that size went to housing the mechanical works. The actual image size was very small by comparison – from the size of a large postage stamp to the size of a mobile phone screen.

Nipkow DIsk and Photocell used for the first successful transmission of a television signal in Queensland on 10 April 1934. This was the heart of the TV system. The rapidly spinning disk with pinholes in the rim scanned the subject with a moving dot of light, and the “TV Eye” acted as the camera. It was a simple photocell that measured the light intensity and output a proportional electrical signal. Notice the use of cotton reels and Meccano in the construction of the supports and frame

This was a mechanical TV system, of the type championed and improved by John Logie Baird in the UK. The core of the TV was a spinning disk, called a Nipkow disk, with a series of holes in the rim of the disk forming a spiral. The subject was seated in near darkness, and a very bright light (usually an arc lamp) projected a pinhole sized spot of light through the holes in the rim of the Nipkow disk. The disk was spun very rapidly by an electric motor. The spacing of the holes meant that only one pinhole passed in front of the subject at a time, and the spiral pattern of the holes meant that each hole passed over a different part of the subject, moving from left to right until the whole subject had been scanned once. The wheel had then done one rotation, and on the next the subject was scanned again.

This scanning process became known as the “flying spot” technique. It was used in early broadcast TV up until 1938, in some places, and is occasionally used for specialist applications today.

Close-up view of the scanning disk. Everything was hand-built from what was available.

A photocell measured the intensity of the light reflected from the subject, and sent a signal to a second light source (usually a neon lamp) that varied in intensity according to the signal. When one looked at the second light source through a similar Nipkow disk spinning in synchronisation with the first, one saw a copy of the original signal. The trick was sending that light intensity signal to the second light source over a radio. If one can do that, one is transmitting TV. Audio was transmitted as a radio signal over a different frequency.

It seemed that the Brisbane experimenters had the core of a successful television system. They commenced regular TV transmissions, for an hour every evening from 7:30 PM. Initially everyone had to build their own receiver from scratch, but with a bit of time and capital receivers could have been manufactured and sold to the general public. Commercial broadcasting and professionally made receivers were both available in the UK from 1929. However, the steady development and deployment of the technology was stopped dead by World War 2.

When war broke out in 1939 Australia, like the UK, withdrew all the broadcasting licenses for experimental radio and TV groups and put all their scientific efforts into military projects. The people who had been working on TV transmission had made themselves the best in Australia at cutting edge radio technology. Instead of broadcasting Mickey Mouse cartoons they found themselves working on radio and radar projects for the military. TV research went into suspension around the world – except for experiments with TV guided bombs. After the war the 4CM TV crew found that their lives had taken different directions, and the band never got back together. Additionally, mechanical TV had fallen by the wayside and been replaced by TV that used an electrically scanning cathode ray tube for the transmitter and receiver. This led to one of the first format wars, where various nations could not agree on the number of scan lines, the number of frames per second and other technical details. Australia as a whole was uncertain as to which technology to adopt. There was also dispute about how the TV industry should be organised. The British model had the government, through the BBC, running the TV stations and the U.S. model had the stations owned and run by private industry. After much argument in Parliament the Federal Government made the firm, principled and determined choice to have five bob each way and do both. Additionally, in the early 1950’s Australia was in a recession and the capital and skills needed to develop a new industry weren’t available until later in the decade.

This early TV transmission equipment found its way to the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, and from them to the Queensland Museum, where it is preserved today. As far as is known, none of the early TV receivers have been preserved anywhere in Queensland.

Collection

A piece of our early solar system

17 July, 2019 qldmuseum

By Dr Andrew Christy, Senior Curator, Mineralogy, Queensland Museum Network.

When I started work at Queensland Museum Network two years ago, little did I know that a newly acquired object in a safe at Hendra, would trigger research into a new area, one that has fascinated me for many years.

The object, a mass with a flaky, rusty crust, about 20 centimetres across and weighing more than 15 kilograms, had been brought in for study by a couple who had been fossicking for gold in North Queensland, near Georgetown. Using a metal detector, they had found a substantial piece of metal buried more than a metre beneath the surface. It was not gold. They wondered if it was a meteorite.

