Maybanke - From November 4th, 1893 Article.
The Women's Franchise Act 1902 (NSW) gave women the right to vote, and by s4 provided that nothing in that Act should be taken to "enable or qualify a woman to be nominated as a candidate at any election or to be elected as a member" of the Legislative Assembly.
Due to the Legal Practitioners Act 1898 (NSW) which established a Board comprising the judges of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General and two barristers to approve "properly qualified persons" for admission as barristers, under which qualified women were not a "person" for the purposes of the that Act, women, although qualified, could not practice law or be admitted to the bar. The Acts Interpretation Act 1897 (NSW) provided that "[w]ords importing the masculine gender shall include females" but it was soon apparent that legislation was necessary to remove the disqualification to women's admission to the bar .
Rose Scott, a founding member of the Women's Literary Society in 1889 from whose members the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales was formed in 1891, pointed out that the disadvantaged position of wives and mothers, the majority of women, was maintained through the exclusion of women from the practice of law and from positions of authority and dignity in the State. In a 1912 Address to the National Council of Women titled "Laws Women Need", Rose called for women to be eligible for appointment as magistrates, justices of the peace, jurors, judges, members of parliament and local councils.
Her speech also called for equal pay for women for equal work and that mothers should have equal guardianship of their children which, in the case of legitimate children, was then exclusively vested in the father.
On 18 August 1916, Attorney-General David Hall introduced the Women's Legal Status Bill to the Legislative Assembly. On its second reading, Thomas Waddell successfully raised a point of order and the bill was ruled out of order. Attorney-General Hall introduced a fresh Bill on 13 September 1916. Thomas Waddell said on that occasion he would have no objection to the Bill if the constituencies were divided into two and women elected their own representatives and men elected theirs. Mr Waddell then asked how any women could "have as much knowledge as a man of the mining laws, the land laws, and the many other matters with which parliamentary representatives have to deal"? [1.]
Fortunately more than one male Member pointed to women's work in support of the war effort as giving the lie to the suggestion that they were not equipped to take their place in parliament.
In September 1916, the Labor Party, bitterly divided over the issue of conscription, led to a split. The Premier, William Holman, and 20 other Labor members were expelled from the party forcing Holman to form new a coalition Government. Mr. Hall was again appointed as Attorney-General; however, the circumstances had overwhelmed the Women's Legal Status Bill, which lapsed.
A second Women's Legal Status Bill was introduced to the Parliament in October 1918. In speaking for the Bill, Attorney-General Hall suggested that New South Wales was lagging behind the other States in permitting women to enter the legal profession; he recalled one woman who had passed her examination for admission to the Bar at the same time as he had. He graciously acknowledged that her pass was better than his, and he noted that she had occasionally communicated with his Department inquiring when she would be permitted to practice for the profession for which she had qualified herself 17 or 18 years earlier.
The Bill encountered an obstacle in the Legislative Council. As introduced, it would have removed the disqualification on women sitting in the Legislative Council. Any measure to alter the Constitution of the Legislative Council had to originate in that Chamber.
In the Legislative Council the Women's Legal Status Bill, which had been introduced in the Assembly, was ruled out of order on a point raised by the President, that any Bill affecting the status of the Legislative Council must originate from that Chamber. N.S.W. PARLIAMENT (1918, November 29). The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times (Albury, NSW : 1903 - 1920), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108930908
The Bill as drafted was assessed to be an invasion of the privileges of the Council and was returned to the Legislative Assembly. There it was amended to confine its operation to the removal of the disqualification on the election of women to the Assembly. On its return to the Legislative Council it received a warmer reception. However Dr Nash, one of the few members who had been in Parliament, when the Women's Franchise Act 1902 (NSW) was enacted, stated he looked upon the measure as a joke.
An undercurrent in those parliamentary debates was the view that the enactment of the Women's Legal Status Bill would not disrupt the status quo too much; the electorate would not return women to parliament and the legal profession would not be overwhelmed by qualified women. Then, as now, the social and economic pressures which kept women mainly in the home or toiling for less wages, were not going to readily shift in the face of a change to their status at law.
However, on Friday the 29th of November the Legislative Assembly passed the Bill and then on Thursday the 5th of December the Women's Legal Status Bill was passed by the Legislative Council. It was assented to on December 21st, 1918:
The Women's Legal Status Bill, the Mining Amendment Bill, the University Amendment Bill, authorising the payment of exhibitioners' fees in certain educational institutions abroad, were passed through all stages. At 9.45 p.m. the Council adjourned till 4 30 p.m. to-day.LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. (1918, December 6). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15814176
Women's Legal Status
The Women's Legal Status Bill was yesterday passed by the Legislative Council. It is now competent for women to become members of Parliament and of local governing bodies, to sit as judges and magistrates, and to practice as solicitors. Women's Legal Status (1918, December 6). The Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1939), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123419437
WOMEN'S LEGAL STATUS ACT.
Act No. 50, 1918.
An Act to provide that women shall not by reason of sex be deemed to be under any disqualification to hold certain positions or to practise certain professions; for that purpose to amend, the Constitution Act, 1902, the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act, 1912, the Sydney Corporation Act, 1902, the Acts relating to Local Government, justices, magistrates, and legal practitioners, and certain other Acts. [Assented to, 21st December, 1918.] In full at https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/acts/1918-50.pdf
Rose Scott said then:
Women in Public Life
A GREAT STEP FORWARD IN THE N.S.W. MEASURE. STILL EXCLUDED FROM JURIES.
A bill has just been passed through the N.S.W. Legislative Assembly to enable women to be elected or appointed to that house of parliament, to be elected Lord Mayor or alderman of Sydney, mayor, president, alderman or councillor of any municipality or shire, and to practise as a barrister, a solicitor, or a conveyancer. The bill was amended to provide that women should be qualified to act as judges of the Supreme Court and the District Court, chairmen of Quarter Sessions, stipendiary or police magistrates, and as justices of the peace, and was then sent to the Legislative Council for approval. The question of appointing women as jurors was raised, but it was pointed out that jury service was an obligation and not a privilege, and therefore should not be imposed upon the sex.
When Miss Rose Scott, the pioneer women's suffrage worker in N.S.W., was' asked what she thought of the bill for conferring full citizens' rights on women, she replied: 'It is good so far as it goes, but it lacks two great essentials— the inclusion of women on juries, and equal pay for equal work.'
The exclusion of women, from juries appeared to Miss Scott to be a kindly consideration on the part of the government to spare them an unpleasant duty. 'But,' said Miss Scott, 'women do not, as a rule, desire to shirk their duties because they are not pleasant. Women are not heard expressing hatred of their duty, as men often are. There are certain occasions when only a woman magistrate and woman juror should hear women's cases. Men are too apt to be swayed by a pretty face or a charming manner. They cannot judge from a woman's point of view. Women will also do better in the children's court. It takes a woman to go to the heart of a child. Why, I once sat on the bench with the most kindly of children's magistrates, not to adjudicate, but as an observer, and when the cases had been gone through I gave him a sound wigging for his methods in dealing with one small boy.'
Miss Scott, however, was anxious not to give the impression that she felt any serious discontent with the new measure.
'It is a great step forward' she admitted, ''and, after all, it is just as well not to get everything at once. It will take some time to get used to it and much adjustment will be required. Women are only now beginning to use their vote.' Women in Public Life (1918, December 10). The Farmer and Settler (Sydney, NSW : 1906 - 1955), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123317279
In the month preceding this, November 1918, an article penned by Bayview resident Maybanke Anderson, 'Women's Work After the War', focusing on women's contributions during WWI, gave emphasis to the element which had drawn support from serving members during the first lapsed bill and certainly remained a factor during the 1918 debates. That article runs in full below, outlining some of the work undertaken by women during that conflict and it also called for women to be recognised as part of the workforce, and more succinctly, called not just for 'equal pay' but for a living wage. Maybanke states women, as much as men, to have the right to be employed to support dependants in the post-war era. The support for and reemployment of men to smooth their change from being in a war back into society was justifiably a priority. There were women who were working to support feeding hungry mouths and keeping a roof over the heads of loved ones prior to and after this conflict though, mostly on a very poor wage - one that kept them one step away from destitution or worse.
Having been fired from a job in the late 1980's to give the same position to a male who was just commencing 'because he has a family to support', and even though it was pointed out the author was supporting a single mother and her two children at the time, the experience is not something that belongs to the past and may well be still taking place in the present.
One hundred years ago? Today.
Maybanke is treasured among Pittwater residents - her 'The Story of Pittwater' is read just as a story, the historical references it makes to the places long since changed conjuring up beautiful scenery and rural idylls when this place was on the cusp of changes. The excellent work of Avalon's Jan Roberts, Maybanke Anderson: Sex, Suffrage and Social Reform, and the numerous Talks she has given through the years illuminating her life, reasons for seeking reform, and campaigns to effect change for women have always attracted large audiences keen to know more.
Maybanke was also a lover of children, her own and those of others, and able to exhale, to share a whimsy, as this poem from the same time this 'radical' idea of women being able to stand for parliament was being debated proves - with perhaps the sheoaks of Pittwater rating a mention:
THE WAGTAILS.
By Maybanke Anderson.
THE willy wagtail hopped and fluttered, flitted to and fro.
'Watch-it! Watch-it! Quick!' he chattered. 'Look and see.
The old grey cat is walking, slyly slinking, slowly stalking.
She'll see the nest we've hid up in the tree.'
‘TELL the cow,' his mate replies, 'She's not witty, but she's wise.
She always seems to like our friendly chat.
Say both our chicks are there, in a nest, lined with her hair.
Ask what we ought to do about that cat.
'TELL the spider. She must' know how to treat a wily foe,
And she's kind; she gives us cobweb for our nest.
She sits silent, watching, thinking, with so many eyes unblinking.
The advice she gives must be the very best.'
“I SHOULD kick her,'' said the cow. 'If you like I'll show you how!
'You just lift your hind leg. So! And hit her. There!
If she dares to smell your child, and you feel extremely wild,
Just toss her with your horns into the air.'
“MY dear Molly,' said the spider. She was in a tree beside her.
'Horns and hind legs! Why the wagtail hasn't any.
Legs all told he's only two, which is really very few.
I have eight, and find it not a log too many.
“I WOULD weave a web so fine that no cat could see it shine.
And in yards and yards I'd roll her without measure.
I would twist it round each leg, till she couldn't stir a peg.
Then she'd die, and I could eat her at my leisure.'
SAID the wagtail, 'I'm quite puzzled. Now if that grey cat were muzzled
We might roll her up in cobweb and then kick her.
But just look at her great paws, and I think I see some claws.
Don't you think, my dear, we'd better try to trick her?'
THEN his wife said: 'I like Molly, and it's really very jolly
To chatter to a friend so wise and tall.
But we can't kick like a cow, even though she's shown us how,
For we're only little wagtails after all.
“STOP! Look out! Here comes the cat! You fly this way, I'll fly that.
Hop and totter till she thinks that you're a gaby.
Peck her ears and make her wink, and we’ll tell her what we think
Of a cat who comes to steal a wagtail's baby.'
HOW they hopped and pecked and fluttered! How the grey eat mewed and muttered,
While they spread their tails and flitted to and fro!
How the prowler stared and grumbled! and in angry accents mumbled:
'Never in my life have I been treated so!
“I'LL not stand it, for it's silly, and there's nothing in a willy!
He's all tail and leathers, with a perky head;
If his size were more than double, he'd be hardly worth my trouble.
I'll go home and ask the cook for milk instead.'
“NOW'S my turn to give advice,' said the wagtail, 'and it's mice!
IN Rats and mice, Puss! Leave the little birds alone!
Then they flew up to their nest, where they sang their very best,
Till the she-oak seemed to be a happy throne.
THE WAGTAILS. (1918, December 11). Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), p. 39. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160627248
Where did it all begin though - why did she need to press for changes?
Born February 16th, 1845 at Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey, England, and arriving in Sydney in January 1855, Maybanke Susannah Selfe was the daughter of Henry Selfe, plumber and inventor, and his wife Elizabeth, née Smith. With her two brothers, Norman and Henry, the Selfe family settled in the waterfront Rocks living in Mary Reibey's house (Mary was Molly Haydock - wife of Thomas Reibey of Hawkesbury River cargo renown).
Maybanke was educated to be a teacher from an early age, as had her mother and grandmother been prior to her, and in keeping with the matriarchal line of belief for those two women that a woman should be able to support herself. [2.]
In 1867, the same year her father died in a flood, a marriage took place to the eldest son of James Wolstenholme, a very successful timber merchant and saw mill owner of Maitland:
SELFE-On the 13th April, accidentally drowned during a flood in the river, Henry Selfe, of Warragamba, banks of the Nepean, and 22, Lower Fort-street, Sydney, late of Kingston-upon-Thames, aged 62 years. Family Notices (1867, April 29). Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60839422
Six weeks elapsed prior to the funeral-more light is shed on how long it took to find the poor man's body under the records of her mother's passing, in 1902, further down this page. That someone can give the date he passed shows someone witnessed the floodwaters taking him.
FUNERAL.—The Friends of the late HENRY SELFE are informed that his funeral will leave Penrith for Mulgoa Church on the arrival of the first train from Sydney, THIS DAY, Tuesday. Family Notices (1867, May 21). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28611119
A further flood, much more widespread and with more loss of life occurred in June 1867 along the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers.
Maybanke's Marriage Notice:
Sept. 3rd, at St. Philip's Church, Sydney, by the Very Rev. the Dean, Edmund Kay, eldest son of James Wolstenholme, of West Maitland, to Maybank Susannah, only daughter of the late Henry Selfe, of Warragamba, and Lower Fort-street, Sydney. Family Notices (1867, September 7). The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18726451
The children of the marriage;
WOLSTENHOLME HARRY 11578/1868 EDMUND K MAYBANKS S MAITLAND
WOLSTENHOLME JAMES HERBERT 2993/1870 EDMUND K MAYBANK S BALMAIN
WOLSTENHOLME ARTHUR BARON 3286/1871 EDMUND K SUSANNAH M BALMAIN
WOLSTENHOLME HILDA 3166/1874 EDMUND K MAYBANK S BALMAIN
WOLSTENHOLME NORMAN SELFE 6006/1876 EDMUND K MARYBANK S ST GEORGE
WOLSTENHOLME BERTHA 6620/1878 EDMUND KAY MAYBANK SUSANNAH ST GEORGE
WOLSTENHOLME EDMUND KAY 7515/1879 EDMUND KAY MAYBANK SUSANNAH ST GEORGE
Only Harry, Arthur and Edmund survived to adulthood. James, Hilda, Norman and Bertha died very young, some sources stating from diseases relating to T.B. that impacted on their poor hearts:
WOLSTENHOLME—June 21st, at Hannan-street, West Maitland, Mrs. E. K. Wolstenholme, of a son. Family Notices (1868, July 15). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13169432
On the 26th March, at Fairlea, Balmain, Mrs. E. K. WOLSTENHOLME, of a son. Family Notices (1870, April 6). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13203203
WOLSTENHOLME.— April 18, at Maybanke, Snail's Bay, Balmain, Bertie, second son of E. K. Wolstenholme, aged 4 years. Family Notices (1874, April 20). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13335136
WOLSTENHOLME.—May 31, at Snail's Bay, Balmain, Hilda, only daughter of E. M. Wolstenholme, aged 17 months. Family Notices (1875, June 1). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28404826
Maybanke's brother Norman Selfe bought waterfront land and built twin terraced houses called Normanton and Maybank, which are still at 21 and 23 Wharf Road, Birchgrove. The family moved there after Norman was made Chief Engineer at Mort's Dock. It is likely that Norman Selfe shared Normanton with his widowed mother. Next door lived his brother, his sister Maybanke and his brother-in-law Edmund Wolstenholme. [2.]
In the late 1870's a further 'Maybanke' was built at Marrickville. The Wolstenholmes were residing there when they lost their surviving daughter:
WOLSTENHOLME.—June 3, at Maybanke, Marrickville, Bertha, daughter of E. K. Wolstenholme, aged 2½ years. Family Notices (1880, June 4). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13461405
WOLSTENHOLM.—January 26, at Picton, Norman Selfe, son of E. K. Wolstenholm, of Marrickville, in his fifth year. Family Notices (1881, February 5). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 204. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161882328
Arthur was lost in an 1895 shipwreck, not having attained his mid 20's:
PUBLIC ANXIETY AND GRIEF OF FRIENDS.
The receipt of the news that friends whose hands they had shaken not many hours before had been shipwrecked in a wild night on a raging sea, and were either lost or adrift in boats exposed to fierce winds and waves, came as a terrible shock to many people in Sydney. Mr. Wolstenholme, the fourth engineer, one of the missing officers, was a brother of Mr. H. Wolstenholme, barrister, and a son of Mrs. M. S. Wolstenholme, of Maybanke, Dulwich Hill. Mr. H. Wolstenholme was in Sydney when the news of the disaster arrived, and his grief was poignant. Upon him devolved the sad office of taking the evil tidings home.
"Any further word, Captain," asked an anxious-looking man of Commander Lindeman at the Marine Board Office yesterday afternoon; " Nothing more," was the answer, and then the inquirer said, " My nephew has gone down in her," and he bent his head to control the emotion that almost overpowered him before he continued, " His wife is staying here. I must tell her."
" The boats are only missing, and may turn up all right," was said in a tone of sympathy.
" They might," came the reply. " The vessel sank in 20 minutes, at night. Twenty minutes. About enough time to launch the boats in day-light. There was a heavy sea, too. I suppose they all had lifebelts. Well, I don't want to complain." And he left the office evidently refusing to be comforted with the hope of the other boats reaching safety. PUBLIC ANXIETY AND GRIEF OF FRIENDS. (1895, August 9). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13989487
The Sydney Morning Herald.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1895.
The steamer Catterthun, which left Sydney on Wednesday afternoon for China, was totally wrecked on Seal Rocks early yesterday morning. Of those on board 55 persons, of whom 14 are Europeans, are believed to have perished.
The Catterthun struck at 2.25 a.m. on a sunken rock. She bumped twice, then passed over, and sank in 20 minutes.
Attempts were made to launch three boats, but two of the boats were beaten to bits by the waves, which swept the vessel and washed many people away.
The survivors, who escaped in the lifeboat, consisted of Captain Fawkes, Dr. Copeman, Mr. C. Crane, Mr. Lanfear, the second officer, and 22 of the native crew.
The survivors arrived at Cape Hawke, and the tug Marion Mayfield was despatched thence to the scene of the wreck. She returned last night and reported that there was no sign of the Catterthun, and that a very big sea was running.
The sad story of the sea that casts a gloom over the community this morning is another melancholy instance to add to the long record of disaster to those who "go down to the sea in ships." On Wednesday afternoon the Catterthun left her berth at Miller's Point to proceed on her voyage to China, and by yesterday afternoon the news was about the city that the ill-fated vessel had struck on the Seal Rocks in a gale and gone down, with most of her passengers and the captain and other officers on board. The first thought must be one of sympathy with the relatives and friends of the lost, who parted from them so recently, and to whom this tragical news must come with shocking suddenness. As to the circumstances under which the vessel was lost, these will form the subject of official inquiry in due course, and the present is not the time to make them the subject of comment.
Information on the matter is incomplete, and for the moment public emotion takes the place of public curiosity. It seems unhappily only too evident, from the telegraphic accounts we publish this morning, that beyond the four white persons and sixteen Chinese whose rescue has been reported there is little hope of other survivors of this cruel catastrophe. The only consolatory reflection that can be made upon their fate is that it was mercifully swift. So far as we can gather, it was unaccompanied by any of those experiences of shuddering and protracted apprehension or lingering torture which now and then lend a more lurid colouring to those stories of wreck and maritime disaster. Such comfort as the thought may afford is all that can be offered the relatives of the victims of this distressing event.
The accounts we have received suggest vivid pictures of the scene. The Catterthun struck in the early hours of the morning, as our report shows. Then comes, first, the scene in the saloon, at which the pilot, one of the rescued passengers, and Mrs. Matiuas wore present. This is the last glimpse we get of any one of the hapless lady passengers.
So little cause for alarm did there seem at that time that those in the saloon again retired, and it was not until the chief steward called all on deck by the captain's order that the imminent peril of the vessel was recognised. Heavy seas broke over the deck, and boat after boat was smashed or swamped. The last report of Captain NEIL SHANNON shows him standing at his post on the bridge, where he gave orders for the launching of the boats until a heavy sea swept him and several others overboard. Within twenty minutes from the time the Catterthun struck the vessel gave a sudden lurch and all was over. So far as we have yet heard nothing further was seen of the missing passengers, officers, or members of the crew, although the one life-boat which was successfully launched cruised about among the wreckage till daylight making a careful search. We are left to infer that those who perished were drawn down by the sinking ship, being unable to make their escape from the last incident of this terrible scene. So far as can be learnt, there is nothing to add to enable us to realise all that occurred, and it is easy to understand that in face of so sudden a peril and in such a heavy sea the survivors must have been fully occupied in saving themselves, and helping others as the too scanty opportunity presented itself. It may be that among the sixteen Chinese who are reported as having escaped, there may be some passenger or officer whose loss is mourned in the community to-day, and of course there is always the hope that others besides those in the second officer's boat may yet be reckoned among the survivors. It is to the credit of the Chinese crew in that boat that they seem to have willingly assisted in the prolonged search after the wreck went down. The suddenness of the news renders it still difficult to realise that so awful a tragedy should have been enacted only a few hours ago almost at our doors ; but the circumstance will not prevent the warm sympathy of the public from going out to those who have lost friends or relatives in the disaster. It is one that comes closely home to us, for many of those reported lost belonged to Sydney or Melbourne. The Captain had his home with his family in Sydney ; the surgeon, Dr. ANDERSON, was a graduate of Melbourne University ; Mrs. MATHIAS and possibly others of the passengers belonged to this city ; and like the fourth engineer, Mr. ARTHUR WOLSTENHOLME, leave friends and relatives to whom the unfortunate loss of the Catterthun will be an affecting personal grief. THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. (1895, August 9). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13989512
DISAPPOINTED, BUT SAVED.
As is proverbial in disasters of this character, there are some peculiar escapes on the part of some who might have otherwise met a watery grave. In the case of Mr. A. Wolstenholme, the fourth engineer (a son of Mrs. Wolstenholme, of Petersham, a lady well known as the president of the Women's Suffrage League), who is amongst the lost, there appeared to be some doubt as to whether he would actually sail this trip ; and, as a consequence, Mr. George Weir, a young engineer resident at East Balmain, had some idea of leaving in the vessel to take his place, and for that purpose was on the vessel almost up to the time of her leaving, when young Wolstenholme came on board. DISAPPOINTED, BUT SAVED. (1895, August 9). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13989484
WRECK OF THE STEAMSHIP CATTERTHUN. (1895, August 17). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 343. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162671592
THE CATTERTHUN GOLD. Illustrated with photographs (1896, August 29). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser(NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 445. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163787789 (- the salvage of)
Maybanke's marriage was a difficult one. Her husband had a problem with alcohol, perhaps compounded by the grief of losing their children, and was frequently unemployed. Maybanke became the food and shelter provider for the family, establishing a boarding house and then returning to her profession as a teacher.
According to some historical accounts he abandoned the family in December 1884, although Maybanke's testimony during the divorce proceedings, once that was allowed per Sir Alfred Stephen's radical Divorce Extension and Amendment Act of 1892, was he left during 1885. The newspaper notice also states his 'intemperance' commenced in 1874 - the year they first lost a child, James, or 'Bertie' at just four years of age:
WOLSTENHOLME V. WOLSTENHOLME. In this matter Maybanke Susannah Wolstenholme sued for a divorce from her husband, Edward Kay Wolstenholme, on the ground of desertion. Petitioner stated she was married to the respondent at St. Philip's Church, Sydney in 1867, and there were three children by the marriage. In 1874 respondent gave way to intemperance. In 1885 he left her, and she had not since seen or heard from him. The decree nisi was granted, the petitioner to have the custody of the children. The Divorce Court. (1892, November 11). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113317737
Edmund passed away in 1915 at Cowra. According to reports on his funeral, his two surviving sons and one nephew attending, he had been living there for at least 25 years. What he did between times is alluded to as 'various occupations'. He is not listed among the guests at his sons weddings, although may have been present:
Death of Mr. E. K. Wolstenholme
News has been received by his relatives in Maitland of the death of Mr. E. K. Wolstenholme, eldest son of the late James Wolstenholme. He was a native of West Maitland and was 72 years of age. He lived in retirement and had been a resident of Cowra for the past 25 years. Death of Mr. E.K. Wolstenholme. (1915, February 3). The Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1939), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123075320
THE LATE E. K. WOLSTENHOLME.
The death occurred somewhat suddenly on the 3rd inst. at the local Hospital of Edmund Kay Wolstenholme, a resident of some 25 years standing. For many years he followed various avocations, but being in receipt of a private income he retired some little time back and lived a very quiet life. He was 72 years of age, and a native of Maitland. The remains were interred in the Presbyterian portion of the local cemetery on Thursday morning, the chief mourners being Messrs. E. W. Wolstenholme (orchardist, Bathurst), H. Wolstenholme (barrister, Sydney), sons, and Mr. Young (Sydney) nephew. THE LATE E. K. WOLSTENHOLME. (1915, February 6). Cowra Free Press (NSW : 1911 - 1921), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article99691766
Maybanke's school in the family home at Marrickville commenced in mid-1882.
Advertising (1882, June 24). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13514011
Maybanke School.
The ceremony of breaking up for the Christmas holidays took place in the Maybanke day and boarding school, Marrickville, on Friday last. There were a great many ladies and gentlemen present. During the evening Mrs. Wolstenholme, the principal, was presented by the elder scholars with an elegant cruet-stand, as a mark of their esteem for her, and Miss Dunlop received a handsome clock, and an illuminated address. A large number of prizes were distributed. Miss F. Eamer, in first-class style, presided at the piano-forte, and dancing was heartily indulged in until the small hours of the morning. A pleasant evening was spent by all present.Maybanke School. (1884, December 23). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107276462
Mrs Francis Anderson [copy of a ca. 1880 photograph between 1889-1896] / photograph by David Mitchell & Co., 236 George Street, Sydney, courtesy State Library of NSW, Image No. a8195001h
Dulwich Hill Church Bazaar,
The bazaar in aid of the building fund of the Dulwich Hill Church, Petersham, closed on Wednesday; evening. It was a financial success. Mrs. Wolstenholme, principal of the Maybanke Ladies' Seminary kindly placed the schoolroom at the disposal of the church people. The apartment was tastefully decorated, the pupils of the seminary furnishing many of the articles on sale, and personally forming an attractive feature of the occasion. The church ladies also rallied in good factors in the success of the enterprise, poring that evening volunteers entertained the audience with vocal and,.musical selections, Mrs. B. B. Huris, being extremely happy in comic hit-offs,... The vocal renditions of Mrs. Bemenschneider and Miss Kennedy were also much admired. Miss Kennedy, Miss Balby, and Mr. Wolstenhohne gave some excellent pianoforte performances. The Rev. James Clarke, the incumbent, presided, and to his zeal and efficiency much of the success of the enterprise is due. Dulwich Hill Church has but recently been established, yet has a large congregation and a well-attended Sabbath school. It has been pushed forward mainly by the exertions of the pastor, who is very popular, and a zealous laborer. The Sabbath school is ... Dulwich Hill Church Bazaar (1886, December 16). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107318041
Advertising (1887, January 18). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28353480
Maybanke College, Dulwich Hill.
(See illustration on this page.)
Dulwich Hill, lately opened by an extension of the tram line, is one of the most prettily-situated inland suburbs of Sydney. From the top of the hill, which gives its name to the neighborhood, you may look down on Petersham, and Lewisham, whose railway stations are within easy distance, and on Newtown, Marrickville, and Cook's River farther off; while the blue waters of Botany Bay and the headlands beyond melt into the horizon.
On the eastern slope of the hill stands the subject of our illustration, Maybanke College for ladies, one of the largest private estab-lishments of its kind in New South Wales. It is surrounded by its own grounds, tastefully laid out in garden, tennis court, and playground. The internal arrangements are very complete home like comfort and convenience being evidently the main objects of its rule.
The schoolroom, a large separate building, has none of the narrow, forms and bare tables which once made learning a penance, but with comfortable seats, handy desks, and gymnastic appliances, invites its occupants to improve the time, and be happy.
Mrs. Wolstenholme is assisted by a large and enthusiastic staff, among the members of which are several professors; and there are classes for gymnastics, elocution, singing, cookery, &c, as well as for the ordinary subjects. Great attention is paid to physical and moral as well as mental training, with the highly satisfactory result that a case of sickness is almost unheard of while a very creditable show is made at the various test examinations.
Maybanke College, Dulwich Hill, Sydney.
Maybanke College, Dulwich Hill. (1889, December 21). Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 39. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71127087
Maybanke College, Dulwich Hill circa 1885 - Maybanke at far right of photo - image courtesy Jan Roberts and Marjorie Wolstenholme (daughter of Harry Wolstenholme)
The John West Medal for the highest proficient and the University prize of £20 for the greatest proficiency among male candidates wore won by David Sutherland Edwards, of Newington College. The Fairfax Prize of £20, for the greatest proficiency among female candidates, was won by Edith J. Howe, Maybanke College. The Sydney Morning Herald (1890, October 6). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13794363
The annual sale of work in connection with Holy Trinity Church, Dulwich-hill, was hold in the Sunday-school-hall on the 12th, 14th and 15th inst. Mrs. .J. H. Carruthers opened the proceedings in the presence of a fair attendance, notwithstanding the unpleasant-weather. 'The flower stall was under the charge of Mesdamos Wright, Walsh (two) and M'Cracken, while the following ladies presided over the other stalls: -Mesdames Saunders, Ashcroft, Dnnninond, Baly (two), Holdsworth (three), Darnell, Bros, Saunders (two), Hickson, Strickland (two), Close, Hobson and Saunders (two). The shooting gallery was under the charge of Messrs. Wolstenholme and Saunders, while the president of the ladies' working association (Mrs. Self) exercised a general supervision over the whole bazaar. The following took part, in the musical arrangements : — Mesdames Harder, La Ruche, Briunmmid, Davison, Webb, Lord, Doust, Johnson, and Messrs. T. M'Cracken, Broughton, Ward, Little and Boult. As the result of the sale the funds of the church will be increased by between £50 and £60. THE CHURCHES. (1892, November 21). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article235963237
FIRE AT MARRICKVILLE.
A fire occasioned through a light being thrown down occurred last night at premises in Wardell road, Marrickville, occupied as an infants' school by Ellen Gully. A back room on the ground floor was slightly damaged. The outbreak was extinguished by the police with buckets of water. The premises, which are uninsured, are the property of Mrs. M. S. Wolstenholme. FIRE AT MARRICKVILLE. (1898, June 9). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109643663
FIRE IN A SCHOOLHOUSE. A small fire occurred at about 11.30 last night in a brick, slate-roofed building in Wardell-road, Marrickville. The building, which is owned by, Mrs. Wolstenholme, of Balmain, was occupied as an infant school by Miss Ellen Gully. It is supposed that the fire originated owing to a light having been thrown down. The outbreak was soon extinguished by members of the local police with buckets of water. A quantity of bedding in the back room on the ground floor was damaged by fire, and water, and the flooring was also slightly damaged by fire. The place was uninsured. FIRE IN A SCHOOLHOUSE. (1898, June 9). The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228426892
Maybanke's school was eventually sold to the Salvation Army and turned into a home for Aged Women - details below. What all this toil represents, along with raising three boys and paying for their education and meeting the costs of those who taught at Maybanke College, is the spark that began the decades long work towards women having more say over their lives.
As Jan Robert's states in her Dictionary of Sydney essay;
'Today it is hard to imagine a married woman's life in the colony of New South Wales in the 1880s. For example, divorce was only on the grounds of adultery, which was hard to prove; she had no rights to her children or to her earnings within the marriage, and could not leave her property to her children; she could not attend university, send her children to a care centre if she was forced to work, or vote even if she owned property and paid taxes; and rich or poor, single or married, she had no control over how many children she had. Gradually, through the 1890s with the help of a small group of like-minded Sydney female and male, single and married reformers, Mrs Wolstenholme changed all that. She trained herself to become 'a platform woman' who was informed about the legal injustices to women and children, who strategically planned her assault on that rigid legal system, and who trained herself to debate in public. She wrote to her ally Rose Scott at the beginning of their long campaign:
When I stand up all the old wild horse spirit surges up in me and though I tremble I feel as if I were ready to fight like a lioness. But we shall win more by being soft so I am going to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. (Letter to Rose Scott, October 27th, 1891)
From the nucleus of the Women's Literary Society – the first group of Sydney women to meet in the evenings – Dora Montefiore, Lady Mary Windeyer and her daughter Margaret, Maybanke Anderson and Rose Scott, and others such as Louisa Lawson, Frank Cotton, Professor Mungo MacCallum and artist Julian Ashton and his journalist wife Lizzie, founded the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales. Its mottoes were 'Equality is Equity' and Tennyson's lines from 'The Princess':
The woman's cause is man's; they rise or sink
Together, dwarfed or God-like, bond or free.Maybanke was first vice-president, and then president during the vital years from 1893 until 1897. Always, for Maybanke, the vote was 'the kernel of all reform'. [3.]
From the papers of then we get a small insight into the work this lady was undertaking whilst still running her school:
Mrs. Wolstenholme.
Mabanke Wolstenholme was born of English parents in the old town of Kingston-on-Thames. She came to this colony when a child, and has never revisited England. She was an only daughter, and was educated principally by governesses, always with the idea that she was to become a teacher. She is sister to Mr. Norman Selfe, M.I.C.E., the well-known civil engineer, of Sydney. At 16 she began to work as a governess; she married early, and for 13 years devoted herself entirely to the education of her children. It may be remembered that her eldest son made a brilliant record during his University career.
Mrs. Wolstenholme began to keep the school which she still successfully conducts at Dulwich Hill about 11 years ago. When a small party of women met to form the Woman's Literary Society she was appointed treasurer, and subsequently vice-president, to which post she has been three times elected, and which she now resigns, that she may be more at liberty to work for the woman's suffrage. She has been twice elected vice-president of the University Woman's Society, and twice placed on the council of the Teachers' Association, both of which positions she still holds. But the work in which she has, up to the present, made her greatest mark is the Australasian Home-reading Union. The idea of this union was started in Hobart at the making of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science. Mrs. Wolstenholme, who was present at the meetings, was appointed organising secretary, and instructed to begin the work. This she did with so much energy and ability that in less than a year reading circles were at work in all the colonies, and now, as the union draws near the close of its second year, it has 2500 members and over 130 reading circles in working order.
The Suffrage League, begun by a few women in a drawing-room at Darlinghurst, has had Mrs. Wolstenholme's support from the inception. She had read a paper on the subject before the Woman's Literary Society, and was mentioned as president before the election of Lady Windeyer. It was owing to the paper read at the W. L.S. that she was brought in touch on the subject with Mrs. Montefiore, Miss Windeyer, and Miss Rose Scott, who were among its first officers. The alteration in the constitution of the league, which has brought about the resignation of some of its officers, was demanded by the growing interest taken in the matter by the members and the general public, and by the necessity for more clearly defined lines on which to work. It is anticipated that branches will be formed at once in all centres of population, and that a strenuous effort will be made at the next election to secure the return of members favourable to the cause.
Lady Mary Elizabeth Windeyer, 1st President of the woman Sufferage League, from album 'Scott family - collection of studio portrait photographs, ca. 1865-1921' Image No.: a755012h, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
Mrs. Wolstenholme at one time was regularly employed writing for a Sydney weekly paper, and has at various times contributed prose and verse to smaller publications. She holds a letter of thanks from Sir William Harcourt for verses written on the death of Prince Leopold; and many Australian Christmas cards still bear her verses. As an energetic woman, who has never known ill-health, she has always systematically avoided the ordinary social duties which make heavy demands on the time and energy of most women, and, therefore, has been able, in the small portion of leisure left by school work, to take active interest in most movements connected with the advancement of her sex, doing all in her power to work from cause to effect, fully realising, as she does, that Never was good work wrought But by beginning of good thought.
MRS. WOLSTENHOLME, President of the Woman's Suffrage League.
Mrs. Wolstenholme. (1893, November 4). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 957. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164367902
An early interview with the WSL President - interesting in regard to her view on Temperance, despite her experiences, and for the quiet tone - you can almost hear a reasoning that does not need to be strident to communicate what was then, as now, self-evident truths:
WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE
A Chat with the President of the W.S.L.
Attitude of the New Parliament.
Freetrade platitudes, Protectionist fallacies, party bitterness, and numerous other aspects of the political horizon are being discussed on all hands. So, with a view of ascertaining what place Womanhood Suffrage holds midst the general confusion, I wend my way towards Maybanke College, where Mrs. Wolstenholme, the talented president of the W.S.L., resides, and trains the 'young idea.'
On arriving at my destination, I find Mrs. Wolstenholme busily engaged in the schoolroom, but, on explaining my errand, she courteously hands her class over to a teacher, and signifies her willingness to give me any information in her power.
'You are starting a woman's paper, next week, Mrs. Wolstenholme. I expect it will voice the principles of your League ?' I enquire.
' Yes, but It is not devoted solely to the Woman Suffrage movement. We hope to take it a thorough help to women on all questions. '
' Has the movement made on appreciable progress in the last few years, do you think ?'
' Most decidedly. Our meetings and lectures have done a lot to forward the cause, and many who at one time opposed us have since changed their views. One prominent lady in Newcastle, for instance, would not be convinced of the Justice of our principles. Lately we held an influential meeting there, the Mayor presiding. A week or so after, when a friend asked the same lady her opinion on the matter, she exclaimed, ' Oh, Mrs. Wolstenholme has convinced me.' '
' Will Womanhood Suffragists place any more hope in Mr. Reid's new Ministry than they have in former ones ?'
'I cannot say, but recently we sent a number of circulars to prominent people headed, ‘Are yon in favor of giving women a vote ? ' We received favorable answers from 30 present members. Seven or eight whom we know are favorable sent no reply. We also assume the Labor members to be favorable. Altogether, I think we shall have about 60 out of the 125 members, on our side, and many more if they see a majority are in our favor, will not oppose as I think, too, the fact that New Zealand has granted women the franchise will make It easier for us.'
' Do you think we shall have votes by next General Election ?'
' Yes, I do.'
' I suppose you've noticed that 'Truth consistently champions our sex's cause.' Mrs. Wolstenholme smilingly assents, and then proceeds to relate how the movement first started in Sydney.
