National Trust (WA) Quotes Compendium for NYR12

The National Trust of Australia (WA) for the National Year of Reading 2012 Presents: The #NYR12 Compendium of Quotes.

CONTENTS

Introduction Marshall Walker, The Pump Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines Gary N. Smith, History News George Fletcher Moore Diary of Ten Years of an Early Settler in Western Australia Olive Gear, Wandoo Heights: a wildflower journal Kim Scott, That Deadman Dance John Dowson, Fremantle Port Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and the Western Australian Society 1829-2010 Lowitja O'Donoghue CBE AM Successful Tourism at Heritage Places Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines Graeme Davison & Chris McConville (eds), A Heritage Handbook Joy Lefroy & Diana Frylink, The Pipeline CY O’Connor Built Graeme Davison and Chris McConville (eds), A Heritage Handbook Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia Anne Brearley, Ernest Hodgkin’s Swanland: Estuaries and Coastal Lagoons of South-western Australia Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and the Western Australian Society 1829-2010 Olive Gear, Wandoo Heights: a wildflower journal Cyril Ayris, C.Y. O’Connor: a brief biography John Boyle O’Reilly, Moondyne: a story of life in West Australia Elizabeth Hof, The Curtin Family Home Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand & Stars Joy Lefroy & Diana Frylink, The Pipeline CY O’Connor Built Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia John Dowson, Fremantle Port

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

Gordon Stephenson, The Design of Central Perth: some problems and possible solutions Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia Iain McCalman, Alexander Cook, Andrew Reeves (Eds), Gold: Forgotten histories and lost objects of Australia Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and the Western Australian Society 1829-2010 John Dowson, Old Albany Iain McCalman, Alexander Cook, Andrew Reeves (Eds), Gold: Forgotten histories and lost objects of Australia Jenny Gregory, City of Light: A History of Perth since the 1950s Jenny Gregory, City of Light: A History of Perth since the 1950s Ron C. Bertelsen, Geraldton to the Abrolhos 1898 - 1964 A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor Heritage Politics in Adelaide by Sharon Mosler Colin Amery & Brian Curran, Vanishing Histories: 100 Endangered Sites Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and the Western Australian Society 1829-2010 Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia “A Saturnine New Chum�, A Colonial Christmas Ode George Grey, Expeditions in Western Australia 1837 to 1839 Conclusion

DISCLAIMER

The content of this PDF or its extracts are reproduced here for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended, and copyright lies with the respective authors and publishers. Full information may be found here:

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

INTRODUCTION In January 2012, the National Trust of Australia decided to participate in the National Year of Reading .

The National Year of Reading is a Federal Government initiative aimed at supporting reading, while respecting the oral tradition of storytelling. It's about helping people discover and rediscover the magic of books.

On social media, this event was tracked using the hashtag #NYR12; these are the quotes we shared under that tag, from a miscellany of texts that focus on history or cultural heritage.

#NTWA - #NYR12

1

“Kalgoorlie, principally a mining town, was far more than that in the 1940’s. It was a mini metropolis that had flourished in utter isolation and yet achieved a self-contained, integrated strength. A maverick town where the conquest of a near endless range of difficulties provided the city planners with impetus to succeed.”

Marshall Walker, The Pump pp. 15 ISBN: 085905 323 7

#NTWA - #NYR12

2

“Geoff (Harcus) and Thomas (Bropho) first met on the Esplanade, the site of open discussion and free speech in the city. Mostly left- wing groups used the grasses open are between the city and the river as their public meeting ground amid a sea of conservatism.�

Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines (2003) pp. 329

ISBN: 1 86368 237 6

#NTWA - #NYR12

3

“In most communities funding for cultural heritage runs well behind the visual and performing arts, education, and social service agencies. The public wants their heritage touchstones preserved, but often don’t feel the urgency to continue funding them once they are saved.”

Gary N. Smith, ‘House Museum Partnerships with Local Governments: A Broken Model?’

History News (Spring 2011) pp. 24

#NTWA - #NYR12

4

“How often I wish that some of you were here! for this wild life although it has its inconveniences, has it pleasures too. I am sure you would enjoy it, if once for the roughing was a little over ... I feel very happy just now in every respect except my solitude. Great rumours of ship arrivals! – are they true? – any from England? –any letters?”

