Conserve

Conserving Art, Inspiring Stories

BY KATE GRENVILLE

Encountering history – particularly if it’s our own – can be a moving and profound experience. As Australian author Kate Grenville explains, coming into contact with longcared-for artworks helped inspire a literary masterpiece.

From my very first story – ‘Trapped by the Tide’, written for Mrs Linney in Third Class – my writing has always come out of things visual. Often they're memories – a particular beach with a cliff behind it, for instance – but when memory can't oblige, pictures on paper can do the same, essential, job.

One of the first things I did, when researching for my novel The Secret River, was to go to the place where the story happened: Wiseman's Ferry, north of Sydney. Solomon Wiseman was my great-great-great grandfather, and the early parts of his story were the inspiration for the novel. His house is now the Wiseman's Ferry Inn, and as part of my research I stayed the night there, hoping for garrulous ghosts. Sadly, none obliged.

But the house and its surroundings were essential in making the book, which is about the humans in that landscape: the Dharug, whose land it was, and the colonists, who thought they could take it for themselves.

When I learnt that there were three images of the house from Wiseman's own time, it was like being offered a highway into that past. The naive pride of the two smaller ones was poignant, the authority of the larger one was so puffed-up and misjudged. The little images of my great-great-great grandfather himself – illiterate convict turned lord of the manor – made the man suddenly very real.

I bless all those who, for the last 200 years, have kept those scraps of paper rather than tidied them away into the bin – and I thank the National Trust for making sure they'll last another 200 years, and perhaps inspire other imaginations.

Inspire future creative greats

When you support the National Trust, you are helping us care for important artworks that could inspire the great artists and writers of the future – just like Kate Grenville.

Our art collection provides a unique window to Australia's past. Every artwork tells a story. However, many of our art treasures are at risk of serious deterioration due to exposure to sunlight, extreme temperatures, dirt and insects. Some could be lost forever. Help us bring in specialist conservators to restore these important pieces to their former glory. Donate today to our largest ever art conservation project at nationaltrust.org.au/donate-nsw

Clockwise from top UNKNOWN, Wiseman's Villa New South Wales, c. 1835, watercolour on paper; Hawkesbury Hotel Wiseman Ferry, 1909 (photo by F. Walker); Solomon Wiseman; UNKNOWN, East view of Wiseman's Villa New South Wales, c. 1835, watercolour on paper; UNKNOWN, North view of Wiseman's Villa, c. 1835, watercolour on paper.