The first clue occurred during retrieval when hammering had broken off some rust and showed a grainy, crystalline texture in the metal underneath. Slow cooling over millions of years creates large metal crystals in many iron meteorites, something not found in a man-made artefact. True identification of a meteorite requires a petrological microscope or an electron microprobe that examines its characteristics. The only hitch was that the meteorite needs fresh material to be exposed. I asked the discoverers if they could saw off an end piece and also a thin “bread slice” for further research, which they did.

The freshly cut surface showed not only that this was certainly a meteorite, but an unusual one. Most iron meteorites are composed almost entirely of steely metal alloys and related minerals. Almost a third of this meteorite was made up of a brittle, bronzy iron sulfide mineral called troilite. Encased in the troilite was a silvery metal which formed dendritic crystals, similar in shape to a staghorn coral. The large amount of troilite is unusual in a meteorite, suggesting it may have come from the very edge of the metal core of a former asteroid. Its significance was important in the research field because it could provide important information about the distribution of chemical elements during the formation of planetary bodies. Only half a dozen sulfide-rich meteorites like this are well described in scientific literature.

In the meantime, I have collected data which will soon be collated into a scientific paper, once I have bulk average trace element concentrations, essential for classifying the meteorite properly and possibly matching it up with one of the known groups that have originated from various distinct parent bodies.

The announcement of our purchase has stimulated interest amongst other fossickers, and a few other meteorites have since been found in the area and may be of the same type. In fact, they may all be parts of a single large incoming object that exploded in mid-air, and a small portion of one of these meteorites has been donated for that comparison. I am looking forward to obtaining the results soon – stay tuned for the findings!

Did you know?

Meteorites are pieces of other planets or minor planets (parent bodies) that have landed here on Earth after being detached through impacts in outer space. Most come from asteroids that circle the Sun between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter, although a small number have arrived from the Moon and from Mars.

Some of the parent bodies became hot enough during formation that their metallic components melted and concentrated inward to form a dense core of nickel-iron alloy surrounded by a ‘mantle’ of rocky silicate minerals, similar to the internal structure of the Earth. Others did not do this and retain the particles that formed them at the dawn of the Solar System. Those are the oldest known solid materials, condensed forms of the hot dust and gas of the early Solar Nebula before the Earth formed 4.54 billion years ago.

Studying meteorites through comparison with other planetary bodies that hold different histories gives us stories from further back in time than we could otherwise reach and allows us to better understand the development of the Earth.

Find a micrometeorite in your backyard

Chances are your house has been hit by a few thousand micrometeorites, and you’ll be able to find a few if you know the secret place to look, here’s what you need:

Materials

a strong magnet
two Ziploc bags
a small vial or third bag
a spoon or small spade

Method
1. Go outside and find the spillway of one of your house gutters. (There is normally a patch of dirt and somewhat rocky-looking debris.)

2. Use the spoon to scoop a small sample of this into the first Ziploc bag.

3. Take the sample to a good work area and empty it onto a paper plate. If the sample is wet, allow it to dry for a few minutes. Take the magnet and place it in the second Ziploc bag. This will stop small magnetic particles from sticking permanently to the magnet. Pass the bagged magnet over the dry sample.

4. Keep a look out for small rock-like particles “leaping” onto the bagged magnet. These little rocks contain metallic iron, not normally found in the soil, but a primary ingredient in most micrometeorites. Congratulations! You have discovered out-of-this-world rocks.

5. You can remove your micrometeorites from the outside of the magnet bag and store them in another bag or vial.

Collection

Vive la république!

14 July, 2019 qldmuseum

By Judith Hickon, Curator, Social History, Queensland Museum

To commemorate Bastille Day we delved into the Museum’s collections to see what objects we could find which relate to this momentous event in French history.