George Fletcher Moore Diary of Ten Years of an Early Settler in Western Australia ISBN: 1104172054, 9781104172053

#NTWA - #NYR12

5

‘Tread softly through the bush, tread softly The forest floor composed of leaf and twig, Flower petal, seed pod and bush debris Rests lightly on the ground.

Compact it not, lest doing so Regrowth is impeded, flowers suppressed, Nature thwarted. …

Tread gently through the bush, tread gently Then you will spare the life of insect and of flower The fairy orchid and moss and fern.

The bush so independent and so vulnerable…’

Olive Gear, Wandoo Heights: a wildflower journal ISBN: 978-0-9577570-0-4 (095775700X ) #NTWA - #NYR12

6

“Bobby climbed the fence surrounding the yam grounds, and was still quite a long way from the house when a soldier yelled out for him to halt. Bobby had not seen the man, and now he waved, friendly-like, but the soldier gesticulated angrily and raised his gun to his shoulder... Horses and carts of various kinds began arriving a little later. Under a full moon the buildings of The Farm huddled, surrounded by tethered animals, wagons and sulkies and carts. Soldiers moved around its perimeter, and the windows were small rectangles of brightly glowing amber. The high tent beside the house shone like a lamp, human figures flickering and flowing within it. “ Kim Scott, That Deadman Dance pp. 364 ISBN: 978140504 044 0 #NTWA - #NYR12

7

Norman Lindsay sketched a boat pumping water whilst transiting Fremantle in 1909 on his way to London aboard the new Orient Steam Co. ship Osterly. Years later, in 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, when he was in Fremantle on his way back from overseas aboard the mailboat Mongolia, the press asked him about the art market in Europe. He told them that: "Art had crashed all over the world".

John Dowson, Fremantle Port, pp. 61 ISBN: 978 0 9805395 3 0

#NTWA - #NYR12

8

“That the Barracks and the Old Observatory had an important role to play in Perth's sense of place was never envisaged by those concerned with imagining and realising Perth's future; nor was there a discussion of the cultural or environmental implications of the plan to reclaim large sections of the river.

Increasingly, however, a significant number of the population did think these things mattered, and they took to expressing their views in the local media and through active forms of protest.�

Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia, pp. 40 #NTWA - #NYR12

ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6 9

“Ever since the earliest years of the Swan River settlement, the governor and his wife had been closely associated with a range of charitable activities that aimed to ameliorate the position of colonists in need. This crucial aspect of vice-regal patronage was a shared responsibility; and the governor's wife often took a leading role in organising and dispensing charity.�

Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and the Western Australian Society 1829-2010, pp. 174 ISBN: 9781742583402

#NTWA - #NYR12

10

"Who better to interpret our environment for tourists than Indigenous people who have developed an understanding and knowledge of their country which can never be duplicated by non-Indigenous tour guides?"

Lowitja O'Donoghue CBE AM Successful Tourism at Heritage Places.

Australian Heritage Commission, 2001.

#NTWA - #NYR12

11

“The overhead tree branches shield the lakes, flowerbeds and walkways from the harsh Western Australian light, and bear witness to all that happens beneath them. Each year the leaves become filled with the stories that they hear winding their way around the tracks that circle the park... Each story captured in the branches and collected in the leaves, creates another ring of history around the trunk of the tree's skin and becomes another earthly layer in the park's foundations. These stories amass and rupture the tarred surfaces of the pathways ringing the lakes as the tree roots break through the surface of any substance that the city attempts to layer over them.�

Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines (2003) pp. 228 ISBN: 1 86368 237 6 #NTWA - #NYR12

12

“What really makes the house of a great man or woman historically important is what makes any building historically important – namely, that it throws light on a significant aspect of the lives of people in the past. It is not just as an antique, nor as a shrine, but as a document, as a piece of vital evidence about the past society that created it, that a building deserves to be regarded as historic.”

Graeme Davison & Chris McConville, A Heritage Handbook, pp. 71 ISBN: 0048200409

#NTWA - #NYR12

13

“Here is the weir dammed by concrete Approved by parliament Who argued and argued about giving money To Forrest the Premier Who visited the goldfields and met the nurses Who cared for the sick Who used the water carried by camels For men from the east Following the digger looking for gold Who needed the pipeline O’Connor built.”