‘The first meeting was held,' she said, 'at Mrs. George Montefiore's place four years ago, when Mrs. Ashton, Miss Margaret Windeyer and myself decided to form a league; and in May we held a meeting at the Economic Association's rooms in Pitt-street (they have since moved), at which various papers were read. The next meeting was held in June of the same year.'
'Might I ask if you are a temperance advocate, Mrs. Wolstenholme ?'
'No. I am a teetotaller, but do not belong to the Temperance Union or anything of that kind.'
'Our New Zealand sisters are apparently trying to effect too much hasty reform in that direction ?'
'Yes ; they go the wrong way to work. One cannot do any good by force. One most first alter people's convictions.'
' A great deal of vulgarism and cant that used to be hurled at Women Suffragates seems to have disappeared. Does it not!'
' Yes; the pioneers of the movement, you know, were often very eccentric people — people who believe in divided skirts and that kind of thing (with an expressive smile.) They brought ridicule on themselves. But now the most prominent women —I don't mean society women, but real workers — have taken the matter up.'
' Are the majority of New South Wales women sufficiently educated, in your opinion, to rightly exercise the privilege of voting ?'
' I'm not sure of that,' in a doubtful tone, ' still those who are always do their best to educate others to a sense of this duty. Which is more than men do. Men often vote, not because it is their duty, but became they are freetraders, or Protectionists, or anything else, and want to see their party at the head of affairs.'
' Do you not regret — for the sake of the League— that Sir Henry Parkes is not in power?'
' Well, there is no doubt we should have had more chance had he been. Though, in any case, he will work for us.'
Mrs. Wolstenholme explains that she takes a broader stand in the Woman question than many people do, and regarded the gaining oi the suffrage as a first step towards higher things, not as the ultimate end of all their striving. One point she seems very decided on is that the 'problem of the streets' will never be solved until women came into power.
Listening to her earnest words I am fully convinced that Mrs. Wolstenholme thoroughly means what she says, and will work hard to achieve her ends. She is certainly the right woman to head a movement which is destined to make a stir in the world, whether for good or bad time alone will tell. For the present the work is in capable energetic hands, and as I bid the president of the league good-bye, and thank her for an interesting conversation, I see before me in the near future a vision of Australian women accompanying men to the polling booths, and performing their part in the moulding of their country's destiny. WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE (1894, August 5). Truth(Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167955944
The paper Maybanke started, called 'The Woman's Voice' first appeared the following week - and 'Truth' ran;
OUR LADY'S LETTER.
Sydney, August 19. 1894.
Mr Dear Gwen,—
Have you read the first number of ' Woman's Voice ?' Thus Mary Sanger Evans (president Women's Silk Growing Association) in same: ' While the girl who has perhaps nursed, and taught, and mended for these brothers, is left to try and find some man who will take on him 'the burden of her support,' and finally, failing this, to play the part of governess or lady-help to strangers for a mere pittance.' Hump! For a mere pittance.' Truth knows one prominent lady who required a servant (lady-help) for— nothing. 'Yes,' said this munificent dame, 'I want someone to do half a day's work, get breakfast aud dinner (sometimes mid-day, sometimes late), and do the rooms out. She would have to sleep with my girls, and - 'But there! You know the style, Gwen? Wants to know all one's private history. Very particular about references. Has a lot of others to see, and, finally, will write. Oh, cheek! cheek! .... OUR LADY'S LETTER. (1894, August 19). Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167953765
Elsewhere we get an insight into what was in that first Issue as well as the knowledge that Maybanke had recently been in the Maitland district, form where her by now ex-husband was from:
'The Woman's Voice.'
This is the title of a bright, earnest, and well written paper, to be issued fortnightly in Sydney under the editorship of Mrs. Wolstenholme, the lady who lately lectured in the Maitland School of Arts. The Woman's Voice is to be ' democratic but not revolutionary, womanly but not weak, fearless without effrontery, liberal without license.' The first number is before us, and we may quote from the introductory article the editor's view of the need for a newspaper which expresses the opinion of the home by the voice of a woman:
'So long as women are allowed to give to the nation their money in taxes, their help in charity, their energy in citizenship, their patriotism, their devotion, and are not allowed to do the simple duty of casting a vote, which every free country offers to its men; so long as women are permitted to do the same work as men for lower wages, and so make the rich man richer and the poor man poorer, and thus benefit neither; so long as it is counted shame for a woman to sell herself — rather than starve — to the man who has grown rich on the profit of her labour, and not shame for the man who buys her, when by neglect of his duty she (heaven help her !) can do no other; so long as women must bear children to die in hundreds in their infancy, or to crowd our gaols and lunatic asylums — larrikins and outcasts — in their riper years; so long as there is need for prisons and reformatories, for maternity wards, and foundling hospitals, so long will there be teaching work for thinking women, and need for a woman's paper.'
The Voice, however, will not be wholly a reforming utterance. It is also to give news about woman's work in education, art, and literature; to keep pace with the leaders of thought everywhere ; to help forward, without regard to creed or class, the good work of every organisation for the benefit of humanity; to record the work of women in all centres of population; and thus encourage sympathy and stimulate energy. And it will endeavour to keep its motive pure, its method simple, and its aim the common good.
In pursuance of these aims and purposes, the first number supplies chitchat about 'women's doings throughout the world, criticises adversely the Ladies' Volunteer movement in England, publishes 'Thoughts on Woman Suffrage' by Miss Rose Scott, and an article on 'Industrial Independence for Woman' by Miss Mary Sanger Evans, reports meetings of various women workers, descants on trained nursing in Sydney, and contains news and other paragraphs of various kinds relating to the activities or exhibiting the opinions of women, poetry, a tale, notices of books, and entertainments, worktable notes and queries, and other matter.
On the whole The Woman's Voice is entitled to succeed as a high-class journal, in which literary skill and editorial judgment are conspicuous. We do not, as is well known, concur in many of the views expressed, but the woman suffrage question is a living issue, and in a free country like ours no reasonable man would silence the voice of its advocates. And, appealing to reason as these advocates do, they are entitled to a respectful hearing. We welcome The Woman's Voice as addition to the volume of clamour against insult, shame, and wrong which must be maintained if the world is to be bettered. "The Woman's Voice." (1894, August 13). The Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1939), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124727919
The Woman’s Voice – advert from January 1895: Family Notices (1895, January 19). The Worker (Wagga, NSW : 1892 - 1913), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145746689
Of course, Maybanke became the target of those who would prefer NOT to hear the woman's voice - an attitude which has changed dramatically, of course (?!) - and had the charge of being 'masculine' levelled at her that was levelled at women's liberation activists decades on - only then it was labelled 'petticoat interference in government' :
The new woman is to the fore to-day. Mrs. Wolstenholme explained the fearful creature's nature and mission at Petersham last night. The 'new woman' has it appears been artificially dwarfed in stature by the tyranny of man. The motto of the new woman is apparently taken from the comic song, 'If I were only long enough a soldier I would be?'
This is a very alarming prospect, as the new woman thinks she can become long enough by emancipation, and is already looking to the amazons of Abomey or Ashantee (which is it ?) as a model. The fancy these emancipated females have for negro example is extraordinary. Some years ago an advanced lady lauded in the Sydney press the progress of the nigger and semi-civilised republic of Hayti, in practically abolishing marriage. Now the enlightened ruler King Koffee Kalakali is held up as an example for our guidance.
By the way, Mrs. Wolstenholme says that Tacitus knew a German tribe the women of which were always consulted on matters of importance. Presumably as that tribe is not represented in Germany now, petticoat interference in Government had results not unknown in other more humble sorts of business. This should serve as a warning. BREVITIES. (1895, April 30). Evening News(Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108093110
Another charming gentleman with enlightened views:
MRS. WOLSTENHOLME'S PHILOSOPHY.
(to the editor of the "Australian star.")
Sir, — Notwithstanding the assertions of Mrs. Wolstenholme in her revolutionary disquisition, it will be convincingly evident to the intelligent readers of your widely- circulated journal that the present pursuit of a mere outward equality with man is for woman Dot only alarming and inconsiderate but equally and inexorably demoralising. It ultimately leads to a misconception of woman's true dignity and special mission. It tends to a special struggle and rivalry when the only efforts of the two great divisions of the human family should be to contribute the characteristic labor of each to the common stock.
Says our Petersham philosophess and modern Joan of Arc: "If a woman performed anything out of the ordinary (!) she was at once classed by the newspaper writer and the general public as 'a new woman,' more in contempt than admiration," Rightly so, too, and it is indeed a matter of public importance and benefit—nay, a matter of deep satisfaction — that New South Wales is possessed of that proportion of enlightened journalists who are capable of determining the manufacturers' price of female suffrage. Admiration! Why, it's completely out of the question. Justly, also, have the advocates of female suffrage been mercilessly ridiculed for the assumption of a superiority which they have signally failed to vindicate. We have had no reason to believe (continued Mrs. Wolstenholme) " that women in the beginning had been intellectually or physically inferior to men."
Just so. If you take a brick from a structure it still remains a brick to no apparent purpose, whereas the structure from which it was taken still remains a structure to the profit of those to whom it belongs. In like manner Eve was created — so we are historically informed— from the short rib in Adam's side, nearest the heart. Of course, why Adam so foolishly parted with this bony possession has never been made quite clear to a curious public, and those who seek further information on the subject are respectfully requested to join the she-male suffrage league, where intricate problems are propounded by its intellectual (?) giantesses tor the edification of its deluded members. However, this fuel clearly and inostensibly proves that he (or she) who argues that woman is man's equal foolishly contends that the part is equal to the whole. Nice logic this. Passing over that particular portion of Mrs. Wolstenholme's parabolical essay which deals exhaustively with the division and sub-division of tribes, principally on account of my not having been associated with such undesirable companions, and therefore ignorant of their feudal customs; passing this over the true form of womanhood suffrage is presented to me in all its nakedness. Observe closely the superhuman piece of philosophical reasoning, the product of a master mind, Strongly contended was the idea that "woman should drive man in the choice of her profession from the counter, the telegraph-office and the typewriter to the land," And following up this epigrammatical triumph the good lady interrogated: Is this not preferable to girls loitering at home till they were compelled to sell (?) themselves to obtain a home of their own ? This piece of philosophy carries its own condemnation.
Irrefragable is the testimony that those who seek to make popular applause their cue, and who, forsooth, are foremost in the present battle for equality, consider beneath their consideration irreproachable young women who earn an honest livelihood in our restaurants or some such like avocation. They belong to that particular portion of the human race who are quite equal to performing the toilsome duties of inferior offices, but naturally claim, in due degree of succession, to attain higher preferment. In arts, music and literature woman is thoroughly qualified to occupy a prominent position; but when she descends from her high and exalted position of trust and honor to the level of a howling demagogue, seeking political notoriety and masculine renown, she woefully betrays that sacred mission which the laws of nature destined her to fulfil, and departs from the customary and holy path of an enlightened woman to the preferable abodes of a semi-masculine advocate. — Yours, &c.,
BASTIEN FIELD LEPAGE. Harden.
MRS. WOLSTENHOLME'S PHILOSOPHY. (1895, May 6). The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227106457
Maybanke was never known to exhibit any one instance of being a 'howling demagogue'. The above weren't the only sneers in the press published, mostly of the tone of men telling Maybanke off - along the 'get back to the kitchen' and 'be quiet' lines.
On Thursday August 1st 1895 an event took place which would become part of what this lady was known for. Also present was the gentleman she would eventually marry and spend over two decades with - Professor Francis Anderson. Although they may have met when she was an office-holder for the 1891 formed Sydney University Women's Society, in the work of establishing free kindergartens their mutual ideals met. This article gives an insight into what many pupils of Maybanke described afterwards as a 'child focused' education:
KINDERGARTEN UNION.
A demonstration of kindergarten methods was held at the Congregational Hall, Pitt-street, yesterday afternoon. The chair was taken by Dr. Sydney Jones, and there was a good attendance of ladies and gentlemen interested in this system of education.
The children came from the Wesleyan College at Burwood, being in charge of Miss Scheer, whilst others were from the Girls' College at North Shore, and in charge of Miss Liggins and Miss Arnold.
The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said that he had no knowledge of the practical work of the system, but he knew something of its principles and of the advantage which it was in the harmonious development of the physical, mental, and moral powers of children.
Professor Anderson gave a short address, in which he pointed out the advantages of the system, one special feature being that, whilst the ordinary methods of teaching were repulsive to children, the kindergarten plan was interesting to them.
During the course of the proceedings an address was given by Mrs Wolstenholme, in which she explained that the demonstration was under the auspices of the Kindergarten Union. She spoke of the object and the methods of the system. The committee of the union, she stated, were of opinion that the educational system adopted in schools all the world over did not do all that was necessary to develop the powers of the children. In New South Wales the kindergarten system had been misunderstood. It had suffered from being adopted hastily, and from having been carried out mechanically, and without the spirit which should vitalise it in our schools.
One object of the union was to acquaint parents with the system. Usually children were brought up to pass an examination, and their cleverness was measured by the manner in which they reached a certain standard. This plan was faulty, inasmuch as it did not do the utmost to develop the powers of the children.
The union was in favour of having free kindergarten schools established here after the plan adopted in America. Even in New South Wales too many children were left to roam about the streets. That developed the worst side of them the kindergarten school, on the contrary, would develop the best side of them. It was thought that the Government should lend its aid in this matter. It was also thought that a training home for girls should be established. Here girls could be taught the care of children and the best meant of attending on them. We all admired the advance which was being made in sick-nursing at the present day. Everyone respected the nurses who now wore uniforms, and who had altogether superseded Mrs Gamp. It was not meant that the kindergarten school should teach sick-nursing, but it was thought that there would be a great advantage in having girls properly trained to the responsibilities of the nursery.
During the afternoon the children gave an exposition of the system, under the directions of Miss Scheer and Miss Brown. The lessons were followed by games, and the proceedings generally were of an interesting character.
Votes of thanks were passed to the chairman and to the ladies and gentlemen who were connected with the demonstration. KINDERGARTEN UNION. (1895, August 2). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13991443
The loss of her son Arthur on Thursday August 8th 1895, just one week later, was devastating to a lady who had already lost so many children. Jan Roberts' research points to Maybanke's grief causing all work to cease for a time.
KINDERGARTEN UNION.
A meeting of those interested in the formation of the above union was held on Tuesday last at Quang Tart's Rooms in King-street, the Rev. Joseph Parker in the chair. Mrs. Davenport of Homebush, was appointed secretary and treasurer pro tem. A number of names were submitted of ladies and gentlemen suitable to form the committee of the union, and it was arranged to hold a general meeting, at which the constitution of the society would be definitely settled. KINDERGARTEN UNION. (1895, August 23 - Friday). The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227275811
By years' end the publication of the misogynistic viewpoint had lessened and the even The Australian Star tone had changed; although they did not give her or the discussion as much focus as papers such as the first version of The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930) did. That Maybanke was back at doing what she was compelled to do a few months later is an indication of her own spirit:
WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE LEAGUE.
Lecture by Mrs. Wolstenholme.
A meeting of the Womanhood Suffrage League was held last night at the Protestant Hall, when notwithstanding the very heavy storm there was a large attendance. Mrs. Wolstenholme delivered an interesting address, 'taking for her subject "Laws to which Women Take Exception." She dealt first with the question of the guardianship of children, appealing in a most capable manner for the rights of womankind. She then referred to the affiliation question, urging amendments in the law on behalf of women. The Married Women's Property Act was a matter that should engage the attention of women, as was also the question of the age of consent. The meeting listened with great interest to the remarks of the lectures. WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE LEAGUE. (1895, November 14). The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227270897
WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE LEAGUE.
ADDRESS BY MRS. WOLSTENHOLME.
At a meeting of the "Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales, held at the Protestant-hall last evening, an address was delivered by Mrs. Wolstenholme on "Laws to which women take exception."
Mrs. Wolstenholme said that the remarks she intended to make that night were her own Ideas, and the other members of the league were in no way responsible for the views expressed. She would endeavor to sketch what she deemed defects in the present laws, in the hope that a subsequent discussion on the matter might lead to their being amended. It was her belief that Laws which were unjust to women, and hindered women's development of power, were as much objected to by good men as by women themselves. Every good man admitted that the two sexes rose or fell together.
Personally, she would rather have called her address "Laws to which the just take exception." Laws should, and no doubt would be, an expression of the highest thought and desire on the part of the noblest people. Such laws would not only be a terror to evildoers, but an Incentive to doing right. At the present time law did not fulfil its ideal, or fulfilled it imperfectly. It was absurd to suppose that the laws should be unchangeable. New leaders of thought arose, new ideals were adopted, new duties understood, and new laws should be introduced. People were too apt to think that what had been must continue. It was very necessary that some alteration should be made in laws relating to the guardianship of children, and she felt certain that just men, as well as just women, desired such alteration. (Applause.)
It was equally important that the question of altering the law relating to affiliation should be dealt with. Experience had taught them that men leading bad lives would not take such a matter up, and the duty, therefore, devolved upon the women. She had very little hope of men dealing with that law until women had votes, or showed by their earnestness that such an alteration was urgently required. It was the duty of every member of the league to demand legislation on such an important matter.
The Married Women's Property Act did nothing for women who did not engage in businesses of their own. The laws that were passed . in olden times did slightly protect the property of a married woman, and in some countries laws existed that afforded some protection to the same class of people. Laws relating to bequests required attention. A man should not be able to do from the grave an injustice that he dared not do while alive. If a man died intestate, the law gave his wife a portion of the property that he might leave behind. Why, then, should women not receive a part of their husband's property even though a will were made?
The last piece of defective legislation with which she intended to deal was the most Important that any statute could undertake. When deciding what to address them on that night she was doubtful whether to refer to that matter or not. Encouraged, however, by the reflection that "they're slaves who fear to speak for the poor and weak," she decided to refer to the necessity of some Improved regulation with regard to the age of consent. The laws of men enacted that women should be of a certain age and have worldly experience before they disposed of their property or jewels. Similar laws of a like stringent nature were not in existence to prevent them from losing the brightest of jewels— their purity and their honor. It was possible for a man to lead the vilest of lives, and still be considered worthy of recognition, while a woman who led a similar life was shunned. It was a duty that all women owed to their sons to insist upon better legislation, and no measure could be too stringent, or price too high for a country to pay, to preserve the honor and virtue of its growing women. That was a law that she besought all the members of the league, and other women of the city, to insist upon, and, as she previously remarked, such a law would not only be an incentive to do good, but would act as a terror to evildoers. WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE LEAGUE. (1895, November 14). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238540910
WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE LEAGUE.
A public meeting, under the auspices of the Womanhood Suffrage League, was held In the Trades and Labor-hall, Darling-street, Balmain, on Saturday night. Alderman Alex. M. Milne (Mayor of Balmain) occupied the chair. Mrs. Wolstenholme moved, "That this meeting is of opinion that the time has arrived whon the franchise should be extended to women."
Mr. S. J. Law, M.P., seconded the motion, which was supported by Miss Rose Scott and Mr. W. H. Wilks, M.P., and carried unanimously. WOMANHOOD SUFFRAGE LEAGUE. (1895, November 18). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238541929
Woman, and the Franchise.
Mrs. Wolstonholme delivered an address on the above at the Social Democratic Federation rooms, 395 Pitt-street, on Monday last. Mr. A. Newberry presided. The lecturess said that woman claimed the right to vote on the same grounds that men did. Taxation without representation was tyranny, and there could be no social, economic, or political liberty without equality of the sexes.There could be no real harmony in the home whilst a man treated his wife like a domestic animal, to minister to his wants, and to be subject to every whim or caprice he thought to gratify. The effect of this tyranny would be felt by the sons and daughters. If the mother was a "doll" with no mentality, given to frivolity and gaiety, instead of to thought and refinement, she would train up weak, frivolous men and useless women. In this way did nature revenge itself, for there could be no free men without free women. There could be no real liberty or true fraternity whilst woman remained in bondage, and the giving to woman the franchise would make her a better citizen, a truer wife, and a nobler mother.
Messrs. H. Egan, V. J. Mantel, Jones and Hammond opposed the lecturess; Messrs. Feeney, Mellor, and Mrs. Perel supported— the latter lady displayed an intimate knowledge of the subject, and made a most eloquent and telling speech. The question, on being put to the vote, showed an overwhelming majority in favor of the franchise being granted to women. A hearty vote of thanks to Mrs. Wolstenholme for her able lecture brought the proceedings to a close. Woman, and the Franchise. (1895, November 23). The Australian Workman (Sydney, NSW : 1890 - 1897), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article211295982
At the invitation of Mrs. MacCallum, a number of ladies and gentlemen met yesterday afternoon at her residence, in Elizabeth Bay-road, to discuss a scheme for establishing free kindergartens in Sydney.
Lady Windeyer took the chair, and introduced Mrs. Wolstenholme, who eloquently advocated the necessity of establishing kindergarten schools about the poorer parts of Sydney, in order that little children from two to five years might be cared for, instead of being allowed, as at present, to grow up a a best they might in the streets or gutters. The question was then discussed in all its bearings by Professor Scott, Miss Windeyer, Miss Hamilton, Mr. Woodhouse, Professor MacCallum, Dr. Sidney Jones, Miss Gurney, Mrs. Davenport (secretary of the Kindergarten Union of New South Wales), Professor David, Miss Festag, Miss Sheer, and Mrs. Armstrong. Among those present, besides the names already mentioned, were Lady Manning, Miss Brown, Mrs. Martin. Mdlle. Soubeiran, Mrs. Shard, Mr. and Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Bauer, Mrs. Pain, Mrs. Fairfax, Mrs. L. Whitfeld, Miss Liggins, Professor Wilson, Mrs. and Miss Curnow, Mrs. Hunter Ballie, and Mrs. Coutts. The subject will be further discussed in the Town-hall next Tuesday, at 3.45. Refreshments were served before the work of the afternoon was undertaken, and the guests were able to exchange opinions on the subject of tbe kindergarten system. SOCIAL. (1895, November 23). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238534949
MAYBANKE COLLEGE.
Maybanke College held its annual kindergarten festival on Thursday In the Town-hall, Petersham, and Mrs. Wolstenholme made the occasion an opportunity for bringing before her audience the claims of the Kindergarten Union. After some time, which was devoted to an Inspection of the children at work moulding clay, making baskets, and doing other examples of their ordinary work, drill to music and action songs wore gone through. Miss Hooper gave a short and interesting address on Froebel's theory of child-development, and its value to both child and teacher.
Mrs. Wolstenholme gave an account of the objects and plans of the Kindergarten Union. This union, lately formed, has already enlisted the sympathy of many of our prominent citizens, and Intends to begin Its first free kindergarten In the lower part of Sussex-street in the beginning of the year. The Premier, who was present, was much interested both in the work of the children and In the project for free kindergartens in the slums. Mrs. Wolstenholme received many subscriptions and promises of support for the Kindergarten Union, and announced that Mrs. Davenport, Homebush, hon. secretary, would be present to enrol members. MAYBANKE COLLEGE. (1895, December 14). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238531173
MAYBANKE KINDERGARTEN.
The kindergarten branch of Maybanke College held an annual display on Thursday in the Town Hall, Petersham, in the presence of a large audience. The children were engaged in some of their ordinary work before the drill and songs began, in order to show visitors a little of the method of the kindergarten system. Basket-making, paper-folding, clay-modelling, and other handicrafts were exemplified The Premier, who was present, was much interested in this part of the display. Miss Hooper gave a short address on the teaching of Froëbel, and the advantages of the system to both teachers and pupils. Mrs. Wolstenholme addressed the audience on the subject of the proposed free kindergarten, which the Kindergarten Union will shortly open in Sussex-street, and invited the audience to contribute to its support, or to join the Kindergarten Union. The musical drill and action songs, arranged by Miss Fox were much admired. MAYBANKE KINDERGARTEN. (1895, December 14). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14028958
Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel or Froebel was a German pedagogue, a student of Pestalozzi, who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities.
The support the Kindergarten Union drew from all quarters, politicians, Lords and Ladies as well as Sydney University educators, many among the most influential people of their time, made a huge contribution as a catalyst for shifting the attitude of those who may have expressed opposition to women's rights. As this necessity sprang from and underlined one of the objects of the Womens' Suffrage League on what was needed for women, this movement, alongside all the addresses Maybanke gave during this period of trying to gain equal rights and the vote for women, certainly made plainer why the laws should be changed. The KU could be likened to the work women did during WWI as an influence, and a fact that had been proved, later on.
During 1896 progress was made. With only £50 in its coffers, the Kindergarten Union opened its first Free Kindergarten, also the first in Australia, in Sussex Street Mission Hall on January 6th 1896 – with 3 children attending. The conditions of the property are so poor that the Union closed the Kindergarten soon after and on February 10th 1896 moved to Charles Street, Woolloomooloo, under the Directorship of Fraulien Scheer (a kindergarten teacher trained in Hamburg), with the voluntary assistance of Mrs Dane. Throughout the year fundraisers were run everywhere, the system was introduced outside of Sydney and many spoke out in support. Just one example:
KINDERGARTEN UNION.
MEETING AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE.
The Kindergarten Union of New South Wales hold a largely attended meeting, between 60 and 70 being present, at Government House on Saturday afternoon, the Chief Justice (Sir Frederick Darley) occupying the chair.
The Chairman, In the course of his opening remarks, referred to the work that had been done in America by these unions, and gave a short account of them. In San Francisco, he said, there were about 40 schools, while in the whole of America there were something like 2000 such schools, with fully 5000 teachers. The attendance of pupils at these schools was over 100,000. He referred in very warm terms of approval to the work done by these institutions In that count it. The first resolution of the day was moved by Dr. Sydney Jones — "That this meeting pledges itself to support the Kindergarten Union in its work."
The doctor spoke of the good that could be accomplished by such agencies. There was one matter which was not looked upon as of sufficient importance by many people, and that was the value of home influence. Before the children entered the public schools they became learned in a good deal of harm that was to be acquired through acquaintance with the street and its ways. A better home influence would shield the children from that, but of course it was not always possible to insure the exercise of that influence, because the parents were in many instances unable to exercise It, from the fact of their surroundings. He spoke of the good done by the kindergarten system, as perhaps the best means of counteracting the evil influences of the street in cases where the children were perforce left out of the control of their parents for a good portion of each day.
Mrs. Wolstenholme seconded the motion in a few well-chosen remarks. Giving an account of the work done in Sydney, she said that the union had begun in August of last year collecting contributions for carrying out its objects. They desired first of all to establish a kindergarten wherever the children were gathered together, and to Interest the public in the work begun In Germany by Professor Froebel.
They had begun here by obtaining a small building in Charles-street, Woolloomooloo, and the engagement of a teacher. There were now 57 children attending the school, and they could easily treble that number could they but obtain sufficient accommodation. The children were almost all of them offsprings of parents who were obliged to work during the day, when the little ones were turned into the street, and the door shut upon them. These children were, while in the street, graduating in vice; they were picking up knowledge that they ought not to be allowed to pick up in the slums of the city, and when they went Into the public schools of the colony they became, so to speak, centres of Infection for the children, who were better brought up than they themselves had had the good fortune to be. She took it that as a matter of policy it was better to try and save the children from harm In their youth than to try and reform them when they became familiar with vice, and perhaps entered upon criminal careers — it was better to take them into the kindergarten than later in life to place them in the reformatories or gaols.
Professor Macallunt gave an address on Professor Froebel's method of work, and spoke very highly of the movement. Mrs. Dane said that on a visit to America she had made a point of visiting tho kindergarten schools wherever she went. In one school in Youngstown, Pennsylvania, a good work was being done, among the fathers and mothers as well as among tho children. Miss Margaret Windeyer also spoke, giving an account of the kitchengarten system which she saw while in New York. This system is an outgrowth of the kindergarten system. At the Chicago Exposition samples of the work done at these establishments had been exhibited, and were an eloquent testimony to the value of the system.
Mrs. Scot-Skirving thought it was a mistake to have so small meetings, and believed that the union should hold a public meeting, say, in the Town-Hall, and enlist the sympathies of the public in their work.. She suggested that a meeting should be held In the Town-hall. Mrs. Wolstenholme explained that the annual meeting of the union would be held shortly, and they hoped to have a very large attendance of the public on that occasion. They might hold a public meeting before then, but, at all events, the annual meeting was not far off. Mr. Moore, City Missionary, also spoke strongly in favor of the objects of the union. The resolution was carried, and the following officers were chosen: — President, Lady Hampden; vice-president, Mrs. Wolstenholme; and secretary. Miss Davenport. The meeting then closed. KINDERGARTEN UNION. (1896, June 1). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238595752
In 1901 Federal elections for the inaugural Parliament of Australia were held in Australia on Friday 29th of March and Saturday 30th of March. This first election for the Parliament of the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia was based on the electoral laws of the six federating colonies, so that women who had the vote and the right to stand for Parliament at a colony (now state) level (i.e., in South Australia including the Northern Territory, where women had the right to vote via the Adult Suffrage Bill of 1894 in 1895, and Western Australia, 1899 - Section 41 of the Constitution) had the same rights for the 1901 Australian federal election.
In 1902, the Commonwealth Parliament passed the uniform Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, which enabled women 21 years of age and older to vote at elections for the federal Parliament. New South Wales followed suit the same year, although this was preambled in this state, alike at a federal level, with statements that women belonged in the home and should only be represented by their husbands or men, along with manipulations at blocking women being able to be elected to represent at a state level in the Upper House. That block was preceded by:
A VOTE FOR WOMEN.
The Women's Franchise Bill was read a second time in the Assembly last night by 51 votes to 7, the minority consisting of Messrs. Rose, Carroll, Briner, Walsh, Donaldson, Mclntyre and B. Hall. The measure was passed in committee without amendment. The clause providing for women sitting in Parliament was passed by 47 votes to 11. A VOTE FOR WOMEN. (1901, August 23). The Gundagai Times and Tumut, Adelong and Murrumbidgee District Advertiser (NSW : 1868 - 1931), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125515495
WOMEN'S VOTE IN N.S.W.
One of the surprises of State politics came in the defeat of the Women's Franchise Bill in N.S.W. Upper House, chiefly through the agency of Mr. J. H. Want, the reputed Liberal councillor, who, after the second reading of the measure, put in some fine work, which, would have been worthy of a. Machiavelli or a Tom Slattery, the underground engineer in Sydney politics.
In committee Want moved the omission of the clause which prohibited women from being elected to Parliament. He managed to induce four Labor councillors to vote with him. Mr. Wise, the Attorney-General, wittily, but perhaps indiscreetly said that the next batch of councillors would consist chiefly of ladies—probably young, out at all events attractive.
Before the third reading came on wires were sent to several absentee members warning them that if the bill was 'not thrown out See would dissolve Parliament and their seats be lost because they had neglected to swear allegiance to the King. So the. old fogies rolled up and the bill, as amended, was pitched out by five votes. There were some queer changes of opinion.
But the bill will come on again for consideration next session and probably Jack Want will then be due for a trip somewhere in the neighborhood of Japan and geisha girls. WOMEN’S VOTE IN N.S.W. (1901, October 18). The Evening Star (Boulder, WA : 1898 - 1921), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202852761
Jack Want appears in Pittwater Online History records associated with sailing - he was legendary at it - some on that under Extras. He passed away in 1905, long prior to the 1918 changes for women. His was not the only discussion taking place - debates were held in the city and in rural areas, mostly run by and hearing men, some for - some against, letters appeared in newspapers run by men, mostly written but unsigned in name by men, all telling women to "get back to the kitchen!"
Just one example of what was published during 1902 - and this is not 'tongue in cheek' - this was the general tone run by men's newspapers, some of them perhaps penned by those papers themselves:
WOMENS FRANCHISE.
(To the Editor, Yass Courier.)
Dear Sir.—The writer of "Things in a Nutshell " is much exercised in mind over the passing of the Woman's Suffrage;-BUT in the Federal Parliament, and no wonder, indeed, as Sir Leicester Deadlock would have remarked, the old landmarks are being obliterated, and Society is on the brink of destruction. Hitherto, our wives have been content to cook our meals, wash our clothes and rear our babies; NOW, they turn on us and demand, as human beings, equal political rights and privileges! Was anything so outrageous ever heard of before.
Now, my wife is not a bad sort of woman, she does not gossip, keeps her house clean, and will even clean my boots for me if I happen to be in a hurry -to go anywhere but she has always had political proclivities, and, latterly, she has taken to criticising the parliament and says a parcel of women could ran things more economically by long chalks than our present highly paid members are doing. At other times she has ventured an opinion that many of her sex are mentally superior to the men of their class, and this simply shows that our women-folk are in a state of incipient rebellion and are only awaiting the passing of this woman's suffrage bill to throw off all wifely obedience and simply do as they like. I know it, and, it behoves us men to prepare as far as possible for the disastrous consequences which will follow this revolt. First of all, I would suggest that we all endeavor to acquire a knowledge of cooking and washing also nursing and general domestic duties, and it is most important that we should know the proper method of preparing baby-food, so that a father would at least be spared the anguish of watching his infant starve while its heartless mother is attending the weekly or perhaps, daily, political meetings which be held. Sewing is a branch of industry which it will not be necessary for us to bother with, as we all know hew to sew a button on and there is one point upon which we hpve cause to feel pleased, we need no longer fear the dress makers' bills, as women who go ranting after politics are quite indifferent to dress and fashions, in fact, they will have no time to devote to such matters, consequently, a return to primitive modes may be expected, which will lead to a brisk demand for fig leaves and rabbit skins. Men on the land should, like Captain Cuttle, "make a note o' this."
Of course my remarks apply chiefly to those households where no domestic help is available; when a servant maid is kept the position of affairs would no doubt be less agreeable, as the maid would probably be left at home to mind the baby etc., and, providing she were young and pretty, one would not find the house-keeping so irksome as expected. As for the women, who have gone clamoring about the country asking for a vote, they have just cut a rod for their own backs, for as time passes and'men become more self-helpful, and less reliant on women for their creature comforts, I have no doubt that they will eventually be able to get along quite comfortably on their own, and so e dispense with the ungrateful creatures altogether, and this some good may come out of evil, for since the foundation of the world, woman has been the disturbing element in man's life, so let not your heart be troubled, O Scribe of the Nutshell, things may not prove so black as they look in the distance.-I am, Sir, Yours Etc.
A HARASSED HUSBAND.
WOMENS’ FRANCHISE. (1902, May 13). The Yass Courier (NSW : 1857 - 1929), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246373095
The Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 became law when signed by the Governor-General on 12 June 1902. The NSW Women's Franchise Act was assented to on August 27th, 1902, giving women over 21 years of age the right to vote in New South Wales elections. A few snippets published then:
WOMEN AND THE FRANCHISE.
The introduction of nearly 300,000 new voters into the political arena is full of the greatest interest to the people generally. That it is an act of justice which should have been performed years ago is now fully acknowledged, for, logically, there never was been any valid argument why women should not possess a vote. The great question at stake is as to what they will do with the power committed to their hands, for the one thing certain is that this new weapon in our political armoury will not be allowed to rust for the want of using. That there is work awaiting them no one can doubt, and work which only a woman can perform. They must remember that responsibility comes with power, and that they will be expected to rise to the occasion. In tho political world their presence is greatly needed, and must exercise an enormous influence for good. If we take the example of other States and Colonies before us as our guide in this, we must see that the presence of women in politics has always been of the most beneficial kind. Men, not measures, appears to have been their guiding light, and thus they are in opposition to those who cry for measures, not men. Nor is their position in this in any way indefensible. Honest and pure-minded men will always produce honest legislation, and can be far better trusted to carry on the political work of the country than those who have been returned for the express purpose of passing certain Bills, but whose moral characters will not bear investigation. In the direction of morality, social purity, honesty and integrity, we may be well assured the recently obtained franchise will have the best effects, and that women everywhere will watch jealously over their privilege of helping to return men whose character is their hostage for the production of honest legislation. ... WOMEN AND THE FRANCHISE. (1902, August 23). Watchman(Sydney, NSW : 1902 - 1926), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111817398
WOMEN FRANCHISE.
Sydney, Friday.
It is stated that the cost of printing the electoral rolls under the Women's Franchise Act will be £8,879 for the first year and £4,074 for the second year. WOMEN FRANCHISE. (1902, September 20). The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate (NSW : 1894 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75962270
' WOMAN FRANCHISE.'
Dear 'Vivienne,' — As the women of this State have now been enfranchised, perhaps you will consider it not an inopportune time to obtain an expression of opinion, from your numerous readers — that is, those who are fathers and husbands — as to the course they are about to adopt towards the Act.
Personally speaking, and with all due respect to Miss Rose Scott and her advanced colleagues in the cause, I may state that I intend to issue an order in my family to the effect that the womenfolk must not have their names recorded when the constable calls for the same.
Voting for them will be 'off.'
I have no desire to have my evenings at home taken up with the ladies discussing political topics, neither have I any wish to see them 'trekking' for the polling booth on election day. I much prefer that they should cook me a good dinner and have the house tidy and clean. — DOMESTICITY. "WOMAN FRANCHISE." (1902, September 21). Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126421758
The last item reminds us that voting was not compulsory in Australia until 1918. The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, under section 245(1), states: "It shall be the duty of every elector to vote at each election". The above is also a reminder why bodies such as the Episcopal Church, on September 12, 1922, voted to remove the word "obey" from the bride's section of traditional wedding vows. The gentleman who wrote this was, however, an example of what prevailed then and one indication of why, once women had the vote, there were still not a large amount exercising that right.
The 'Australian Star' stuck to its original tack, but it too was gone before 1918 dawned:
.... The "Star," as Its readers will remember, has all along held that no "sign" had ever been made In Australia which could establish the alleged fact that a majority of the best educated women In the country— of the women who could really judge for themselves the merits of the question—were desirous of the franchise. The "Star" In fact has had a strong suspicion that the majority of such women, If actually counted, would have been found on the other side. Be that as it may It behoves all women now to see that the right or privilege, whichever It may be termed, is not diverted to other than patriotic purposes. .... WOMAN'S FRANCHISE. (1902, August 25). The Australian Star (Sydney, NSW : 1887 - 1909), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228937225
And what did the ladies have to say?:
WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE.
THE POLITICAL FUTURE.
INTERVIEW WITH MISS BOSE SCOTT.
'Well, we have won the victory,' said Miss Rose Scott, the general secretary of the Women's Suffrage League, to an 'Evening News' reporter, who called upon her in reference to her views on the political future of women.
'You have,' replied the reporter, 'and I would like to know what you propose to do in the future?'
'We are going to form a public organisation at once,' was the reply. 'We do not want to belong to any party, and therefore desire women of all shades of opinion to join. First of all, we will have our demonstration, and the Women's Suffrage League, having done its work, will cease to exist.'