The storming of the military fortress prison, the Bastille, on July 14, 1789, was a violent uprising against the monarchy that helped usher in the French Revolution. These coins and banknote from the numismatics collection combine to tell the story of the historic reign of Louis XVI from 1774 to his fateful end by beheading in Place de la Révolution in 1793.

French coin, 1 dram, 1774. Collection: Queensland Museum. N2660.

The last King of France before the fall of the monarchy in the French Revolution, Louis XVI (1754 – 1793) ascended the throne of France in 1774 following the death of his grandfather, assuming the title ‘King of France and Navarre’. The coin above depicting a crowned shield on its obverse and an effigy of Louis XV on its reverse was minted in 1774. The words ‘France’ and ‘Navarre’ and 1774 are clearly visible along the outer edge of the coin.

Only nineteen years of age when he succeeded to the throne, Louis’ initial goodwill and attempts at reform during his rule were tempered by his indecisiveness and conservatism. These traits later became seen as a symbol of the oppression and domination of the Ancien Régime (the political and social system of the Kingdom of France from the late 1400s until 1789) and led to a rapid decline in his popularity.

By 1789, despite looming economic disaster fuelled by enormous national debt (according to finance minister, Jacques Necker, over fifty-six million pounds) and disastrous crop yields in 1788 and 1789 leading to widespread famine and unemployment, Louis and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, refused to curb their extravagant spending. Following a series of violent food riots which erupted throughout France, unrest and protests continued to grow until July 14 when angry crowds gathered on the streets of Paris and stormed the Bastille, itself a symbol of the tyranny and cold-heartedness of the French aristocracy.

Assignats, inflation and the road to Revolution

Assignats were first issued in 1790 as a form of printed currency representing the value of church properties confiscated by the French government in an effort to overcome bankruptcy. As befitting his status as reigning monarch, a ‘portrait royale’ of Louis XVI was portrayed on the first assignats. Unfortunately for Louis, this royal portrait was instrumental in his final undoing.

From 1789 Louis’s authority steadily declined until, after an attack in October 1791, the family was forced to leave the Palace of Versailles and move to the Tuilleries Palace in Paris where they became virtual prisoners and experienced increasing hostility. A fateful decision to flee with his family, ended in their capture. A chance encounter with Jean-Baptiste Drouet, postmaster of Sainte-Menehoulde, who recognised Louis from his portrait on an assignat, led to the family’s arrest in Varrennes and their return to imprisonment in Paris.

Devaluing the King

Louis XVI’s portrait soon disappeared from bank notes to be replaced by revolutionary symbols including on France’s bank notes was soon replaced by a new series of notes containing Republican symbols and slogans propagandizing the new regime.

On the assignat (above, also from the Museum’s collections) Demeter, Greek goddess of agriculture, is seated upon a central plinth with a spade and rooster, holding a laurel wreath in her outstretched hand. Two bundles of bound wooden rods, or fasces, and a Phrygian, or Liberty, cap is featured on the plinth above the words ‘Liberté Égalité’. Though difficult to see from this image, an embossed seal on lower left of note depicts Hercules killing the Hydra. Epitomising strength and power, the symbol of the Greek hero, Hercules, was first adopted by the Ancien Régime to represent the sovereign authority of the French Monarchy and later appropriated by the Republican movement to symbolise the overthrow of the monarchy.

French Revolutionary assignat de cinquante livres (50 pounds) 1792. Collection: Queensland Museum. N600.

As history has shown, printing more money has never solved an economic crisis …

Inevitably, a lack of government oversight led to the value of printed assignats exceeding that of the confiscated properties. Following a devastating economic period caused by massive hyperinflation and further exacerbated by continuing food shortages, the abolition of the monarchy and Louis’ reign came to an end on 22 September 1792. The two sols coin, below, is dated 1792, the final year of Louis XVI’s reign. The coin obverse depicts a Liberty cap above a fasces surrounded by an oak wreath. On the reverse the ‘portrait royale’ of Louis XVI is still visible.

On 21 January 1793, Louis XVI was tried for high treason and executed by guillotine, under the name of ‘Citizen Louis Capet’. Nine months later, Marie Antoinette was also convicted of treason, and was beheaded on 16 October.

