The title of this image, “Customs House, Sydney – remodelled”, may hold a clue to the photo’s date.
Can you date this photograph?
We have many other undated photographs in Photo Investigator and on our Flickr account. If you know the dates or any other interesting facts about these images please let us know.
Last year we featured records created during World War II by the NSW State Government on our website. They have included examples of the NSW government reaction to the bombing of Darwin, NSW Preparations for war as well as NSW under attack, we hope that you have enjoyed seeing these.
We would like to post something completely different to highlight the fourth and last part of our War and Australia: World War II digital display. This part of the display features the work of manufacturing and transporting defence supplies within NSW, especially by the NSW Government Railways.
Firstly a contribution from a staff member. When my colleague, also called Jenny, first heard back in February 2012 that we were mounting a display about the war in Darwin, she brought in these salt and pepper shakers to show us. They were made from American .50 BMG cartridges by her grandfather, William Howard, whilst he was stationed at Darwin. He enlisted in the Australian Army on 12 October 1941 and was discharged on 1 September 1945.
The .50 caliber cartridges were manufactured by Remington Arms in 1942, as shown on their headstamps, and were of the type used in the Browning M2 machine gun. They are 14cm long in total. The length of the casing (10cm) provides plenty of space for salt or pepper. Thanks to Andrew, another staff member and Army Reservist, for helping us identify them. More information about this type of ammunition can be found at this site . We thought the salt and pepper shakers were extraordinary and deserved to be seen. And here they are!
They are an example of trench art. See the Australian War Memorial’s website for other examples of trench art using bullets including a Trench art cross and a Bullet Casing cigarette lighter.
Secondly, a collection of signs found in the background of images of the Aircraft Production Factory at the NSW Government Railways Chullora Workshops. We have used one of these images in the latest part of the display. But the others were just too interesting to ignore! These signs vividly convey what was at stake. Did they work as a daily reminder or did they just become part of the scenery, like safety signage in our modern workplaces?
‘You can’t spell Victory with an absent “T”‘ detail from NRS 17420 item 603/27 showing staff during the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester to the Chullora Workshops 9 March 1945.
‘Near enough is not near enough. Be exact!’ detail from NRS 17420 item 603/57 Aircraft factory, Chullora, c.1943.
‘A concealed mistake is a crime! It may cost a brave man his life’ detail from NRS 17420 item 603/58 Aircraft factory, Chullora, c.1943.
Do you have examples of trench art or reminiscences that you would like to share? Or maybe a link to a favourite example on the web. Let us know in the comments.
Jenny Sloggett is an Archivist working in the Archives Control and Management section of State Records NSW.
The name Degotardi is well known to those with an interest in photography. John Degotardi senior (1823-1882) photographed Sydney in the 1860s and 1870s, after arriving in Sydney in 1853. His interest in photography grew out of his occupation as a printer and engraver. His son John Degotardi Junior (1860-1937) worked at the NSW Government Printing Office and was photographer with the NSW Department of Public Works from 6 January 1897 to 1919.
Employment card for John Degotardi jr
Among the material held at State Records is NRS 15344 “Photographs of Sydney taken between 1860 and 1880″ from the Navigation Department. This album includes photos of Sydney Harbour and environs, major buildings in Sydney, provincial centres and rural New South Wales. The album has a note inside the cover saying: ‘This album was purchased from J. Degotardi, Department of Public Works, in 1913 – price £20’.
An image from the album
So are these works by his father John Degotardi senior? After all the Department of Public Works photographic section begins in 1883 and these photographs are clearly 1860s and 1870s. Also as a public servant John Degotardi junior would not have had the right to sell Public Works’ photographs in 1913. We know there are some keen Degotardi fans out there and we welcome your input!
Browse the album on Photo Investigator
Community Heritage Grant Applications are open for 2013.
The Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program provides grants of up to $15,000 to community organisations such as libraries, archives, museums, genealogical and historical societies, multicultural and Indigenous groups. The grants are provided to assist with the preservation of locally owned, but nationally significant collections of materials that are publicly accessible including artefacts, letters, diaries, maps, photographs, and audio visual material.
Since 1994, $4.5 million has been awarded to community organisations throughout Australia.
The types of projects supported include Significance Assessments of collections; Preservation Needs Assessments of collections; conservation activities and collection management; and training workshops.
CHG is funded by the Australian Government through the National Library of Australia; the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport; the National Archives of Australia; the National Film and Sound Archive and the National Museum of Australia.
State Records, like other archives, is keen to promote its collection to the public. One way it does this is through talks to groups from local and family history societies and libraries. One such talk was given at Newcastle Region Library for Seniors Week on Wednesday 20 March 2013 by Janette Pelosi, Senior Archivist, Context and Documentation. Janette is project coordinator for Sentenced beyond the Seas: Australia’s early convict records and her talk featured many stories from these recently digitised convict records.
As part of the promotion for the talk the Library arranged for Janette to be interviewed by Carol Duncan (@carolduncan) (Afternoons) on 1233 ABC Newcastle Radio (@1233Newcastle) on Tuesday 19 March 2013. A big thanks to 1233 ABC Newcastle for allowing State Records to provide the interview online.
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Note: Sentenced beyond the Seas – the story so far
Sentenced beyond the Seas has been promoted through an exhibition of the First Fleet Indents at Parliament House . Articles on this convict digitisation project have appeared in Descent, Inside History Magazine and on the Australian Geographic web site. There have been talks to the Botany Bay Family History Society (14 February), the Society of Australian Genealogists (16 February), Newcastle Region Library (20 March) and Windsor Library (10 April) as well as media such as the Sydney Morning Herald ‘Stay in Touch’ and ‘Column 8’ as well as local papers such as the Lithgow Mercury. State Records press releases resulted in radio interviews on ABC Riverina, 630 ABC News Radio Sydney, ABC South East and ABC Newcastle. The project has even received a favourable mention in NSW Parliament (Hansard: State_Records_Legislative_Council_20130312 .)