Asked as to whom the credit of gaining the vote for women should be given, Miss Scott said that it belonged to the late Sir Henry Parkes. In 1891, that statesman made a move in the direction of enfranchising women. Mrs. Lawson, of the 'Dawn,' subsequently moved in the matter, and was assisted at a later date by Miss Windeyer. The first meeting took place at Mrs. Montefiore's house, Darlinghurst-road, on March 24, 1891. At this meeting, there were present : Mrs. Montefiore, Mrs. Wolstenholme (now Mrs. Anderson), Mrs. Julian Ashton, Miss May Manning, Dr. and Mrs. Ellis, and Miss Rose Scott. Of these, Mrs. Julian Ashton and Mrs. Ellis are dead; Dr. Ellis is in West Australia; and Mrs. Montefiore is in England. The others are as enthusiastic as possible, and thoroughly elated at victory having crowned their efforts. That meeting discussed the subject, and decided to form an organisation. The project was carried into effect. The first president was Lady Windeyer, and the first and only general secretary, Miss Scott. The last president is Mrs. Benjamin Palmer, who has occupied the chair for the past four years.
Having obtained the history of the movement, the reporter questioned Miss Scott regarding what she personally thought woman should demand at the polls. Their first duty, she said, would be to watch the bills that came before the House, urge the Government when it needed urging, and support it when it should be supported; and Miss Scott went on to say she would like to see the law dealing with State children altered and put on a basis similar to that in South Australia. There the children were not taken to the police court, but were dealt with by a board of men and women. A woman inspector was appointed to make the inspections, and the latest report showed that the death rate was only 5 per cent.
''Very small in the case of little babes,' added Miss Scott.
The age of consent, the general secretary of the league said, should be raised to 17 years at least. Women inspectors should be appointed to a greater extent under the Shops and Factories Act, and proper accommodation should be made for women in the Government offices. The Public Service Board was very liberal to women, but the lack of accommodation prevented their being appointed as frequently as they should be. She would also like to see women paid the same rate of wages as men, and condemned in strong terms the practice of underpaying women when doing the work usually monopolised by men.
'I suppose,' said the reporter, 'that you will advocate the appointment of women as officials at election time, especially as the Government indicated its intention of having separate polling booths for the new voters?'
'No. I object to separate booths. Why should we have separate booths? I want to refine the men. Men are not rude to women; at least I have never been insulted. In New Zealand polling day is a kind of festival. Wives go to the booths on their husbands' arms, and take their children with them. I am certainly not afraid of men, and I think separate booths would be a useless expenditure. Municipal elections have shown us that women can vote without any trouble.'
Returning to the question of new laws, Miss Scott said she would like to see that wives had an equal right in the guardianship of their children. At present they had not, and were practically at the mercy of a judge. She also did not think that a man should be allowed to will his property away from his wife. The wife should be entitled to a certain share. To the public schools women should be appointed as inspectors. At present men, and men only, examined needlework, etc.
The treatment of criminals next engrossed Miss Scott's attention. Separate conveyances should be provided for removing women to the courts and gaols; and more women should be employed in supervising work.
'We want, in fact,' said Miss Scott, 'the best women for the worst work.''
'How do you regard the drink question?'
'I do not believe in treating the people as children. If anything like prohibition should come, it should come directly and unmistakeably from the people. There should be better inspection of liquor, and care should be taken that nothing but good liquor is sold.'
Asked as to what section of the political machine her sympathies leaned, Miss Scott said she had a great deal of sympathy with the Labour party, and agreed in a great measure with their platform. But she did not wish to create any feud between men and women. What was good for women should be good for men. Loquacity in Parliament, she thought, should be curbed by a time limit to speeches. She did not favour reduction of members, unless accompanied by local government; and did not believe in being nasty to. the stranger within our gates.
'We are getting such a selfish country,' added Miss Scott musingly. As the reporter was departing Miss Scott said that she fully realised the great responsibility of the vote which had been conferred upon women, and thought that everyone should seek to become possessed of as much information as possible, so that the franchise would be a factor acting in the interest of the community.
Miss Scott. (From a Photo, by Falk Studios.)
WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE. (1902, August 20). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112780188
As can be read above, Maybanke retired from the presidency of the WSL, specifically in June, 1897:
THE annual meeting of the New South Wales Womanhood Suffrage League was largely attended by members and friends of the movement of both sexes, amongst whom were many of our well-known members of Parliament. Apart from the few necessary remarks made by the retiring president, and the reading of the secretary's report, the speeches made in support of its adoption were given entirely by men; each speaker averring that he came to hear the women (or females) speak, but, at the same time, rendering it impossible for the latter to get a hearing at all.
The speeches made by men differed from those made by women, in that the former had a tendency to drift into the personal. It has been said that a woman never speaks in public unless she has something to say, but that men speak upon all occasions.
A well-known Sydney orator, the last speaker, designated all the speeches as the worst he had ever heard, with other remarks of a more or less personal nature. This uncalled for denunciations proved too much for the patience of two clever women speakers present, who rebuked the dissenter in a few quiet but well-spoken words, giving all honor to the noble men to whom the credit of the rapid advancement of the movement was largely due. Mrs. Wolstenholme received a most cordial and well-deserved vote of thanks for her valuable services in connection with the Woman Suffrage League of New South Wales, Mrs. Neville Griffiths being elected. President in place of Mrs. Wolstenholme, who did not offer herself for re-election. FROM FAR AND NEAR. (1897, July 1). The Dawn (Sydney, NSW : 1888 - 1905), p. 11. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article76964555
Her work in the Kindergarten Union was taking up more time, as was her work as part of the Federal League, who knew, for sure, what a Commonwealth of Australia would bring via what was already in South Australia, and about to happen in Western Australia:
Newtown Kindergarten.
A free kindergarten recently established at Newtown, was formally declared opened by Mr. Quong Tart on February 18, in the presence of a large and sympathetic gathering. Those present included Dr. and Mrs. Sawkins, Dr. and Mrs. Maitland, Mrs. and Miss Curnow, Miss Pernell, Mrs. Wolstenholme, Mrs. G. Harris, Mrs. Armstrong, Dr. Carroll, Mrs. Palmer, Fraulein Schecr, Miss Buckey, Mr. and the Misses Merriman, Mr. Hawthorne, M.L.A., Mr. S. Cook, Mrs. Dane, Mrs. Davenport, Mrs. Rich, Miss Macdonald, and others. During the afternoon tea was served by Mrs. Dane, assisted by six of the lady students from the Dowling-street Kindergarten. Newtown Kindergarten. (1898, February 26). Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 35. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71283685
FEDERAL LEAGUE.
A meeting of the Federal League was held on Thursday evening. A letter was read from Mrs. M. S. Wolstenholme, secretary of the Women's Federal Association, enclosing samples of federal badge to be worn either in buttonhole or hat. It was decided to order 500, and 250 were also privately ordered. ... FEDERAL LEAGUE. (1898, May 28). National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156741742
From Woman's Standpoint
The vote to be taken on June 3 will decide the most important question ever yet submitted to the voters of Australia. After that day we must either forget petty rivalry, and begin the great and solemn task of building an Australian nation, or we must sink back for years to smaller provincial life and mutual jealousy. Although the Constitution under which we live makes no provision for recording the woman's opinion, it must still be wise and right that those who think on these matters should make their opinions known; for a nation in not, wealthy cities and fertile Iands, but men and women. I ask you to consider the provisions of the Commonwealth Bill, and I would urge you to do all In your power to ensure the recording of votes in Its favour.' Mrs. M. S. Wostenholme. From Woman's Standpoint (1898, May 28). The Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1939), p. 1 (FEDERATION SUPPLEMENT TO THE MAITLAND MERCURY.). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123674193
Maybanke, circa 1899-1901 - photo courtesy Jan Roberts and Marjorie Wolstenholme (Harry Wolstenholme's daughter)
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia agreed to unite and form the Commonwealth of Australia. Although this commenced in the 1880's, it is the draft bill was drawn up in 1898, and then sent to each colony to be ratified by the electorate that is spoken of by Maybanke. Referendums were duly held in four of the colonies in June 1898. There were majority votes in all four of them, however, the enabling legislation in New South Wales required the support of at least 80,000 voters for passage, and this number was not reached. A meeting of the colonial premiers in early 1899 agreed to a number of amendments to make the constitution more acceptable to New South Wales. Known as the "Braddon Clause", the amendments provided for the return of customs revenue to the states for ten years. It was also agreed that the new federal capital was to be built in New South Wales provided it was at least a hundred miles (160 km) from Sydney. In June 1899, the referendum was held again in all the colonies except for Western Australia, where the vote was not held until the following year. The majority vote was "yes" in all the colonies.
The Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the colonies collectively becoming states of the Commonwealth of Australia. Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, and an early supporter of women being able to vote, was instrumental in this process. Sir Edmund Barton, second only to Parkes in the length of his commitment to the federation cause, was the caretaker Prime Minister of Australia at the inaugural national election in 1901 in March 1901 when he was returned as prime minister, although without a majority.
By late 1898 Maybanke was focusing on her other lifelong interest - the protection of teachers:
Registry Offices.
Mesdames Wolstenholme and Macallum, representing the committee of the Teachers' Central Registry, asked the Minister of Public Instruction on Monday to bring forward a bill which would more fully embrace the various kinds of registry offices in the colony. It was pointed out that in many instances great hardship was inflicted on applicants for employment owing to the issuing of fictitious advertisements. It was desired that provision should be made for the posting in a conspicuous place of the scale of fees at each registry office.
Mr..Hogue said a bill dealing with the subject had been prepared on the lines of the New Zealand and Victorian legislation, but, there was little prospect of it being introduced this session. The Government, had the Early Closing and Conciliation and Arbitration Bills to get on with, so that the time till the close of the session would be occupied. Mr J. T. Walker, who accompanied the ladies, suggested that the passage of the measures might be expedite d by first introducing it in the Legislative Council. Mr. Hogue said he would see if this could be done. Registry Offices. (1898, November 26). The Maitland Weekly Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1931), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133599663
The shift back into advancing the causes of education and the women's vote were also a signal of what else was happening in the lady's life at this time:
An engagement is announced between two jolly good fellows, Mrs. Wolstenholme, our advanced suffragist, and Professor Anderson, of Sydney University.—Bulletin. PEOPLE. (1898, July 25). Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), p. 2 (FIRST EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44216007
Maybanke's second husband, Francis Anderson, later Sir, was born in Glasgow on September 3rd, 1858. By 14 he had become a pupil-teacher. In 1876 he matriculated at the University of Glasgow (M.A, 1883), where he had a distinguished career, winning the prize for the outstanding graduate of his year, and was awarded the Clark philosophical fellowship which entailed assisting Professor Edward Caird for two years. He taught English literature during the absence of this professor and studied in the theological faculty with the intention of entering the ministry. In 1886 he migrated to Melbourne on the Orient, arriving May 1886 at 27 years of age Rev. Francis Anderson to be an assistant to Rev. C. Strong in his Australian Church, which had been founded the year before by more liberal ex-members of the traditional Scots Church.
Here he worked at looking after the disadvantaged and established a Literary Society but his acumen and scholarship was soon sought elsewhere:
THE REV. FRANCIS. ANDERSON. A social meeting of the congregation of the Australian Church, Melbourne, was held last week to bid farewell to the Rev. Francis Anderson, M.A., who has accepted the position of lecturer on moral philosophy in the Sydney University. There was a large attendance and the chair was occupied by the Rev. Dr. Strong, who said he regretted the duty which they had to perform that evening. Mr. Anderson's relations with himself had been most pleasant and he had been in thorough sympathy with the aims and principles of their church. Mr. Jaraea Clezy, M.A., in the name of the congregation, bade Mr. Anderson a hearty farewell, remarking that that gentleman had secured the friendship and goodwill of every member of the congregation. His departure was a loss to the pulpit of Victoria. Mr. Anderson, who was warmly received, said he sincerely regretted leaving the Australian Church. At the same time, he felt it his duty to adopt that course; for he was going to work for which he was specially trained, and to the work also for which, he believed, he was best qualified. He fully appreciated the very kind and untiring support and sympathy he had received from the congregation. For the future of the Australian Church he had no fear. That its influence had already been for good was, proved by the f act that sermons and lectures had been delivered in orthodox churches during the last few months which even three or four years ago would have been condemned as heretical. During the evening a purse containing 75 sovereigns was presented to Mr. Anderson, on behalf of the ladies of the congregation, and another of 25 sovereigns from the Literary Society, which has been established in connection with the church, and. To which Mr. Anderson has rendered great assistance. THE REV. FRANCIS ANDERSON. (1888, May 12). Australian Town and Country Journal (NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71097467
A Distinguished Scholar. FRANCIS ANDERSON, M.A.
The Senate of the Sydney University, having decided to establish a lectureship in logic and mental philosophy, has been fortunate in the selection of Mr Francis Anderson, M.A., of Glasgow (Scotland), as the first occupant of that chair. Mr. Anderson was born in Glasgow on September 3, 1858, and, consequently, is quite a young man. He is descended from Scottish and English families who settled in the west of Ireland in the reign of James I. He was chiefly educated in the famous University of Glasgow, where he was successively student, graduate, fellow, and assistant professor (of English literature). During his university career he secured numerous prizes and honors ; the most noteworthy being one of the "Clark philosophical fellowships," which are the highest prizes, short of a professorship, which the University of Glasgow offers. Mr. Anderson took his M.A. degree in 1883 with first-class honors in logic and mental philosophy. During the latter part of his course he attended the theological classes in his University, qualifying as a graduate of the Church of Scotland; but he never applied for any ministerial charge. In 1886 he came to Melbourne to assist his friend Dr. Strong under a two years' engagement, but resigned six months ago in order to return to the work of University teaching. He organised and conducted in Collingwood a workingmen's class for the study of social and economic subjects.' The lectureship in Mental Philosophy, instituted in the Sydney University, represented what he regarded as his true mission in life, and the work for which he had been specially trained. The University authorities in this city have been fortunate enough to secure his services. It is a pleasant thought for Scotsmen that the teachers of mental philosophy in the two' leading universities of Australia are both Scottish; But, then Scotsmen have always been distinguished in this branch of learning. Our portrait is from a photograph by Messrs. Charlemont and Co., of Sydney. A Distinguished Scholar. (1888, June 16). Australian Town and Country Journal (NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 24. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71098703
Mr Anderson also undertook teaching the evening classes in English at the University. He was popular with his students, adopting a similar kindness and exhortation to 'think for themselves' in all his classes, to use their minds to bring out the best in themselves, a way of thinking that parallels the fundamentals of spirituality and a progressive religion. In his lecture-room 'questions were asked and discussion encouraged'. Whatever subject he lectured on, 'his exposition was always delightful; his early training in the classics, his beautiful voice, his dramatic sense, all joined to produce a profound effect upon his classes'.
Former student and Rhodes scholar G V Portus once wrote 'Hating dogma himself', and, 'he would not be dogmatic to others. Fighting bureaucracy outside, he encouraged criticism from his students within'. His ideals, although staunchly based in Christian ideals and morals, suited the University and the rising psyche of Australia itself. Already highly esteemed, he was named a Professor through the 1889 Challis bequest, endowed by John Henry Challis (1806-1880), valued at about £200,000, to Sydney University and became the first Challis professor of logic and mental philosophy.
Professor Anderson had a holiday home at Pittwater, at Bayview, overlooking where the Bayview Baths currently are - as did fellow Sydney University educator, Professor Anderson Stuart:
Professor Pitt Corbett's picnic last week was certainly most enjoyable and enjoyable-first, the journey on the steamer to Manly, and the drive by coach to the rendezvous, the lunch and the succeeding ramble, and then the tea at Professor Anderson's charming house at Pittwater. It was all most delightful. The weather was everything that could be desired, and the arrangements were perfect. Everybody had a lovely time, and the outing will certainly live as a red-letter day in the memory of everyone who had the happiness to be present. Our Social System. (1893, September 16). Australian Town and Country Journal (NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 34. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71189236
From Bay View the road, a very good one, winds around the beach, disclosing as every vantage point is gained new beauties of land and water. Around here are some very good orchards, with trees laden with fruit, and the homesteads peeping out from masses of evergreen foliage, with an extensive vista of land and water. In a charming spot on a sloping hillside, with such a fore ground and a craggy background Professor Anderson Stuart has a summer residence and orchard ... Manly to Broken Bay. (1893, November 11). Australian Town and Country Journal (NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 19. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71191632
As can be read in the above account of a fire at the Marrickville/Dulwich Hill College, Maybanke had premises on Snails Bay at Balmain, a place called 'Eversley' which was a 8 Rose Street, Balmain. It was one of four houses, Acadia, Oliveto, Valetta, and Eversley (2-8 Rose St).
Designed in 1888 in the Victorian Italianate style by Buchanan, the architect of Balmain Town Hall, and built by W Day of Mullens Street, the houses were completed in six months. The Balmain Observer announced on September 8th, 1888 that;
these houses are certainly a step in advance, combining elegance and comfort. They are built on a frontage of 150 feet along Rose Street, and comprise eight rooms, kitchen, etc. The front and back rooms downstairs are fitted with folding doors, made of American redwood and Kauri pine. The rooms are supplied with marble mantels, and the whole of the houses are finished in the substantial manner doing credit to the builder and all concerned.
That property, alike parts of the original Maybanke College at Dulwich Hill, is still existing and heritage listed:
MARRIAGES.
CHAPMAN—FOX.—On the 27th June, at St. John's, Balmain, Sydney, by the Rev. Canon Moreton, assisted by the Rev. W. A. Charlton, Henry Charles, second son of W. K. Chapman, Hawthorn, Concord, to Maud E. Fox, adopted daughter of Mrs. M. S. Wolstenholme, Eversley, Rose- street, Balmain. Family Notices (1898, July 16). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3675271
MARRIAGES.
CHAPMAN— FOX. — June 27th, at St. John's, Balmain, by Rev. Canon Morntmi, assisted by Rev. W. A. Charlton, Henry Charles, second son of W. H. Chapman, of Hawthorne, Concord, to Maud, youngest daughter of Benjamin Fox, of Norfolk, England, and niece of Mrs. Wolstonholme, Eversley, Snail's Bay. Family Notices (1898, July 19). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239571389
Maybanke's second marriage notice, with a prelude of yet another instance of 'missed it by a an inch':
The marriage of Mrs. May Wolstenholme, to well-known writer, speaker, and lecturer on womanhood suffrage, and principal of a favourite college for girls at Dulwich Hill, Sydney, with Professor Anderson, lecturer on logic and philosophy at the University of Sydney, is announced to take place on Friday, March 3 (says a Melbourne contemporary). PERSONAL. (1899, February 26). Sunday Times(Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127385804
Marriages.
ANDERSON—WOLSTENHOLME.—March 2, at Eversley, Balmain, by the Rev. James Hill, M.A., Francis Anderson, Professor of Logic and Mental Philosophy, University of Sydney, to Maybanke Wolstenholme, daughter of the late Henry Selfe. Family Notices (1899, March 11). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14203949
AT the Sydney School of Arts, March 8, the Womanhood Suffrage League held its usual monthly meeting. The president of the league was in the chair. Miss B. Golding moved,"That the league sends sincere congratulations to Mrs. Wolstenholme on her marriage with Professor Anderson, and earnest wishes for her future happiness." Miss Golding said Mrs. Wolstenholme deserved this from the league, as she was one of the first promoter of the W.S.L., and although business arrangements had prevented her, for the past two years from taking active part in public, she had never ceased to work in private. Mrs. Wolstenholme had always proved herself the friend of her sister women. Mrs. Dickie seconded the motion which was carried unanimously. Miss Scott then read a paper on "War v. Arbitration," which caused considerable discussion, in which Mrs. Brodrick, Mrs. Dickie, Miss Golding, Mr. Henry Willis, and several strangers took part. NEWS AND NOTES. (1899, April 1). The Dawn (Sydney, NSW : 1888 - 1905), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article76967249
Maybanke - photo taken in 1890 - courtesy Sydney University Archives - which means that's Pittwater in the background and she is standing on a section of road, the Bay View Road, near Professor Anderson's Pittwater home.
Prof. Anderson and Maybanke Anderson at 'Maybanke' Bay View - circa 1899 -1890 - photos courtesy Jan Roberts and Marjorie Wolstenholme (daughter of Harry Wolstenholme)
The couple travelled to Europe and wherein where they went and what she saw commenced the first in a series of long running 'Letters from Lois' appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald. - 'A Letter from Sicily' (1890) among the early ones of these, and dating from soon after her marriage. These travel insights would be repeated on her last visit to Europe, and ran even after she passed away in the same newspaper, only those last ones had her name as the author. Maybanke's association with the newspaper stems in part with her friendship with Matilda Curnow, and her education of her daughters. Matilda Susanna Curnow (1829–1921) was the wife of William Curnow, editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. He died in 1903.
Her work was akin to that of her new husband's. They inspired each other and more than one biographer states Maybanke spurred him on to call for greater and greater education reforms:
In respect of education in New South Wales, Anderson left little unquestioned and little unanswered; Maybanke encouraged him. In a stirring address on 26 June 1901 to the annual conference of the New South Wales Public School Teachers' Association, he smote the public school system hip and thigh. He castigated the pupil-teacher system of training and the role of the teachers' colleges, and alleged that too few future or present teachers attended the university, even part time. He complained about the over-scholastic and rigid curricula of the primary and of the emerging secondary schools and the relative absence of study of the natural, physical and social sciences; he criticised the predominance of 'drill' and 'cramming' in teaching and the absence of 'inquiry'. He deplored the role of the school inspectors who, instead of encouraging innovation, assessed teachers in terms of their conformity to established norms. His audience was enraptured: 'Women were standing on chairs waving their handkerchiefs and parasols, men were stamping and shouting and shaking hands with perfect strangers'. The authorities at first derided his attack, a reaction which led him to write a number of newspaper articles in the Daily Telegraph and a pamphlet on The Public School System of New South Wales. Finally the Knibbs-J. W. Turner royal commission was appointed in 1902 to examine his criticisms. After a study tour overseas, it found largely in support of Anderson and his proposed reforms, many of which were implemented after Peter Board became director of education. [4.]
"The Public School System of NSW" by Professor Francis Anderson, printed by Angus and Robinson 1901. An address delivered to the Annual Conference of the Public School Teachers of NSW in Sydney Town Hall on June 26th, 1901.
Maybanke was also involved in supporting women at Sydney University, where her husband taught. For the first few years her name is published as 'Mrs. Francis Anderson' although this quickly reverts to her owning her own name and that of her husband again - part;y due to her having long been a published wordsmith, partly due to her work and her 'stepping up' to be the face as much as the voice of those many aspects of one cause, and possibly due to the nature and presence of the lady herself:
UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of tho above took place on Tuesday afternoon at the University. Mra. Barff, M. A., presided, and there was a good attendance of members. An apology was received from Mrs. Bensusan, B.A. The annual report of the hon secretary showed that the association had 100 members ; that during the year addresses had been delivered by Mrs. Francis Anderson, Miss Macdonald, M A , Miss Sutherland. M.A., and Miss Mary Morris, B A. (Melbourne); that papers had been contributed by Miss Bowmaker, M.A. (twice), Mrs. Cooks, M A., Miss Wilson, M A , Mrs. Wood, B A., Mrs. Herder, B.A , Mrs. Bonsnaau, Miss Britton, B A., Miss Scrutton, B.A., Miss Gillam, Miss Bolton, and Miss Holt.
Mrs. Barff made a speech in which she congratulated those members of the association who had taken degrees or houours, and gave general advice to the University women, urging them to remember that though students they were still women, and therefore, should strive always to uphold their dignity as women. Mrs. Barff also put in a plea that in these days of specialisation women should not forget that to be happy they above all others must specialise in their own particular province. Miss Meares, M.A., gave an outline of the life and works of Kipling as a preliminary to a future debate. Mrs Macdonald (ex officio) and Miss E. L. Sutherland, B.A., were appointed delegates to the National Council of Women of New South Wales. A vote of thanks to three retiring office-bearers-Mrs. Barff (president), Miss Britton (hon, secretary), and Miss Scrutton (hon, treasurer)-was moved by Miss Meares, seconded by Miss E. L. Sutherland, and carried by acclamation. UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION. (1900, May 17). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14312148
In 1901 Maybanke Anderson purchased two acres of bushland lying to the south of present day Maybanke Cove. Here the Andersons built a sandstone home they named 'Maybanke' and a small farm with the help of local pioneers John and Elizabeth Oliver. The house still stands halfway up the hillside, although the premises are larger now and the grounds reduced to less than half an acre.
Section from Roche Estate - Land Sale - 1909, showing position of Anderson home at Bayview. Courtesy State Library of NSW, Image No: c029500007h
Shortly afterwards her eldest son married one of her former pupils:
WOLSTENHOLME - DOUST.—January 8, 1902, at the Wesleyan Church, Stanmore, by the Rev. E. J. Rodd, assisted by the Rev. J. E. Carruthers, Harry Wolstenholme, of Sydney, to Edith Lucy, daughter of Isaac Doust, of Wyroolah, Dulwich Hill. Family Notices (1902, February 5). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14445797
The year 1902 was when Maybanke's mother Elizabeth (Bessie) passed away at her son Henry's home. This Notice gives us further insight into where her husband died just months prior to his daughter's marriage and why it took so long to lay him to rest:
Beyond the Veil.
SELFE.
There passed away on Wednesday last, at her residence, in one of the suburbs, Mrs Selfe, aged 91 years, mother of Mr Norman Seife, Sydney's eminent engineer. Mrs Selfe and her husband had a home, away back in the early sixties, on the piece of land now occupied by Mr H Bennett, on the rise at the junction of the Nepean and Warragamba Rivers, where they had proposed to establish a large orchard, vineyard, etc, and had built a very comfortable cottage. One of our biggest floods came along just as they had got everything in going order. Owing to the gorge just below the junction, in time of flood the river rises to an enormous height—somewhere about 100 feet above summer level.
The late Mr Selfe attempted to cross the stream on to Fairlight Estate, and was washed down; his body being recovered, some time after the water had subsided, below Emu Plains. The shock was so great that the family afterwards abandoned the place. The late Mrs Selfe was a noble woman, and her son is one of our best and most respected colonists. His remains were interred in St. Thomas' Church of England Cemetery, Mulgoa. Beyond the Veil. (1902, January 25). Nepean Times (Penrith, NSW : 1882 - 1962), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100911566
SELFE ELIZABETH 1217/1902 Parents: EDWARD SUSANNAH N Death registered at: DRUMMOYNE - NSW Births, Deaths, Marriage records
Messrs. Angus & Robertson (Sydney and Melbourne) have sent us a collection of seven 'Australian Songs for Australian Children,' by Maybanke Anderson, which are likely to become popular with conductors of juvenile musical societies. The verges have a local coloring, and most of them are set to old familiar tunes. 'Sweet fresh flowers' has -an original setting which is 'very melodious, and its pretty refrain in waltz time will make it a general favorite. The musical type is excellently brought put on good paper, and the whole is a creditable production. BRIEFER MENTION. (1902, June 7). Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), p. 47. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87825923
Anderson, Maybanke. (1902). Australian songs for Australian children Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-165904762
Their mother's funeral was one of three the Selfe siblings experienced in 1902:
SELFE.—January 21st, at the residence of her son, Eurota, Sister's-cres., Drummoyne, Elizabeth, the widow of the late Henry Selfe, of Kingston-on-Thames in her 91st year. Family Notices (1902, January 22). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237349440
Funerals.
SIMPSON.—The Friends of Mr. HENRY SELFE are notified that the remains of Miss ELLEN SIMPSON will be interred at Waverley Cemetery on WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. Funeral will leave 810 George-street South, City, TO-MORROW (WEDNESDAY) AFTERNOON, at half-past 2 o'clock. WOOD and COMPANY, Funeral Directors. Telephone, 726, etc. Family Notices (1902, March 18). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113866011
SELFE.-June 1, at Gilligaloola, Old Hornsby, Emily Ann, wife of Norman Selfe, and eldest daughter of the late John Booth, of Balmain, aged 52 years. Family Notices (1902, June 3). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14470559
The Andersons were spending more time at the Pittwater farm after their marriage - letters penned to newspapers often came from that address and the content of Maybanke's articles reflected her passion for the environment of that area being an influence on her subject matter. School students recall her being present at 'prize-giving day's for the Church Point and then Bayview school from 1899/1900 on and that she was always 'kind and gentle'.
BAY VIEW PUBLIC CENTRAL SCHOOL.
The report of Mr Lobban senior Inspector, was read at the annual distribution In connection with the Bay View Public central School. This showed that good work had been accomplished and reference was made to the satisfactory working of the school launch - the first experiment of the kind. Short addresses were delivered by Mrs V Anderson, Miss E Pye (Education Department Victoria) and the teacher. The prizes were presented by Mesdames Anderson and Taylor. The principal prize winners were L Morrison H Newman H Howlett R Howlett J Morrison S Lloyd and M Booth. After refreshments various sports were indulged in. BAY VIEW PUBLIC CENTRAL SCHOOL. (1905, December 20). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), , p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14735150
NATURE STUDY IN AUSTRALIA.
(BY MAYBANKE ANDERSON.)
In all ages, and among all peoples, Nature has had her votaries— men and women who have watched the many changes in the face of Mother Earth, and worshipped in fear or love the great ministers of Nature's unchanging laws. But of Nature students there have been but few, and they have been generally either eccentric observers of special phases of her work, or moralists in search of a ready example. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard!" said one of these. Good advice, and proof of some nature study! But we still have much to learn about the ant, and sluggards continue to abound, though certainly not near ant hills.
There was a time when there was in schools no definite study of science, and but little attention to the works of Nature. The work of education was done with the materials of a bygone age and our forefathers learnt their grammar in Latin, and nourished their desire for literature by construing the history and poetry of a perished people. The best-educated man was not then the man who knew best how to live in the present, but the scholar who could talk most learnedly of the life and philosophy of the past. That time has passed away. For many years the teaching of science has had increasing attention in our schools. At first regarded as an eccentric country cousin, who might be sometimes ignored, if not openly flouted, she has at length attained a position of respectability, and has been, though not ungrudgingly, allowed a place in the curriculum of every school. But the teaching of science is often mere book work, or at most it leads to little more than ability to recognise specimens, and to affix to each the proper Latin name. Science, so taught, may interest a child more than the doing of long sums, or the recitation of French verbs, but it is not much more useful than these as a training tor the future, and it has very little value as education.
School education should be a continuation and extension of the self-education which tho child begins at his birth. His small efforts at observation and expression should be systematically encouraged and nurtured in the schoolroom, though he must, while there, seek for much knowledge in books, he should never he allowed to suppose that such labor is more valuable as education, or more useful for the future than accurate observation and discovery.
Nature study may he made a delightful part of the work of a school, and an excellent preparation for the work of life. But It ought not to begin in books, nor with object lessons. From these sources the intelligent child who reads and listens sometimes gets only a confused memory of odd scraps of information and technical names, while the idle and the indifferent enjoy a little lazy amusement. Nature study should begin with the child's inborn interest in living things. He should he encouraged to notice carefully the various incidents in the life of plants and insects familiar to him. Many children do this without effort, for Nature is attractive. Making use of their observations and drawing out the expression of their opinions, a sympathetic teacher can make a science lesson much more than a mere collecting and remembering of names. The Nature study lesson becomes a training in accuracy, a practice in the use of words and the forming of sentences, and incidentally geography, history, in fact every subject on tho school list may be used in its service to the great advantage of the subjects of study and the students.
We have had our little Nature study' of this sort in the past. By and bye, when future generations shall lead the story of the work of our Australian colonisation they will find no chapter more astounding than that one which will tell that here, in a just-discovered country, with soil and climate hitherto unknown, with strange birds and beasts, with matchless trees and flowers, with a wealth in the earth and beneath the surface beyond imagination, and the need, therefore, for new industries under new conditions, we deliberately began to give our children, the children of pioneers, the traditional education of an ancient far-away home. Truly we are a conservative people!
If the study of Nature bad from the first been a recognised necessity of school work in a new country, our orchards, for Instance, would not be affected as they are; for the men who now toil, half or wholly Ignorant of the nature and habits of the creatures who rob them, would long ago have been trained to accurate observation, and would have, by this time, been prepared to eradicate their enemies and encourage their friends. It would be difficult to exaggerate the value of nature study as a preparation for our boys and girls predestined for a country life, but Its advocates lay even greater stress upon its use in actual education. The main objects of school life are to help the child to observe clearly in order to acquire knowledge, to teach him to describe accurately what he sees and knows, and to give him practice in writing his impressions correctly. It is evident that for these purposes no subject can possibly be so attractive or so stimulating as the world of Nature, which lies always ready to delight his eye.
In many countries Interest in nature study I Is increasing, and tho United States, always ahead In education, has already done excellent work. One of the best books on the subject Is from the pen of Chas. B. Scott, M.A., recently instructor in nature study in the Oswego Normal School. It is pleasant to notice that we are not altogether behind the times. A book of nature studies in Australia, written by William Gillies, M.A., and Robert Hall, C.M.Z.S., F.L.S., has just been published by Whitcomb and Tombs, Melbourne. It is divided Into chapters and portions, so that It may be easily used as a school reading hook, but it is so arranged in the form of conversations during quiet rambles as to be very interesting, and It is sure to become a favorite in many a quiet Australian home. Every boy who possesses it will read it with pleasure, and will ever after watch with Increased delight tho migration of our swallows, and the diving of our gulls. The rose fancier may learn in It the habits of tho green aphis, the fruitgrower may read about black scale, while even the fisherman and the stroller on the beach must look with added pleasure at his treasures after perusing it.
The book is well got up, printed on excellent paper, and contains many illustrations. Some of these are copies of the pictures In Mr. Gould's "Birds of Australia," but not tho least attractive are those from tho authors' cameras. A nature study calendar Is arranged, to show tho doings of birds and Insects In each month, and many notes upon tho reading matter are appended, the whole forming a charming addition to our meagre collection of easy Australian natural history reading books. The spirit in which the hook is written may be fitly summed up in the apt quotation from Ruskin, which the authors have taken as their motto: "The lives of many men and women are passed in a succession of petty anxieties about themselves, and gleaning of minute interests and mean pleasures In their immediate circle, because they are never taught to make any effort to live beyond it, or to know anything of the wonderful world in which their lives are lived." NATURE STUDY IN AUSTRALIA. (1903, March 21). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 14. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237410621
OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. (1903, October 7). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14573669
OUR LATEST EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT. (1903, December 8). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14585063
THE MANUFACTURE OF CRIMINALS.
TO THE EDITOR.
Sir,— "While our philanthropists are rejoicing at the establishment at last of a court for criminal children, may I, by your favor, say a few words for the little ones not yet actively vicious whom we are by our neglect specially preparing to be subjects for that court's jurisdiction. They are not hard to find. In every dirty by-way, in every foul slum, sometimes very near to streets where wealthy indolence strolls indifferent, they are playing In the gutter, smiling though very grimy, attractive even in their rags, and by their often precocious energy and intelligence offering a promise of bright usefulness, or a threat of fearful degradation.
Their first sentences are lisped in foul language. It Is their native tongue, and many a child of four or five talks easily of subjects which men and women prefer not to mention.
They play, of course, and their ideal of pleasure is tho ideal of their elders. Our children of the poor streets play at getting drunk, or they take a woman to the lock-up screaming blasphemy, or, for a cheerful change, they have a funeral. The looker-on who watches them to see the fun or delight of childhood is sometimes puzzled. These may be found in a quarrel or a fight if they keep shop. How, and at what age, do we expect that these children will obtain a higher ideal of pleasure? Will they ever obtain it?
It is not fair to say that all this is the fault of their parents. No just person could say so. In the narrow streets of West Sydney, and in lanes everywhere, two or more families now live in houses built to accommodate one, and conditions bid fair to soon equal East London. There are no doubt residents who abhor the conditions in which they and their children live, but many have grown accustomed to them. They are all alike helpless, and the helpless soon become careless. The working mother goes out to earn a living, and is obliged to leave her small children in the street. The wife who stays at home cannot always keep hers in one or two small rooms. So the street Is the common playground. There every evil word passes from lip to lip, until it is stammered by babies. There the vile habits of dissolute men and abandoned women are imitated by little children, and the most careful mother cannot prevent it.
By the time the child of mean streets is of school age he is often, I will not say an Incipient, but an actual criminal, generally a thief, nearly always a liar. Then the policeman comes. He is made to go to school, and he sits down among untainted children, a centre of moral infection, scattering seeds beside which germs of plague and typhoid are merciful. Nemesis does not sleep.
It is certainly wise and kind to have a Court-in which to try him when he practises the arts we have so freely allowed him to learn. But one may suggest that it would be wiser, kinder, and very much cheaper to prevent him learning to do evil. We tie up and prune our trees and plants, so that, they may grow both useful and beautiful. In dealing with wood, or stone or muslin, we never, so far as I know, first form badly, and then try to re-form. We reserve the practice of such utter foolishness for that of which we know the least, for that which Is more important than all else, for human character. Prevention In this matter Is not only better; it is easier, cheaper, and much more likely to be more permanent than cure. Free kindergartens and public playgrounds where the small children of the poor could be taught and could play under supervision would be not only kind, but charitable and humane. They would be economical. Every criminal, what with policemen to try to catch him when he is out of gaol, and gaolers to look after him while he is Inside', to say nothing of the officials who deal with him in transit, and the interest of the magnificent residences we build for him, costs considerably more than many small children in a free kindergarten. And, while the one from the day of his budding viclousness, until that lost one when in a gaol or an asylum, he Is laid with a sigh of great relief in a pauper's grave, is a disgrace and a nuisance, the other, the little child, trained, in his most impressionable years', in the practice of those habits which develop into virtues, becomes in a few years, not a burden, but that most valuable of all assets, an intelligent, industrious, upright man or woman.
If we could for a moment step out of the whirl of custom and see with clearer eyes we might think it rather inconsistent that we should worry about the status of immigrants, and at the same time manufacture criminals wholesale. We might fancy it almost irrational to deplore the misfortune of a falling birthrate, while we waste and spoil the babies we already possess. But my letter grows too long. This is a question for love and a question of economy. Therefore, essentially a woman's question. We want women who will train for the work of developing the sweetness and goodness that is in every baby's heart, dirty though be his body. And we want money. Many a rich woman wastes every year more than would keep a dozen children in a free kindergarten. Even her sister of moderate means could spare a pair of gloves, a bag of chocolates or two, a theatre ticket, and never miss them. With more money those who struggle to keep a few kindergartens going could have one in every dark corner of the city, and the places where only weeds can thrive would be converted into nurseries for good citizens. —
MAYBANKE ANDERSON.