French coin, 2 sols, 1992. Collection: Queensland Museum. N2628.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Collection, Education, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Stories

NAIDOC WEEK

11 July, 2019 qldmuseum

This blog post is part of an ongoing series titled Connecting with Collections. The series offers readers a peek inside collections at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, highlighting objects and their stories.

The 7-14 July marks the 2019 NAIDOC Week. Each year, NAIDOC Week celebrates the culture, history and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is commemorated by both Indigenous communities and all other Australians. Annual NAIDOC events and activities are held across Australia to encourage people to participate in the celebrations, and support local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.[1]

Understanding NAIDOC Week

Some might not know, but the boycott of Australia Day – often now referred to as Invasion Day – is not a new event, and connects directly to the origins of NAIDOC Week.[2]

Aboriginal rights groups have been boycotting Australia Day since the beginning of the 20^th century. By the 1920s, many of these groups were becoming more active and organised, protesting the day in an effort to highlight the mistreatment of Aboriginal people in Australia. The Australian Aborigines Progressive Association (AAPA) and the Australian Aborigines League (AAL) rallied hard throughout the 1920s-1930s to make the broader population aware of these boycotts and the reasons behind them, however their efforts went almost entirely unnoticed.

By the late 1930s, the situation had not changed. Protests continued, so much so that after a large demonstration in Sydney’s CBD on Australia Day, 1938, the anniversary became known as the Day of Mourning. This event in particular is recognised as one of the first major civil rights gatherings in the world. At the time, William Cooper, founder of the AAL, proposed the concept of a national policy for Aboriginal people to then Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. Unfortunately, the proposal was rejected, as the Australian Government did not at this time hold constitutional powers when it came to Aboriginal people, a fact that would not change until the 1967 Referendum in Australia.[3]

The impact of the 1938 demonstration was felt around the country, and the Day of Mourning became an annual event. Between 1940 and 1955, the Day of Mourning was held every Sunday before Australia Day, known as Aborigines’ Day. The date of Aborigines’ Day was moved to the first Sunday in July in 1955, in an effort to use the day as both a day of protest, and also a day which promoted the celebration of Aboriginal culture and heritage.[4]

Soon after, the National Aborigines’ Day Observance Committee (NADOC) was formed, and in 1975, the Committee decided to extend the event to cover an entire week, from the first Sunday of July – Aborigines’ Day – to the second Sunday of July, a day that also became a commemorative day of remembrance for Aboriginal people.[5]

In the early 1990s, NADOC recognised the inclusion of Torres Strait Islander people in the Committee, changing their name to the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observation Committee (NAIDOC).[6]

Every year, the NAIDOC week theme is chosen to reflect a significant issue or event that is relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This year’s theme – Voice Treaty Truth – recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s place in Australian history and society, and promotes the reforms outlined in the Uluru Statement of the Heart.[7]

The Uluru Statement represents the unified position of Australia’s First Nations people. The Statement was developed as a result of the First Nations National Constitutional Convention, which ran over four days in May, 2017. The Convention brought together over 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders to Uluru (on the lands of the Anangu people), to discuss constitutional reforms, and agree on how to approach the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution.[8]

Reforms highlighted in the Statement involve enshrining a First Nations Voice to Parliament in the Constitution to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and a Makarrata Commission to supervise treaty processes and truth-telling about the history of Australia and colonisation, and its continuing effects (Makarrata is from the language of the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land; the word means ‘coming together after a struggle’. Makarrata encapsulates concepts of conflict resolution and peacemaking, and seeks to acknowledge and right past wrongs).[9]

The 2019 National NAIDOC Poster was designed by Charmaine Mumbulla, a Kaurna/Narungga woman. The artwork is titled ‘Awaken’. Charmaine depicts in her artwork the early dawn light rising over Uluru, which symbolises the unbroken connection between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the land. The circles at the base of Uluru are representative of the historic gathering in 2017 which resulted in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Of the work, Charmaine wrote: “Our message, developed through generations, is echoed throughout the land: hear our voice and recognise our truth. We call for a new beginning, marked by a formal process of agreement and truth-telling, that will allow us to move forward together”.[10]

NAIDOC in the collections

There are certain objects within our collection at the Museum of Tropical Queensland that link directly to NAIDOC Week.