Joy Lefroy & Diana Frylink, The Pipeline CY O’Connor Built, pp. 13 ISBN: 192073160-1

#NTWA - #NYR12

14

“We may liken some old buildings to palimpsests – parchments which have been successively written upon, crossed out, erased and written over by different hands so as to leave several distinct ‘layers’ of writing.

Reading such a manuscript calls for high skills in palaeography (the study of obsolete scripts), contemporary idiom, and knowledge of the various periods in which the document was composed.”

Graeme Davison and Chris McConville (eds), The meanings of heritage’, A Heritage Handbook, pp. 74-75

#NTWA - #NYR12

15

“They are always with us, the people of other eras that exist alongside our own, quietly watching the new psyche of the city take form as the world that they inhabited is redrawn, torn down, reclaimed and redeveloped.�

Stephen Kinnane, Shadow Lines, (2003), pp. 377 ISBN: 1 86368 237 6

#NTWA - #NYR12

16

“[In 1970] The Trust argued that all Class A reserves, state forests, and other reserves in any part of the state, required protection from mining unless parliament decreed otherwise. It believed that the north of the state required equal protection to the south-west, citing particular concerns for the fauna of Barrow Island, the ecologies of Hamersley Range, Windjana and Geike Gorge national parks.�

Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia, pp. 227 ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6

#NTWA - #NYR12

17

“What a sight as the visitor arrives at the small coastal town of Augusta; a grand vista of houses nestled between gum trees along the banks of a peaceful river in the lee of Cape Leeuwin, the grey-green treescape (peppermints) to the east and in the distance the vast expanse of the Southern Ocean where waves roll onto the long sandy beach.”

Anne Brearley, Ernest Hodgkin’s Swanland: Estuaries and Coastal Lagoons of Southwestern Australia, pp. 311 ISBN: 1 920694 38 2

#NTWA - #NYR12

18

“[On the death of QV1] While consular officials and prominent citizens called at Government House to pay their respects to the late Queen, and the building, like many others, was draped in black and purple, it was not a focal point for public mourning; in fact, the military parade to mark Victoria’s funeral marched straight past Government House, and the eighty-one gun salute by No. 1 Battery of Field Artillery was fired on the Esplanade.”

Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and Western Australian Society 1829-2010, pp. 179 ISBN: 9781742583402

#NTWA - #NYR12

19

“The air was hot and heavy The path like an unswept waste Thick with twigs and debris And alive with ants in haste.

But above and all around us On trees some great, some small Were blossoms of such radiance And white as the purest snow.

The trees which bore these blossoms Had barks both rough and gnarled Many showed signs of hardship With (red)gum dried on their bark.�

Olive Gear, Wandoo Heights: a wildflower journal ISBN: 978-0-9577570-0-4 (095775700X )

#NTWA - #NYR12

20

“By the time he turned fifty C.Y. O’Connor was known in Perth and on his many construction sites as The Chief. He had a reputation for protecting the welfare of his workers – perhaps this was something he had learnt from his father during Ireland’s potato famine. He introduced an eight-hour day in his department and he was invariably a soft touch for any Irishman who went to him seeking work. He was even more meticulous in his work and he insisted that those working for him were equally diligent.”

Cyril Ayris, C.Y. O’Connor: a brief biography (2007) pp. 34 ISBN: 0 9578853 4 2 #NTWA - #NYR12

21

“The mahogany sawyers had left their logs and were sleeping in the cool sand of their pits.

Even the travelling ants had halted on their wonderful roads, and sought the shade of a bramble.

All free things were at rest; but the penetrating click of the axe - heard far through the bush, and now and again a harsh word of command, told that it was land of bondmen.

From daylight to dark, through the hot noon as steadily as in the cool evening, the convicts were at work on the roads - the weary work that has no wages, no promotion, no incitement, no variation for good or bad, except stripes for the laggard.”

John Boyle O’Reilly, Moondyne: a story of life in West Australia (1879) ISBN: 1 920897 03 8 #NTWA - #NYR12

22

“Elsie Curtin’s support at home during John Curtin’s years in parliament was critical to his success in the electorate of Fremantle. Curtin wanted Elsie, whom he called Nippy, to maintain a presence in their family home and in his electorate. At a time when electoral offices and staff were not provided to members of parliament, she dealt with mail, press cuttings and other day to day administration, and gave tireless assistance to constituents. She was president of the Fremantle Labor Women’s Organization from 1944 to 1946 and supported other community groups.”