Pittwater, October 25.
THE MANUFACTURE OF CRIMINALS. (1905, October 26). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237706414
THE GOLDEN FLEECE KINDERGARTEN.
In another column will be found a letter from Mrs. Maybanke Anderson showing what the Kindergarten Union of New South Wales is aiming at. It is a noble institution, and many of our readers have helped it already. But a wider circle of helpers is required, and we shall be glad to do what we can for the movement in any way possible. If any of our readers want more information, all they have to do is to write to "Gossip," who is in thorough sympathy with it. We shall be glad to take charge of any money forwarded to this good object, and all amounts received will be duly acknowledged through the Journal. THE GOLDEN FLEECE KINDERGARTEN. (1906, August 31). The Sydney Stock and Station Journal (NSW : 1896 - 1924), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121586692
FORMATION, NOT RE-FORMATION.
(To the Editor ''Stock and Station Journal.')
Sir, — Will you allow me through your columns to. call the attention of your readers to the life of -the little children in the bye-ways of Sydney, children of the deserted wife who is obliged to leave them in the streets while she earns them a bare living, cliildren of the drunken and the dissolute,, and of those who by birth or ill training are utterly irresponsible. Such children learn their first baby lispings in foul language, it is their native tongue. Their play is an imitation of the vice find folly they see around thorn, their ideal of life and pleasure is the ideal of the abandoned woman, and of the man who hangs about public house corners. They can know no other. They all do — it is necessary in self defence. They are nearly all thieves, — it is -often the only way of supplying their needs. Who can blame them?
When they reach school age, the Inspector comes, and they are sent to sit among more fortunate children, where they are centres of infection, beside which plague and typhoid are merciful. It is idle to expect the teacher to do very much for them. The lest early years of home influence can never ho replaced. The habits and ideals which form character have begun to crystallise, and the teacher of a large city class has little time to spare. As they grow up, many of them must inevitably become larrikins and loafers. It is from this class that we get our idle unemployed, our abandoned women, our rascals and criminals, and, — we keep an army of policemen, magistrates and other officials to protect us from them, we maintain gaols, lockups, asylums, infirmaries, reformatories, and many institutions to house and protect them, we take infinite care of them until they die, and then we bury them, a shame and a disgrace, without remembering that but for our neglect they might have been good citizens, a source of wealth, instead of a means of wasting it.
The Kindergarten Union of New South Wales maintains free kindergartens where such children are received, and trained in habits of cleanliness, truth and industry. Heart, and mind, and hands, are scientifically -and healthily developed, in surroundings which supply, as well as our means allow, an ideal of a well ordered home. The children respond to the good influence, and are recognised when they go to the public schools as well-trained and well-taught children. In order to carry on these kindergartens the Union trains young women in kindergarten knowledge. They nearly all become teetotallers, whether they do so or not, the training is invaluable, and the next generation will be the better for the work in this way also.
The Union now desires to open another kindergarten, and believing the the country folk are interested in the work, they propose to call it the 'Golden Fleece,' and to endeavor to obtain support for it from the country. Will the readers of this widely read journal help?
Further information will be willingly given and subscriptions acknowledged if sent, either to the secretary, at the Training College, Roslyn Gardens, or to Mrs. Francis Anderson, 27 Arundel-st.. Glebe.— Yours, etc., MAYBANKE ANDERSON, Hon. Organising Secretary. FORMATION, NOT RE-FORMATION. (1906, August 31). The Sydney Stock and Station Journal (NSW : 1896 - 1924), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121586610
WOOD. CARVING. (1907, July 18). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238073051
A few years after her eldest son's marriage, her remaining son, named for his father, was married too. This was a BIG wedding:
Wedding
WOLSTENHOLME— KITE.
The nuptials of Mr Edmond K Wolstenholme, 'Montavella,' Bathurst, youngest son of Mrs Francis Anderson, 'Bay View,' Pittwater, and Ethel Nina, youngest daughter of the late Mr William Kite of 'Woolstone,' Kelso, and only sister of Mrs Brooke Moore, Bathurst, were yesterday afternoon solemnised amidst a scene of great splendour.
The marriage took place in the historic old church of Holy Trinity, Kelso, which, during recent times, has been so greatly beautified, and in such a manner as to lend itself admirably to floral decoration. In this wedding the floral decorations eclipsed anything previously seen. The altar piece was smothered in pure white roses carefully arranged with that careless grace which counts for so much in real art. Over the table of the altar a large cross of pale pink daisies held pride of place, at either side, being rings of ivy and lilies. The choir stalls were also covered with roses and tied with silver ribbons. A carved oak choir screen spans the full width of the church in front of the chancel and it formed a most effective background for the four floral arches which were arranged immediately in front of it in order to show up the almost aesthetic beauty of the chancel scene. The aisle was adorned with two floral arches, all pure white flowers being used. Each arch was surmounted by a large cross of white roses, and pure white wedding bells hung from the centre. The ends of the seats re-served for the guests were defined by clusters of lilies tied to the ends of the seats with a silver cord, the symmetrical 'lines' of pale white giving a very pleasing effect.
At the lower end of the aisle, where another carved rail spans the edifice, a very large true lovers knot of silver gauze stood but in bold relief against its background of ivy and stalks of lilies. Mrs Lassetter designed the floral decorations and with the assistance of Mrs Robertson, Miss Kirwan, and Miss Joan Lee executed the work in really artistic style. Miss Cousins presided at the organ and rendered some appropriate music. 'The Voice that Breathed' was sung by the choir just before the bride's entrance, and there were other hymns during and after the ceremony whilst the register was being signed. The church was uncomfortably packed with guests and onlookers, even standing room not being available long before the bride arrived.
The bride, who looked remarkably well after the severe illness she has just recovered from, was accompanied by Dr Brooke-Moore who subsequently gave her away. She wore a very simple robe of fine white muslin over chiffon glace. The skirt was slightly trained and had rows of small tucking, inlet with fine Swiss embroidery. The corsage had a square yoke of Swiss applique and kimono bands of the same. A folded belt completed this elegant bridal robe. The small sailor-shaped hat worn had a garland of white roses, and the white Flemish lace strings which were tied under the chin gave a most seductive finish. She carried an artistic bouquet of white carnations and roses, interspersed with fern. Miss Moira Brooke-Moore, niece of the bride, was the only maid of honor. She wore a very dainty frock of white muslin, with pale blue sash, and white tuscan hat. She also wore a gold bangle and carried a cluster of white flowers, gifts of the bridegroom. The bridegroom was supported by Master Brooke-Moore, nephew of bride. Ven Archdeacon Oakes officiated.
Mrs Brooke-Moore was charmingly gowned in pure white muslin, slightly elaborated with embroidery, wore a cream chip hat with shaded purple lilac, and carried a bouquet of deep red carnations and asparagus fern. Mrs F Anderson, mother of bridegroom, wore a handsome toilette of black silk, with black and white bonnet. After the ceremony, Dr and Mrs Brooke-Moore held a reception at their residence, receiving their guests at the drawing room door, and close by the bridal pair stood to receive the congratulations of their friends. The costly and handsome presents were displayed in the drawing and smoking rooms, whilst refreshments were served in the dining room. All the rooms were most artistically decorated with choice flowers, ferns, and pot plants. The wedding cake was made by the bride's sister, Mrs Brooke-Moore, and to all appearances it was the consummation of the highest in the culinary art. It consisted of three square tiers, each one being ornate with cupids, etc, instead of being set tier after tier as is usually the case ; graceful white columns of icing supported each one. On the top was a silver bowl of real orange blossom, which was locally grown.
Mr and Mrs Wolstenholme left for 'Bay View,' Pittwater, by the mail train, the bride travelling in a pale blue and white check silk dress, with blue crinoline hat to match.
The following is a list of the presents: — Dr and Mrs Brooke-Moore, Dr and Mrs Machattie, Professor and Mrs Anderson; Miss Edith McPhillamy, Dr and Mrs Robertson, Mrs Forrest, sen, Mr Walter Lee, Mr Theo Marks, Mr and Mrs W Lee, Mrs John Marks and Miss Irene Marks, Dr, Mrs and Miss Hurst, Dr Pritchard and the Misses Bassett, Mr and Mrs H G Traill, Dr McMurray, Mr and Mrs R L Gilmour, Mr. John Lee, jun, Dr and Mrs Herbert Marks, and Mr Percy Jones, cheques. Dr and Mrs Watson, asparagus dish Mrs W K Johnson, hot water jug Misses Gladys and Doris Lee, ink stand Capt Horace Dangar, silver lamp Mr Claude Suttor, silver frame Mr, Mrs and the Misses Herbert Suttor, salad bowl Mr Turrell, flower stand Mr and Mrs Gibsone, sweet spoons and cushion Messrs Preen and Co, cut glass jug and glasses Mr and Mrs J McPhillamy, scone dish Miss Wolstenholme, cream and sugar stand Miss Deomar Lee, afternoon tea cups Miss Beatrice Lee, chair Misa Nellie Lee, silver muffineers Mr and Mrs J Deakin, silver sauce bowl Mr and Mrs Percy McPhillamy, hot water jug Miss Joan Lee, applique cushion Mr and Mrs J H Stewart, carving knives and forks Mr and Mrs Harry Roxburgh, toast rack Mr and Mrs J E Rule Taylor, silver bowl Mr and Mrs A E Ivatt, silver candle-sticks Nellie, Addie and May, fish slicer Misses L and E Cousins, silver vegetable dish Mr and Mrs E C Cousins, jam pot Mr L Jagoe, silver tea caddy Mr J B Dalley, ink stand Mr and Mrs M Forrest, afternoon tea-spoons Miss Alice Lee, sauce bowls Mrs M Dawson, glass dish and lemon squeezer 'Pat' Brooke Moore, pin tray Rev Gordon Tidy, newspaper cutter Miles Kite, knife rests Miss Brown, pincushions and handker-chiefs Ven Archdeacon and Mrs Oakes, book Mr J Mann, book Messrs Hordern Bros, silver candlesticks Mrs A A Young, cake dish Mr and Mrs Rutherford, silver muffineers Mrs Darvall Barton, afternoon tea forks Mr, Mrs and Miss Lindsay, butter dish Mr and Mrs G H Lee, pair bedroom candlesticks Lesley and Audrey Johnson, jam dish Mr and Mrs Fegan, sugar and cream stand Mrs Whittingdale Johnson, cut glass jug and goblets Moira Brooke-Moore, tea service Mrs Norman Kite, Doulton jug Mrs Claude Robertson and Mrs W Hickson afternoon tea spoons Mr and Mrs H E. Rouse, afternoon tea spoons Mrs Levy, frame Mr and Mrs Lawford, silver frame Hon C E Pilcher, K.C, entree dishes, silver breakfast beater Mr and Mrs Albyn Stewart, jam dish, Miss Nellie Young, jam dish Dr and Mrs Sydney Jamieson, clock Mr and Mrs Harold McIntosh, silver lamp Mr George Martin, Burmese table Mr J H McIntosh, writing table Mr and Mrs P A Mabett, Turkish rug Mr and Mrs Athol Stewart, sauce boats and entree dish Mr and Mrs Percy Weston, silver calender Mr and Mrs Norman Suttor, Italian vase Mrs James Marks, afternoon tea service Mr Rowland Lee, silver bell Col. and Mrs Lassetter, silver vases and sweet dishes Mr G B Stoney, travelling clock Misses Kirwan, afternoon tea spoons Mrs and Misses Austin, jam pot and salt cellars Mr and Mrs Crago, afternoon tea kettle Mr, Mrs and Miss C R McPhillamy, standard lamp Mr J Low Harriman, silver bowl Mr Norman Stewart, card case Mr Kelynack, breakfast dish Misses Lile, Meg and Alison McPhillamy, afternoon tea cloth Mrs Ingersole and son, vases and orna-ments Mr and Mrs Britten, silver vase Miss Forrest, silver frame Mr Herbert N Johnson, coffee cups Mrs Jago Smith, muffineers Mr Norman McPhillamy, entree dish Miss Davis, table centre Misses McIntosh, breakfast heater Mrs Thorman, tea cosy Dr and Mrs Oswald Howse, breakfast dish Miss and Master Howse, silver frame Mr McFarlane, spoons Mrs R M Sheridan, afternoon tea service Dr and Mrs P J Kenna Mr and Mrs T Raine, set of flower vases Dr Gullett, tea cloth, Miss Nora Barton, blotter Mr and Mrs Lydiard, breakfast dish, Mr. and Mrs B Lysaght, sauce bowl Miss Patterson, silver frame Mrs Henry Lee, plaque Mrs Arthur Schute, cushions.
The invited guests included, Professor and Mrs. F Anderson (mother of bridegroom), Mr and Mrs H Wolstenholme, Sydney, Mr and Mrs Norman Selfe, Sydney, Mr and Mrs Henry Selfe, Drummoyne, Mrs R A and Miss Young and Miss Wolstenholme, Strathfield, relatives of bridegroom, Mr J McIntosh, Misses McIntosh (2), Mrs Norman Kite, Misses Kite, Hon. G Lee, uncle of bride, and Misses Lee (3), ' Leeholme,' Miss Brown, Misses Lee (3), 'Karalee,' Mr Roland Lee, Dr and Mrs Marks, Sydney, Hon C Pilcher, K C, Sydney, Dr and Mrs Machattie, Dr and Mrs Hurst, Col. and Mrs H B Lassetter, Mr and Mrs Stewart, The Mount, Mr and Mrs Athol Stewart, Dulcis Vale, Mr and Mrs Rabett, Sydney, Mr C, Mrs and Miss McPhillamy, Mr Norman McPhillamy, Misses Bassett (2), Mr Mrs. and the Misses Rutherford, Mr and Mrs Gibsone, Mr and Mrs Deakin, Dr Lucy Gullett, Mr J B Dalley, Sydney, Mr, Mrs and the Misses Suttor (4), ' Brucedale.' Mr Mrs and the Misses Suttor, 'Eurona,' Mr and Mrs R L Gilmour, Mr and Mrs Britten, Mrs and Miss Barton, Mr and Mrs E C Cousins, Mr J Mrs and the Misses McPhillamy (3), Miss Kirwan, Dr. and Mrs O Howse, Sydney, Mr and Mrs H Crago, Mr and Mrs H Trail, Sydney, Mrs Forrest, Sydney, Dr and Mrs Watson, Orange Dr and Mrs Robertson, Mr S Turrell, Mrs John Marks, Sydney, Miss Irene Marks, Sydney, Mr Theo Marks, Sydney, Mr H McFarlane, Mr Jagoe, Mr and Mrs Fegan, Mr and Mrs Ivatt, Dr and Mrs Kenna, Sydney, Mr, Mrs and Miss Lindsay, Mr and Mrs H McIntosh, Mr and Mrs G H Lee, Miss Joan Lee, Mr Bert Kenny, Mr Mrs and the Misses Lee, Hope-street, Mr G Martin, Sydney, Archdeacon and Mrs Oakes; Misses Cousins, Mr J Lee, junr. Wedding (1907, November 29). National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article157240851
A smart wedding took place at Holy Trinity Church, Kelso, on Thursday afternoon last, when Miss Ethel Kite, second daughter of the late Mr. William Kite, of Woolstone, Kelso, was married to Mr. Edmund Wolstenholme, son of Mrs. Francis Anderson, of Bay View, Pittwater. The church, which was thronged, was beautifully decorated with evergreens, interspersed with margueriterdaisies, white roses, and other flowers. Arches of sweet peas and evergreens spanned the aisle, two floral bells being suspended from the arches. The bride was given away by her brother-in law (Dr. Brooke-Moore). She was dressed in glace silk veiled in the finest of cobwebby French muslin, the trained skirt having fine tucks and insertions of Valenciennes lace. Her white straw hat was tied beneath her chin with strings of beautiful lace, and was trim med with white roses and tulle. She carried a bouquet of white flowers. Miss M. Moore (niece of the bride) was the only bridesmaid. She was dressed in white muslin, trimmed with muslin embroidery, with a pale blue sash, and a hat of, white trimmed i with pare blue. The bridegroom gave her a gold bangle, and a large posy of flowers. After the ceremony a reception was held at the residence of Dr. Brooke-Moore, where -Mr. and Mrs. Wolstenholme received the con gratulations of their many friends. Later on the bride and bridegroom left for their honeymoon, the bride travelling in a smart blue and white check and blue hat to match, trimmed with roses. Mrs. Wolstenholme, as Miss Kite, was well known in Sydney, and has many times stayed at Glenrock, Darling Point, as the guest of Mrs. John Marks. Social Gossip (1907, December 4). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 1472. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163658411
A second trip to Europe occurred in 1908. The Pittwater residence was advertised for the period they expected to be away:
BAYVIEW, PROF. FRANCIS ANDERSON'S RESIDENCE, the IDEAL home of PITTWATER STONE COTTAGE 6 rooms and man's room, COMPLETELY FURNISHED, horse and trap, cow, boat etc. Owner leaving for Europe LOW RENT for 15 months, RAINE and HORNE, 80 Pitt-street. Advertising (1907, December 4). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), , p. 16. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14898486
The Andersons returned to Sydney, landing per the G.M.S. Bremen on Sunday March 14th, 1909 inspired a campaign for playgrounds for children in inner-city areas. In 1912 Maybanke was among those who started the Playgrounds Association which eventually gave inner-city children safe recreational parks. Some sources ascribe this as a response to a government tax on schoolyards in 1908 and that changes were discussed by educators and teachers associations from then on until the 1912 article below first appeared.
From around 1906 to 1916, while Anderson was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, he and Maybanke divided their time between Apricot, a ‘picturesque town house’ at 27 Arundel Street, Glebe and the farm at Pittwater near Bayview Post Office. Newspaper records of Harry's activities defending many a Balmain resident, including some women teachers who had set up small schools on their own, may indicate he and his new wife were living at the Eversley home prior to moving towards Killara where his son Harry Doust Wolstenholme was born on June 4th, 1906.
CAN THE CHILD SURVIVE CIVILISATION ?
THE PLAYGROUNDS ASSOCIATION. A CHALLENGE TO OUR FOOL-CIVILISATION.
There is a 'Playgrounds Association in New South Wales, but most of us have never heard of it. Those of us who think at all, think that we are too much given to play in sunny Australia, and there is a deal of truth in the idea. But we don't give the children a chance to play — as children
This Playgrounds Association has issued a pamphlet, written by Dr. Woods Hutchinson, an American, and copies of this pamphlet may be had from Mrs. Francis Anderson, 27 Arundel-st., Glebe. This pamphlet deals with a subject of the most enormous importance to our alleged civilisation, but not a great many will read it, because — it is important. Yet the thoughtful people will read it, and it will set them to thinking hard. Most people think that our civilisation is the glassy agate of creation, but it might be permissible to whisper, very gently, that it is rotten at the core. This pamphlet will show one place where it is weak, and the heading itself gives the case in a nutshell — 'Can the Child Survive Civilisation?'
'The child is the embodiment of the future of the race. What we do to him determines our own future. It makes little difference how perfect our civilisation may be for the well-being of adults. If it assumes such a form that children cannot grow up healthy and vigorous under it, it is doomed. | Whether the children survive civilisation or not, civilisation cannot survive the child. Our -conditions^ of life have changed markedly and radically during the past fifty years. The wonderful progress, the boasted organisation of our civilisation, has been an organisation for grown-ups exclusively, and has left the child out of its calculations. We have laid elaborate plans for the perfection of the product, but ignored the source of supply. Half a century ago our social and industrial organisation was so loose that there was plenty of room for the child to grow up in the gaps and interspaces. Now it is so compact that he scarcely has breathing room and no play room.
We have gone far to civilise the business of play out of existence. Then, our cities were, like Thackeray's Washington. 'cities of magnificent distances.' Now, ground is sold by the square foot, and every inch of it utilised for factory, shop, street, or railway track. We have even abolished the back alley, that paradise of adventure. The modern city child has lost his most previous birthright — the backyard, lives in smaller towns, where some breathing space still surrounds the buildings, the blight of the lawn-mower has descended upon it. Lawns and dowers have taken the place of 'our yard.' with its brickbats, and barrels, ' and boards, and all its superb possibilities for play and empire building. We can't grow two crops on the same soil, and either the grass or the children must go. No place for play, no place for the child.
At the same time we have made the streets more impossible as play-grounds than ever. In the old sleepy times children j could play on them in perfect safety all day long. Now, with street-car tracks down the middle, delivery waggons along both curbs, and automobiles ; all over the roadway, they are as suitable for a play place as the track of a trunk line railway. Not only has the child lost the back- yard and the alley as a place to grow up in, but he has lost the small shop as well. The work that was done by the local carpenter, the blacksmith, the tinsmith, the wheelwright, the weaver at his house loom, the boatbuilder, is now taken over by the huge factory, where the child is neither admitted nor wanted, except as a stunted and over-worked labourer before his time.
Fifty years ago he grew up in a atmosphere of trades and craftsmanship and saw things made, and work accomplished on every side of life, where he could pick up the remnants and imitate the performance. Now all this is closed to to him. We have not improved matters much by substituting the school for this yard, the field, the shop. We have simply attempted to correct under development of the child's body by over development of his mind. Since he no longer has any safe place to play, we shut him up in the schoolroom all day long. The change has come so gradually that we are hardly conscious of it. But the fact now stares us in the face, that the school-room has absorbed something like two-thirds of the time of our growing boys and girls.
The old school term of the country or small town were mercifully short— anywhere from four to eight months of the year — and left the child plenty of opportunity for physical development and the doing of chores, helping in the garden, on the farm, in tho workshop. The modern school runs from nine to ten months oat of the twelve, and has gradually come to absorb from three-fourths to seven-eights of his time and energies during these months. If this were not so stupid, it would be criminal. The real business of the child is not to pass examinations, but to grow up. It is impossible to value education too highly, and we are justly proud of the system we have developed. But the time has come when we must recognise that there is no necessary connection between learning and a desk, nor between school and a room.
As physicians, we must demand that the schoolroom, admirable as are its aims and its motives, must relinquish at least one half its claims upon the time and strength of our children; that at least half of their education should be carried out in nature's school — the open air. The playground should be organised, supervised and recognised as a vital and coordinate branch of our scheme of education. The playground is the chief ground for the development of body and mind; of training for social -life, for organisation and combination with its fellows. The real life of the child is lived not in the schoolroom, but on the playground. One of the most valuable influences of the school is the effect of children upon each other. But this can be attained in its perfection only upon the playground. Better a playground without a schoolhouse, than a schoolhouse without a playground. CAN THE CHILD SURVIVE CIVILISATION ? (1912, December 20). The Sydney Stock and Station Journal (NSW : 1896 - 1924), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124129557
Now in her late 60's, the still energetic and keen mind stayed trained on bettering the lot of children far from that green and blue oasis:
CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUNDS.
TO THE EDITOR.
Sir, — Friends of childhood are glad to know that occasionally the question of playgrounds for children Is considered by those in authority. We hear now that the municipal council of Sydney will soon carry out a long-discussed plan, and will set aside a portion of the Flagstaff-hill for the use of boys— a third area for this large city — and we are thankful for small concessions. But If you will allow me I would call the attention of the general public, and particularly of women, to the fact that such play areas, especially without superintendents, have little value except to big boys, and are of no use at all to small children or to girls.
During the past month — May — 146 children, under five years of age, died in Sydney. How many under ten, we may guess. I do not for a moment wish to infer that this small crowd of babies all died for want of fresh air. We have many ways of killing babies, and they die easily. But there can be no doubt that many of them died mainly because of their surroundings. A child who Is born, and who has to struggle for life, in a lane which even our sunshine cannot purify, is handicapped from its birth, and falls an easy prey to the attacking microbe. In some parts of Sydney four' families now live in one house. Their small homes were, some time ago, taken from them, and pulled down, in order that Sydney might be beautiful, and they have' never been replaced. A mother who sits on the doorstep of such a house. In a narrow street, to nurse her baby, and gossip with her neighbors, has neither the wisdom nor the energy, neither the time nor the money, to take her children into pure air. A visit to some of our mean streets makes one wonder not that so many die, but that so many manage to escape disease and live.
The question of saving the children of the ignorant and poor is not only one of charity and philanthropy, both now for reasons which I need not specify, at a low ebb in Sydney; It Is also and mainly one of economy and common sense. Why ask other countries to send us their children, while we allow ours to die! Why spend money in enlarging hospitals, and at the same time breed invalids? Why deplore a lowered birth-rate, while we do so little to lessen the death-rate?
Many associations are doing their utmost to give Ignorant mothers the knowledge necessary to enable them to rear healthy children, but every hard-working woman Is hampered by her surroundings. What Is wanted In Sydney, more than unsuperintended playgrounds for big boys, though they have their value, Is a number of small play areas for little children. They need not be ornamental or expensive. A portion of any park could be arranged to answer the purpose for a small amount of money. The principal expense would be the salary of a director or two— perhaps £ 200 per year. In many of our reserves such an area would take little from the space devoted to the public who are no longer children; In some It would add an interesting attraction, and would be an object-lesson for parents.
A visit to the Lance playground, In High-street, Miller's Point, the only playground in Sydney which the principles of the Playgrounds Association allow it to approve, will convince the most sceptical of the great benefit such an area can be to a crowded neighborhood. That Is the type of playground which the Playgrounds Association is now trying to establish In Sydney. There should be one in every thickly-peopled part of the city, and at least one in every suburban municipality.
How long will It be before the men and women of Sydney will stand beside the Playgrounds Association and give them not only assent, but help, in order that the coming generation shall have at least fresh air and space in which to play.— Yours, etc.;
MAYBANKE ANDERSON,
Hon. Sec., Playgrounds Association,
Bayview, Pittwater, June 5.
CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUNDS. (1913, June 7). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 18. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240053486
PRACTICAL PHILANTHROPIST.
MRS. FRANCIS ANDERSON.
Playgrounds for Children
Suffragettes Denonuced.
Many people, no doubt, are familiar with Mrs. Francis Anderson, through her writing, and the keen Interest she has taken in so many philanthropic movements, but to really know the woman herself one must spend a couple of hours with her in her picturesque town house at Forest Lodge, and listen to her talk of her hopes for the children and mothers of Australia. Mrs, Anderson has worked so strenuously, and done so much to brighten the lives of the workers and the children, that the knowledge of the happiness that she has brought them has clung to her, and left her bubbling over with an infectious optimism, and a tremendous sense of the Joys and possibilities of life. She is one of the ideal women of the age, whose brain has developed to the utmost degree without changing theirfemininity and heart. Women who actually prove by their personality that intellectuality in a woman and unattractiveness and hardness are not necessarily associated.
A BUSY WOMAN.
Mrs. Anderson was asked how she managed to find sufficient time to attend to so many philanthropic duties.
"Well, I don't know," she replied. "I can always find time. ' You see, I have one advantage, and that is I have all the time, to myself that other women spend visiting and otherwise uselessly. I read a tremendous lot, and while I am reading I knit socks and cosy woollen garments for grand-children, who keep me well employed in that direction.
"As to the domestic virtues, I haven't much time to talk about their cultivation, but I try to practise them. At our home at Bayview there is almost a farm to look after. You should see our roses, and quite as important, our vegetables. I work a great deal in the garden, and in my spare time attend to the comforts of about 70 fowls,
"So far as I can see there is a much -greater interest In scientific domestic work than of old. Women are finding out that work must be done, and they are trying to do it with brains— no one likes drudgery.
"And now about this great servant question that is troubling so many people. I have never had much trouble. I am afraid some mistresses fall to touch the human note, the sympathy that makes the whole world kin'. But a great change has begun, though we are hardly conscious of It, and tire old despised servant or 'slavey,' will be a thing of the past."
Anderson came to Australia from England when quite a child with her family reminiscences of the early days are so numerous that they would fill a good solid volume. For many years, and until quite recently, she wrote for the papers, and one of her first public Interests was the Womanhood Suffrage League, of which she was president for most of Its strenuous years.
NO SEX IN POLITICS.
"I think," she said, "that In the politics of a democracy there should be no sex. A woman without a vote Is an Inferior, and therefore liable to be so regarded, but it is easy to exaggerate the power conferred by the vote. That Is the initial mistake of the militant suffragettes' In England. I decidedly disapprove of militancy. The tendency of modern times Is for arbitration rather than for war, for reason rather than force. The militant women are reverting to the methods of the middle ages, and going further back still, and behaving like Huns or vandals. Besides, they are spoiling; their Cause. If you can't convince an English man by argument, you certainly won't do so by breaking his windows. No; I believe in men and women working together, the one helping the other.
In olden times men did what they liked, and made mistakes, simply because women sat back and let them. They sat back and did their wool work' and occasionally fainted, and that was all. But now, to go to the other extreme and .think everything can be done by women is just as ridiculous. All through my work I have found men my best friends, and by going about the right way I have always found them only too anxious to help me."
It is very interesting .to listen to Mrs. Anderson talk about present-day interests, but she fairly carries you along with her enthusiasm when she commences to unfold her; ambitions for her, two pet schemes, the play grounds for children, and the free kindergartens. She was one of the few bold founders of the Kindergarten Union in 1896. There are now eight free kindergartens— not nearly enough, but' as many as the union can support. They are not so large as the State kindergartens, but a great many small ones supply the need better than a few large ones. A child of three or four cannot walk a great distance to school. The kindergartens are really centres of, influence for mothers and fathers. The union is now trying to buy premises for a training college. The present college is self-supporting, but the rent, £295 a year, Is high.
A CHANCE FOR THE WELL-TO-DO.
"We hope," said Mrs. Anderson, "some good friends may be found to help us. Our hope for the future really rests, in the children, doesn't it? The present generation will soon be gone, and they will reign. As to playgrounds for children, they will have to come. I cannot believe that municipalities and people will continue to be apathetic. Many a woman spends as much on a diamond as would make 100 children healthy and happy for a year.
"I should like to see the playgrounds supported by different trades. The drapers might have one, and the butchers another. Every factory owner ought to help, for It is from the class of children that the play ground serves that he must draw his operatives, and their health should he his care. The money needed to keep one sick child In a hospital would keep fifty healthy ones well and happy, and people must see the sense of It some day. "Then there Is the possibility of memorial playgrounds. What better memorial to a child loved and lost than a playground, or a kindergarten, called by the never-forgotten name?
PLAYGROUND SCHEMES.
"We have only one so far. That is the Lance Playground, at Miller's Point, but J many others are coming. Our Idea is to get small areas of land In the different parks I In Sydney- and the suburbs, and erect a I shelter shed, and, of course, a sand-pit, for I the children. We don't want elaborate ones. We prefer to have them simple and more I numerous. Children want the fresh, health-giving air- more than anything, and a place where they can shelter from the rain.
"Every playground will have one or two young women in charge of it. If there Is no supervision it simply means a place where the bullies tyrannise the smaller and weaker children."
Mrs. Anderson started the Playgrounds' Association about four years ago. She came back from England at that time with her head full of the work that Is being done for children in England and America, and decided to Introduce the spirit here. She started writing, first of all, letters and articles in the daily press. Then she thought an association with a president would carry more weight than merely Mrs. Anderson. Her next step was to persuade Professor Mackie to be president of a Playgrounds' Association, of which she would be secretary. It would seem impossible to refuse Mrs. Anderson anything, so naturally Professor Mackie agreed. Last year, when the association added to its list a committee, the nucleus of which was composed of the members of the Women Workers' Association.' Now it is an Important organisation, boasting many of Sydney's i leading women as supper' era, also a deputy town clerk, and a Lady Mayoress. Naturally, when an association possesses a large committee, and an energetic and enthusiastic secretary, results are l ounl to fol low, and If Mrs. Anderson is able to carry out all that Is In her head there will soon not be a small citizen In Sydney who will not be able to sing In real earnest, "This bit of the world belongs to us."
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MRS. FRANCIS ANDERSON. (Photo, by Crown Studios.)
THE SAND SLIDE AT THE LANCE PLAYGROUND, MILLER'S POINT.
PRACTICAL PHILANTHROPIST. (1913, July 6). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 20 (SUNDAY EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229674671
A visit from her son Edmund,who later moved back to Sydney:
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Wolstenholme, of Bathurst, are at present staying at "Bayview," with their little daughter. They hope to remain at "Bayview" tor two or three weeks. IN SOCIETY AND OUT. (1914, May 4). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 6 (FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224650500
Many women interested in politics are working extremely hard for the cause they support, and the Women's Liberal League is more than usually busy. Women electors should not overlook the fact that it is compulsory that their names be on the rolls. If they neglect to see to this they are liable to a fine of £2. It is to be hoped that more activity will be displayed by both men and women during the forthcoming elections. There have been many folk in the past who have failed to take the slightest interest in past contests, arguing that their votes would not help the cause one way or the other. Women are now playing very important parts in all spheres of life. The first steps in the direction of municipal reform were taken last week, when a preliminary meeting was held at the Queen Victoria Club. Mrs. Thomas Hughes, who was twice Lady Mayoress, presided over the gathering. Mrs. Francis Anderson read the scheme lately submitted to the National Council of Women, the idea being to form small circles or committees in each municipal division for the purpose of studying the needs of each particular district. OF INTEREST TO WOMEN. (1914, June 17). Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), p. 23. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158398028
PLAY AND PLAYGROUNDS. By Maybanke Anderson (1914, July 18). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239067193
WENTWORTH PARK KINDERGARTEN.
Miss Margaret Harris laid the foundation-stone of the Free Kindergarten In the Children's Playground, Wentworth Park, Glebe, yesterday afternoon.
Professor Mackay (president of the Playground Association), in Introducing Miss Harris, said that they were much indebted to Mrs. Anderson, their energetic secretary, for this kindergarten and playground. The first public children's playground was established at Miller's Point under the auspices of the Harbor Trust, the second In Victoria Park under the auspices of the City Council, and this, the third playground, was under the auspices of the Wentworth Kindergarten committee and Play grounds Association.
Ald. Artlett (Mayor of Glebe) remarked that they had Miss Harris to thank for making the laying of the foundation-stone at all possible. It was the first time under the Municipal Act that the money of the council was being devoted to kindergarten work. Sydney was behind the times as regards playgrounds and kindergartens. Melbourne was far ahead in this respect.
"Why did we build kindergartens at all?" asked Mrs. Maybanke Anderson. Because, she continued, while under the present social order we were able to live in comfort and have high ideals, there were others who deserved them just as much, but were unable to get them. Their children, therefore, had to be cooped up in tiny rooms, or play in the streets. It was our responsibility to look after these children. But, after all, duty was a poor, cold word. We did not care for these children because we felt our responsibility, for deep down in our hearts was a well-spring of mother love, and a desire for the preservation of the race. When the good days came, and the Golden Rule really ruled, every woman would be as much ashamed to see a child that did not belong to her neglected as she would her own.
Miss Margaret Harris was presented by the mothers of the district with a handsome flower bouquet of flowers. Others present included Mrs. W. A. Holman, the Rev. James Green, Mrs. Artlett (Mayoress of Glebe), Miss Kathleen Artlett (who made a considerable sum by selling violets during the afternoon In aid of the kindergarten). Miss Gertrude Artlott, Mr. John Mackay (president of the Kindergarten Union), Mr. Lucas, Mr. and Mrs. Tait, Miss Georgian King, Mrs. and Miss Hogue, Mrs. Davies, Miss E. Conk, Mrs. Litchfield, Mrs. and Miss Curnow. Mrs Holden, Mrs. and Miss Baird, Miss Braham, Mesdames Goldschmidt, Cains, Dallo, Weston, Miss Desailly, and Miss Langridge. WENTWORTH PARK KINDERGARTEN. (1914, August 5). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 18. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239079418
The foundation-stone of the Wentworth Park Kindergarten at Glebe was laid by Miss Margaret Harris on Tuesday afternoon in the presence of a large gathering of interested persons. Professor Mackay, president of the Playground Association, introduced Miss Harris to the gathering, and in the course of his remarks paid high tribute to Mrs. Maybanks Anderson, who is chiefly responsible for the existence of the Kindergarten playgrounds in Sydney. . Miss Harris was presented with a lovely bouquet of flowers by the mothers of the district. Amongst those present were Mrs. V. A. Holman, Mrs. Ardlett mayoress of Glebe, Rev. James Green, Mrs. Litchfield, Mr: and Mrs. Tait, Mrs. and Miss Mogue, and Miss Georgina King. GOSSIP FROM SYDNEY. (1914, August 15). Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881 - 1940), p. 1 (EVENING). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98824542
World War One, the Great War, came to Pittwater and all the young men and able-bodied middle aged men who were settled in their fields or on their fishing boats went away to war. Even before Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, this nation had pledged support alongside other states of the British Empire and began preparations to send forces overseas to participate in the conflict. For the women here, apart from years of worry to come, and many losing family members or having men come home who were permanently maimed in body or mind, the initial focus outside of their loved ones was on the women and children. The Commission for Relief in Belgium or C.R.B., also known as the Belgian Relief, was an international organisation that arranged for the supply of food to German-occupied Belgium and northern France during the First World War. Pittwater residents, led by the women of Bay View, Church Point, 'Clairville', Newport and Mona Vale, were part of the efforts to help:
BELGIAN CIRCLES.
EFFORTS OF PITTWATER.
Mrs. Francis Anderson, of Pittwater, writes of the efforts made to assist the distressed Belgians. She says: —
"We are a scattered people. Our shire spreads over 'hill and gully. In our riding there are streets whose only claim to the fame Is the tipsy sign-post of the auctioneer, and there are cottages, lonely in the bush, which seem to look all ways for the promised road which never comes.
"But even a scattered people has eyes and ears and duties, and the cry of harried Belgium has reached our hearts and made us want to do something. So a week or two ago we began to think. There must be, among these quiet folk, some who would like to give a mite to Belgium, some who will be glad by and bye that they am their little share, and it must be someone's duty to offer everybody an opportunity to give nobly and willingly, according to their means .and according to their hearts.
"To talk of getting a shilling a week from everybody would be, we knew, absurd. A shilling a week Is four shillings a month, the price of a pair of little shoes, and most of our babies go barefoot, for money is scarce where nearly every man works for a daily wage. Besides,- the maximum often becomes the minimum, and we did not want to limit the donations of our friends who might have unsuspected money bags. So we ruled the shilling out. Then the way to collect was a problem. We decided that this must be done mainly by women. Woman proves her value most In the small things of life. So we bought a dozen notebooks with a money column, and Invited her severally and collectively to a meeting, in order that she might discuss our plan.