This t-shirt is from NAIDOC Week 1998, and promotes the 1998 theme ‘Bringing them home’. The theme reflected on the report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families (April, 1997).[11]

The report addressed the wrongs done to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through the removal of Aboriginal children from their homes and families, and contained recommendations for redressing these wrongs. One of the key recommendations in the ‘Bringing them home’ report focused on an official acknowledgment of, and apology for, the removal of the Stolen Generations – those Aboriginal children who were forced from their families and communities by governments and churches to be raised in institutions, or fostered by white families.[12]

The impact of the ‘Bringing them home’ report resulted in all State and Territory Parliaments officially apologising to the Stolen Generations, their families and communities between the years 1997-1999. National Sorry Day was established in 1998, and is celebrated every year on May 26.[13]

This t-shirt was acquired by a Queensland Museum curator in October 1998, to add to the State Collection held at the Museum of Tropical Queensland. The item is a significant object within the collections, and is representative of the ongoing NAIDOC Week celebrations, and the nature in which the Week is celebrated with a range of activities and events for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians to participate in.

These two objects are children’s toys, woven from blades of coconut leaves. They were made by Kate James at the Museum of Tropical Queensland during NAIDOC week in 2000. Kate is a Murray (Mer) Islander woman from the Margaram people. She was born and raised on Mer and came to Townsville in the 1960s.

This scarf was made and donated to the Museum of Tropical Queensland in 2012, by 14-year-old artist Chern’ee Sutton. Titled, ‘History of Australia: Ajarku Muruu’, Sutton created this hand-painted scarf as an interpretation of Ajarku Muruu, which means ‘All One Country’ in Kalkadoon language.

Sutton detailed that each of the 5 large circles represent approximately 14,000 years of life in Australia, totalling nearly 70,000 years. The red and orange circle represent the beginning of art, the green circle represents the beginning of a country, and the blue circle represents the beginning of a nation. The Southern Cross at the top represents a common unity of two worlds combined, and the small dots represent the spirit trails that link all Australians together through acceptance and understanding of each other. This scarf was painted by Sutton after Rob Messenger, Member for Burnett, commissioned her to paint a tie for him to wear in Parliament House for NAIDOC Week 2012.

Each of these items are representative of the culture and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

Sophie Price, Assistant Curator Anthropology, Museum of Tropical Queensland

Insects & Spiders, New species

Stunning new spiders jump into our hearts

2 July, 2019 qldmuseum

Queensland Museum scientists have discovered five new jumping spider species.

Have you ever seen a more adorable spider? These cute and colourful jumping spiders are changing the reputation of arachnids around the world.

Queensland Museum arachnologist, Dr Barbara Baehr, along with colleagues Joseph Schubert from Monash University, and Dr Danilo Harms from University of Hamburg recently described the new Australian species which feature vibrant colours and perform fascinating dance rituals.

SPIDERS Salticidae Jotus sp. nov. cf auripes New Species, closest yet to the type species Jotus auripes which also has vivid red orange inner legs 1.

Four of the five new species are from Queensland with one from New South Wales. At only a few millimetres in size, they can be difficult to spot, despite their stunning colours.

The New Species
Jotus albimanus – White-handed Brushed Jumping Spider
Found: New England National Park, New South Wales

Jotus fortiniae (Picture above left, image by Robert Whyte)
Found: Cape York Peninsula, Quinkan Country, Queensland

Jotus karllagerfeldi – Karl Lagerfeld’s Jumping Spider (picture above right, image by Mark Newton)
Found: Lake Broadwater via Dalby, Queensland

Jotus moonensis – Mount Moon Brushed Jumping Spider
Found: Mount Moon, Queensland

Jotus newtoni – Mark Newton’s Brushed Jumping Spider
Found: Lake Broadwater via Dalby, Queensland

Dance like your mate is watching
The spiders are known as Brushed Jumping Spiders due to the elaborate mating dance of the males, which involves a brush of long and often colourful setae on their legs (like butterflies).

