News of the presentation of the Carrington volumes to New South Wales has travelled to the Northern Hemisphere and the home county of the Carington family in Buckinghamshire.

Historic Buckinghamshire volumes presented to New South Wales

A fascinating Victorian archive of life in New South Wales (NSW), donated by the Carington Family of Buckinghamshire, has made its debut in Australia.

The current state Governor, Marie Bashir, was joined by other representatives of the NSW state government to unveil the gift.

Known as the Carrington Volumes, the 22 exquisite leather bound albums were presented to the third Lord Carrington upon his retirement from a five-year term as NSW Governor in 1890.

The captivating Victorian collection consists of 13 albums of hand-illuminated manuscripts, detailing expressions of gratitude and fond farewells from towns, cities and establishments visited by Lord and Lady Carrington.

Read more at Buckinghamshire County Council website

The story was also featured in the South Bucks Star

Serving Country: Centenary & Beyond

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held around the country each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The week is celebrated not just in Indigenous communities but also in government agencies, schools, local councils and community organisations.

To see what celebrations are taking place near you, check out the 2014 local NAIDOC events calendar or find some ideas on how to celebrate NAIDOC Week.

Here are a few archive/history themed links for NAIDOC week.

More Than Service: Black Diggers and The Great War

In commemoration of the centenary of the First World War the History Council, NSW and Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre, UTS, invite you to a symposium about the contribution of ‘Black Diggers’ to the war effort and how their service changed social and economic relations on the home front.

Records show that more than 800 Aboriginal men enlisted, eager to fight on behalf of their country: they served in this conflict on equal terms, successfully breaking down cultural barriers by forming friendships with those they fought side by side. The participation of Aboriginal Servicemen in the First World War held immediate implications for families and communities on the home front.

When: Thursday, 10 July 2014 from 10:00 am to 03:00 pm

Where: State Library of NSW, Macquarie Street , Sydney

Cost: General Free

Book Here

 Department of Veterans Affairs honours indigneous servicemen and women

As we approach the centenary of the First World War the Indigenous Champion Project is proudly honoring the service and sacrifice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Servicemen and women by sharing with you their wartime stories.

Read their stories

Finding Indigenous communities in the State archives

This site brings together all our resources that can help you identify, access and use State archives that relate to Indigenous people.

Learn more on the website

One way and another Governors have been a popular topic of conversation in NSW lately. Last week it was announced that General David Hurley will be the next Governor of NSW, while over the weekend retiring Governor Marie Bashir was appointed a Dame of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Here at State Records NSW we’ve been focussed on a Governor from a different era, Charles 3rd Lord Carrington, former Governor of New South Wales from 1885 to 1890.  On 23 May 2014, Minister for Finance and Services, Dominic Perrottet, joined Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency The Honourable Marie Bashir, at Government House to receive a gift of historic volumes from the Carington family. 

State Records was on TV!  ABC #730Report

You may also have seen the volumes featured on the NSW version of the 730 Report on the ABC last Friday night.

(Filming 730 Report LtoR: Director, Geoff Hinchcliffe; State Records Chair, Anne Henderson; Minister of Finance and Services, Dominic Perrottet; Conservator, Dominique Moussou & Manager, Wendy Gallagher)

• View the full segment

 7 Interesting Facts about Lord Carrington*

1. Lord Carrington convinced Sir Henry Parkes in 1887 not to change the name of the colony of New South Wales to Australia.
2. The Carrington’s family crest; an elephant’s head, charged on the neck with three fleur-de-lis and the motto ‘Tenax in Fide’ (Latin for ‘Steadfast in Faith’); was adopted by the Royal New South Wales Lancers upon his arrival in 1885. This is still used by the Lancers today,
3. Lord Carrington unveiled the statue of Queen Victoria at Hyde Park before an audience of more than 50,000 in 1887 for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee
4. Lord Carrington laid the foundation of Centennial Park for the centenary in 1888, declaring ‘the property for the people for ever’.
5. NSW postal authorities issued two commemorative postage stamps in 1888, probably the first of their kind anywhere in the British Empire. One depicted a map of Australia complete and the other portrayed the first Governor of 1788, Arthur Phillip and the current Governor of 1888, Carrington.
6. A daughter was born to the Carrington’s in 1889 and they gave her ‘Sydney’ as one of her names.
7. Lord Carrington bought and subdivided the area of land which was later to become known as the suburb of Castlecrag on Sydney’s lower north shore.