"We proposed that anyone who would should take a book, and should collect every week as much as she could. The penny was not to be scorned; the lordly shilling would be welcomed., if Smith was out of work, and could give nothing but sympathy, he would still got a smile of thanks. If Mrs. Brown sent her subscription in eggs or cabbages they would be as welcome as cash. Even a doll, or a teapot, or a pot plant need not be refused, for we can have a 'social' and a Bruce auction by and by. Everything can be done up In parcels, and we shall nil laugh uproariously when an adventurous bidder Gives half a crown for a clothespeg, because It was wrapped so neatly in a fascinating piece of paper.
"We had to dispose of the books to collectors, and we began with our friendly postmistresses. As we have not reached the luxury of a postman with a bag, the post office offers many opportunities. Then each of the storekeepers took a book. Wives and daughters do much of the business, and we talk of many things on the verandahs. The school people, always ready to work, were Invited to help, and all the kindly women who go to see their friends and neighbors promised to do something. The boarding-house and the hotel each offered to try to catch the fish who might escape from other nets, and there were then left only the stay-at-homes, who live so far away, and love their solitude so much that they never venture into the giddy whirl of our little community. For them we needed a collector or two; and we found the ever-cheerful and willing girl.' She flourishes everywhere, and Is always ready to walk and talk — with a companion.
"Very soon a second dozen of books had to be bought, and we had to face the question of collecting from the collectors, 'Memories of the Feudal system came to our aid, and we decided to imitate to our forefathers. There is a head centre, which collects from smaller centres, and they In their turn from collectors. To the head centre the money must come, so that each weekly dole shall go to the shire hall as soon as possible.
"So our riding is working Its Belgian circles. They are small. We may never get more than two or three pounds in a week. But even that will keep a few Belgian babies from starvation, and at least we know that, we are trying to do a little of our duty." BELGIAN CIRCLES. (1915, March 27). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 19. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238825631
The Bayview 'Postmistress' during the 1915-1916 period was at first the eldest daughter of Katherine Roche, Elizabeth Ellen (Katherine was at Mosman by then) and then, when she resigned to move closer to the city, became Mrs. Amy Marion Thackery on May 1st, 1916, with Mrs. Thackery also being resident at the Roche premises from then on until the Newey family took the tenure post WWI.
Maybanke's contact with whoever looked after the Bayview farm (see 1913 article above) clearly inspired the opening stanzas of this article:
PLAY AND PLAYGROUNDS.
(BY MAYBANKE ANDERSON).
THE GIRL.
"Why do you take so much care of these," I said to the farmer. "They have the best corner and the choicest food."
The farmer looked his pity for my ignorance, and said In a tone that settled matters,
"They are the future mothers."
While I pondered vaguely, he added, "Don't you see? If I didn't take care of these, in a few years there would be no farm."
The future mothers! In my mind's eye I saw pale girls standing behind counters, and working in factories, anaemic women sitting at sewing machines, or bending over nerve-racking typewriters. The future mothers of the race! When the day's work Is done, they will seek recreation in the street, or the theatre, or at a picture show, where every breath of air Is vitiation, and they will go home late to a dull room— the only shelter they can afford, because they waste the greater part of their earnings in poor finery— earnings sometimes supplemented in a way one shudders to think of. The woman whom we have made, and are still making by our modern industrial system, needs more than a Factory Act and a Wages Board to make her the mother we ought to desire. Short hours and high wages, right as they are, can do her little good unless we teach her at the same time how best to use her leisure. Few girls indeed learn how to use it wisely,and she can know little of the influences that sway the minds and hearts of girls of more wealthy parents. For her, very scanty Intellectual conversations, few lectures or concerts, no well-chosen books or magazines, no education of the tennis court or golf club! The girl who leaves school at 14, and goes to a shop or factory to earn the money that her mother desires, can only be half-developed and half-educated, with mind and body still, plastic. Her early life has been one of alternate labor and lessons. The boy may snatch some leisure, and though he may use it badly, he learns at least something of the world outside his home, and gains by the broader outlook. But the girl must nurse the baby, and cook the dinner, while she is little more than a baby herself. As she grows she passes from the narrow environment of home to that of the shop or factory, almost as narrow. She has never had time to play, or to learn how to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Her interests are centred In her dress and her "boy," and can only wander as far as her companion's dress and her companion's boy. She has no ideal of life but that which she gathers from tho few poor books she reads, and those she likes generally only serve to deepen her silly sentimentality. In the mothers' clubs in Sydney (would that there were more of them) the members have always to be taught to play. ...PLAY AND PLAYGROUNDS. (1914, July 18). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239067193
OUR PUBLIC WOMEN.
MRS. MAYBANKE ANDERSON.
Mrs. Anderson was born at Kingston-on-Thames, and comes from a family of noted engineers, her brother, the late Mr. Norman Selfe, being for many years a distinguished member of the profession in Sydney. Her mother was a woman of strong personality, with ideas much in advance of her time. She thought that every girl, no matter what her station in life, should learn to earn her own living.
To her, idleness was vice, and amusement waste of time, pardonable, no doubt, but not to be indulged in frequently. To this consistent teaching Mrs. Anderson attributes the fact that she has always found her chief pleasure in work. Though an only-daughter, she was taught from a child to prepare herself for what she considers the noblest profession in the world, and very early in life she became a teacher. Her first public work, outside home and Church, was done for the Women's Literary Society, of which society the Woman's Club is the direct descendant. It was initiated by Mrs. Curnow, the late Mrs. Gullett, and Mrs. Anderson (then Mrs. Wolstenholme), and Mrs. Wolstenholme was for a time treasurer, and afterwards president. The meetings of the society were generally devoted to books, but on one "free" evening Mrs. Anderson ventured to call the attention of members to the fact that women in England were making a demand for enfranchisement. An indignant member at once rose to insist that such a subject ought not to be introduced there. She was supported by a large majority.
—Special Photo, by Sarony.
WOMEN AND VOTES
Woman suffrage was hardly considered a respectable topic then. But it had to come. The first consultation on the suffrage movement was held at the house of Mrs. George Montefiore. Miss Rose Scott, Miss Windeyer and Mrs. Wolstenholme met there, and decided to begin. The initial public meeting of the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales was addressed by Miss Scott, the late Mrs Pottie, and Mrs. Anderson. "It was an ordeal," says Mrs. Anderson. "I had never spoken in public before. But I foresaw many years of struggle and much public speaking, and I determined to do without notes, or break down, and retire. After that, we spoke at drawing rooms and public meetings wherever we were invited. I did so sometimes two or three times a week. Mrs. Dickie, Miss Golding, and I were a debating team, and we never lost a debate. I remember only one fight. It was in Newtown Town Hall, and only a few chairs were broken. Indifference was a much more difficult enemy than open opposition."
At this time Mrs. Anderson owned and edited a woman's paper, the "Woman's Voice," and employed women to set the type. Even now a woman's paper is obliged to deal with fashion and frivolity, and at that time an advanced paper had no chance. The "Woman's Voice," after nearly two years of strenuous work, died of starvation.
Asked if she thought women had done much good with the vote, she replied: "They have done quite as much as I ever expected they would. God Almighty made the women to match the men, and we are doing the same as they are.
"The English suffragettes mistakenly look up on the vote as a great weapon, whereas it is merely a useful tool. I am not a political woman myself, for the simple reason that I think too much valuable time is wasted by politicians in personal quarrels."
EDUCATION AND REFORM.
The Australasian Home Reading Union, which also came into existence then, was started by Professor Morris, of Melbourne. He thought that it would help the University Extension Movement. Professors in every State drew up courses of reading, and circles were formed under competent leaders for their study. Lady Jersey was general president, and Mrs. Anderson was general secretary. A magazine was published. On one occasion in Sydney officers of trades-unions were invited to meet the Sydney executive in the old Temperance Hall, to consider the wisdom of forming circles among their members. Leaders were to be provided from University men. Nothing came of this proposal, it was a premature attempt to do the work which Mr. Meredith Atkinson seems now to be carrying, to a successful issue. Mrs. Anderson has now become convinced that the secret of all reform must be sought in education. To do any good, she says, you must begin at the beginning, and the beginning is with the children, and you must begin with heart and mind, because goodness that is forced, and has no root in character, will not withstand temptation. Education must be, not 'of' the three R's., but the three H's— Heart, and Hand, and Head.
When the Kindergarten Union was founded nearly 20 years ago. Mrs. Anderson was acting-president until the expected arrival of Lady Hampden, and she is now the organising secretary. The Free Kindergartens of Sydney are fairly well known all over Australia. There was a great deal of up-hill work at first, for education was at a low ebb in Sydney, and kindergarten principles were little appreciated, but Cinderella is at. last on the way to her kingdom.
After her second visit, to Europe six years ago, Mrs. Anderson began to consider the need for public playgrounds, and she founded, the Playgrounds Association, of which she is secretary and treasurer. The public has not yet opened its eyes to the need for playgrounds and the young people of Sydney still walk about in crowded streets, or sit in ill-ventilated rooms, when they ought to be enjoying life-giving air and invigorating exercise. Many little children still play all day in ill-swept streets, and inhale the physical and moral filth of the gutter. The Citizens' Association, of which Mr. Anderson is president, is her latest work. This association was suggested at the National Council of Women, and a motion was carried that women should be allowed to take part in municipal affairs. "But if women enter municipal life as they are at present," declares Mrs. Anderson, "they will simply add to the army of inefficients who now muddle along somehow, and only occasion ally succeed -because their intentions are good. In view of this, I proposed that circles of citizens should be formed wherever possible to consider the deficiencies of their own neighborhoods, to take steps to ensure reform, and to study what is being done in older countries."
THE DOMESTIC ELEMENT.
With all her many and varied outside interests, Mrs. Anderson is essentially a domesticated woman. At her home at Pittwater she farms and gardens, knits and cooks, and enjoys the work which she thinks is especially the privilege of women. For recreation she reads and writes. At one time she was engaged in regular press work, and has been all her life an occasional contributor to newspapers and magazines. Her school at Dulwich Hill, which she carried on for many years, was well known. She was married to Professor Francis Anderson about 16 years ago, and is deeply interested in all that that concerns the University, especially in her husband's students. The Evening Women Students' Association at the University also occupies a good deal of her time. OUR PUBLIC WOMEN. (1915, April 21). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238831816
A LETTER FROM A PROFESSOR'S WIFE. (1915, September 15). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15613730
A branch of the League of Honour, Including about 60 members, was formed at Pittwater on Saturday. Mrs. Francis Anderson took the chair at the inaugural meeting at the Pittwater Hall, and later kindly consented to become president of the newly-formed branch. Two delightful and inspiring speeches were given prior to the formation of the league-one by Mrs. Anderson and one by Mrs. F. W. Wood, B.A. (hon. secretary of the central council of the league); consequently Mrs. Austin (enrolling officer for the district) had a busy time taking the number of almost the entire audience-for membership.
The following officers were elected:-
President, Mrs. Francis Anderson; vice-presidents, Mrs. Saunders, Mrs. Yewen, Mrs. Williams, Miss Ireland; committee, Mrs. Simpson, Mrs. Stringer, Mrs. Austin, Mrs. Yewen, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Porter, Miss Lucy Porter, Miss Linda Ross, and Miss Cox; enrolling officer, Mrs. Austin; hon. secretary, Miss Annette Maclellan, assistant hon. secretary, Miss Bernice Ross; hon. treasurer, Miss Thelma Austin.FROM NEAR AND FAR. (1915, December 1). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15628229
Maybanke circa 1915 - 'On the Road, Bay View - Broadhurst postcard - courtesy Jan Roberts and Marjorie Wolstenholme (Harry Wolstenholme's daughter)
Francis Anderson, Professor of Philosophy at the Sydney University, said that, though he was on sick leave, he had come from Pittwater to give evidence. He had known Chidley for about three years, and had four or five Interviews, and also correspondence, with him. He had read two editions of his book. Witness wrote the Introduction to a history of philosophy ...CHIDLEY CASE. (1916, February 15). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15646880
When on the August 18, 1916 introduction of the Women's Legal Status Bill was introduced into the New South Wales Parliament Maybanke was not tardy in ensuring a few of the points that later contributed to securing its passage were placed where they would be recorded:
WOMEN'S PART IN THE WAR.
"War has given woman her opportunity," said Mrs. Francis Anderson, at the annual meeting of the Pittwater branch of the League of Honour on Saturday last.
"Patriotism, as well as hope, has shown her her value to the nation, and taught her that her labour is valuable when It Is accurate and quick. In Continental countries where every man must fight, women have always worked, and are, now, naturally filling the place of them In most of the civil occupations. In England women have been called very suddenly to take up new duties, but they have not been slow to learn. In the munition factories in England, all ranks and classes, and English women work side by side, bottlewashers, typists, dressmakers, and titled ladies, who, have never before done any sort of work with their hands. The change that this has brought about In English character Is radical. Women who can afford to work for nothing receive the same pay as the others, but hand over their earnings to the war funds or to the family of a man they have freed for service at the Front. The old thoughtlessness about how others live, the old pleasure living ways, can never return to women who have done this for the Empire. Women have honourably taken their place now as tram drivers, farm labourers, munition workers, police-women, as well as clerical workers, nurses, and doctors. No private ends are considered - just as every factory and Its workers are turned to use for munitions at need, whether they produced tobacco or gramophone records before the war; so every women in England feels that she, too, must work for the common cause. In showing how England has been transformed sine the war began, Boyd Cable, In his book, written to give heart to the men at the front, tells them what those who were obliged to stay at home-and, especially the women-were doing to help them to win the war."
The annual report, showing an excellent year's work, was read by Mrs. Williams, hon. secretary, and officers for the ensuing year were elected. WOMEN'S PART IN THE WAR. (1916, December 6). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15697997
Does this sound like Bayview and Church Point, Pittwater - or Palm Beach, Pittwater... or all of this place inspiring this poem-;
AUSTRALIA FAIR.
Australia fair! I love thee,
The dear land of my birth ;
To me thou art the sweetest,
The brightest spot on earth.
I love thy golden sunshine,
Thy sky of peerless hue,
The soft greys of the distance,
The hills' faint tint of blue.
I love thy yellow beaches,
The clear waves tipped with foam,
The capes that stand like bulwarks
To guard my native home.
I love thy leafy gullies,
Where palm and fern-tree hide,
The tall grey gums that clamber
On every keep hillside.
I love the ferny pathways
Where wattle blossoms fall,
While in the leafy distance,
The bell-bird lings his call.
Dear Southern land, Australia,
Wherever I may roam,
My heart --will turn forever
To thee, my native home.
— Maybanke Anderson.
Little Folks. (1917, September 22). Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), p. 49. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87410422
The Pittwater branch of the Australasian League of Honour for Women and Girls has been fired with enthusiasm by Mrs. Francis Anderson and Miss Brace, to start a children's garden. Mr. Brewer, a resident of the district, has granted the use of half an acre of good ground, and patriotic workers began clearing and fencing last week. FROM NEAR AND FAR. (1917, October 10). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15744086
When the 1918 Womens' Legal Status Act finally passed,and the cessation of hostilties declared on November 11th, the November 13th 1918 'Women's Work After the War' article by Maybanke was published in the Sydney Mail - this runs in full under Extras - in which Maybanke cites reasons for a 'Living Wage' for women rather than 'equal pay for equal work'. Her aims, although still many, are focused on getting women prostituting themselves to supplement poor wages off the streets. The December 1918 'Willy Wagtails' poem, above, also ran. A June 1918 article shows she attended the Educational Conference held in Melbourne.
On Tuesday, December 10th, 1918, she was a likely attendee of :
HOSTELS FOR GIRLS.
MOVEMENT IN SYDNEY.
Yesterday afternoon a conference was held in the assembly room. Education-buildings, when the question of hostels for ' working girls was discussed. Her Excellency. Lady Helen Munro Ferguson presided.
In opening the conference Lady Helen expressed her deep and earnest approval of the scheme. Hostels had alroady been established in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, 'and Hobart. Every big city abvays claimed many hundreds of girls, the majority of these with-out homes. The cities were always attractive to every girl in search of amusement, and every day there were fresh batcheB coming in to take up different kinds of occupations. If they wished to understand the real need for hoBtels, they should imagine the lonely and friendless.girl in uncongenial surroundings, with no place she could designate her own. True, she might be amply supplied, so far as "necessaries were concerned, but it was impossible to live on necessaries alone. Girls could not lead monotonous lives -they craved for companionship, and the little feminine touches which meant so much to every woman. Lady Helen quoted the impressions of a Frenchman, who went through the camps of the "Waccs" in France. The women lived under the same conditions as the men, yet there was that about the huts which at once told of the feelings for those small bits of home which were exemplified in the flowers and those womanly touches which had accompanied the workers right to within sound of the guns. The hostels should be planned on the lines of a real home ...
Professor Mackie spoke on "The Need of Hostels from the Students' Point of View;" the need from the point of view of the business and commercial girl being voiced by Miss M. E. Roberts. The first resolution which was moved by Mr. Francis Anderson, and seconded by Miss Mallarky, Avas as follows:-"That this meeting, recognising the need of suitable residences for girls engaged in various occupations in Sydney, advocates tho erection of hostels, provided and controlled by religious and other bodies, which have their interest at heart." The resolution was,carried unanimously. HOSTELS FOR GIRLS. (1918, December 11). The Sydney Morning Herald(NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15814987
Maybanke and her husband were living primarily in Hunters Hill by the early 1920's, in a home overlooking the Lane Cove River. He resigned his Professorial seat in 1921 and was made Emeritus Professor. Maybanke's visits to Pittwater may have become infrequent after the sale of the Bayview property in 1920 but son Harry, involved with the Palm Beach Land Company, had one of the earlier holiday homes on the ocean front at Palm Beach, so visits there would have occurred - they defintely brought people who were staying with them in 1924 here. More on Harry, his wife's and children's involvement in Palm Beach and the surf club, runs under Extras - as well as some early photos of their oceanfront home.
WANTED, Married Couple, man for garden, cow, horse, etc, woman for housework, two in family. By letter, Professor Anderson, Bayview, Pittwater. Advertising (1919, January 22). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 22. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15821201
Have You Read?
Mother Love (Maybanke Anderson).
Mrs. Francis Anderson is to be warmly complimented on launching this particular book at this particular moment. The care of children is a most important topic, and Mrs. Anderson has made it a most interesting one. The book is intended for fathers, mothers, teachers, in fact, for all who, recognising their responsibility, seek to do their duty to their children and to the Australian nation. As the authoress points out in—her preface, "Some day parents will understand that vice is a disease as preventable as measles, and Governments will realise that a criminal needs a moral hospital rather than a gaol. In that day—may it come soon—the money now spent on reformatories and lockups will provide for the education of mothers, nurses, and teachers. We have tried punishment in vain; crime continues, and vice stalks un-heeded. Is it not time that we tried formation, the building of character in the home, by the person who alone can lay the foundation—the mother"? It is to prove these premises and show how the desired end may be achieved that this most admirable book has been written. It should, and will doubtless, find a place in every Australian home. Published by Angus and Robertson, Sydney, from whom we have a copy. Have You Read? (1919, September 13). The World's News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 1955), p. 29. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130598894
Advertising (1920, March 26). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 7 (CABLE EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221388780
Bay View Wharf Estate 1920 version of Sales Plan. Image No.: c029500019h, courtesy State Library of NSW
Education looms large just now. Everybody acknowledges its vast potentialities as a topic, but somehow nobody can make it interesting. Professor Adams has been discoursing most learnedly and eloquently on education—he has quite recovered from his accident—and what ' lie says has been received with respectful attention by teachers.
His ideas convey very new mental pictures for us all to look upon. "The class system is doomed," he says. How all school boys and school girls would rejoice if they knew that! Professor and Mrs. Maybanke Anderson, who are old friends of Professor and Mrs. Adams, have been showing, their visitors some of the beauties of our celebrated Pittwater district. SYDNEY SOCIETY (1924, August 13). Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954), p. 9. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93452793
THE ANDERSON COMMEMORATION.
MURAL PAINTING AT THE UNIVERSITY.
The central figure represents Socrates in philosophic discourse with Aristotle on his left. Plato, lost in thought, is seated on his right unfolding a scroll.
Two mural decorations in the philosophy lecture room at the University were unveiled yesterday. They have been painted by Mr. Norman Carter, of this city, and were provided by subscription to commemorate the 30 years' work of Professor Francis Anderson. M.A., first Challis Professor of Logic and Mental Philosophy in the University of Sydney, who is now retiring.
The decorations consist of two large panels, each about 9ft by 6ft, painted upon canvas, and emblematic of the history of philosophy. The artist has grouped together Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, although the first-named had passed away before Aristotle came to Athens. By this license, for which there is some literary precedent in Landor's "Imaginary Conversations," the artist has been able to express quite clearly the facts that Socrates rolled essentially upon his dialectic, his questionings, which he employed upon all those earnest enough to listen and answer; that Plato was essentially a speculative, reflective, and poetic type; and that Aristotle, though more of an observer and less of a poet than Plato, was yet a direct descendant of the line. Moreover, the dominating position of Socrates on the dais shows him as the father of Greek philosophy.
The artist has handled his subject in a broadly decorative style, having studied this department of art In relation to stained-glass designs for church windows, in which quite different medium the same qualities are necessarily employed. He shows the aged Socrates in a yellow hymation, the Greek equivalent of the Roman toga, seated in a chair on the upper step of some great temple, burly, bald, and bearded according to tradition, with arms eloquently outstretched In argument. Aristotle, In robes of dark brown, faces him in an ancient chair with an expression of the keenest attention. Plato, on the other side, thus balancing the composition, is seated with his elbow resting on his knee, the back of the hand, with Its tapering, carefully drawn fingers, partly concealing the mouth, an unfolded scroll extended by the right hand, the entire attitude one of serious and abstracted meditation. Two great classic columns rise behind the philosophers, and the artist "lifts" the whole subject by the charm of the ethereal blue expanse between the pillars, affording a faintly visible view of remote hills crowned by the Acropolis of Athens rising cloud-like upon the skyline.
The second panel presents three great philosophers whose researches represent the beginnings of modern thought, namely, Lord Bacon, Descartes, and Spinoza. Bacon, as the central figure, stands in the costume of the Elizabethan period in some rich stuff of golden tint, wearing ruffs, and with out-stretched hand resting on a globe, testifying to the world scope of his Influence, and at the same time linking him with the then current expansion of the geographical horizon. On Bacon's right band is seated Descartes, the great French philosopher, and on his left is the brilliant Spinoza, the son of Spanish-Jews who had taken refuge in Holland from religious intolerance. Curtains widely withdrawn reveal a noble Tudor window, with Its tiny panes and lofty panels, a felicitous touch by which the artist has given an air of grace and distinction to his conception. These mural decorations are the first to be placed In the University of Sydney, which thus leads the way in spreading abroad the influence of historical and symbolising art at our great seats of learning. In Mr. Norman Carter the subscribers had to their hand an artist of exceptional talent and training in the execution of such designs.
Professor H. Tasman Lovell (hon. secretary of the executive committee) kindly furnishes some instructive notes upon the subject of the mural paintings, as "the largest, most elaborate, and most important essay in that branch of art in New South Wales, probably in Australia. At least, it is the first example of mural decoration in the University of Sydney, and the subscribers will have tho satisfaction of having contributed not only to the commemoration of an eminent teacher and useful citizen, but also to the permanent beautification of the interior of tho buildings. ... As regards the second panel, every-one knows that the most marked feature of modern thought, as distinct from mediaeval thought, is its interest in the study of nature, the use of the scientific method of observation, the truth of knowledge to fact, and the consequent technical mastery of land, sea, air, and all that in them is. To Bacon is usually given the credit of directing the thought of men to the study of nature herself, and to this all-conquering method. Bacon has therefore been taken as the central figure. . . . Descartes, the French philosopher, who first of the moderns directed attention to the value of the human mind as a subject of study and point of departure for the growth of knowledge, was in this sense tho founder of the modern science of psychology. . . . That somewhat pathetic genius Spinoza, whose parents had found in Holland a refuge from persecution, was destined to add to that history the story of his own heresy. For his reflection soon divided him from his own people, so that he lived alone, earning a living by grinding lenses. For philosophy Spin-oza is an inspiring figure. It is interesting to note that while many hated him as an atheist, Hegel, the German philosopher, speaks of him as 'a God-intoxicated man.' The reason for the latter remark is that Spinoza actually thought his way to God, saw everything as the outcome of God's own nature, and lived like a mystic in the contemplation of Deity. His most significant phrase is 'the intellectual love of God.' The reason for hating Spinoza as an atheist was that his God was by no means the traditional God. So different were the characteristics of Spinoza's God that the orthodox were offended there at."
UNVEILING CEREMONY.
A large gathering of students, past and present, and members of the University staff, met In the Great Hall on the occasion of the unveiling of the mural paintings In the philosophy lecture room by Professor Anderson's wife yesterday.
Sir William Cullen (Chancellor), who presided, said that there were very few who had personally endeared themselves as much to students as had Professor Anderson.
Speaking on behalf of the staff and Professor Anderson's old students, Professor Peden said that he wanted to pay a tribute of admiration and good-will to one who had for so many years rendered great services. He was offering him a tribute of honour and affection that came from all of them. Professor Anderson had been one of the finest lecturers of the University, and one of the finest lectures that had ever been delivered in the University was by Professor Anderson a fort-night ago. (Applause.)
It had always seemed to him, as one of Professor Anderson's students 30 years ago, that he gave to his students something more than a knowledge of what was said by a philosopher. As one who had been a colleague, it seemed to him that they would do well to look at the spirit in which Professor Anderson gave up his Chair of Philosophy. It had come at the most important stage of tho University's history. They were now losing many of their old teachers, whose places were being taken up by a younger band, and the future of the University lay in their hands. He knew no one looked with more confidence towards those taking the old teachers' places than Professor Anderson. He was pleased to say that, although Professor Anderson had resigned, he was not going away from them altogether. (Applause.)
Dr. Scott Fletcher, master of Wesley College, spoke on behalf of Professor Anderson's students, past and present. He referred to the help Professor Anderson gave to his students in finding and facing truth. There had always existed a very close and intimate, perhaps affectionate, relationship between Professor Anderson and his students. He was essentially a teacher of teachers, and he did his work by a subtle method of suggestion and inspiration. He provoked in most of his students a genuine spirit of inquiry, of pushing on and learning all the time.
Professor Anderson rose to respond amidst prolonged applause. He said he had resigned because he did not feel that he was up to his job. (Laughter.) He did not want to remain until he was stale. Proceeding, he said that he never had any philosophical gospel to teach, and never tried to enforce on his students his own point of view. He put the facts before them, and let them judge for themselves. Lord Bryce had said that learning was often unlearning. That was so in philosophy. Professor Anderson concluded by thanking those present for their kindness, and said that he had received nothing but kindness since he had come to the country of his adoption. THE ANDERSON COMMEMORATION. (1921, November 15). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15981803
MRS. MAYBANKE ANDERSON, Whose criticism regarding the higher education of girls has raised such a storm of protest in University and other circles. She declared that the knowledge being imparted to the students was not of such a character as to fit them for the home and its attendant duties. She thought that the point of view taken by those who are responsible for the training of youth was quite wrong, adding: 'We shall never raise domestic life and work to its true and rightful place ? until we begin to honour it by giving it an important position in the curriculum of the primary school; and, despite the fact that the maternal instinct is imperishable, we shall never increase the birthrate or save our babies until we train the girl to motherhood and implant in her an ideal of honourable duty to the race and to the family. For the issues of life depend upon our ideals. From 110 place but the home, wherever it may be, can the State obtain its citizens, and the home depends upon the education of the girl.' Mrs. Anderson is keenly interested in philanthropy, the Free Kindergartens having her earnest support.
(Photo: Sarony.)
Women's Page (1921, November 16). Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), p. 22. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162034922
Mrs. Maybanke Anderson, of Hunter's Hill, who is to open the Kindergarten Exhibition at Flinders Street Hall this afternoon at 2 p.m., is a well-known sympathiser with the Free Kindergarten work that is being done in the city, and Captain Thompson, who is to tell stories, came into prominence through his visitation of children's hospitals for story-telling. He is now associated with the Public Instruction Department as a teacher of the story-telling art. Captain Thompson will 'appear'' at the evening session. Our English Letter. (1922, March 18). The Methodist (Sydney, NSW : 1892 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155261131
THE MAYBANKE KINDERGARTEN.
The Maybanke Kindergarten was officially opened at Pyrmont on Thursday afternoon by Mr. B. Riley (manager Pyrmont works of the Colonial Sugar-refining Co.). The Pyrmont kindergarten was first opened on March 1, 1915, at Murray-street, Pyrmont, in a cottage under the Moreton Bay fig-trees, where it became known as "The Little Brown House." But last year the land was sold, and the kindergarten had to quit. After an extensive search for premises, the despairing workers were greatly heartened by an offer from the Colonial Sugar-refining Co. of the use, rent free, of the old Methodist Hall in Harris street, and of the vacant ground adjoining for a playground. Well-known city firms helped in effecting the necessary alterations, and the new rooms will accommodate 60 children.
The name of the kindergarten has been changed from "Montessori" to "Maybanke" in honour of Mrs. Maybanke Anderson, president of the committee. The committee members are:-Miss Allen (treasurer), Miss Ruby Starling (secretary). Mrs. Bruce Lachlan, Mrs. P. J. Doyle, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Russell Riley, Mrs. T. A. Taylor, Mrs. Bruck, Mrs. Lyall Scott, Dr. S. H. O'Reilly, Miss Wearne, M.A., Miss Vallack, Miss H. Thompson, Miss Skipper, Miss Brush, Miss Read, and Miss, Vivian Vallentine (acting director).
At the opening ceremony an address was given by Mr. S. S. Cohen (president Kindergarten Union). A vote of thanks to Mr. Riley was proposed by Mrs. Anderson, and seconded by Mr. O'Donnell. THE MAYBANKE KINDERGARTEN. (1923, March 26). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16057006
READ THE FORUM.
A JOURNAL OF POLITICS, ECONOMICS, LIFE, AND LETTERS FOR THINKINQ AUSTRALIANS.
Vol. 2, No. 7, ON SALE TO-DAY at all leading bookshops and news agencies.
OPEN PLATFORM: Women and the Liquor Trade. For Prohibition: Mrs. Maybanke Anderson. For Reform: Dr. Grace Boelke.
Among other articles: Alfred Deakin, by Arthur Jose; Communism in Practice; Problems of Apprenticeship; The Kenya Question. PRICE. 6d. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, 13/l. Tel., City 8881. G. P.O. Box, 906. Advertising (1923, August 15). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), , p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16087645
Children at Dowling Street Welfare Centre What Sydney's Streets May Look Like
“We are the nations treasure, core of her hopes and fears; help us to march, with glad, clean hearts, on to the coming years." Maybanke Anderson's beautiful lines seem to articulate the unconscious appeal of these tiny tots who spend their days happily at the Welfare Centre, Dowling street, Woolloomooloo, They are but a few of the many youngsters whose lives are being made brighter, and their prospects surer, by the splendid work of the various kindergartens and welfare centres of Sydney. Last year £509/17/3 was received in subscriptions and donations by the committee of the Woolloomooloo centre. Children at Dowling Street Welfare Centre (1924, June 14). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 24. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245712434
THE W.C.T.U. AND THE SUFFRAGE LEAGUE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD.
Sir,-Will you allow me to assure Canon Boyce and Miss Bowes, and perhaps other of your readers, who may have misunderstood my short article on my old friend, Rose Scott, was "the" pioneer of the woman's suffrage. I said that she was "a" notable pioneer, as she was. There were several. Nor had I the slightest wish to belittle the work of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. The fact that we invited one of their members to speak and help us at our inaugural meeting is evidence that we desired to co-operate with them. Mrs. Pottle made an excellent appeal at that meeting. As time went on we knew and esteemed many more union members Mrs. Bowes, Mrs. Nolan, Mrs. Ward, a very lovable woman, beside whom I stood on several platforms.
When we considered future work for the vote we began by discussing whether we should join the W.C.T.U., and whether it would be wise to work with them, rather than form a second organisation. The triple defined limits of the union prevented us. The meetings -public meeting as they were called - many of which we attended, though they attracted many, did not appear to us to make an appeal to the general public, and we knew that in a long and up-hill struggle we should need the help of the man in the street, as well as that of the woman in the church. Our league demanded no qualification for membership, except a desire to help the enfranchisement of the woman.
Mrs. Bowes may have been, as Canon Boyce insists, the first person to discuss the question, but Louisa Lawson, mother of the poet, who published a little paper, "The Dawn," began very early. I regret that I have never been able to obtain a first copy. But New South Wales can make no claim to pre-eminence. The first person to speak in public, in Australia, on the subject was, unless I am very much mistaken, Sir Alexander Michie, who in 1868, in Melbourne, asked the legislators of Victoria to discuss an "improved principle of legislation, and the extension of the vote to women." He received but little support, and the question was only occasionally discussed in Melbourne for some years.
In 1884 a Woman's Suffrage Society was formed; two of its most active members were Mrs. Dugdale and Miss Bear (afterwards Mrs. Bear-Crawford). A letter of encouragement from Mrs. Dugdale lies somewhere among my old papers. The second debate in an Australian Parliament took place in Adelaide, when, in 1885, Dr. Stirling Introduced a bill which declared that "women, like men, should have a vote." At this time the women of S.A. had done nothing. The story of their awakening is romantic. They worked hard, were enfranchised in 1894, and in 1896 voted in thousands.
In the mother colony, excepting the work of the W.C.T.U. and that of Mrs. Lawson, in "The Dawn," no public movement was made until we formed the league in 1891. We were encouraged, as Canon Boyce says, by the acknowledged sympathy of Sir Henry Parkes. 1 have a copy of his poems, which he gave me on one occasion after I had spoken at a public meeting with him in the chair. Some verses are marked, and a leaf turned down to show me how much he appreciated the speeches of the women suffragists. In July of 1891 Sir Henry brought forward a direct motion to test the opinion of Parliament. The fate of that motion may serve as a sample of the way in which the question was for years evaded in every Australian Parliament. Out of 141 members only 91 voted, and the motion was lost by 57 to 34. During the years that followed, the question was eight times formally brought before the House, and as many times formally rejected. During that time we interviewed
Ministers, and between whiles sent in petitions, held meetings anywhere and everywhere debated with any fledgelings or practiced debaters who would meet us, and never lost a debate, and before every election, general or local, sent pamphlets and carefully-pre-pared questions to every candidate. In 1902, when a Legislative Council of New South Wales could no longer consistently oppose a measure approved by the Federal Constitution, a bill was introduced by Sir John See, and the right to vote was given to the women of the mother State. It received the King's assent in 1903, a few months before we voted for the first time, which we did on December 16, 1903, in a Federal election.
Remembering all this and more, I hope Miss Bowes will pardon me for speaking of the meetings of the W.C.T.U. and of other religious and social meetings as being little known to the general public. Those of which she writes were all probably attended by the women who afterwards took part in a more strenuous business, and one cannot wonder that, comparing those orderly gatherings with the later more strenuous experience, we look back on the meetings of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, protected as they were by a threefold limitation, as if they were but little known to the general public.
I am, etc.,
MAYBANKE ANDERSON.
Hunter's Hill, May 11.
THE W.C.T.U. AND THE SUFFRAGE LEAGUE. (1925, May 13). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 13. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16218056
The Australasian Association of Psychology and Philosophy commenced its annual meeting yesterday at the University. In the picture are:— -Front row (left to right) : Professors E. Morris Miller, W. R. Boyce Gibson, and W. Anderson. Back row: Professor B. Muscio, Mr. R. J. Watt, Dr. A. H. Martin, and Emeritus Professor Francis Anderson. On the Old Peat's Ferry Road (1925, May 22). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245235085
HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
At a well-attended meeting of the Royal Australian Historical Society last night Mrs Maybanke Anderson read a paper on the fascinating story of Hunter's Hill, Lane Cove, and the Field of Mars. A programme of the Hunter's Hill amateur regatta of 1863 was thrown on the screen.
The Brenda Lane Mullins Memorial medal and the C. J. Loewenthal cash prize were awarded to Francis Horsell, of Christian Brothers' College, Waverley, for the best paper in Australian history at the Leaving Certificate examination in November last.
Reference was made to two coloured windows unveiled on Sunday last at St. Alban's Church of England, Epping, in memory of Mr. A. G. Foster, the benefactor of the Historical Society, who arranged with his wife to bequeath £4000 to the society.
Monetary gifts to the extent of £82 to the society's building fund was announced. HISTORICAL SOCIETY. (1926, March 31). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 18. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16278332
Kindergarten Union
BY MRS. MAYBANKE ANDERSON.
T HIRTY YEARS AGO. two or three women met to consider the prospects of a society, a union they had formed "to set forth kindergarten principles". Froebel's theories and methods of education were almost unknown in Sydney then, or, if they were known, were never mentioned by the few who had heard of them. The public schools, as the State schools were then called, did nothing for little children. Their infant classes, seldom composed of children under six, sat on forms with hands folded, and repeated the multiplication table and a b c, while those, who lived in poor neighborhoods played in the gutter and learned the language and habits of the gutter. Everyone was satisfied. The women who talked of forming ideals and learning habits in childhood were "foolish enthusiasts." When the child was older he would go to school, and, as they were told that our schools were the best schools in the world, they were satisfied. But the little band of women knew better.
FIRST FREE KINDERGARTEN.
Two of their number went down into the narrow lanes of Woolloomooloo and hired a small- front room to open a free kindergarten for the uncared children of the neighborhood. It was a rash venture. They had very little money and not many friends. But they said : "Truth is great, and must prevail; we will keep on." Their venture through the thirty years of varied fortune has lived and thrived. The Charles Street Kindergarten was the first free kindergarten In Australia — probably the first In the Southern Hemisphere. Now, every Australian State has many free kindergartens, each with a college to train its directors. Sydney has a beautiful and' well-equipped college, which is self-supporting, educating this year more than 70 students, and nearly every State school has connected with it a kindergarten.
NOW FIFTEEN.
The free kindergartens and playgrounds of Sydney — 15 of them now — have for years kept hundreds, nay thousands, of little children away from the contamination, the physical and mental taint, of the mean streets, and thereby saved many a child from a purer home from an association lesson in vice, while the two sat side by side in school afterwards. But we have never had enough kindergartens. Several large and crowded neighborhoods need them, but land is dear and money is scarce. Few committees have wealthy members, and only the Municipal Council of the city offers help. Alexandria has a kindergarten in an old bakehouse; Darlington has none; Pyrmont needs another for its many families. But how can we get them? How can we make our city great in the only way any city can be great? Not by building sky-scrapers, nor by luxurious living, but by training a healthy and wise and happy people. We are hoping for more kindergartens. The Rotary Club, knowing as well as we do that money, as well as hard work, is needed for every good movement, is going to give us a share of its receipts, and we believe that our long vigil will be ended, and that we shall rejoice in enough money for the waiting committees.