Joseph Schubert said the colour patterns in the males are species-specific and range from black and white combinations to extremely colourful morphs featuring iridescent turquoise and orange patterns.

J. fortiniae 4 (Robert Whyte) — *Jotus fortiniae* (image by Robert Whyte)

“The males perform unique dance rituals with their brilliantly decorated first pair of legs to attract females,” Mr Schubert said. “These five new species are close relatives of the Australian peacock spiders which also perform courtship dances for females. This courtship behaviour makes them a crowd favourite and has popularised jumping spiders worldwide.”

Karl Lagerfeld’s Jumping Spider
In true fashion style, the scientists paid homage to the late fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld, by naming a spider in his honour. Dr Danilo Harms, said the Karl Lagerfeld spider had a distinct look that was reminiscent of the late fashion designer.

“Jotus karllagerfeldi is a black and white spider which we looked at and instantly thought of Karl Lagerfeld and his signature look, as the spider has large black eyes, which reminded us of sunglasses and its black and white front legs were reminiscent of Lagerfeld’s kent collar,” he said.

J. karllagerfeldi (Mark Newton) 2 — *Jotus karllagerfeldi* – **Karl Lagerfeld’s Jumping Spider (image by Mark Newton)**

Learn more at the Discovery Centre
Are you curious about an unidentified spider you’ve found in your backyard? Ask one of our experts here or visit the Discovery Centre on Level 4 to meet museum experts, ask questions and view exciting displays.

Remember to share you visit with us on social media by using the tag #DiscoveryQM and #myqldmuseum.

Maritime History, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Stories

14 June 2019: Bicentenary of Philip Parker King and the HMS Mermaid visiting the Townsville Area

14 June, 2019 qldmuseum

This article is the first in a series about the historical maritime mapping and interaction along the North Queensland coastline.

The Mermaid at Cape Cleveland

Phillip Parker King 1816 — Lieutenant Philip Parker King RN (1816)

On Sunday 14 June 1819, HMS Mermaid rounded Cape Cleveland in north Queensland and made an unscheduled stop, anchoring off present day Red Rock Bay. In command was Lieutenant Phillip Parker King RN, the Australian-born son of the third New South Wales Governor (Philip Gidley King) who, together with his crew, was on his third voyage surveying the Australian coast.

The Mermaid, an 84-ton cutter constructed of teak, had been built in India and measured 17 metres in length with a draft of just three metres when loaded. It had a complement of about nineteen officers and crew and was an ideal vessel for hydrographic surveys requiring access to inshore areas. It was later to become unseaworthy because of construction issues, and for King’s fifth and final survey voyage, the Mermaid was replaced by the brig Bathurst, a vessel of twice the size.

King's Sectional Drawing of the Mermaid — Philip Parker King’s sectional drawing of the *Mermaid*

The purpose of the Mermaid’s unscheduled stop was to confirm King’s assumption that potable water and wood fuel (to replenish his vessel’s supplies) could be accessed on the lee of Cape Cleveland. King sent Frederick Bedwell, his first officer and senior master’s mate, ashore to undertake the search. Bedwell was accompanied by Allan Cunningham, a botanist and eager explorer attached to the Mermaid’s crew on the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks.

Frederick Bedwell (undated)

Alan Cunningham (undated)

After finding a perennial stream (entering the sea in today’s Bedwell Bay), Bedwell returned to King with a favourable report, and the decision was made to remain at anchor for several days and send watering and wooding parties to restock the vessel. On 17 June 1819, after three days re-stocking, the Mermaid again weighed anchor and continued its hydrographic survey north.