Elizabeth Hof, The Curtin Family Home (2010) pp. 8. ISBN: 1876507497 #NTWA - #NYR12

23

“A civilization is a heritage of beliefs, customs, and knowledge slowly accumulated in the course of centuries, elements difficult at times to justify by logic, but justifying themselves as paths when they lead somewhere, since they open up for man his inner distance.�

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand & Stars (Terre des homes, 1939).

ISBN: 0151970874

#NTWA - #NYR12

24

“In 1895 Premier John Forrest visited the Goldfields. It was clear to him there was plenty of gold in the region but he also observed how the acute lack of fresh water was causing widespread health problems and deaths from diseases such as typhoid and dysentery.

Forrest asked Charles Yelverton O’Connor, the State’s Engineer-in-Chief, to devise plan to supply fresh water to the goldfields.

O’Connor’s scheme was simple yet effective. It involved pumping water from a storage dam at Mundaring near Perth through a pipeline to Kalgoorlie 560 kilometres away ”.

Joy Lefroy & Diana Frylink, The Pipeline CY O’Connor Built.

ISBN: 192073160-1 #NTWA - #NYR12

25

Many, especially historic houses, had been abandoned and were barely intact or representative of their original use…. The restoration of properties was closely allied with the desire to put Western Australian heritage ‘on the map’, to register its presence in the face of development pressures which seemed to have completely disregarded it. In the context of heritage battles in the 1960s and 1970s, restoration was a political act. It resisted the erasure of Western Australia’s historic built environment. ”.

Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia, pp. 113 ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6 #NTWA - #NYR12

26

“RMHS Ellinis in Fremantle in the early 1970s: This well-loved ship had a long career spanning almost 50 years. Beginning in 1932 as Matson Line’s SS Lurline, she became a US naval transport in World War Two and took Prime Minister John Curtin to the USA to meet President Roosevelt in 1944. John Curtin, the Federal Member for Fremantle 1928-31 and 1934-45, had a heart attack a few months after his return and died the next year while in office. In 1963… she became a 1,688 one-class passenger liner for Chandris. For some ten years the Ellinis made regular voyages to Australia.”

John Dowson, Fremantle Port, pp. 157 ISBN: 978 0 9805395 3 0 #NTWA - #NYR12

27

“Perth was founded as a capital on 12 August 1829. The site chosen has fresh water and building materials… the earliest recorded town plan was printed in London by J. Arrowsmith in 1833 ‘from documents furnished’ to the Colonial Office by the first Surveyor-General, John Septimus Roe. It is essentially the street layout of today’s central Perth. The only major alterations have resulted from the reduction of northern and eastern parts of the proposed Crown reserve or domain, the insertion of the railway on drained wetland, [and] road building on reclaimed river land.” (pp.1) Gordon Stephenson, The Design of Central Perth: some problems and possible solutions.

ISBN: 0 85564 107 X #NTWA - #NYR12

28

“During the two and a half hours we were in the house [Tranby] the two family dogs, several cats of every colour and the pet joey kangaroo wandered through. The ‘pets’ presence was clearly visible throughout the House having been laying in the babies cradle, on the bed, in the chairs, on the table-cloth and cushions...the family pet dog was quite comfortable sleeping in the Grand Father chair in the lounge room.” (pp.182) Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia.

ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6

#NTWA - #NYR12

29

“The party was numerous; the tent one of the largest in the camp, was lined with green baize; one end of it was fitted up with sofas, armchairs, and a grand piano. Small, round tables were tastefully dispersed, on which some very pretty ornaments, books, portfolios of drawings were placed. At the other end there was a large table with cups and saucers of every size and pattern, a large mud and stone fireplace, with a blazing fire, on which two immense kettles were singing. Loaded pistols decorated the mantelpiece.� (pp.229) Iain McCalman, Alexander Cook, Andrew Reeves (Eds), Gold: Forgotten histories and lost objects of Australia.

ISBN: 0 521 80595 3 #NTWA - #NYR12

30

“[I had] a proud swelling of my heart to see how loyal Englishmen are, all over the world, and specially in Australia; loyal even when such thousands and thousands of miles of sea stretch between them and their Queen and Empress.... So whenever I tell you of all the honour and hospitality shown to your father and me, you must always first think that it is really our darling Queen to whom all her distant subjects vie with each other in showing their love and loyalty.” (pp.143) – Lady Barker, the Governors wife, to her child, about arriving in Albany.

Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and Western Australian Society 1829-2010.

ISBN: 9781742583402

#NTWA - #NYR12

31

“This wonderful harbour is naturally defensive, and could be made almost impregnable by sitting guns in a central permanent position west of the entrance to the inner harbor.

Considering however that the importance of Albany has been greatly diminished by the establishment of Fremantle as the Port of Western Australia, I think that the only reason for its defences would be to deny the port to any cruiser of fleet engaged in attacking commerce. For this the present defences suffice, and might be maintained.� (pp. 205) Lord Kitchener, 1910, on Albany.

John Dowson, Old Albany.

ISBN: 978 0 9805395 0 9 #NTWA - #NYR12

32

“A place of tall grass and some flowers blushing unseen, as two miles from Lombard Street is too far to travel on shanks pony, so the Botanical Gardens is merely a tale that is told to the majority of Ballarat people. Plenty of gum trees and graceful lightwood adorn the reserve. The curator has planted some tree’s he brought from home. Some day these might be worth a long journey to see. About Seven acres are enclosed by a post and rail fencing, but the rest of the 60 acres is a wilderness.” (pp. 278) Iain McCalman, Alexander Cook, Andrew Reeves (Eds), Gold: Forgotten histories and lost objects of Australia.

ISBN: 0 521 80595 3 #NTWA - #NYR12

33

“Along… St George’s Terrace…it seems there’s not even a façade I can recognize. Great ugly boxes of glass and concrete-oppressive to the soul and offensive to the eye…But before the soul withers in this alien atmosphere, you are saved and refreshed by the sight of the old Palace Hotel, miraculously preserved on the corner… Further down the terrace glows the soft rose - the crumbling soft brick rose - of St George’s old cathedral...With any luck they might be able to save at least a church and a pub to keep something of beauty and dignity and history along the terraces of Perth.”

Jenny Gregory, City of Light: A History of Perth since the 1950s. (pp. 219) ISBN: 0 9594632 5 9 #NTWA - #NYR12

34

“The Barracks archway became a symbol.

People tended to identify its planning destruction with so much of the recent casual scarring of the city in the name of progressand, in a general sense, with governmental and departmental arrogance… Whatever the aesthetic value of the archway, it is to be hoped that the successful fight for its survival has taught the Government a lesson- That it cannot consistently act on the basis that Big Brother knows best.”

Jenny Gregory, City of Light: A History of Perth since the 1950s. (pp. 118) ISBN: 0 9594632 5 9

#NTWA - #NYR12

35

“[Off the Abrolhos] In the early days the loading of the crayfish would be carried out on the mothership / carrier vessel which would be rigged with mast and sail. The halyards which were used for hoisting the sails would be, sometimes in conjunction with davits, adapted to hoist the holding crates out of the water…

Then the crayfish would be bagged ready for the trip to town... Fishermen on the whole were innovative people who by their distant lifestyle away from amenities quickly adapted to improvising equipment to suit a purpose.”

Ron C. Bertelsen, Geraldton to the Abrolhos 1898 - 1964 (pp. 78) ISBN: 978 0 646 50707 1

#NTWA - #NYR12

36

The emergence of cities and states in different parts of the world has many consequences, among them the appearance of the world’s first written literature and the development of scientific and mathematical knowledge. These early cities and states did not exist in isolation, but were connected through extensive trade networks by road and sea…these people created many sophisticated objects, notably of materials such as bronze and golf which have often survived. Many of these objects were clearly made as demonstrations of power, designed to impress subjects, visitors and possibly posterity.”

A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor, pp. 95 ISBN: 978 1 846 14413 4 #NTWA - #NYR12

37

“Technological innovation [has] enabled more objects to be produced and used by humankind than at any previous time in history, changing the way we relate to each other and to the material world. But many of these objects (particularly since the invention of plastic) have been ephemeral and disposable, which has given urgency to questions about the environment and global resources. As has been true for almost two million years, the objects we have produced over the last century convey our concerns, our creativity and our aspirations, and will continue to reveal them to future generations.�

A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor, pp. 627 ISBN: 978 1 846 14413 4 #NTWA - #NYR12

38

“In March 1980, Lord Mayor Bowen announced that ACC would undertake a heritage study of the City of Adelaide. According to Bowen, the study would end debate about the historic merit or otherwise of individual buildings. The motive was not solely to preserve the built heritage… The development industry and the heritage lobby wished to identify once and for all those buildings in the City which could be redeveloped. Through a reverse twist, the Heritage Register in Adelaide began by identifying sites for redevelopment and heritage items by default.”