MRS. MAYBANKE ANDERSON, one of. the founders of the Kindergarten Union of New South Wales.
Kindergarten Union (1926, September 23). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 2 (The Daily Telegraph Woman's Supplement). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246347709
The World of Women
CHILD WELFARE
WORKER
Mrs. Maybanke Anderson
Mrs. Maybanke Anderson, who is to go on an extended tour of Great Britain and the Continent, with Professor Anderson, is to be entertained at a farewell party at the Kindergarten Training College, Henrietta Street, Waverley, next Tuesday afternoon. The Kindergarten Union, which now has 15 branch kindergartens, owes its existence to Mrs. Anderson's untiring efforts and enthusiasm, and one has only to visit any of the free kindergartens to see the active principles of good citizenship that are being taught the children (ranging in ages from two to six years), who, years ago, were left to the casual care of neighbors when their mothers, women in poor circumstances, were forced to go out and work. Consequently, the streets were their customary playgrounds. The World of Women (1926, October 30). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 22. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245923437
KINDERGARTEN UNION
Farewell to Mrs. Maybanke Anderson
Mrs. Maybanke Anderson, who established free kindergartens in Sydney, and who has been an active worker for many charities, was entertained at the Kindergarten Training College, Waverley, yesterday afternoon. She is to leave shortly on a tour abroad. The president of the Kindergarten Union (Mr. S. S. Cohen) spoke of the work done by Mrs. Anderson, who was presented with a gold wristlet watch, a handbag, a gold-mounted fountain pen, and a purse of sovereigns. Those present Included representatives of every branch of the kindergarten committee. Mrs. Davenport, Mr. Forbes, and Professor Anderson. Mrs. Anderson is to leave for England with her husband, Professor Anderson, and their niece, Miss Wight, on November 15. KINDERGARTEN UNION (1926, November 3). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245912194
EN VOYAGE.
(BY MAYBANKE ANDERSON.)
On land, when one is suddenly thrown by circumstances among strange company, it may be difficult to find subjects for conversation. Not so at sea, where it Is rude to be morose.
Circumstances alter cases At first one talks about the strips and tatters of bright paper, which hang lagged reminders of many a parting, soon to be scattered or reduced to nothing-ness by busy hands Some one wonders who they were over made, and the busy trading man answers at once, ' Because someone had paper that he wanted to sell, and thought that they would take. They have" Then the economical woman thinks that they are a waste of time and money, and the sentimental girl thinks that they help to make parting easier. But the plain rough man settles the question with a growl, "They’re a great nuisance on the wharves. There ought to be a regulation forbidding their use"'
As we get out into the blue, and pass the barren Islands In Bass Straits, we think of their adventure-loving discoverer, and find that some of our young passengers are thinking of adventure for themselves The number of those who desire to do great things Is always larger than the number of those who do them. Opportunity docs not always wait upon desire. Our young people have read sea stories, and to them the great deep is a place where enormous sharks prowl, and porpoises disport themselves", where whales spout, and fishes fly, while waves run mountains high, and winds howl drearily.
Alas, imagination comes tumbling down We are moving easily through a quiet ripple of clear water, and In all the waste spaces of ocean not a fish or an adventure Is in sight. Only an albatross floats serenely on the unseen currents of the air, and a few gulls gather to seize the fragments that fall from our speeding table Only Illimitable blue flickers, heaving in long rollers out into the distance, until sea and sky meet in a dim circle of pearly grey.
We go down to dinner and vie talk about the various courses, of course. Everybody does so Is It wise to eat everything that Is offered' What shall we leave out' If one regularly omits one course, one may on an unlucky day lose a delicious dish This could not be borne, so the wise discriminate, the indifferent decide on "go as you please," and the foolish eat all that is offered to them, so that nothing may be lost It is rosily very much like life. Some discriminate and are content with the little that seems good to them, and some grasp all that the world can offer of wealth and pleasure, and at last satiated and discontented find that nothing pleases. On one upsetting day we are told that we shall soon pass Islands, and that therefore, and be-cause we may all see them close, lunch will be served early. We eat while expectation takes the place of appetite until an easily excited one calls from above "I can see them." We leave every delicate morsel remaining, and rush on deck. There they are, and we gaze as though we had not seen green earth for many years. The Chagos Islands are green Indeed, a variegated green. Tall cocoa palms wave long swaying fronds above an Irregular spread of many shades of lighter green, and the encircling beach of silver sand serves to emphasise the colour. The Islands seem to ¡lout on an opalescent sea. On one portion of the long reef buildings gleam white against the hazy sky These, we are told, were put there when the islands were used as a coaling place for Orient steamers, and hundreds of men were needed to do the necessary work. That time Is past. Across the opening by* which vessels might once have entered the fringing breakers tell us that the tiny workers who made the islands are still at work, and that soon the lagoon they are enclosing will be shut off from the deep sea outside. Only a few ships pass so near to the Chagos, and we are glad that we have seen them. But a smell and very practical girl heaves a sigh and says. "I wonder who gets all those cocoanuts "
Time loiters on. Then someone says "Guardafui," and the long cloud In the distance becomes a line of peaks and hollows, and at length a great promontory comes Into sight, rugged, barren. Its yellowish height Is bossed with olive, and It rises precipitous, majestic, as If to hold above its head a stroud of threatening purple, through whose enormous fissures the setting sun sends long streams of light to make a silver footstool on the dull bod as Its base. A sight to live as long a memory lasts! After this the miles of Somaliland, with Its Arab villages, and their dhows, are simply Interesting, and we go on calmly to Perim with its oil tanks. and Its whiting ships, and speed quietly to thread our way among the twelve Apostles, with the Mount of Sugur (Jebel Zukur) displaying Its heights and bays In almost endless variety, and so to Suez and Port Said. EN VOYAGE. (1927, January 22). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16349269
A TIDELESS SEA.
(BY MAYBANKE ANDERSON)
The sun is shining on the bright waters of the Mediterranean, the sky is as clear as the blue sky of Australia, and beyond, inland white houses, green shuttered, rise terrace above terrace to the grey and barren foot- hills of the Martime Alps. A scene almost enchanting, but, although it delights the eye and simulates imagination, one's thoughts, like homing birds, fly on swift wings to the Australian city on the beautiful haven, and, recalling its intimate charm, one asks why have we there no terraces above the shining water, no holders of palm and oleander, no sheltered seats where one could sit at ease, with no owner to say him nay... TIDELESS SEA. (1927, February 26). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16357788
FOR WOMEN.
SHOPPING IN FRANCE
(BY MAYBANKE ANDERSON.)
An Australian woman when she goes shopping knows that everything that can add to her Convenient discharge of that serious business has been carefully considered and made easy for her. She has only to sit down and make her choice slid the work that Is left, lifter she has produced her purse, will be done for her. Things are not so in France and one has to change one's habits. Come with me to one of the best drapers shops in a large city. I want to buy a pair of gloves.
Large plate glass windows, filled with figures in handsome costumes, others showing the latest fashions In hats and cons, attract a little crowd of women. We might be in Sydney or Melbourne The doors are recessed, and little groups pass In and out. We enter. Like many of our large shops, this one is a great hall, with many surrounding galleries and there are lifts and staircases here and there There seems to be plenty of room but tho tables and counters ate very close 'together, and one has an Impression of crowding. Also one misses the names of departments placed in conspicuous places. Where are the gloves? We find them at length, and sit down to speak In our best French to a smiling assistant. She looks at my hand, puts my elbow in a rest made for the purpose, and proceeds to try on a glove. It is too small, "French women have not such long fingers". She goes on trying on gloves for me, and I notice that a customer on my left is having much more delicate gloves than mine also "tried on ". I never had gloves tried on before, but it seems an eminently useful way of making sure. These will do, and I take out my purse and ask the price. She answers, but directs me to a young girl standing at my side and hands the gloves to her. Our second servitor takes them and leads me, by way of counters of scarves and ribbons, to a table where sits a serious person, who looks at the gloves, makes a bill, and hands both back to number two, who carries them to a fourth woman. This time, as she is sitting at a desk, she is evidently a receiver of money, and I approach the pigeon hole near where she sits, and pay the bill, getting some change, but not a receipt. The gloves cost sixty-five francs, at the present rate of exchange about ten shillings. They would probably have cost fifteen In Sydney.
Money is a continual small problem in France. It consists In large part of paper, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 600, 1000 franc notes. Even tho last Is not ¡in immense sum In X s. d" hut it seems so. Coins are half franc, one and two franc. The centime, a smaller coin, is, of course, less than the franc. Gold is not In circulation. Tram fares are very low, and it always takes some time to pay one's fare and get the change. It may be impossible to do it exactly.
But where are the gloves I have paid for? While I have been counting my change, number four has handed them over to still an-other servitor-number five-and she had rolled them up in a small piece of paper, which leaves a finger dangling. I look at It, and she clumsily rolls them into a second paper, and ties them up with a piece of coarse string. Here the pastrycook puts up his brioches In a pretty bag or dainty piece of paper, and ties the parcel with ribbon string, and the flower seller carefully rolls her beautiful carnations (a little more than a penny each) in a large sheet of silver tissue, but the draper leaves his parcels In the care of a little "number five,' and provides no envelopes for his gloves. FOR WOMEN. (1927, April 16). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16381219
Maybanke died in St Germain-en-Laye, Paris on the 15 April 1927.
DEATHS.
ANDERSON. On Good Friday, at Paris, Maybanke Susannah Anderson, wife of Emeritus Professor Anderson, University of Sydney, aged 82 years. Family Notices (1927, April 19). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16385934
DEATH OF MRS. F. ANDERSON.
The death took place in Paris on Friday of Mrs. Francis Anderson (known to many as Mrs. Maybanke Anderson), at the age of 82 years. With her husband, Emeritus Professor Anderson, Mrs. Anderson left Sydney last November for a holiday visit abroad.
Mrs. Anderson was well known in all social and philanthropic movements in Sydney.
Many years ago Mrs. Anderson (then Mrs. Wolstenholme) conducted a school in Dulwich Hill. In those days she became closely associated with the Australian Home Reading Union, and with various University activities. She remained a member of these to the time of her death.
Mrs. Anderson was one of the pioneers of the woman suffrage movement, and succeeded Lady Windeyer, who was first president of the Woman Suffrage League. It was this work that marked her as a public speaker, a distinction that advancing years did not deprive her of.
The biggest interest of Mrs. Anderson's life was kindergarten work. Though not actually the founder, she was one of the first group that started kindergartens, and for more than 30 years she worked for them. The gospel of "opportunity for the child" was preached by her assiduously. She claimed certain things as the rightful heritage of the young, and if these were not provided by the parents then the want must be supplied by some organisation. The kindergartens, in her opinion, supplied this want, and to-day there are 15 branches of this union in the city and suburbs, largely due to her endeavours.
Mrs. Anderson was also well known as a writer and contributor to newspapers. DEATH OF MRS. F. ANDERSON. (1927, April 20). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 14. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16381816
The tribute penned by Harry's wife, Edith Doust
A TRIBUTE.
(BY E. D.)
The news has been cabled that Maybanke Anderson has died in St. Germaine-en-Laze, near Paris, after an operation. So has passed a woman of rare talents and lofty character. I have known her since as a child of seven I went to her school at Dulwich Hill, and it is this long acquaintance with her that fits me to pay in halting words a tribute to a great woman.
As a teacher she was modern in her methods. She taught by no rule of thumb, but made any subject interesting, but especially English and history. Most of her pupils owe their love of history and things historical to her vivid and picturesque narratives of bygone times and peoples. Her knowledge of English literature was broad and comprehensive, and she herself wrote prose and verse with great facility, and an apt choice of words.
Others will write of her organising powers and administrative ability. Her public work is well known. She was one of the chief workers and speakers for woman suffrage, free kindergartens, and children's playgrounds. She gave freely her time, strength, and sympathy, to every movement to ameliorate conditions for women and children. Intellect and this public spirit are of much importance, but what seems to me the outstanding quality of Maybanke Anderson was her character. She was a tower of strength for good. Her sincerity and unselfishness illuminated every word and action.
Throughout these many years I have never heard one petty envious or futile word from her lips. Though her life was a very full one with her many interests, domestic and public, she always had calm and leisure for the demands made on her by her friends and co-workers. All gained courage and wisdom by contact with her and her sanity, and humour solved many a knotty problem. With all her qualities of mind she had a beautiful tenderness and simplicity which enabled her to play with children as few women can. The world is poorer for loss of her, but is a better place because she lived in it and beautified it. A TRIBUTE. (1927, April 20). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 14. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16381818
MRS. MAYBANKE ANDERSON.
DEATH OF PROMINENT SOCIAL WORKER.
Widespread regret will be felt throughout New South Wales by the death in Paris on Good Friday of Mrs. Maybanke Anderson, at the age of 82. Mrs. Anderson, who left for an extended tour of Great Britain and the Continent a few months ago with her husband, Professor Anderson, was one of the most untiring workers in the cause of women and children in Australia. The Kindergarten Union of New South Wales, owed its foundation to her enthusiasm and splendid work throughout a long life. It was due to her keen interest in child welfare work that there are now so many public playgrounds, and it was always her desire that the course of study for young girls should be developed in life in the home. With the late Miss Rose Scott, Mrs. Anderson was the driving force behind the women's agitation that culminated in woman suffrage in New South Wales. Mrs. Anderson was an able speaker and a voluminous writer on all subjects in the interests of women and children.
MRS. MAYBANKE ANDERSON. (1927, April 23). The Maitland Weekly Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1931), p. 16. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136423163
MAYBANKE ANDERSON.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD.
Sir,- Might I add to the tribute article of "E.D " to Mrs (Maybanke) Anderson, given in your issue yesterday, and every word of which I endorse. My touch with her runs back to a time when I first met the then Miss Selfe at the age of 17 (I was 18). The sweet girl lived with her parents in a large cottage, old even then, that stood slightly back from the Circular Quay, only just behind the line of shops and dwellings fronting same at the present time. I had occasion to call upon her brother, Norman (who subsequently became a well-known engineer here). She seemed to me at that time of my impressionability simply grand, stately as a queen, and gracious to a degree. In after years all these qualities developed fully and hence her commanding influence through the whole of the remaining 65 years of her life. One great feature I remember was her voice, bordering on the masculine, but so modulated and sweet that once heard you could never forget. It so happened that at the time of my visit to that cottage at the Quay that her two clever brothers, Norman and Harry, had just completed the first "bike" ever made in Australia, known as a velocipede in those days, and these two young engineers were proudly just going "down the street" on their foot-worked machine, with the knowledge they were the first here to travel in such a contraption, they were well justified in being proud, and I remember the look of satisfaction their sister Maybanke gave them as they passed away on the machine, their pedalled toy, which has so wonderfully developed since then, as we all know.
I am, etc., W.S.
Manly,
April 21
MAYBANKE ANDERSON. (1927, April 26). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16366542
Sydney newspapers report the death in Paris on Friday of Mrs. Francis Anderson (known to many as Mrs. Maybanke Anderson), at the age of 82 years. With her husband, Emeritus Professor Anderson, Mrs. Anderson left Sydney last November for a holiday visit abroad, Mrs. Anderson was well known in all social and philanthropic movements In Sydney, and was one of the pioneers of the woman suffrage movement, and succeeded Lady Windeyer, who was the first president of the Woman Suffrage League. The biggest interest of Mrs. Anderson's life was kindergarten work. Though not actually the founder, she was one of the first group that started kindergartens, and for more than 30 years she worked for them. The 15 branches of this union in Sydney and suburbs were largely due to her endeavors. Mrs. Anderson was also well known as a writer and contributor to news-papers. PERSONAL (1927, April 26). Barrier Miner(Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45966070
The Sydney Morning Herald continued to run a few more of her articles after her death, perhaps as another kind of tribute:
"STOPPAGE."
A Wayfarer in France.
(BY MAYBANKE ANDERSON.)
The wayfarer passes through streets and avenues of flats, and remembers that Sydney has begun to build them, sometimes to like them. Come with me to visit such an avenue, we will go part of the way in a tram. Tram travelling Is cheap in this city, one section costs fifty centimes (about a penny), two sections fifty-five, and three sections, sixty. One needs much small change. We get out at the copier, and I see "Stoppage" on a windows. Having been obedient from a child, I stop. A meek little brown woman comes to the door, and we exchange smiles. But why should I stop? So we go on. Queer people, the French. We turn into a side street. It Is called an avenue. It Is wide, with a row of heavily-pruned trees on each side near the curb, and beyond them a garden, a Bon of garden where a wattle and a gum tree stand looking rather disconsolate. They remind me of home, and I feel sorry for them. The Frenchman is strongly of opinion that trees should be kept well in order, and made to behave as he wishes. The wattles, plentiful though they are, do not look exactly like the trees we know so well. As for the gum trees they are fast losing their characteristics. No longer grey and gaunt or tall, or spreading, they are just trees. Poor things. Our landlord was one day pruning (he called it pruning) a wattle because it was in the way of an electric wire. It had been a Cootamundra. He hacked it until it looked like a clothes post, I told him that the wattle was a short shed tree, and I did not think it would live. He said, ' Oh but this is not a common wattle it is a mimosa and a good sort. If ever we go back to that garden I shall look for that ' mimosa ".
But we are now looking at Hats. On each side of this wide avenue behind the gardens are tall buildings, high close together, all exactly alike They are divided down the middle by a marble staircase, and entered by a wide double door, which opens into an entrance hall. The doors are of wrought iron, and every window has as well as a pair of green shutters, a tiny balcony or a railing of the same material. In the good old days when he could take who had the power; when pirates pillaged and robbers raided only iron could save property, and the people who lived between the Mediterranean and the mountains, two fruitful breeders of the greedy, became skilled in the arts that helped defence A worker In wrought iron had to serve ten years before he became a master of his craft, and had to present to his guild a sample of his skill. Such a master, an expert, gave to the city of his guild, Avignon, a magnificent pair of gates, which now not only shut in the finest collection of Iron work In Hui ope, his gift to his native home, but also gifts from other collectors who have followed his example. We have no such workers now. The railings of these flats are not all of wrought Iron but they are artistic in design and have the beauty of a served purpose, and the long rows of green shutters are attractive. There is also some-times beauty in sameness. We enter, and passing the office of the concierge ascend the wide marble stairs. This house has seven stories, so fourteen fairly large dwellings are cached by them. One does not have next door neighbours-neighbourliness here is perpendicular. This has Its difficulties. If "Six" shakes her mats or beats her pillows from her balcony (and the Frenchwoman is an excellent housemaid and keeps a special weapon for the purpose) while ' Five" is enjoying the air on her balcony, perhaps the result may he left to Imagination. On the other hand, the postman likes it, and the old man who comes once a week to sing "Malbrouck s'en va t'en guerre" may got a tiny reward for his work done from every house … he does for he takes a long time to find them in the garden.
The chief matter for consideration, and it is worth the attention of Sydney, la that fourteen families are living on the ground space and in the air space otherwise required for one, and that the children and women who stay at home have no room for play or out-of-doors recreation. Every city In France seems full of children, all playing in the streets. We hear sometimes that the population here is not increasing as it should. We hear, also, and sometimes emphatically expressed, that the birth rate of France is equal to that of any other country in Europe, and that the death rate is the difficulty. Too many little children die in infancy. One cannot be surprised. If one considers what flat life in a narrow street may be, and especially if one remembers that ventilation as we, living in a warm climate, know it. Is positively disagreeable to a Frenchman.
Our little call at the beautiful flat gave me an opportunity to ask my friend why they write "Stoppage" when there is nothing to stop for. She laughed. "Oh! You have passed the little house where I take our mending. The quiet little woman who lives there stops all our holes. She will mend your gloves or darn your stockings, so that I you will never see the holes'. As you pass her room I think you had better ask her to stop that three-cornered tear in your coat She will do It so that you will never be able to see her work." I did so, and it is an Invisible stop.
* Since writing this article, Mrs. Anderson passed away, In France, on April 15.-Ed "S.M.H". "STOPPAGE." (1927, May 14). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16379198
Jan Roberts, who has written extensively on Maybanke, and transcribed the whole of her writings in conjunction with Beverly Kingston as well as republishing The Story of Pittwater first read by Maybanke at the March 30th, 1920 Royal Australian Historical Society, was one of many who wondered where and if Maybanke was buried in France or perhaps the place where she was born in England. A search of records in these places brings no results. Edith Wolstenholmes' allusion to the cable sent to her husband, Maybanke's son Harry, sheds no light either.
When Professor Anderson passed away in 1941 he was cremated privately at the Northern Suburbs crematorium - so perhaps she too was made so her ashes could be brought home and is here, still, somewhere.
Professor Anderson remarried the lady who went with them on that final trip for Maybanke. Although she is stated to be a 'niece' above, and may well have been another adoptee of Maybanke's after her mother, their neighbour at Hunters' Hill, passed away in June the year before her last visit to Europe, she was a mature woman, although younger than Professor Anderson when they married in February the year following Maybanke's death. A little on that under Extras.
In Pittwater we bear tribute to her in the naming of Maybanke Cove at Bayview, near the baths, still. This name was assigned, officially, in 1998. There are other tributes - streets named for her in both the 'Maybanke' and 'Wolstenholme' form, as well as societies and groups devoted to furthering or looking women.
What Maybanke may make of the lot of women today, should she be able to revisit this time and place, would be all conjecture. Anyone who looks at what she did in the past would hope her voice and step would be among those who annually take part in the White Ribbon Walks, as that is what Australians, men and women, are focused on today - the right of any woman and her child to not be murdered by their spouses or ex-partners. Education would probably be how her discussions would lead out there too.
PEDLARS IN QUAINT COSTUMES
Country Fair and Unveiling of Memorial
PEDLARS in the national costume of many far distant countries wended their way amongst a large crowd in the grounds of the Kindergarten Training College at Waverley on Saturday afternoon, when a country fair was held in aid of the Frances ' Newton Memorial Kindergarten in Palmer Street, Surry Hills. Their, colorful frocks made vivid splashes among the sombre wraps that were worn as a protection against the . cold wind! Mrs J. C. Windeyer opened the fair, and spoke with warm appreciation of the work of Miss Frances Newtown, who was a former principal of the college.
After the opening there was a second pretty ceremony, when Mr. Peter Board unveiled the Maybanke Anderson memorial in the grounds. This was a stone sundial and a tallow-wood seat in a lovely spot overlooking the ocean, and Mr. Board told the parents and friends of the students something of the life and work of this wonderful woman. Sir John Sulman, who designed the memorial, was present, with Lady Sulman and Miss Sulman, Miss Margaret Windeyer, Mrs. A. Dumolo, Miss E. Dumolo, Miss Beatrice Macdonald (president of the Frances Newton committee), and Miss Grace Dawson were also among the visitors. PEDLARS IN QUAINT COSTUMES (1928, November 12). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 19. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248042674
TO HONOUR A PIONEER KINDERGARTEN WORKER.
SUNDIAL AND GARDEN SEAT, ERECTED IN MEMORY OF MRS. FRANCES (MAYBANKE) ANDERSON AT THE KINDERGARTEN TRAINING COLLEGE, WAVERLEY. TO HONOUR A PIONEER KINDERGARTEN WORKER. (1928, November 23). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 16. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16511507
Jan Robert's 1996 edition of The History of Pittwater by Maybanke Anderson was issued in a run of 1000, long since gone, although secondhand copies may be found for those who look.
The National Library of Australia has been busy digitising the original volumes of the Royal Australian Historical Society(Norman Selfe, Maybanke's brother was a founding member) and the original 'The Story of Pittwater' can now be accessed online, as can Maybanke's typo corrections which ran in the following volume.
As copyright has expired on this work, Jan's work is hard to get hold of, and one would hope Maybanke would want that work in this page dedicated to her and to her part in the granting of basic rights to Australian women, along with her obvious love of Pittwater, that work runs below.
Her title is 'Story' her work should be read in that spirit - it is not called a 'History' of Pittwater and Maybanke did not have access to the records we do today via the gradual digitisation of everything related to Australian history. That in itself shows there must be more to learn and more to find out and have the original records of as that work continues. Her physical presence at Bayview from 1890 or 1900 on lends credence to her records of those she encountered during those times.
The Story Of Pittwater.
By MAYBANKE ANDERSON.
(MRS. FRANCIS ANDERSON.)
(Read before the Society March 30, 1920.)
Where the Hawkesbury draws near to the Pacific, and spreads out into inlets, there is Broken Bay. Pittwater is its southern arm, and its story must therefore take us back to the year 1770.
In May of that year Captain Cook sailed out of Botany Bay, or, as he called it “Stingray Bay,” to look from the deck of the Endeavour on the shores of the continent he had claimed for King George and England.
He knew little or nothing of its size, and, when he hoisted the British flag, could only have guessed at the length of the coast he intended to explore. But he was an enthusiastic adventurer and he set out to make discoveries, and to name unnamed places.
In the story of his voyage written on his return to England, he says, ‘ ‘ On Sunday, May 6th, we were breast of a bay wherein there appeared to be safe anchorage, which I called Port Jackson.” Further on he writes: ‘ ‘ On Monday, May 7, we saw broken land which appeared to form a bay. . . This bay I named Broken Bay.”
Early writers do not agree as to the exact position of the land and water thus named by Cook. Flinders misquotes Cook’s figures in giving the latitude. Collins and Hawkesworth do not agree. It seems improbable that Cook, three leagues from land, on a May evening at 5.30 (the record in his log) could have seen through the heads of the port we now call Broken Bay, an inlet worthy of the name, and we cannot be surprised that the writer of the notes to the Historical Records of N. S. W., concludes that the broken land seen by Cook was Long Reef and the land thereabout, and that the water he named Broken Bay was Narrabeen Lake, or the water near Collaroy Beach.
A chart of the coast-line of Eastern Australia, published according to a survey made in 1890 and printed for comparison, beside a copy of the chart made by Cook, confirms this theory, by showing that Broken Bay, as charted by Cook, was some distance farther south than is the Broken Bay we know.
In 1788, when Captain Arthur Phillip came south with his fleet, he knew nothing of all this. He had studied Cook’s log, and knew the whereabouts of both Port Jackson and Broken Bay, but he had no intention to visit them. He had been told to go to Botany Bay, and he went there. He soon found that the land near the bay was unsuitable for cultivation or settlement; and, thoroughly dissatisfied with the place to which he had led his hungry crew, he decided to sail north to Broken Bay.
By what happy chance his attention was directed to Port Jackson we shall never know. Phillip seldom wrote about his thoughts or feelings, and in his first letter to Viscount Sydney he simply says that he did not carry out his intention to go on to Broken Bay, but entered Port Jackson, and “had the satisfaction to find the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the Line might ride in the most perfect security.”
On the shores of Port Jackson he decided to form his settlement, and the work of building shelters was at once begun. But shelter was not the only need which the world’s greatest adventurer had to satisfy. Food was a greater need. He had a thousand mouths to feed, and they belonged for the most part to an unruly crowd —weary, hungry, ill after a long voyage, and prone to discontent. They were not accustomed to hard work, not easy to teach, and not amiable. It was, therefore, necessary for him to find a large tract, easily cultivated, and to find it quickly. What he found on the shores of Port Jackson we know. The nine, or, as some say, eleven acres which he began at once to cultivate in Farm Cove were quite insufficient, and there was little beside. If he had had horses he might have explored the land, and would certainly have found some with a promise of fertility. But the horses had strayed into the bush; the few cattle he had brought from the Cape had died or wandered away; the two years’ supply of food with which he had started was dwindling; his people were suffering from scurvy for want of vegetable food; and in this extremity he thought again of that Broken Bay for which he had before set out, and for the second time decided to try and find it.
Six weeks after Phillip had entered Port Jackson, on March 2, 1788, he started in the long-boat and a cutter with a small party, to look again for the “broken land” of which Cook had written. He saw no broken land but he sailed on, and entered a “great inlet.” This inlet he accepted as Broken Bay. A bay, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, it certainly is not, but no inlet in the world can better deserve to be called “broken.”
After they had entered the heads of the bay, the explorers turned to the right and spent the first night in the long-boat, anchored in the shelter of the headland. A great many natives came down to the shore to look at them, and were very friendly. In Phillip’s letter to Sydney, he tells of their stature, describes the loss of the first joint of the little finger, and the absence of the front tooth in the men. He had himself lost a front tooth, and says that when he showed them the gap ‘ ‘ there was a great clamour, and the loss certainly gave him some merit in their eyes.” The men watched the food, and he gave them a piece of salt pork, which was passed from hand to hand, and at last thrown away with signs of disgust. We may not feel so much surprise as Phillip. It must have been in strong brine for more than six months, and required an accustomed taste. The black-fellows were used to fresh fish, which were there in abundance, as well as pelicans and other sea-birds.
The next morning, March 3, the party in the two boats crossed the heads and discovered, in the words of Phillip, “the finest piece of water which I ever saw, and which I honoured with the name of Pitt Water. ... It would contain the navy of Great Britain.” William Pitt the younger was then Prime Minister of Engand, and Phillip had no doubt found him interested in the new scheme for emptying the prisons, by using their inmates to found a colony.
Pittwater was thus the first place in Australia to be formally named by our first Governor. Sydney, as we know, was never formally named, and many other less important places received a name as whim or accident arranged. Uncertainty as to the name of the city on Port Jackson must have continued for many years, for in Wells’ Geographical Dictionary of 1848, Sydney is entered as Sydney (or Albion).
On the morning after Phillip had named Pittwater several women came down to the beach, one “very lively and cheerful.” An old man came also, and he showed the party a cave where they might find shelter, for it was raining heavily. This cave was probably the one in the southern corner of the harbour beach, not far from the Palm Beach wharf. There are also two caves in the corner of Dark Gully, either of which the theorist may prefer. The party with Phillip did not enter the cave “suspecting a trap.” The old man then helped them to gather leaves for their beds. They thought they had found a friend, and gave him a hatchet, but while the party slept the old man returned and took a spade. This roused the anger of Phillip, who seems to have thought that even a savage ought to understand the rights of property, and he showed his displeasure to the thief. An altercation followed, and Phillip records that he knew his life was in danger. He did not, however, quail, but looked steadily at the old man, who slowly lowered his spear.
The account continues: “I thought it better to risk the spear, than to order the men to fire.” Who can say what the little settlement owed to that forbearance?
Soundings of the depth of water in Pittwater were taken on this first visit, and Phillip notes that the bar is narrow, and that there is only eighteen feet of water on it at low tide. He also notes the hills which can be seen, and concludes that ‘ ‘ somewhere ’ ’ among them there must be a large river. The hills he called the Carmarthen, the Lansdowne, and the Richmond Hills. He had not time to explore farther, but he decided to again visit Broken Bay, and find the river. The letter in which these facts are recorded is dated May 15, 1788, and was the first letter written to Lord Sydney from the settlement.
Pittwater seems to have had a fascination for Phillip. In a letter he tells of an attempt to reach it by land, when he started from “Shell Cove,” “north of North Head,” and walked along the coast until he came to a large lake, where he saw a black swan for the first time, and thought it a “noble bird.” In 1789, and again in 1790, he made several visits, during which he saw kangaroos, a bird as large as an ostrich, and aboriginal carvings everywhere. He also found the river, “which was called by the natives Deerubbun, ” and is so called by Wells, in his Geographical Dictionary.
Phillip named it the Hawkesbury, after Sir Charles Jenkins, who, in the Pitt administration, was Minister of Trade and Plantations, and who had lately been raised to the peerage as Lord Hawkesbury. He it was who, as Secretary of State, signed the Treaty of Peace with the French Republic on October 1, 1801.
During these visits Phillip discovered that there were many paths, much frequented, between Sydney Cove and Broken Bay. These paths of the blackfellows excited curiosity, and it is evident that even the subordinate members of the little party of exiles became interested, although they never ceased to desire the civilization they had left. On June 7, 1789, Captain Collins, Captain Johnson, Surgeon White, and a small party of men from the Sirius, “all armed with muskets,” set out from the north coast of Port Jackson, to find a path to Pittwater. They “proceeded along the sea coast to the north.” Having left Port Jackson at 6 o’clock in the morning, they arrived at Pittwater at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, “after a long fatiguing journey.”
They saw some natives, and called to them in their own manner, “co-wee,” which signifies “come here.” Captain Collins had ordered the boats to take provisions round by water, so that they might stay some days, which they did. They returned, as they started, on foot, leaving the boats in Pittwater. Their journey back was very tiring, and, when they reached the north part of Port Jackson, serious difficulties began, for they found that the path they had followed had led them to a place where the “North-West Harbour” lay between them and the ship, the Sirius, and they “might as well have been fifty leagues from her.” They walked backwards and forwards along the shore, and discovered a canoe, which must have been hidden by the natives, and in this they tried to cross the “North-West Harbour,” but it upset, and went to the bottom. Then they built a “catamaran.” But, when it was launched, it would not bear the weight of one man. Then, in despair, for they had left all the food in the boats at Pittwater, they proposed to walk round the head of the North-West Harbour. But Hunter, from whose letter this account is taken, says “the last march had torn all but the soals from my feet, and they were tied with spun yarn.”
So he determined as a better and safer course, to struggle back to Pittwater and find the boats. Thereupon Captain Collins, determined not to desert a friend agreed to accompany him, and they were just about to set off when one of the party proposed that they should try to swim across to the other side of the Harbour. This, at last, they determined to do, and they started after ‘ each having a dram. ’
They tied their clothes in bundles, placed them on their heads, and “so reached the opposite shore. But one (Hunter does not say which one, and the reader is disposed to suppose it was himself), having been seized with cramp, had to drop his bundle, which was of course, lost,” and at last, after an adventurous swim, they “reached the Sirius, one with only his shirt and trousers, and the others perfectly naked.”
Hunter waits until he has finished this tragic tale to describe the adventures of the sailmaker of the ship, and to tell of “how providential it was that they did not go round the North-West Harbour.” During their attempts to get across the water, they had occasionally heard a shot, and as they walked to the ship they found the carpenter, Peter White, who, having left the Sirius for a walk and to shoot birds, had been lost “in the woods” for four days. He had eaten all the food he had taken with him, and worn the flint belonging to his musket “to a stump,” so that he did not like to use it to shoot birds, fearing that nothing would be left to call attention to his condition, and he “was starving and helpless.” They took him back with them to the Sirius.
Such were the misfortunes which befell adventurous spirits who tried to explore the bush about our harbour in 1789.
These mishaps did not, however, deter them, or others, from further exploration. In August of the same year, while the Sirius was laid up in Port Jackson, and, as it would appear, her officers were at liberty, Governor Phillip desired that a careful survey of Broken Bay should be made. Captain Hunter accordingly set out again with several gentlemen of the settlement, determined “to be two days on the journey, and to lie all night in the woods.” The boats, under Lieutenant Ball and Bradley had sailed round, and the walking party “joined the boats on the afternoon of the second day at Pittwater.” A careful survey was made, and Lieutenant Bradley returned with the boats. This time, without any mishap, the party walked back along the shore to Port Jackson.
Again, in 1792, William Dawes, Lieutenant of Engineers walked from Manly Beach to Pittwater to make a survey, and soon after published a map of all that portion of the coast. This map, “inscribed’ ’ to Captain Twiss of the Royal Engineers, shows the path over which Dawes and his companions travelled until they mounted the rocky sides of Barrenjuee. The high land above Careel Bay, over which the path is shown, is marked “good pasture for sheep.” The same exploring party afterwards walked to the point now called Church Point, and a line on the map shows the path they took.
These journeys and surveys are interesting, not only because they show Phillip’s continual anxiety to find land suitable for cultivation, but also because they explain, what would not otherwise be clear, the important place which Pittwater held in the early days of Australian settlement, a place which was lost when, with horses at their disposal, the men in authority discovered thousands of acres of better soil inland, and decided that the rock and sand of the sea coast were comparatively worthless.
But that time was as yet along way off. An extract from a letter written by Major Ross to Sir Evan Nepean, dated Sydney Cove, 1788, serves to show the privations endured in the early days of the settlement. Ross seems to have been a confirmed grumbler, and the letter is full of complaints, but there must have been some reason in them when he says, “Not one bit of timber have we found fit for any other purpose than to make the pot boil,” and concludes, “I think it will be cheaper to feed the convicts on turtle and venison at the London Tavern than be at the expense of sending them here.”
Phillip himself wrote that he felt sure that he would have to depend on regular supplies from England for at least six years, for very little could be grown, and the convicts who were willing to work on the land were frightened of the blackfellows. They could discover no food on which, in their opinion, so large a number of aboriginals could live, and they concluded that the black men were cannibals, quite ready when their appetites were sharp to kill each other as well as any white man, if they could catch him. Before December, 1790, Phillip began to send out large parties to shoot kangaroos near Botany Bay, and so long as there was a hill in sight which he had not explored, or an unvisited place likely to provide food or soil for cultivation, he never rested from his search for the wherewithal to feed his grumbling subjects.
Water was also a difficulty, and here again Pittwater seems to have appeared desirable. Phillip writes in 1790:
“In Pittwater we found small springs of water in most of the coves, and we saw three cascades falling from a height which the rain then rendered inaccessible.” In this case Phillip does not seem to have traced effect to cause. There is still plenty of water to be found in the coves of Pittwater, and waterfalls which may be called cascades, are still there, near the head of McGarr’s Greek, near the Basin, and in other places. But both springs and cascades depend on a rainy season, when they are as easy to find as they were in Phillip’s days, which happened to be a time of abundant rain.
In 1790 Phillip went, as he had always promised, to explore the Hawkesbury. The party rowed up the stream for several miles, as well as up a smaller river which ran into it. This he called the Nepean. It was probably the Mangrove, or perhaps the MacDonald. The first is about twenty-eight miles above Barrenjoey, and as far up as one may suppose the explorers would venture. They found on the banks of these -rivers “good, light soil, and beautiful trees like almond trees,” and decided that the “noble river” was very suitable for settlement. During the next few months seventy settlers were sent there.
One of the first two was James Ruse, the man who first grew wheat in Australia.
For some time these settlers could reach Sydney only by water, and Pittwater became their port. But communication by land was necessary, and a road was soon made from Sydney to the banks of the Hawkesbury.