Mermaid Chart Cleveland Bay from King's Narrative 1825 — Mermaid Chart Cleveland Bay from King’s Narrative 1825

During the Mermaid’s three-day stay at Cape Cleveland, Frederick Bedwell sounded across Cleveland Bay towards today’s Picnic Bay on Magnetic Island (named Magnetical Isle by Captain James Cook) and then towards the beach at today’s Rowe’s Bay on the mainland. Bedwell established that the depth of Cleveland Bay was suitable for shipping and anchorage.

In the meantime, King, Cunningham and John Septimus Roe, second master’s mate and assistant surveyor, explored parts of Cape Cleveland. They climbed a peak, made sketches and recorded observations in compliance with King’s instructions from the Colonial Secretary. Cunningham collected several botanical ‘novelties’ including the first specimen of the hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) on mainland Australia, and King remarked on the swarms of butterflies, quite probably the blue tiger (Tirumala limniace).

Blue Tiger Butterfly

Hoop Pine

King and Cunningham observed several thatched huts of pandanus palm and the remains of cooking fires, indicating Cape Cleveland was certainly inhabited. King also noted an inconsistency in his compass bearings, remarking that it may have had similarities to James Cook’s observations when passing Magnetic Island. Later, when departing on 17 June, King recorded his first sighting of Aboriginal peoples on Magnetic Island.

An important story, largely untold, unknown and unacknowledged

The Mermaid’s stay at Cape Cleveland two centuries ago marks the first recorded landing by Europeans in the Townsville area. Today, the city of Townsville has grown in importance as Australia’s largest tropical city with a population of almost 190,000, surpassing the size of the Northern Territory capital city, Darwin.

When Frederick Bedwell RN stepped ashore at Red Rock Bay, the establishment of a permanent European settlement near the mouth of Ross Creek was still almost half a century away. It was not until 1864 that settlers arrived by land, rather than by sea, and established the port city of Townsville to serve a developing pastoral hinterland.

Regrettably, the importance of these expeditions in Australia’s maritime history, the achievements of Phillip Parker King and the Mermaid’s crew in surveying the Australian coastline over four remarkable voyages between 1817 and 1820, and a fifth major exploration by the same crew in the sloop Bathurst in 1822, remain largely unknown to the Australian public.

The Mermaid 4 December 1820 — *Mermaid* 4 December 1820

King’s instructions from the colonial office and the third survey

Phillip King’s instructions were to finish the task that Matthew Flinders was unable to fully complete – to conduct a full examination of the ‘New Holland’ coastline. The detailed survey work undertaken between 1817 and 1821 by the Mermaid and its crew (and the following year on the Bathurst) indisputably confirmed that the Australian continent was indeed an island.

In addition, King had been tasked by Colonial Secretary, Lord Bathurst, to record and report on a formidable list of diverse matters including weather conditions, mountains, animals, vegetables, wood, minerals, metals or stones, details of local communities, their languages and way of life. They were also to record any products of use for export to Great Britain, which explains the inclusion of botanist and scientist Allan Cunningham in the Mermaid’s crew.

King’s third survey, which included the interlude at Cape Cleveland, departed Sydney on 8 May 1819. After a few days break at Port Macquarie, the Mermaid sailed further north on 21 May destined for Torres Strait, Coepang Timor and eventually back to Sydney via Bass Strait.

Map of the Mermaid's Third Voyage — Map of the *Mermaid’s* third voyage

The Mermaid’s crew and their legacy

In retrospect, it is difficult to underestimate the courage, skill and ingenuity displayed, as well as the hardship endured, by the Mermaid’s crew in their pioneering and unassisted survey work in remote areas. The men were young: Lieutenant King was 27 years old and both master’s mates, Bedwell and Roe, just 22 years old; botanist Cunningham was 28 years old. All went on to achieve further positions of respect in the Australian colonies.

Phillip Parker King has the distinction of being the first Australian-born Rear Admiral and, apart from his expertise as a mariner and naval hydrographer, he later achieved great respect and admiration as an administrator and pastoralist and served on the New South Wales Legislative Council.

Allan Cunningham was acknowledged in later life as a resolute explorer, botanist and writer. Many places in both Queensland and New South Wales, including a federal electoral division in New South Wales, are named in his honour.