Heritage Politics in Adelaide by Sharon Mosler, pp.80-81 ISBN: 978 0 9870730 4 4 #NTWA - #NYR12

39

“The archaeological remains of ancient empires litter the soil of Africa and the Mediterranean.

Some of the most famous sites of the ancient world are suffering from the depredations that accompany mass tourism… The museums of the West are conscious that they hold a great many artifacts that rightfully belong to Africa, and some items are occasionally returned. But the rationalization of the world’s treasures is a subject for long term debate, whereas the important thing for Africa is to secure as much of its fragile heritage on the ground as is possible.”

Colin Amery & Brian Curran, Vanishing Histories: 100 Endangered Sites. (pp. 116) ISBN: 0 8109 1435 2 #NTWA - #NYR12

40

“There has been a growing awareness that Government House itself is a public institution that both belonged to Western Australia and is not longer a symbol of imperial dominion. This shifting awareness in the late twentieth century coincided with rising republican sentiment but also reflected the strength of the heritage movement that resulted in the house’s official registration under heritage legislation in the early 1990s. The protection afforded by this legislation ensures that in the future Government House will continue to occupy its special and unique place in Western Australia’s history.” (pp. 324-325)

Jeremy C. Martens, Government House and Western Australian Society 1829-2010. #NTWA - #NYR12

ISBN: 9781742583402 41

“The history of the Trust in Western Australia also shows that the politics of the people involved in it cannot be reduced to a simple nostalgic conservatism. A significant number were among the first social historians in the country, with a concern to document and preserve the history of convicts and the working classes as much as that of the ‘gentry’. They were also ahead of their time in realizing that the significance of landscapes lay as much in their cultural as in their natural heritage. Although they did not do much with this realization until recently, they were not unaware of Indigenous heritage issues.”

Andrea Witcomb & Kate Gregory, From the Barracks to the Burrup: The National Trust in Western Australia, pp. 314 ISBN: 978 1 921410 24 6 #NTWA - #NYR12

42

Oh, let England boast of her snow and frost.

That make to her Christmas dear; But in summer time of this sunny clime We welcome old Christmas here.

They may find relief from their "Old Roast Beef” And their plum puddings hot and warm, In drinking old ale till the night grows pale At the fear of the coming storm.

But the mutton cheap, from our scabby sheep, Is the grub that most pleaseth me; And pneumonia meat is a greater treat Than the beef of the old "countree."

Excerpt from A Colonial Christmas Ode By “A Saturnine New Chum”. From Melbourne Punch reprinted in The West Australian, Thursday 14 April 1864 via Trove. #NTWA - #NYR12

43

“For a few minutes we lay on the bank of this clear spring, resting our wearied limbs, and admiring the scenery around us. There is something in the wild luxuriance of a totally new and uncultivated country, which words cannot convey to the inhabitants of an old and civilised land, - the rich and graceful forms of the tress, the massy moss- grown trunks which cumber the soil, the tree half up-torn by some furious gale, and still remaining in the falling posture in which the winds have left it, the drooping disorder of dead and dying branches, the mingling of rich grasses and useless weeds.�

George Grey, Expeditions in Western Australia 1837 to 1839 - Volume 2.

ISBN: 0 85905 048 3 #NTWA - #NYR12

44

CONCLUSION In Australia nearly half the population struggles without the literacy skills to meet the most basic demands of everyday life and work. There are 46% of Australians who can't read newspapers; follow a recipe; make sense of timetables, or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.

In 2012 Australian libraries and library associations campaigned to turn the year into the National Year of Reading, linking together all the great things that are already happening around books, reading and literacy, and giving them an extra boost, with inspirational programs and events taking place across the country.

The National Trust of Australia (WA) used quotes relating to cultural heritage to share our passion for reading, and participate in this National Year of Reading.

Why Reading Matters, from the National Year of Reading 2012, & the National Trust of Australia (WA). #NTWA - #NYR12

45

The National Trust of Australia (WA) The Old Observatory 4 Havelock Street West Perth ABN: 83 697 381 616

Twitter

Blog

Website