The Green Hills, as the settlement on the Hawkesbury was first called, soon began to produce wheat, potatoes, and other vegetables for the little colony, and, in 1803, it was found necessary to make stringent regulations as to the carrying of produce in rowing or sailing boats, which were at first the only vehicles. One regulation warned the settler that “any person sending grain to Sydney in an open boat, or in a boat not trust-worthy, could expect no protection from the magistrate.” Another said: “If the master should take more grain than he can carry in safety, he shall forfeit £5 to the Orphan Fund. ’ ’
These regulations, designed to preserve the much-needed wheat from the peril of overloading, led to the building of sloops, or as they were commonly called, and are still called at Pittwater, “vessels, ’’ for the conveyance of produce, and by 1804, sixteen were employed on the Hawkesbury and the Coal Rivers. Four of these were built on the Hawkesbury, probably at Pittwater, where shipbuilding was certainly carried on a little later in the century. The others were built at Coal Harbour, at the mouth of the Coal River, which about this time was called Newcastle, and the county Northumberland. But boats continued to be the common carriers of the smaller settlers, and during 1804 prizes were offered to those who kept their boats in good order. Owners were warned that their boats must be registered, so that they might be inspected, and that they must be locked up at night. If anyone saw persons in a boat after dark, he was to hail the boat and report. These regulations were no doubt necessary, for in the Sydney Gazette (1808) we read that five bushrangers, who had been captured at Parramatta, were being taken to Sydney in a boat, when they overpowered the soldiers, took possession of the boat, landed at Lane Cove, and walked to Pittwater.
Pittwater, had by this time become a busy farming district, as is proved by advertisements in the Gazette , and runaway men from Sydney as well as from the rigid surveillance of “the river,’ ’ found employment there. Later, in 1819, it was found necessary to station a constable there, and in a Gazette of that year there is a notification that Robert Mclntosh had been appointed to the position.
In 1804, Broken Bay was again carefully surveyed, this time by order of Governor Hunter, who had succeeded Phillip. The number of settlers had greatly increased, and the natives, in an interview with the Governor, complained, “most ingenuously,” as he says, that they were being driven back from the river and the shore by the settlers. They asked that a certain portion of the banks might be assigned to them as their own. The Governor promised that no more settlement should be made on the lower portion of the river or bay, and that this part should be their own. It seems probable that thereupon they congregated in Pittwater. Old inhabitants testify to the great number of blackfellows who lived on the shores of the inlet, and their middens, which may be found anywhere and everywhere round the head of Pittwater, show shells of oysters, whelks, and cockles, which they must have eaten in enormous quantities. These middens are many of them far up on the hillsides, and are still full to the roof of shells, and the wood ash of long burnt-out fires.
The survey of the inlet ordered by Governor Hunter probably gave an impetus to the naming of the different localities. From the time of Phillip the south head of the bay had been called Barrenjuee, with the final syllable pronounced, and each one equally accented after the manner of the natives. Barrenjuee has since those early days been spelt Barranjo, Barenja, and Barrenjee, with all other possible variations, and has only of late years settled down as Barrenjoey.
Many may regret that the use of native names should lead to their being altered and vulgarised to save a little trouble in enunciation. That this great island should be seized and occupied for civilisation was inevitable, and equally inevitable was it that the weaker should perish with the increasing occupation of the stronger. But we, who snatched the land from its original owners, surely owe to ourselves, and to posterity the preservation of the remnant of their language.
The only other name in Pittwater that can be decidedly attributed to Phillip is that of Lion Island. He called the rock which stands at the entrance to Broken Bay, Mount Elliott, because he thought that it resembled Gibraltar, where his friend General Elliott had in 1781, and again in 1782, inflicted a tremendous defeat on the united fleets of France and Spain, then at war with England. The island is Mount Elliott on every map, and is so called by old residents, but visitors call it Lion Island, or the Lion, and as it certainly does resemble a lion couchant, gazing out through the heads to the great ocean, the name appeals to everybody, and seems likely to remain.
Soon after 1804, the year of Hunter’s survey, we find that Pittwater is in the Hundred of Packenham, in the county of Cumberland, and the parish of Warrabeen. This last name must not be confused with Narrabeen, which was then spelt Narrabine. The division into him-dreds was begun by Phillip, and was persisted in until the time of Sir Thomas Mitchell. The Hundred of Packenham is marked on the maps of his time, but careful search has not as yet discovered a clue to the reason for the name.
When, in 1866, the east coast of Australia was surveyed by Commander Sidney, the bays and points of Pittwater were, probably for the first time, formally named. But they had by that time received their informal and more appropriate names, and not one of those recorded on Sidney’s maps remains.in use. In them Morning Bay and Night Bay lie on each side of Long Nose. Careel Bay is Evening Bay. Scotland Island is Pitt Island. The S.W. inlet at the head of Pittwater, which is a part of Werine Jerime (now commonly called “Windy Jimmy”) is Pitt Inlet, and that on the eastern side is Island Inlet. West Head is Three Heads, and only the North Head of Broken Bay is allowed by Commander Sidney to retain its original name—Hawke Head. This is not, as is generally supposed, derived from the river Hawkesbury, but was probably the name given to the headland by Cook, who forgot none of his friends. In the Historical Records of N.5.W.,. where there is a copy of Cook’s appointment to the command of the Endeavour , the first signature to the document is Ed. Hawke. Sir Edward Hawke was First Lord of the Admiralty from 1766 to 1771. when he was succeeded by John, Earl of Sandwich.
In 1829, William Romaine Govett was sent by the Government to survey the coast-line between Port Jackson and Broken Bay. In his journal, which is in the Mitchell Library, he has left a water-colour drawing of Barrenjoey, as fresh as if it had been completed yesterday, as well as his impressions of the country and sketches of the strange birds and beasts he saw. Of Pittwater he writes: “Pittwater, a quiet inlet of the sea, protected from the boisterous waves wdthout by a ridge of mountain, and a narrow sand-bar, forms a beautiful and romantic lake, and is found a convenient shelter in adverse weather. The ridges which divide the creeks are mostly barren, rocky and precipitous, and the summits of some rise in rugged and exposed peaks, in some instances like the castellated ruins of a fortress, with its dilapidated walls and shattered battlements. The caves or hollows are called by the natives ‘ ‘ gibbie gunyahs. ’ ’ It was in one of these deep gullies that I first saw a host of most singular animals, called flying foxes.”
In describing Barrenjoey, he says, “A sand-bar connects that extraordinary headland with the main range.’ ’
He makes no mention of a guiding light, and so far I have found no note about one before 1855. About that time a wooden building stood there, in which we may suppose a man lived, who displayed a light in bad weather. Tradition speaks of a fire basket. This building was dilapidated in 1868, and in that year two wooden towers were put up, to serve as beacons during the day, and in order to show lights at night. They are described in the Directory for 1879, as “two white towers, 20 and 12 feet high, 390 yards apart, from each of which is exhibited a temporary fixed white light.” Directions follow as to getting them in line in order to avoid shoals on entering the bay. These towers were called the Stewart Towers, after Mr. Robert Stewart, who was then member for East Sydney. They cost £3OO, and were in use for thirteen years. For some time before these towers were superseded by the present lighthouse, they were insufficient for their purpose.
The Hawkesbury was then navigable to Windsor, steamers traded there, and, in 1876, the river trade was valued at £17,000 a year. Steamers carried both passengers and produce. Rust had not come to Australia, and wheat was grown and ground on the river. Pittwater also sent produce to Sydney, and a light on Barrenjoey was a necessity. But there was a difficulty as to the ownership of land on the headland. In the early days great tracts of land were granted without any thought of future needs. All the farthest north portion of the long isthmus, including the headland, had been granted to James Napper, who had sold the extreme end. The only useful site for a lighthouse was prh r ate property. This difficulty was at length surmounted, and in June, 1881, the beacon was formally opened. It was designed by Mr. Barnet, Government Architect, and he, with a large party of notabilities, went by sea to perform, the opening ceremony. To those who know the long roll of the Pacific, as well as the glorious prospect from Barrenjoey, it is not surprising to read in the Sydney Morning Herald of that date, that the party, “though they had experienced considerable inconvenience on the voyage, greatly enjoyed the magnificent view from the lantern floor.”
Those who gaze across the shining blue of Pittwater to the green hills in the distance, or turn to let their eyes travel down the curving line of rock-bound coast, or returning still, see spread out before them the immeasurable expanse of the Pacific, may be pardoned if they think but little of iron stair-cases and lantern floors. Others may be interested to know that the tower measures 39 feet from the ground to the lantern floor, that the base is octagonal, that there are three stories, and that the cost of the building was £16,400.
For many years before the rugged headland and the beautiful shore were known to tourists, Barrenjoey, as the whole neighbourhood was called, was silent, apparently primeval bush, uninhabited except for a few stray cattle that grazed on the green slopes where, in Pittwater’s farming days, wheat and potatoes had been grown for the ever-increasing population of Sydney.
At that time the Government gave a grant of land or lent cattle to anyone who, possessing either one or the other, could prove his need. An old man who lived near the beach went to Sydney and asked for a grant of land whereon to pasture one hundred head of horned cattle.
“Do you declare,” said the clerk, “that you possess one hundred head of cattle?”
“Yes,” said the old man, “One hunderd head, or maybe more. ’ ’
Other officials came to look at him. He did not look like a man on whom prosperity had smiled. But he maintained his claim, and repeated, “More nor a hundred head!”
So the inspector was sent to Pittwater to report, and he discovered that the old man was right, he had indeed more than a hundred head of horned beasts —-but they were goats. The descendants of those goats increased and multiplied at Barrenjoey. Many a settler, short of milk, would lassoo one, and take it in a boat to his home, to supply an emergency, and only of late years have they disappeared. The old man was often heard to declare to his intimate friends, “I don’t believe in that ’ere Govn’mt. It’s a cheat, and no mistake.”
A custom-house and a school-house once stood facing the inner beach near the headland, and a customs officer lived there for years. The school was needed for the children of settlers and farmers, who attended from Careel Bay, or crossed the water to the school. The custom house was established because ships had been known to enter the heads and discharge contraband without paying duty. When the Fair Barbarian did so, and landed a large cargo, the authorities decided to station an officer at the heads. It is more than likely that contraband continued to be landed in Broken Bay despite this arrangement, for a man living in the shadow of Barrenjoey could not possibly see by day and by night every ship that entered, and the road to Sydney was not much frequented.
Recognition of this fact may have promoted one customs officer, Mr. Ross, to make and keep well painted the similitude of a soldier keeping a lookout, and always on guard. He, or it, stood in front of a cave, erect and stately, not far from the lighthouse. With white trousers, scarlet coat, and a tall helmet with a magnificent plume, the hat very durable, for it was made of tin, he stood sword in hand and scabbard at his side, a counterfeit presentment of majestic authority. As he was more than eight feet high, he was easily seen from the deck of passing ships, and more than one crew, slipping by with attempted secrecy, believed that he was watching their manoeuvres, and preparing to report them. At last, one sympathetic captain took the drawn sword for a signal of distress, and entered the bay to offer assistance. The soldier was then somewhat discredited, and Mr. Ross discovered that his effort to guard the port was not exactly approved either by those in authority or by passers-by. But he continued to paint his soldier and keep him in repair, and the gigantic representative of majesty stood solidly at his post until a few years ago, when the post itself was undermined by the tiniest of enemies. The white ants devoured his magnificent legs, and he fell. So passes the glory of the world!
On a portion of the land to the right of the Palm Beach jetty, a prosperous fish-drying business was carried on more than fifty years ago. It belonged to a Chinese firm, and gave employment to a great many men, who found fishing more remunerative than either orchard work or farming. The drying and salting were done by Chinamen. The manager, Ah Chuey, was a Chinese gentleman, much respected by residents, and a general favourite. He was exceedingly fair in his dealings, and had a regular price for the fish. He preferred schnapper, for which he gave 5/- a dozen, but he would take other fish, und sometimes two or three boatloads would be piled up on the beach. When there were two or more loads the Chinamen worked all night, put the fish in brine, carried the offal to a garden which they cultivated near the cliffs, from which they sold excellent vegetables to the less industrious residents, and were ready for the boatloads which were sure to be brought in the next day. The fish were sent either to Sydney, whence they were shipped to China, or to Melbourne, then the home of many Chinese. The resident fishermen caught the bait for their line work from Mackerel Beach, hence its name.
There was until lately a lookout near that beach, which had been very necessary, when shoals of fish often entered the heads, and ‘offered boatloads to those who were ready. The Chinamen were particularly partial to mutton fish, and in their spare time were often seen searching diligently for the oval shell clinging to the rocks, which was once a familiar object. They must have carried them in thousands to their camp, for old residents talk of the great pile of mutton shells which was heaped up near their garden. These were sometimes carried away by the children to make edges or borders for their garden beds; but the heap never seemed smaller. Ah Chuey thought the rather dark, tough thing which lived in the beautiful shell a great delicacy. It did not appeal to the taste of visitors, to whom he sometimes presented some of them; but whether because we did not know how to cook them, or because we had not a Chinese appetite, it is impossible to say. Mutton fish are now uncommon, and hard to find, although tiny shells of young ones are often seen on the beaches. It seems likely that the diligence of the Chinamen exhausted, at least for a time, the plentiful supply of a creature esteemed by Europeans, not for its edible quality, but for the beauty of its thick and pearly shell. The mutton fish, the abalone of the United States, sometimes called Venus’ Ear by English people (Heliotis Tuberculata) , is found on both sides of the Pacific, and is largely exported from California to China and Japan for food, and to Europe, where its shells are used for buttons and pearl inlaying.
Nearer to the headland and just below the Bluff, which now marks the boundary of the Palm Beach estate, there was once a well cultivated garden. It was kept by an old man named Pat Flynn, who took possession about 1808. Old Pat’s garden is still remembered, for he grew "vegetables of many sorts, and sold them at a low price. He delighted to tell visitors of a day when, during a furious storm, the waves of the ocean had swept across the isthmus. This is a rare occurrence, but it has occurred twice within the memory of living residents.
For the first inhabitants of Brisbane Water (the north arm of Broken Bay) the inner beach of Barrenjoey was on the high way to Sydney. Two old fishermen lived there and ferried passengers across the heads.
When Thunderbolt escaped from Cockatoo Island, he made straight for Pittwater and, after asking for food at Collins’ farm, enquired about the old men, and started for the beach. As his home was at Wilberforce, he may have thought to reach it by their help. However, some-one had noticed the marks of fetters and he was retaken.
When William Romaine Govett made his survey, he marked on his map and described in his journal the road over which he travelled to and from Pittwater. Describing it as it leaves Barrenjoey, he- says: “It continues on high ground to Pittwater, overlooking the sea the whole way, passing through several minor farms, and on the side- of a ti-tree swamp.” This road was obviously not the one over which motor cars now rush at a pace which would have astonished Govett. It was a higher one nearer the sea, traces of which may still be found. It led along the cliffs until it reached the farm Mona Vale, when it turned south. It was the road described in the New South Wales Calendar, 1834. Pittwater with, its farms was then an important part of New South Wales, and the way to reach it is carefully pointed out.
“The North Coast Road,” says the Directory, “begins at the little bay about eleven miles from Sydney, where the village of Balgowlah, on North Harbour, has been laid out. After leaving Balgowlah, the road is known as Jenkins’ Road, from an industrious farmer of that name. After some miles the comfortable farm-house of Mr. Jenkins will be passed, and the road for the next mile runs along a level sandy beach. On the left is Narrabeen Lagoon.
At about eleven and a half miles, the path from the Pennant Hills road reaches the sea, and joins this coast road at the farm of one Foley, a tenant of Mr. Wentworth’s. About a mile farther on is the S.E. arm of Pittwater.”
The road so carefully described does not now begin at Balgowlah. Like many other government villages and townships, Balgowlah on North Harbour is only a mark on a map, and another Balgowlah on the heights above has usurped the name. Manly Beach, so named by Phillip because of the manly appearance or behaviour of the blackfellows lie saw there, was possibly found to be a more convenient landing place, and Manly, fifty years ago, began to be the tourist resort and large village it now is. John Jenkins’ house and land are still well-known to everyone who travels to Pittwater. The grants to Jenkins and his wife amounted to more than 600 acres, through which the road ran. The Jenkins land was devised, by the daughters of the old family to the Salvation Army, and is now extremely valuable.
The farm spoken of in the Directory as Foley’s was originally a grant of 700 acres to Robert Campbell. A portion of the road to Newport is still described as Campbell’s Lane, in old maps and by old residents. It was one of the boundaries of the farm called at that time Mona Vale. Campbell’s farm passed into other hands, and was, in the middle of the last century, rented by Foley He was a successful farmer, and Mrs. Foley’s butter always “topped the market” in Sydney. Success then, as now, sometimes provoked the envy and jealousy of unscrupulous neighbours, and Foley did not escape. His death was the first of a series of crimes, called at the time, the “Mona Vale Outrages,” which for many years gave the beautiful district an evil reputation. For a considerable time Foley suffered quietly from the cupidity of an ill-natured neighbour, and at length, in 1850, irritated by many petty thefts and annoyances, he called in the aid of the police, and an arrest was made.
On the evening before the matter was to come before the Court, Foley was returning from North Harbour to his home, in order to prepare for his visit to Sydney the next day, when he was shot dead near the Black Swamp, and the prosecution had to be abandoned.
For a time Mona Vale remained empty, and its fertile fields became a grazing place for the cattle of the district. At length, in 1863, the farm was again rented, this time by James Therry, nephew of the Rev. J. J. Therry, who had been for many years interested in Pittwater. James Therry was a “new chum,” who had come from Ireland with his wife and daughters to settle in the new land, and increase his fortune. He repaired the old farm-house and the fences, brought down furniture to make the homestead comfortable for his family, collected a great stack of firewood, and, when all was ready, went to Sydney to bring them to their new home. When they arrived, that home was a ruin. During the night the house, with all its contents and the stack of firewood, had been burnt to the ground.
From this story of covetous malice, it is pleasant to turn to one of neighbourly kindness. John Jenkins, son of the first farmer of the name, came from his farm with his men and a team, and in a short time, with his good help, the home was rebuilt. Therry was not a poor man, and he determined, in spite of a bad beginning, to farm as he had intended, and hope for the best. He bought about a hundred head of stock, and began what promised to be a prosperous career. After a year of unbroken peace, ten of his cows and thirteen calves suddenly disappeared. They were found shot dead on Taylor’s Hill. Other lesser outrages continued, and a few months later his horses disappeared. They were discovered where they had been killed.
At length the residents and neighbours woke up to the fact that a great wrong was being done to an innocent man, whose only fault or misfortune was that he was occupying a piece of fertile land which was coveted by a scoundrel. There upon two of Therry’s neighbours, one of them John Jenkins, went to Sydney, no mean journey in those days, and insisted to Inspector McLerie, who was Chief of Police, that a good man should be sent to Pittwater. A sergeant named McGlone had just at that time succeeded in arresting Gardiner, the bushranger, and they asked that no less competent person should be sent to Mona Vale. McGlone was sent, soon found an informer, and the culprits were arrested, and condemned to some years of imprisonment.
A writer in the Sydney Morning Herald oi March, 1867, after descanting on the beauty and fertility of the district near Pittwater, says: “It is evident that a large portion of the land was under cultivation at one time.
No doubt the chief cause of the present inertia is-to be found in the bad reputation of the district for agrarian outrages. The history of the Mona Vale case reveals a condition of society within a few miles of Sydney that might well deter persons from settling there, and though the arm of the law fell on some of the evildoers, there is now too much reason to fear that similar outrages will again disturb the district.”
For a few years crime did continue to stain the fair fame of beautiful Pittwater, and during many months detectives were continually sent there. Six, so says tradition, were at one time camped on Sheep Station Hill, or thereabout, to watch for evildoers. But at length active crime ceased, and the district settled down to the quiet it still enjoys.
It may be possible that fear of outrage did to some extent prevent men from beginning farm work in an old and settled community like Pittwater, but there were other and more potent reasons. The railway, the first sod of which had been turned in 1850, was beginning to offer to farmers land more accessible, and more easily cultivated. Vessels were going to and from harbours on the South Coast, and the Hunter valley with its rich pastures was being divided among less wealthy settlers.
What wonder that Pittwater, never designed by Nature for anything but loveliness, should cease to attract the hard-working man who wanted to make a living, and cared but little for beautiful scenery!
After the departure of Therry, for he left soon after the last outrage, Mona Vale farm was taken by Wilson, who grew excellent crops of oats on the flat, now often called Brock’s Flat, although Mr. Brock was one of the last of the residents. Trouble clung to Mona Vale. There were many waterholes on the flat, and, during the harvesting of a great crop of oats, one of Wilson’s bays was drowned there. The next tenant was Boulton, and Mrs. Boulton, still hale and cheerful, despite her age, loves to tell of her adventures when she used to take butter and eggs in the dray to Manly.
Pittwater was once considered a wheat-growing area. In 1816, Macquarie “inspected” the farms at Pittwater, Marra Marra Creek and other parts of Broken Bay, and in the same year published an abstract of vacant land suitable for farming. The list included none in Pittwater, which must therefore have been fully occupied. Up to 1842, wheat and oats were the common crops. John Collins grew good wheat on his farm at Careel Bay, and took it in his boat to one of Singleton’s mills on the river. Singleton’s mills belonged to two brothers, Benjamin and James Singleton. On September 10, 1820, they sent a memorial to Governor Macquarie, in which they said: “Memorialists, having erected two water-mills on Crown Lands, the one at Kurry Jong, and the other opposite to the Lower Branch of the Hawkesbury River, and as your Excellency was pleased some time since to say that you would confirm to Memorialists a proportion of the lands whereon said mills are erected, they therefore humbly presume to remind Your Excellency of these circumstances, earnestly hoping Your Excellency will be pleased to grant them such proportion of lands.”
This very humble petition was answered exactly a year after it was sent to the Governor. Even in those days obsequiousness and capital letters did not always command an early reply. The answer was worded thus:
“The Mills erected by Benjamin and James Singleton at the places herein described being useful to the public, each of them is to receive a grant of ten acres where their respective Mills have been erected.” The places of the Mills are well known, and the remains of one can still be seen.
Wheat was not the only produce of the farms at Pittwater. While John Collins was sending grain to Singleton’s mill, his wife was sending butter to Sydney. Her household books, still in existence, record the marketing of kegs of 60 to 701b5., as well as of great quantities of onions.
Shipbuilding and boatbuilding were carried on in Pittwater for many years. South of Careel Bay, near Stokes’ Point, and at Clareville, there were two shipyards. The first vessel built in Australia was, so far as one may gather from the Records, a boat built in Sydney Harbour and launched in 1789.
“From the great amount of timber used in her construction she appeared to be a mere bed of timber.” She was built for the use of farmers at Rose Hill, and was called the Rose Hill Packet, but, “with an aptness sometimes visible in the allusions of the lower orders,” was afterwards more generally known as The Lump — more strictly applying to her size and condition.”
The sloops, or “vessels” as they were generally called, at Pittwater, where they were built, were much less clumsy than The Lump. Stokes, who lived on, and gave his name to, Stokes’ Point, built several. His point is now often called ‘‘Stripe Point,” but its first name is still used by old residents, to whom it seems a pity that the name of an old identity should be discarded. Stokes was a straight, handsome old man, who was transported with a less careful companion whom he had befriended. His story was that he had been seized in a crowd and searched, when a handkerchief which he had never seen before was found in his pocket, put there by a pickpocket who had thus saved himself. As he could not give an account of how it came into his possession, he was convicted and transported, one of the many innocent men who each did their share in the development of Australia* He had been, in London, a ladies’ shoemaker, a business which then, before the time of machines, demanded extremely careful work. Even when he had for years used rough tools in shipbuilding, he was remarkable for the delicate fineness of his well-kept hands, and for his courteous manner. Every Sunday he wore a tight bottle-green coat with large buttons, a remarkably tall hat, and a stock which might have belonged to Beau Brummell. They were remnants of by-gone city days, brought from London when they were in the latest style, and though fashion changed and other stars shone on his declining years, he still them with the air of a gay beau of long ago. One morning he came, a vision of bottle-green splendour, with hat well brushed, and buttons glistening in the sunshine, to call upon a neighbour, and sat down to talk at ease. The good wife listened, and wondered what might come next, until he enquired for her husband. “Oh,” she said, “Do you want to see him? He’s at work somewhere.” “At work?” said the old man, astonished. “At work! On Sunday!” “But,” the good wife replied, while the children tittered and she shook her head at them. ‘‘But, Mr. Stokes, to-day is not Sunday. It’s only Friday!” “Well! well!” said the old spark, “Dash my buttons! The time does go slow in Pittwater. I’ll go home and take off my best coat.”
Bradbury built the first boats at Careel Bay. Stokes and Williams who lived on the beach near to Stokes’ Point, built at least two vessels on the east side of Clareville. George Green, father of the sculler, lived there too, and in 1855 he launched a vessel which he called the Architect. His son, Dick Green, afterwards lived in a cottage now gone, near the head of Pittwater and trained on the bay for the race which made him, for a time, champion.
On the fairly level ground near to where Newport now stands, there were several small farms. Haystack Point, on the one side of the little bay below Miss Scott’s boarding-house, and the Green Point on the outer side, tell their own tale. They were part of Barnes’ farm in the years before Newport was thought of. The village itself is a comparatively recent settlement. It arose, about forty-five years ago, out of the necessity for a haven to which passengers and mails might be carried on the way from farms and townships farther north. At that time there was no railway line between Newcastle and Sydney, and the mails from places between the Hawkesbury and the Hunter were put across the Hawkesbury at Peat’s Ferry, and were carried thence on horse-back to the city. A proposal was at length made to shorten the distance, by taking them from Gosford to Pitt water, and Messrs. Jeanneret and Pile built a house where now is Newport, and a wharf to which they proposed to run a steamer. They did not, however, obtain the contract. It was given to Rock Davis of Brisbane Water, who built a steamer, the Florrie, for the purpose.
A difficulty then arose, for the owners of the wharf refused to allow their rival to use it as he desired and for a time the mails were landed farther up the bay. The difficulty was soon ended, for the owners of the wharf bought the Florrie, and took over the contract. The Boultons then obtained a license for their boarding-house, which had been built by Mr. Jeanneret, and Newport started on its quiet career. For many years it was very little known, except to a few fishermen and tourists, who delighted in its peaceful beauty. But surfing has made Newport. Its yellow beach tempts many a bather, and dozens of seaside cottages have been built where, until a few years ago, old residents wandered alone and undisturbed for many a sunny day. One of the sons of the Boultons drove the first mail coach from Newport to Manly. The service was maintained by a coach for many years, and has only lately been transferred to a motor car.
The whole of the traffic to Pittwater was at first carried through Newport, and passengers to the opposite shore had to arrange to be taken by boat across the bay. There was then no Bay view, and no road to Church Point, but simply a track which led through farms, generally called by the name of the owner of the nearest farm. As time went on, Bayview became more settled than Newport, and passengers from Manly were transferred at the Rock Lily to a smaller coach, while the larger one carried the majority to Bayview and Church Point. But the whirligig of Time has altered conditions.
Surfing came to make and unmake, and six or seven years ago the balance was altered, Newport began to grow, and Bayview remained, as its residents hope it may long remain, a quiet, very distant suburb. Descending the hill from Newport, and passing through Campbell’s-lane, the road runs through what was once Campbell’s farm, Mona Vale, leaves the Black Swamp on the left and reaches the main road close to the old house, formerly the Rock Lily Hotel, once the gaily decorated abode of the late Leon Houroux. Both sides of the Newport-road are now reserves, and a village is growing up where once were fields of wheat, and acres of cultivation.
From here the road, which goes on to Bayview, once ran by many farms, a large one up Cabbage Tree-road, where the old farmhouse still stands, and another nearer to the main road. Shaw’s Creek, or the Maze, just here runs near the road. Along its windings boats and punts were often guided half a century ago to carry to the vessels moored in the bay firewood and produce to supply the needs of the city.
Farther on was another farm, on the land where now the Bayview Post Office stands —80 acres, owned by John Collins, who moved there from Careel Bay. The land is still owned by members of his family. The next 200 acres was a grant to Mr. Macintosh, and when it, or part of it, was sold to Mr. McKeown, he cut it up into smaller blocks, and called it Sunnyside.
Farther along the road the beautiful flat beyond the hill was called Cape’s Flat. Here until lately an immense fig-tree stood on the very edge of the tide. Not far away was the farmhouse, which, as well as the tree, stood then much farther from the water than of late years, for all along the southern shore of Pittwater the land is sinking. At the pier at Bayview, she-oaks, which were once fifty feet from high-water mark, are now standing on the verge, and in many other places old landmarks-have been submerged.
On Cape’s Flat, where now Rainaud’s Restaurant invites visitors to its good dinners, an old cottage once stood, part of the farm buildings of former days. Beyond was a thriving orchard. When farming as a payable business could be no longer carried on, because better soil inland offered better results, the land owners of Pittwater were tempted to turn their attention to the growing of fruit, and still in many quiet corners fruit trees may be found surrounded by the native growth, which half protects them, while it threatens their extinction. Loquat and lemon trees, hardy as the she-oaks which encompass them, may be seen on many a deserted flat, where search will reveal near them a few scattered stones, all that is left of the chimney of a tiny homestead.
A fine orchard (Baker’s) once stood near Cape’s flat. It was divided into allotments some time ago, and soon the old names will be forgotten.
Nearer to Church Point where now Simpson’s beautiful flowers scent the air for the passer-by, au old resident of Sydney (William James) in an ambitious hour, made plans for a garden to be watered by pipes leading from a reservoir on the hill-top. The whole scheme was never carried out by him, but the reservoir and the pipes remained a legacy for another gardener.
At the end of the ever curving and picturesque road a little church still stands. The land at Church Point was given to the Wesleyan body by William Oliver, and on it one of the first buildings erected in Pittwater for public worship was built. It is now seldom used, for it is no longer central, and a more substantial church at Mona Vale has taken its place.
But it was not in a building of any sort that Pittwater folk first met to unite in public worship. The first religious service was held under the loquat trees, a few of which are still standing, near the creek beyond the Bayview Post Office, where Mr. Macintosh had invited his friends and neighbours to meet on a Sunday morning sixty or seventy years ago.
William Oliver’s farm was on what is now called the Peninsula. There he brought up a large family. The younger members, no longer young, tell of blackfellows who stole (or, as they call it, “bandicooted”) a whole paddock of potatoes, and of fierce looks and threats which frightened the little ones. Mrs. Oliver generally took care that an old musket should be plainly visible from the open door, before she sat down to talk to her children in her scanty leisure. One son and a grand-child died and were buried on the Peninsula. The great hole where William Oliver watered the bullocks which drew his produce by Lane Cove to Sydney may still be found, as well as many of the trees he planted.
When the Peninsula was first divided, it passed into the hands of two brothers (Crawford), who had brick-works on the land. They came to Pittwater only occasionally, and found the absence from town inconvenient, because there was no way of communication with the city, except by means of the man who carried the mail to Newport, and sometimes dropped a bag at the place where the track led towards Church Point. The task of meeting the Newport mail often fell to a daughter of Mr. Collins, and Mr. Crawford applied for a post office to be established on Mr. Collins ’ farm and for the appointment of Miss Collins as post mistress, a position which she held for more than half a century, later as Mrs. Roche. A name had to be found for the new post office and Mr. Crawford decided on Bayview, not then so hackneyed and commonplace as now.
Beyond the Peninsula is Lovett Bay, now on its northern shore a part of Kurringai Chase. Farther on is Towler Bay, so called because it was the camping place of Bill Toler (not Towler). The settlers on this part of Pittwater and even for some distance along what is now the Pittwater road to Manly, did not journey along that road when they wished to visit Sydney. They drove or rode to Lane Cove by the Quaker’s Hat and Folly Point, and so on to the Traveller’s Rest, and Billy Blue’s, and across to the city.
Farther to the north than Towler Bay is Long Nose, a name which needs no explanation. Still farther north is Soldier’s Point. The soldier was not a member of any regiment sent to New South Wales, but an imperial soldier, Sergeant John Andrews, who came out and settled there. The point has very little land that could be cultivated, and it cannot be reached by any road. As Andrews became infirm, he gave the point to Mr. Collins in exchange for a smaller area at Careel, on which was built for him a cottage home.
Nearer still to the heads is Coaster’s Retreat, the outer portion of the Basin. The Basin itself, almost enclosed by tree-clad rocky slopes and entered by a narrow shallow passage, is well-known to hundreds of yachtsmen, and is a favorite camping-place. On the sandy reach near the entrance is a cottage, the home of one of the old residents of Pittwater—Mrs. Morris, often affectionately called by her friends, “Old Peggy.” She came from Sydney more than fifty years ago, to see whether she would like the Basin as a place of residence. She made the journey in a fishing-boat, and the Pacific was so unkind to her that she felt she had no choice, and she did not go back to her home for twenty-five years, and then but seldom, and she has lived on the beach at the Basin ever since.
Changes have come to the neighbourhood during those fifty years. First a newcomer built a large cottage near hers; but this made little difference —she became its caretaker. Then an interfering Government proclaimed all the acres near her home Kurringai Chase, and told her that part of her little house was on their property, but they would not disturb her while it stood. Then another interfering body, the Harbour and Rivers Trust, gave her notice that though one half of her home was on Kurringai Chase, the other half was on part of their dominion, and was too near high-water mark. How-ever, like the Trustees of the Chase, they said it need not be moved because it would soon fall down. To add to Peggy’s bewilderment, her many yachting friends decided that, as her little habitation was much the worse for wear, they were going to build her a new one.
“But where?” asked Peggy. “The Chase says they won’t have me if I move. And the Harbour Trust won’t let me stay on the beach if I move off it, and they both say I must go when the house comes down. So you can’t build me another cottage here.”
The difficulty was solved by building a new cottage, really little more than one room, exactly over the old one. So the visitor enters a doorway which has, a foot inside it, another doorway (the old one), and the old room is as it has been for years, covered from wall to roof-tree with the pictures and portraits of Peggy’s friends and their yachts, and Is protected from the weather as well as from the Trustees of the Chase and the Harbour Trust by a roof able to stand against bad weather as well as points of law. Inside it, is the quaint little home of an interesting and much-loved old woman. Mrs. Morris’s husband died many years ago. As she had no children, she took to adopting boys, and has had, as she says, five sons, who all lived out their childhood at the Basin. Four have gone out into the world, some to fight in France, and only one remains to take care of the old mother, and to fish, or attend the yachtsmen who during summer continually visit the Basin.
Beyond the Basin is West Head, the inner, as Barren joey is the outer guardian of Pittwater. It is soon, so says report, to be offered for sale to those who desire land commanding a sea-view. A road to West Head is being made through Kurringai Chase, and its markers says with confidence, that it will become one of the renowned picturesque roads of the world. North-West Head completes the circle of Pittwater.
In 1866 West Head became for a time a centre of interest. French and Russian warships were reported to be cruising in the Pacific; war might come at any time and find us unprepared, and Australia began to be seriously alarmed. The Government of New South Wales thought it necessary to consider the protection of our coast, and sent to England for an expert. Major-General Schaw came to inspect and advise, and in August, 1887, made his report. In that careful summary he says, “Looking to the growing power of Russia and France in the Pacific Ocean, something ought to be done to protect Australia.” He went to Pittwater and, after commenting on the “long and easily defended road from Pittwater to Sydney,” remarks that “the complete defence of Pittwater would be very expensive.” However, he advises that West Head should be fortified, that two guns should be placed on Rock Head, which seems to have been a name for a part of Coaster’s Retreat, and that men should be stationed in the Basin, to take charge of the defences, and to keep a look-out for the enemy.
So far as Pittwater was concerned, the Major-General’s advice was completely ignored. But it produced an effect, though one somewhat different from that which the gallant adviser anticipated. It gave colour to a notice that a railway would be made to reach the proposed fortifications, and a few optimistic speculators were encouraged to buy land in what they supposed would soon be a thickly-populated neighbourhood. In a few years the Major-General’s report was forgotten and the boundaries of the land sold forty years ago are still hidden in unfrequented bush. The proposed opening of West Head may perhaps alter this condition.
In the middle of the last century, when Pittwater, as a farming centre was almost eclipsed, the Rev. J. J. Therry (‘'Father Therry,” as he was generally called) revived the fading interest of the general public. His parish extended from Windsor to the coast, and thence inland to Liverpool. Pittwater was therefore about in the middle of it, and he owned twelve hundred acres of land which reached across the peninsula from the inlet to the Ocean. On the ocean side his property included Bilgola Beach, Bilgola Head, and the long reach from which the cave is entered. On the Pittwater side it included part of Careel Bay, and the long stretch of shore from Taylor’s Point to Stokes’ Point. On part of this land Father Therry intended to make a township, to be called Josephton. Another part is still called the Priest’s Flat. Near Bilgola Head, on the south-east portion of this flat, he expected to find coal, and in 1863, he began mining there. In this matter he was advised by experts, especially by Marmaduke Constable, who argued, no doubt, with reason, that the coal-seams then being worked at Newcastle, and supposed to emerge in the Illawarra district, where some coal-seams were .known to be near the surface, must be somewhere under Pittwater. The question of payable depth, however, had to be solved, and so far as Father Therry’s sinking was concerned, no satisfactory answer was found. The enthusiasm of the old priest led him to waste a large sum of money, and did not please everybody, but it made him an interesting personality, and perhaps his experiments have saved others from useless expenditure. A letter quoted in the life of Archbishop Polding says: ‘ ‘ What can have become of the immense sum received for the Billiton Station? £12,000! Wasted, I fear, in sinking for coal at Pittwater, and othermiserable projects. ’ ’
Father Therry employed a great many men on his land, and an overseer was always there who had not only to attend to the work, but also to the feeding of the men. At this time residents were almost entirely dependent on their own produce, and Dr. Burgon superintended the growing of wheat, maize, onions, etc., and the gathering of the berries of an indigenous tree, which grows near the beach at Pittwater, generally in sheltered places (Phyllanthus Ferdinandi), still called by old residents “Wild Coffee.”
So many men, and most of, them old men, were employed, that it naturally meant death and burial. At Careel there was a cemetery where Dr. Burgon, and at least five other old men were buried.
Some idea of the fertility of the farm-land at Careel and thereabouts at that time may be estimated by the fact that four tall strong young men (the Mulhalls) used, half a century ago, to sail down to Pittwater from Rushcutter’s Bay to take back sacks of grass for their stock. Where once was farm-land at Careel, and on the Priest’s Flat, is now what looks like untrodden bush.