John Septimus Roe, a skilled hydrographer and prolific writer who was King’s assistant surveyor from 1817, later achieved fame as an explorer and was, for forty years, Western Australia’s Surveyor-General as well as holding other important public positions in the service of the colony.

John Septimus Roe 1823 — John Septimus Roe (1823)

My forbearer, Frederick Bedwell (1796 – 1857), joined the Royal Navy shortly before his fourteenth birthday, entering service on 8 September 1810. From 1811, he served with Sir George Cockburn in Cadiz during the Napoleonic Wars and again at Chesapeake in the north American campaign. He also served as master’s mate with Cockburn on the Northumberland, escorting Napoleon Bonaparte to exile on St. Helens, and he later trained in hydrography before his appointment as second in command of the Mermaid, a position he retained on all of the voyages of the Mermaid and the Bathurst.

In later life, following several years in England, Frederick Bedwell returned to New South Wales and captained ships for the NSW colonial administration. He married Susannah Matilda Ward in 1832 and became a pioneer landholder in the Paterson area of New South Wales’ Hunter Valley in 1837 on their property ‘Valentia’. There he is credited with introducing the willow tree to Australia.

Velentia — Valentia at Paterson circa 1840

The Bedwells had twelve children, and their third child, daughter Zorayda Anne Bedwell (1836 – 1924), married Charles Allan Dun (1823 – 1908), the third child and eldest son of neighbouring Paterson landholders, William Dun and Maria Dun nee´Burdett, in 1857. Frederick Bedwell had also fathered a daughter Eliza (born at the end of 1820) to Louisa Calcott of Sydney.

Charles Dun and Zorayda (Bedwell) moved north and were among the first landholders in the Lake Cootharabra area of south-east Queensland. Dun’s Beach on the lake is named after them. Their son, Percy Vivian Dun, married Elizabeth Ann Cork who, with her family, moved to the township of Ayr, south of Townsville, in the very early years of the twentieth century following the incapacitation of Percy in a mining accident. They were my great grandparents.

Today, it is likely that there are thousands of living descendants of Frederick Bedwell, and many of them are probably unaware of their forbearer’s contribution to the development of modern Australia. It follows that Australians, at large, are also unaware of the importance of the work of the Mermaid and the Bathurst and their officers and crew in the story of modern Australian. The unscheduled landing and interlude at Cape Cleveland are part of the overall substance of King’s five hydrographic surveys, although the significance of that first visit clearly needs to be shared with today’s residents of Townsville.

Map of Newly Named Bedwell Bay 2010 — Map of newly named Bedwell Bay (2010)

Written by Ken Dun. Compiled by Dr Maddy McAllister, Senior Curator Maritime Archaeology

Sources

King, Phillip Parker 1826, Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia: Performed between the Years 1818 and 1822, Volumes One and Two. John Murray, London.
Volume 1 – http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00027.html
Volume 2 – http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00028.html

Dun, Antje, 2018, Wonders, wishes and waves, Smashwords.
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wonders-wishes-and-waves-diary-of-an-accidental-explorer
(A children’s interpretation of Phillip Parker King’s Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia: Performed between the years 1818 and 1822 written by one of Frederick Bedwell’s descendants).

Phillip Parker King – album of drawings and engravings, 1802-1902
http://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110326801

Further reading

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-01-07/mermaid-hunters-confirm-ships-discovery/259780

https://theconversation.com/the-murujuga-mermaid-how-rock-art-in-wa-sheds-light-on-historic-encounters-of-australian-exploration-116815

https://www.nla.gov.au/blogs/behind-the-scenes/2016/09/28/swallowed-by-the-sea-the-mermaid

http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/2019051611392/regional/pilbara-ship-engraving-may-depict-british-ship-mermaid-1818

https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/10/06/3333836.htm

https://www.modelerscentral.com/ship-model-kits/modellers-shipyard/hm-cutter-mermaid-1817/

https://www.sea.museum/2009/12/21/a-model-tale