The Albums

The 22 leather bound volumes contain hand painted dedications, photos and memorabilia from regional towns visited by the Governor in the 1880’s. It provides a snapshot of pre-federation NSW at a time when the colony was on the cusp of great change. A sample of the images have been uploaded into an online gallery.

View the Gallery

*These facts are sourced from the following publications: Clune, David and Ken Turner (eds.), The Governors of New South Wales 1788-2010, The Federation Press, 2009 Rollo Gillespie, Viceregal Quarters: An Account of the Various Residences of the Governors of New South Wales from 1788 until the Present Day, Australia, Angus and Robinson Publishers, 1975.

The Birdwood Flag in its original condition. [Courtesy of The University of Newcastle’s Anglican Diocese Archives in Cultural Collections A6137(iv)]

Gionni Di Gravio, Archivist of the University of Newcastle introduces Bronwyn Orrock, University scholar in Fine Arts who, from 2009-2011, undertook an important research project into the archives documenting the provenance of every object, relic and example of art and artisanship held in Christ Church Cathedral Newcastle.

Until 2014, one item eluded her, The Birdwood Flag, Australia’s first National Flag, and arguably the most important national cultural relic of the First World War, whose remains lay in a cardboard box in a safe. This is the story of the flag, its creators, and its rediscovery.

Uncover the mystery at the UoN Cultural Collections blog

Did you attend the Wagga Gold Cup on Friday? Or perhaps the Town Plate the day before? You may have dressed to impress the Fashions on the Field judges or have had a flutter or two. In all the excitement, did you ever think about the history around you? Did you wonder about others who for over a hundred years have stood in the same spot as you, screaming out “Go! Go!” during a race? The generations of women who, like you, had spent weeks working out what they were going to wear?

Horse racing at Wagga Wagga has a history going back over 160 years….

Check out the Wagga Wagga Race day fashions and characters at OntheRecord.

Records are rehoused after conservation

When: 16 Jun 2014, 9am – 5pm
Venue: University of New South Wales, Morven Brown G6 (map ref C20)
Who: Course Co-ordinator Dr Peter Orlovich

The School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales welcomes applications for the following Short Course for 2014 which is to be offered in an intensive mode in two stages from Monday 16 June to Friday 20 June 2014 and from Monday 23 June to Friday 27 June 2014 at the University of New South Wales School of Humanities and Languages in Stage 1, and at the University of New South Wales Archives in Stage 2.

Two Stage Intensive Programme

This course provides an opportunity for you to learn the theoretical and practical aspects of preserving and organizing archives and historical documents, whether they be family papers and manuscripts or the archives of public or private corporations, organizations, associations and societies. The course curriculum has relevance to custodians of archives and historical manuscripts of public as well as private organizations, and is of particular relevance to local studies librarians, museum and historical society curators whose custodial responsibilities also include local government archives and private or personal papers.

The knowledge and skills imparted in this course have application for the management of archives and manuscripts in a wide variety of institutions and organizations, such as schools and colleges, churches and religious congregations, professional associations and learned societies, industrial organizations, pastoral and agricultural societies, business corporations, and local government authorities.

• Visit the website for further information and to apply.

“Gionni Di Gravio, Archivist of the University of Newcastle and Dr Ann Hardy discuss their recent trip to NSW State Records to photograph three bundles of hitherto lost documents of Newcastle in the late 1820s and early 1830s. The documents relate to an inventory of public buildings in the township that were being readied for what appears to have been the first privatisation prior to the Australian Agricultural Company take over of the Government Mines. They provide a digitised copy and transcription of one of these documents, and the importance of this information to the creation of the 3D early Newcastle model currently being constructed by artist Charles Martin for the University’s Coal River Working Party.”

Sir Thomas Mitchell’s 1828 sketch rendered by Charles Martin 2013

• Learn more about their journey through the archives and this innovative project.