On the seaside of the long isthmus was the “Hole in the Wall.” It was a natural arch near to a cave, an arch because the underlying soft stone or earth had been washed away, while the solid and less friable surface remained resting on a column of its own material. Such arches are not uncommon. There are several on the Cornish coast, the Devil’s Frying Pan perhaps the best known. The top of our natural arch fell and was washed away in a tremendous easterly gale, the “Cawarra Gale, some years ago, but it is still remembered by old residents. Since then a mistake has found supporters, and as no hole in the wall can be seen by visitors, although the name is still to be seen on maps, strangers accept the theory that the cave is the “Hole in the Wall.”
A large hole it certainly is, some hundreds of feet in horizontal depth, but it is not the original “Hole in the Wall.” At one time the cave was much advertised as a natural curiosity. Father Therry called it St. Michael’s Cave, and intended to build a church on the headland above it, where a great heap of stones for years marked the intended site. Many visitors supposed that religious services were held in the cave, and the fable is still some-times repeated. Attempts were once made to effect an entrance by steps from the inner end, and at one time tourists came on holidays and Saturdays to picnic there. But it is a long way from any wharf, and interest soon dwindled.
From the beach nearer to Barrenjoey, Whale Beach, the Cup and Saucer rock may be seen, only a shapeless mass of rock from above. The longer reach, nearer to the great headland, once visited by a few old residents who enjoyed its untouched beauty, is now called Palm Beach, and seems likely to rival the many lovely beaches of our coast.
The land of the Palm Beach Estate, 400 acres, as well as that on the point, was a grant to James Napper, and was cultivated all along the seaside and on the flat land above. On the road from Barrenjoey to Newport there is a charming gully sloping to a beach, which was for many years known as Dailey’s Beach. Old residents have another name for it. In the early days of Pittwater two old people who lived there, and as they (possibly remembering the bitterness of their early days) were in the habit of pouring out their wrath on the children who passed by, the beach was called “Mad Mick’s Hollow,” and “Cranky Alice's Beach,” and except to visitors, still retains the names.
Some confusion arose years ago when Father Therry’s land was sold. It had been surveyed by an Italian, Farioli, and his marks of measurement, which were taken to mean links, meant a measure much smaller. So that the buyers, who thought they were buying so many acres, discovered that they had really a much smaller area.
After passing Newport on the main road. Bushranger’s Hill arouses an anticipation of romantic crime. But the bushrangers were not at all romantic. They were two assigned servants of John Jenkins, who managed to get away from the homestead and attempted a life of liberty. They lived under a rock, not exactly on the hill to which the name is given, but on a lower rise at a little distance. That they ranged the bush there is no doubt, and certainly they lived for a time on food they did not earn or pay for; but no halo rests on their unheroic heads. Their only crime was petty pilfering, and even that poor career was ignominiously finished, for a blackfellow reported their doings to the police, and their liberty ended in gaol.
The blackfellow was Black Bowen. He was one of six Pittwater aboriginals who were taken to California by Mr. Richard Hill about 1848. At that time, numbers of Australians, not suspecting the wealth hidden in Australian earth, made the voyage to California in pursuit of fortune. Mr. Hill took the blackfellows with him because they were used to boating, and could be employed to row the boats which were needed to carry the crowds who were flocking to the Eldorado. Black Bowen was the only one of the six who returned. The others all died far from their native home. Black Bowen always spoke with scorn of “that country!! No wood for fire, but plenty cold wind, and plenty, plenty water. No good for me! No good for blackfellow!”
The blackfellows of Pittwater, once reputed to be the largest tribe on the S.E. coast, are all gone. Near Barrenjoey, and farther back, a few of their drawings remain; but the new generation mispronounces the names they gave to places, and hardly cares to glance at their handiwork.
There is only one island in Pittwater, but its story touches the early history of Australia at many points. It was not always the tree-covered solitude it now appears. Like the rest of the district, it not only lost its first importance many years ago, but even the memory of that importance, and its traces have faded and disappeared.
In the very early years of the last century Scotland Island was a grant to Andrew Thompson, who named it after his native land. On the island he built and farmed, and carried on a prosperous business. He was the son of poor parents, born in 1773, and, when he was sixteen, transported for setting fire to a haystack. His story has already been told to this Historical Society, and of his life as storekeeper, constable, builder, brewer, magistrate, the agent of one governor, the friend of another; the man whose treatment was one cause of the Bigge Commission; whose epitaph, written by Macquarie, may still be read on an enormous stone in Windsor church-yard, there is not time to tell. I confine myself to his work at Pittwater. His romantic rise to fortune and his early death are together interwoven with the early days of Windsor and Hawkesbury. He died when he was thirty-six, and, one month after his death, a paragraph in the Sydney Gazette for November 4, 1810, describes a ceremony which took place on Scotland Island when a vessel was launched there.—“one of the finest ever built in the colony, part of the devised property of the late Mr. Thompson, who at the laying down of the keel gave her the name of Geordy .”
At the time of the launch of the Geordy, the salt-works on the island were advertised for sale, and, in 1812, the island itself was advertised in the Gazette , “containing one hundred and twenty acres of good soil, extensive salt-works, a good dwelling-house and stores, labourers’ room's, and every convenience suitable for a fishery, or shipbuilding, also a vessel of about ninety tons, partly built, still on the stocks.”
When I went back to Pittwater after finding these items in the Gazette , in the Mitchell Library, even the oldest inhabitants could hardly believe the story, so completely had any tradition of Andrew Thompson disappeared from Pittwater. But I crossed to the island, and a little search proved it true. The place where the vessels were built may be found by the curious, and near the great sunken logs which supported their keels there may be seen the beds of rubble set in rough mortar, on which the salt-pans rested. Above these on the slope, or the north side of the island are the foundations of a house, and farther up a retaining-wall built to protect a flat, the only portion of the thickly-wooded island which could possibly deserve to be called good soil.
Along that northern shore there is evidence that some-one worked to protect the land from the encroaching sea, and to build a wharf, of which the remnant still stands firm.
Scotland Island, with all the advantages and improvements, was advertised a second time for sale in 1813, again in 1814, and for the fourth time in 1815, then divided into thirteen lots. By this time men who decided to farm must have discovered that land for the purpose could be had elsewhere, much more likely to yield a crop than the rocky slopes of Andrew Thompson’s grant.
Many adjectives might be used to describe the picturesque beauty of Scotland Island, but no auctioneer of the present day, however prone to exaggeration, would dare to say that it contains more than an acre on two suitable for farming.
In 1819, the island was again advertised for sale, this time the property of Mr. R. A. Murray (Sydney Gazette , August 21). It was not sold. With this ownership of the beautiful island Pittwater again touches history, and adds a gleam of romance to the story of Australia’s early days. For that story I go on to 1868. In that year a stranger came to Pittwater who gave his name as D’Arcy Wentworth Latrobe Murray. He came, he said, to claim Scotland Island, as heir to his father who had bought it in 1819. He had, he continued, come from another colony to see Prince Alfred (Duke of Edinburgh), the second son of Queen Victoria, who had come in that year to visit us. Murray’s father, he said, had been secretary to the Duke of Kent, the Queen’s-father. The Duke had for some time after he came to Australia, corresponded with him. These letters from the Duke his father had carefully kept, and he had brought them to Sydney in order to offer them to Prince Alfred, so that they might be returned to Queen Victoria, who would probably like to receive them. He had, he said, another reason for coming to see the Prince, and a less disinterested one, —he hoped, during the interviews which he was sure the Prince would grant him, to induce him to use his influence with Henry Parkes, then Premier of N.S.W., to obtain for him a Government appointment. The rest of the story contains details of a serious quarrel, imprisonment, and a suit for libel.
To the old inhabitants of Pittwater it is still all true; but as I have not been able to verify these details. I refrain from repeating them. Murray did not get possession of the island. If he had been able to prove a legal right, he might have had some difficulty, for before his appearance it had been occupied for many years by a man who called himself “Joe Benns.”
Joe Benns was a Belgian, a son of a shipowner who carried on a large business in Antwerp, to which he would, in the ordinary course of things, have succeeded. But the sound of the sea was ever in his ears; he hated the monotony of commerce, and he ran away to sea and never went back to his home. He must have had some money when he first arrived in Sydney, for in the beginning of his career he owned vessels, and seems to have been a fairly successful trader. But the William and Betsey foundered off Port Stephens, and the Lady of the Lake was wrecked on Long Beef, and Benns had only a smaller vessel when he took possession of Scotland Island, then uninhabited. There he rebuilt Andrew Thompson’s house with logs hewn on the spot, and even attempted to roof it with logs and mud, not a successful attempt. In the work he was assisted by an old bullock, whose sagacity became a byword, as well as the forcible language Benns used when he held conversation with him. It was Belgic, no doubt, but it remains a terrible tradition. Benns treasured to old age some packets of letters and documents, which no one was allowed to see or touch. Before his death he directed that all should be carefully burned. Among his neighbours he lived and died “Joe Benns”, and only when they stood around his coffin did they know his real name, “Arnbrol Josef Dierckneclit.”
Benns brought with him to Scotland Island “Mrs. Benns, ” who was known to the district for the rest of her life as the “Queen of Scotland Island.” She was a small, dark woman, one who, like her husband, must have seen better days, which had left her little besides facile speech, gentle manners, a tendency to rule as one accustomed to be served, and a remnant of fine clothes. She possessed some beautiful jewellery, among it a set of pink coral and gold, with eardrops hanging to her shoulders and a gorgeous necklet, both of which remain a fascinating memory to the few who can remember her as an old woman in their childhood. She was a useful queen, always ready to help in sickness, and nearly all the small natives of that time owe their introduction to the little world of Pittwater to her kindly ministrations.
She grew eccentric in her later years, and, having no child, she distributed her belongings to her friends. But there is a story that she buried the greater part of her treasures on the island, and some people say that the pink coral necklace is still there waiting for a lucky searcher. This is not the only treasure hidden in the memory of the little island. The first is a three-legged pot full of “holy dollars.” It was taken there in Andrew Thompson’s time by two men who came down the river on their way to Sydney, in a stolen boat laden with stolen treasure. They were arrested at Pittwater and sent back to prison never to return to recover it.
The story of a three-legged pot full of “holy dollars” does not belong exclusively to Scotland Island. I believe that it is told of one or two other places on the old river, and probably has some foundation in fact. But facts about the early settlement of Australia are becoming hard to verify. Some day they may be much more interesting than they are to us who live and move still a little too near to them, and I have ventured to record even small things for that reason.
“Joe Benns” had one intimate friend who knew his story, and always visited him when opportunity offered. This was Father Yonghe, a Belgian priest, who had known Diercknecht’s family in Belgium. He came to Pittwater to say mass in a little wooden church at Careel Bay, which was substantial enough to be worth removing to Narrabeen many years ago, an excellent example of the durability of our hardwood.
Scotland Island has changed hands more than once since it was sold by the heirs of Joe Benns. It was some time ago divided into tiny allotments, and the cottages built on them are occupied occasionally. I am sure that I express the opinion of this society when I say that the few islands which are not only picturesque possessions, but reminders of our early history, should be reserved for ever for the use and pleasure of the people.
The bygone days of beautiful Pittwater, its early residents whose children are scattered far and wide, its farms and orchards, its ships and fisheries, are fading from the memory even of those who call it home, and it seems likely that it will soon be only a playground for the city whose youthful needs it toiled hard to supply.
ILLUSTRATIONS— Map of Pittwater ..., ... ... 180
The Story of Pittwater by Maybanke Anderson, The Royal Australian Historical Society. JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. Vol. VI. 1920. Part IV. Retrieved from Royal Australian Historical Society. (1918). Journal and proceedings Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-593173333
THE STORY OF PITTWATER.
Additional Notes.
(See Volume VI., Part IV.)
Mrs. Francis Anderson desires to make the following comments in connection with the paper published in the previous number of the journal:—
Page 163, line 40: “Pittwater was thus the first place in Australia to be formally named by our first Governor.’ ’
If Manly Beach and Sydney Cove, two undefined beaches in Port Jackson, are “places” in the ordinary acceptation of the term, then of course Pittwater is third.
Page 163, line 41 et seq.: Sydney was never formally named. Phillip’s despatch of June 20, 1790, was addressed from “Sydney,” though his previous despatches had been from “Sydney Cove.” (The word “Cove” might have been accidentally omitted from the former.)
Daniel Southwell, who returned to England in 1791, wrote: “The plan of a town is now laying out .... whether the name is yet determined I cannot tell, but have heard Albion mentioned upon this occasion.” In a footnote (undated) there is written “Sydney was the name decided on.”
Page 168, line 29: For “one of the first two” read “one of the first twenty-two.” These were sent in April 1794, and in August of the same year seventy were gathered there, and by June, 1795, over 400 settlers were to be found on the Hawkesbury.
Page 169, line 34: The date of Hunter’s survey is given as 1804—a typographical error. Hunter left in 1800 ; the survey was made in 1788-89 and settlement at and near Botany Bay, Port Jackson and Broken Bay, is marked on Hunter’s chart of 1796.
Page 188, line 21: For “Harbour and Rivers Trust” read “Harbours and Rivers branch of the Public Works Department.” This must not be mistaken for the Sydney Harbour Trust.
References And Extras
1. By the Skin of Our Teeth – The Passing of the Women's Legal Status Act 1918, Francis Forbes Lecture 30 May 2018. by Virginia Bell AC. On Wednesday, 30 May 2018 the Hon Justice Virginia Bell AC delivered the 2018 Forbes Lecture, "By the skin of our teeth – the passing of the Women's Legal Status Act 1918", to mark the Centenary of the Act. The lecture took place at 5.15 pm in the NSW Bar Association Common Room, and was chaired by Arthur Moses SC.
2. Trove - National Library of Australia.
3. Roberts, Jan, Anderson, Maybanke, Dictionary of Sydney, 2010, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/anderson_maybanke
4. W. M. O'Neil, 'Anderson, Sir Francis (1858–1941)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/anderson-sir-francis-5015/text8341
5. Jan Roberts, Maybanke Anderson, sex, suffrage and social reform, Ruskin Rowe Press, Avalon NSW, 1997
6. Jan Roberts and Beverley Kingston (eds), Maybanke, a Woman's Voice: the Collected Work of Maybanke Selfe-Wolstenholme-Anderson 1845–1927, Ruskin Rowe Press, Avalon NSW, 2000
7. Maybanke Anderson's Story of Pittwater 1770 to 1920 by Jan Roberts. 1996 Ruskin Rowe Press.
Who introduced the orange to Australia?
That question, if it appeared in a General Knowledge paper, would 'floor' the average reader. Maybanke Anderson supplies the answer in a special article in a recent issue of the 'S.M. Herald,' and it is based on some interesting researches. The writer says that the Rev. Richard Johnson, B.A., who came out with the First Fleet, under the command of Captain Phillip, afterwards first Governor of N.S.W., obtained the seeds at Rio Janerio. But for many years, the story that those seeds were sown and our first oranges grown at Kissing Point has been repeated until, like all tradition, it seems the record of a fact. Respect for the memory of a man who for' many years served N.S.W. with simple devotion demands; even in a small matter, the simple truth, and careful search of records of Johnson's letters in the Mitchell Library, and of many other books and documents, all prove its falsity. The chaplain appears to have sown the seeds' in a garden now in the very heart of Sydney. The writer of the article quotes from a number of letters in the Mitchell Library, but says that 'still more convincing evidence as to the growing of the first oranges may be found in the 'Quarterly Journal,' 1828 (page 391, Mitchell Library), where a letter from George Suttor gives information neither uncertain nor doubtful. This letter was sent to the journal by Mr. G. B. Suttor, son of the first mentioned, and almost indicates that even then the matter was a subject for discussion. After Borne preliminary words it runs thus: 'I (George Suttor) was the first to plant the orange trees at Baulkham. Hills. These trees 1 obtained from Colonel Paterson. To him the colonists are indebted for several rare plants and fruits. He brought young orange trees in the ship Walker in 1800 from San Salvador, and gave me four. The first orange trees to bear fruit in the colony were grown by the Rev. R. Johnson, near the spot occupied by the Colonial Secretary's Office. Mr. George Suttor was' appointed to superintend the propagation of plants in the colony, and began his work when he arrived in Sydney in 1800.' TOPICS OF THE TIME (1926, August 6). The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer (NSW : 1898 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166276051
Department of Lands, Sydney, 31st March, 1884.
RESERVE FROM SALE FOR PUBLIC RECREATION.
HIS Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, directs it to be notified that in pursuance of the provisions of the 4th section of the Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1861, the land specified in the Schedule appended hereto shall be reserved from sale for public recreation.
JAMES S. FARNELL.
No. 190. County of Cook, parishes of Strathdon and Warragamba, area about 20 acres. The Crown Lands within 5 chains in rectangular distance westerly from the left bank of the Nepean River from the south-western boundary of reserve No. 43a, notified 15th March, 1877, upwards to the western boundary of Elizabeth Selfe's 80 acres, at the confluence of the Warragamba and Nepean Rivers. [Ms. 84-6,0 £2] RESERVE FROM SALE FOR PUBLIC RECREATION. (1884, March 31). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), p. 2157. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223769516
WOLSTENHOLME STREET
Maybanke Susannah Wolstenholme (later Anderson)
(1845-1927)
Feminist and educationist, established Maybanke College 1885, foundation member and Vice-President of Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales 1891, President 1893-96, published and edited her own fortnightly paper Woman's Voice 1894, helped establish first free kindergarten, at Wooloomooloo (NSW), Secretary of Playgrounds Association of New South Wales until 1920's. AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY National Memorials Ordinance 1928 DETERMINATION OF NOMENCLATURE OF STREETS AND PUBLIC PLACES IN THE A.C.T. (1982, June 4). Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Periodic (National : 1977 - 2011), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237459724
CURNOW PLACE
Matilda Susanna Curnow
(1829-1921)
Teacher; with the help of Maybanke Anderson and Louisa Macdonald established free kindergartens; founder of the Women's Liberal Society and Women's College, Uni. of Sydney. AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY National Memorials Ordinance 1928 DETERMINATION (1987, May 15). Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Periodic (National : 1977 - 2011), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237537813
7th Annual Maybanke Fund Lecture 2019: April 16, 2019 At 5:30 Pm - 7:30 Pm
Visit the Sydney Community Foundation webpage
About The Maybanke Fund
The Maybanke Fund honours the work of Maybanke Anderson, writer, leader, feminist, early childhood education pioneer and promoter of the rights of women and children in Australia.
The Maybanke Fund connects its community of donors with organisations working to reduce social inequality through education, women’s advocacy and social reform – causes that continue to be as important in the 21st century as they were for Maybanke in 1893.
You can make a difference by donating to The Maybanke Fund. Your donation today helps build the Fund for tomorrow and also provides the Maybanke Anderson Award for Indigenous students in Education, at Macquarie University.
Harry Wolstenholme (21 June 1868 – 14 October 1930) was an Australian lawyer and ornithologist. Born in Maitland, New South Wales, the son of Edmund Kay Wolstenholme, a timber merchant from West Maitland, and Maybanke Susannah Anderson (1845-1927), feminist and educationist. When his parents moved to Marrickville, New South Wales, he became a pupil at Newington College (1881–1885). In 1883, 1884 and 1885 he was awarded the Wigram Allen Scholarship, awarded by Sir George Wigram Allen, sharing it in 1885 with Herbert Curlewis. At the end of 1885 he was named Dux of the College and received the Schofield Scholarship. At the University of Sydney he graduated B.A. in 1890.
HARRY WOLSTENHOLME, who has achieved such conspicuous success at the recent senior examination, is the eldest son of Mrs. Wolstenholme, of Maybanke School, Petersham, and was educated at Newington College. He is 18 years of age, having entered the college in July, 1882. He passed the junior examination in 1888, with five A's. and two B's., and won the silver medal for geometry. He gained the Wigram Allen scholarship at Newington College in 1883 and 1884, and the Schofield scholarship in 1885, in addition to numerous medals and books at the various college examinations. His record in the Senior is probably unprecedented, as ho has passed in 11 subjects, being marked A in all but one, in which he has B. He also takes the medals in Greek, Algebra, trigonometry, chemistry, and French, as well as the John West gold modal, and the University prize of £20 for general proficiency. It is hoped that this brilliant success is the prelude to an equally distinguished University career, and a life of usefulness to the colony of which he is a native. NEWS OF THE DAY. (1886, December 4). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 11. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13622134
Harry Wolstenholme married Edith Lucy Doust (1875-1947) on 8 January 1902 in the Methodist Church, Stanmore. Lucy was the sister of Stanley Doust and was an early female graduate at the University of Sydney and tennis player. Prior to their marriage 'Lawn Tennis' results published in newspapers show they played against each other. The 'Tribute by E.D.' run after Maybanke's death was written by Edith, one of her former students.
Doust, Edith Lucy, Mrs. Wolstenholme. English history, A; geography, A: English, A; French; A, Arithmetic, B; geology, A; botany; A. SYDNEY UNIVERSITY. (1890, November 3). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13799217
Their marriage notice:
WOLSTENHOLME - DOUST.—January 8, 1902, at the Wesleyan Church, Stanmore, by the Rev. E. J. Rodd, assisted by the Rev. J. E. Carruthers, Harry Wolstenlolme, of Sydney, to Edith Lucy, daughter of Isaac Doust, of Wyroolah, Dulwich Hill. Family Notices (1902, February 5). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14445797
They had two sons and a daughter, Arthur, named for Harry's lost brother, Marjorie and Harry:
MARRIAGES.
WOLSTENHOLME—MACKENZIE.—April 9, at St. Andrew's, Wahroonga, by the Rev. Stephen Taylor, B.A., Arthur Stanley, elder son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Wolstenholme, of Wahroonga, to Jeannette Murchison, younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Mackenzie, of Wahroonga. Family Notices (1927, May 7). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 14. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16384296
The Engagement Is announced of Mary, second daughter of the late Bishop Long and Mrs. Long, of Killara, to Harry Doust, younger son of the late Mr Harry Wolstenholme and Mrs Wolstenholme, of Palm Beach. Family Notices (1933, November 11). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 14. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17023397
Harry Senior entered the legal profession and between 1907 and 1910 was in partnership with Henry Davis, the founder of Henry Davis York. Failing health caused his retirement from professional activity. Regular readers of History pages in Pittwater Online News would associated him with Mr. McKay and the Palm Beach Land Company and for being one of the early owners of a beachfront home and weekender at Palm Beach.
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From Warringah Shire Minutes from Meetings records:
Ornithology and Ku-ring-gai Chase Trust
Harry Wolstenholme was a member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, to which he was a generous benefactor, and a member of its Council. He served as a trustee of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
SHEARWATERS ON LION ISLAND.
Plate i.
On 1st December, 1924, a party consisting of members of the Ornithological Section of the Society paid a visit to Lion Island, in the Hawkesbury River Estuary, otherwise called Broken Bay, about twenty miles north of Sydney Heads. This island strikingly resembles a lion couchant in its outline, as viewed from Pittwater, its bold sandstone headland facing the entrance to the Bay, while the land falls rapidly westward forming the shoulders, and is rounded off by a gently sloping point which represents the hindquarters of the lion.
At the invitation of Mr. Harry Wolstenholme the party spent Saturday night at his seaside residence fronting the ocean at Palm Beach, and by daylight on Sunday they were on board a launch which conveyed them over the two miles of the Bay to the Island, where they lauded in a sandy cove. The morning was crisp and clear, and a short climb over -sandstone boulders fallen from the cliffs brought the members to the first bun-ows of Fuffinus pacificus, the Wedge-tailed Shearwater. There was little soil amongst the boulders, but a foot or so supported the tangled growth of scrub and trees clinging to the sides of the cliff.
Amongst the rocks and under the roots of the scrub the Shearwaters had made their nests and laid their single white eggs. This bird is as punctual in its breeding habits as its cousin of Bass Strait and Cape Wooloraai, Victoria, Pujfiniis tenidrostris, the Short-tailed Shearwater, the first eggs being laid with commendable regularity on the 26th of November each year, while by the first of December there is not a tenanted burrow without its egg.
While rather longer from tip to tip than the southern species, P. paeificux is of slighter build, and lays an egg very little more than half the bulk and weight of that of P. tenuirostris. and the young bird is never so fat or tooth- some (!) as the Tasmanian "Mutton Bird." The Wedge-tail has a range in Australia extending from Montague Island, N.S.W.. to Raine Islet, Northern Queensland, and from South-west Australia to probably the same northern latitude. It is evidently extending its range southward, while the Short-tail is doing the same in a northerly direction; the two species are found together amongst the countless thousands of dead birds that are washed up on the shores of eastern Australia every year about the end of October. No completely satisfactory explanation of this remarkable mortality has ever been given, although several theories have been advanced from time to time.
The colony on Lion Island probably consists of a thousand or more birds, and they appear to be little disturbed by enemies, although doubtless some young birds and eggs are taken by the large lace lizards and hawks. They are not molested by man, so far as could be ascertained. Published in THE Australian Zoologist Issued by The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales Vol. 4.— 1925-1927. WITH FORTY-NINE PLATES, And Nineteen Text-figures. Sydney; Printed and Published for the Society by The Sydney and Melbourne Publishing Co., Ltd., Sydney.
Publications - The Official Checklist of the Birds of Australia: With Appendix: Scientific Names-Notes and Pronunciation.
Portrait - A portrait of Wolstenholme feeding a thrush in the garden of his home at Wahroonga, New South Wales is held by the National Library of Australia.
THE name of Mr. Harry Wolstenholme, just dead at Wahroonga, will live long in the annals of Australian natural history. It will endure, not because of his scholarly research work, nor because of his activities in societies (he was a trustee of Kuring-gai Chase), but because of the remarkable friendships he established with wild birds about his home.
Thrushes, robins, flycatchers, and honeyeaters seemed to realise that here was an understanding and a sympathetic soul, and they fed from his hands and fluttered about his head. People in the "Pic" (1930, October 16). Daily Pictorial (Sydney, NSW : 1930 - 1931), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247196264
Chisholm, Alec H. (1928). Portrait of Harry Wolstenholme at Wahroonga, Sydney feeding a thrush [1928] Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-150662503
WOLSTENHOLME, Edith Lucy -July 28, 1947, at Pymble, widow of the late Harry Wolstenholme, mother of Arthur, Marjorie, and Harry. Private cremation. Family Notices (1947, July 30). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 26. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18037383
OBITUARY.
MR. HENRY SELFE.
The late Mr. Henry Selfe, whose funeral took place on Thursday last in the Anglican Cemetery, Waverley, was a well-known figure in engineering circles. He was a younger brother of the late Mr. Norman Selfe, and was born at Kingston-on-Thames (England) in 1841, arriving In Sydney as a boy. He served his time at marine engineering at the old P. N. Russell Works. As a young man he went to New Zealand, and was engineer in several coastal traders including the Llewellyn and the Egmont. He was for a time associated with the Panama Mail Company. He was also engaged in gold mining and various business ventures in New Zealand. He married at Wanganui, and came to Sydney in his own steamer, the Go Ahead, which he sold, and settled here, entering the Navigation Department, where he remained as engineer surveyor until his retirement He lived at East Bal-main for some years, but in 1890 moved to Sisters-crescent, Drummoyne. His wife pre-deceased him by 10 years. He leaves a daughter, Mrs. G. C. Whitney, of Drummoyne. OBITUARY. MR. HENRY SELFE. (1922, May 23). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16003853
LAWN TENNIS. (1889, December 3). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13751873
WOMEN'S WORK AFTER THE WAR.
In this article our contributor (Mrs. Maybanke Anderson) discusses the important problem of women's part in the community after the war. She urges that women of every class and condition should give the subject serious consideration. ' To Wait and see, and then to muddle through, would be to follow many precedents, but a better policy would be to think and organise so that peace may not find us unprepared.'
'When the history of our country's share in the war is written, no chapter will be more remarkable than that relating to the range and extent of women's participation.'
THE Quotation at the head of this article is an extract from a speech made by the King to an assemblage of women who had marched in procession to congratulate him and the Queen on their silver wedding day. The. procession consisted of more than three thousand, women workers, chosen from the hundreds of thousands now at work in England, as representatives of the different types who have responded to the call of the nation's need.
The V.A.D. came first, followed by the nurses of the- Metropolitan Board, and after them the 'Jenny Wrens' — the women of the Royal Navy Service. Then came land workers, anti-gas workers, omnibus drivers, railway guards, land army girls, land service women, munition workers, postwomen, doctors, forage workers, etc., etc., and they all stood, a picturesque crowd, in their varied uniforms to listen to the longest speech recorded of a King who never says too much. Only four years have passed since we were obliged to listen to the demands, only too forcible, of a few resolute English women who were determined to get a hearing. Only four years since window-breaking, disorderly meetings, and forcible feeding were discussed with bitterness on both sides! And the whole; business has faded into the forgotten past! Every unpleasant incident belongs to an era wholly superseded and ignored! English women have shown that they can organise when necessity arises to do hard work with a will. They have established beyond the reach of carping criticism the efficiency of their sex. and the world acknowledges it. In the social history of nations there has never been a more remarkable revolution. In the midst, of a great-war, with trouble on every side, amid the perplexity of politics and the strife of opinions, the woman has established her claim to be recognised a unit in a democracy, and has, by straight-out work, come into her own.
What of the Future?
WHAT, it may well be asked, will happen when the farm labourers and the omnibus drivers and the bank clerks come back to claim again the positions they gave up to fight the nation's battles? Many women who never dreamed of independence have achieved it! Will they go back quietly to a poor home and be content to do without the money they are now earning and the liberty that money brings? Will the women of independent means who have experienced for the first time the joy of useful labour go back to tennis and tea, and spend their energies in fancy work? Will the women who have learned to enjoy life out of doors, and the freedom of loose garments and unfettered limbs, wear again the hampering attire of fashion, and mince in tiny shoes? These questions do not touch us in Australia so closely as they must touch the women of England. But Australia will have her own problems, and it is time they were considered. Hundreds of our women who, before the war, never dreamt of working for wages are busy now. In warehouses, in banks, in factories, on motor cars, they are taking places left vacant by men. Hundreds more women, who once lived in sheltered and luxurious homes, without any necessity for labour, are now engaged in work which, though unpaid, is still as hard as, and often harder than, that of the wage-earner. What will they do when the self-enforced work ceases and the men come home? Some of them will certainly be obliged to continue their labour, perhaps to maintain a maimed husband, who will never work again, and his children. But, the others?
Shall we 'wait and see,' or shall we begin to think? Are we going to 'muddle through,'' or are we going to seize opportunity and prepare to make the world a better place for ourselves and our children? These questions cannot be fairly considered without a first consideration of the life-work which nature has assigned to woman. Enthusiasts for woman's rights have sometimes forgotten her duties, and have maintained that a woman's first business should be the development of her own individuality. As if self, not service, were the end of life! As if happiness could be found by attending first to one's own mind and body! No more mischievous doctrine has ever been preached to woman. Or — for in this sex makes no difference — to man. A woman's first duty, the duty which she instinctively desires to do, is to the race. Tin; woman who does not desire to bear a child, or, if that is impossible, to possess a child, is abnormal, a creature distorted by vanity or selfishness. Though she may never know it, there is a kink somewhere in her bodily and mental make-up. To woman is entrusted the continuance of the race and its well-being. She must, whether she will or no, preserve or destroy It, help it to strive upward or leave it to wander and perish in the dull morass of poverty and ignorance; and she neglects her first natural duty at her peril.
What Women of Leisure May Do.
WHEN peace comes women of leisure who now give their time and energy to war work will have immense opportunities for doing work for children — work which has for too long been left to the very few. We have in every one of our large cities a few creches and infants' homes. They help to make the death rat.o of Australian babies compare not unfavourably with the rate of other countries. But while hundreds of our children die every year from ignorance or carelessness we surely cannot say that we are doing enough. While one ignorant mother remains, while one neglected child dies, we women of a new country must stand convicted of neglect of duty. The time must come, if our race Is to continue, when every woman of leisure will know that she ought to blush with shame to see a child neglected whom she could save from death or crime, or a woman uncared for whom she could help. But all women may not care to work for mothers and children, and may still be willing to do something for the preservation of the race. They will have, as they have now, ample opportunity. Our cities, our country towns, our parks, our public buildings, our streets cry out for women's management. Is there anywhere in the world so much public untidiness as in Australia? Dirty paper blows about our lanes, sardine tins litter our vacant lots, men tear up letters and throw them into the gutter, tramguards sweep gay tickets into a heap and leave them to the pleasure of the four winds, housekeepers put out their garbage tins to be ransacked by stray dogs. The tourist from a far-off land stands entranced to gaze at the magnificent beauty of our hills, and sees at his feet the local rubbish tip. He looks over a bridge into the sparkling beauty of a river and sees in its shallows broken crockery and rusty iron. Why extend the list of our public untidiness? Men alone will never alter these disgraceful ^conditions. Their cause and their removal rest with women, and since every virtue, every comfort, every pleasure we practise and enjoy is a portion .of a great mosaic, whose finished design is the preservation of the race and its development from the brut-to deity, women neglect their duty when they allow these things to be.
Problems to be Faced.
IN England, the Minister for Reconstruction has appointed a Women's Housing Sub-committee. He has entrusted to it the task of inspecting specimen houses to be built for the workers, and has asked the im-iabors to advise as to plans. This committee, which will enable the working woman to formulate and express her need:- will at the same time educate her in the practical by which her needs can be met, and will teach her to i.v 1 and enjoy the comforts and conveniences of which she now knows but little. Australian women have as yet taken little active part in the growing movement of town-planning. They sometimes express themselves strongly on the need for more convenient houses, but as yet though the comforts of a home and its situation concern them much more closely than it can possibly concern men, they still wait for men to make suggestions and offer ideas. We have still among our statutes laws which press hardly on women, relics of that almost forgotten past when woman was a chattel, part of the property of her father until he sold her to a husband. A few women have been trying for many years to obtain a greater measure of freedom for women, and have succeeded in effecting alterations. But they have worked alone, and their sisters have been satisfied to let them do so. The time must soon come, if it is not already here, when every woman must realise her responsibility, and work for the welfare of her sex, knowing that by doing so she is working also for men, and for the race. The vilest blot upon our civilisation, our shame, and our disgrace is prostitution. For years a few women have made small efforts to help those who suffered. That such help has almost always come too late. The matter does not call for cure, but for prevention, and good men and waiting for women to begin to do some of the varied work that ought to be done for prevention. Here is work for every woman set free after the war.
Women Who Are Obliged to Work.
IN every town and village of Australia there is now at least one association of women who meet to do work of some kind. If each of these associations, when knitting and sewing for soldiers are no longer needed, would divide into sub-committees, and begin to work for the tidiness of their surroundings, for the comfort of each poor home, for the welfare of every neglected child, for purity of mind and body, and for the banishment of degrading temptation, Australia might become in heart and mind and spirit what it is in outward seeming — in very truth, the most beautiful laud on earth. But there are many women among us who are by our social conditions to earn their own living. They are thus prevented from doing either their first duty to the race or any of that work for its and happiness briefly enumerated. They are sometimes obliged to work, not only for themselves, but for others dependent on them, and they have to do it in competition with others of their own sex and sometimes in competition with men. If the world were properly regulated these men would marry them, become the fathers of their children, and thus provide them with domestic work, which, if well done, would last to the end of their working lives. But the world is not properly regulated! Beside these who are obliged to work for a living there are those who work because they desire to be independent - a perfectly legitimate desire, with which every thoughtful woman must sympathise. Such women may not wish to marry and with that wish we cannot find fault, though we may regret it in the interests of the race. The labour the woman who is not obliged to work competes with that of the woman who works to earn a living, and thus, by increasing the supply of female labour, decreases its value. The number of women working, though not obliged to work, has been greatly increased during the war-time, and unless they go back to their homes and cease to work for ways their labour will by competition make the women's wage even lower than before. The Australian woman will also he obliged to bear with competition from immigration.
Concrete Ship Workers Painters at Work. At a London Railway Station. In charge of a parcel trolley. Facing the surface of concrete slabs. Many girls in England are engaged as painters and decorators.
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A Gas Worker. She doesn't mind the heat of the retort house. A Railway Worker. On duty at the points. Photos: A. I. A. (Official).
Last June the problem of the future of English working' women was discussed at a meeting held in Caxton Hall. London. The meeting was convened by the National Union of Women Workers of Great Britain and Ireland, and was addressed by prominent Labour women, as well as by persons of social importance. The speakers with line voire agreed that the women of the United Kingdom must emigrate after the war, and Lord Burnham proposed that information about emigration should be disseminated by means of the press, that leaflets and lectures should be offend to all women's societies and in all centres where women met, and that an Emigration Board should be appointed to deal only with the emigration of women. Every speaker spoke of the Dominions, and they were unanimous in expressing the opinion that in the colonies English women would find fresh fields of work. Every resolution was carried without opposition.
'Equal Pay for Equal Work.'
IT is fairly certain, then, that the number of working women in Australia will be increased, and it is probable that with the competition and consequent low wages there will be a demand that women should be paid at the same rate as men — 'equal pay for equal work.' The advocates who use this attractive phrase generally do so without considering its meaning and all that it implies. To determine equal pay is easy. There is only one standard for money. A pound is always a pound, and a shilling is always a shilling. But work has many standards of measurement. If may be quick or slow, rough or finished, durable or the reverse, good or bad, and still occupy the same time and be similar work. To decide on equality of work is so nearly impossible that trade unions do not attempt it, but insist, instead, on equal pay for equal time — a rule based on an entirely different principle. This obliges them to be, as they must often realise, unjust to the employer, because to enforce the rule they are obliged to protect the idle or slovenly worker. As a Principle, 'equal pay for equal work' is not recognised by examiners in any trade or profession. Among a number of Persons examined, those who receive the 'pay,' that is the certificate, or diploma, or license, and those who do not receive it may have done in time and labour equal work. The rejected may possibly have exceeded the measure needed and worked harder than the other competitors. But they do not all receive equal pay. Because, in estimating the value of work, other factors beside time and labour must be considered. As a principle, equal pay for equal work is never recognised by private or uncontrolled employers. If they did recognise it they would soon cease to employ. No one goes to a restaurant and pays for a poor dinner when he can go to another and get a good one for the same price, though the cook in the first mentioned may have worked as hard as the expert in the second. No gardener will long be paid high wages for an unsatisfactory garden, though he dig from morning till night. To demand equality in pay when equality in work is almost impossible can only lead to endless dispute.
In Banks and Offices.
A WOMAN may do work, and possibly often does work, equal to that of a man. But her employer considers, in some cases, not only the quantity and quality of her work, but its possible continuance and her disabilities of many sorts. The manager of an Australian bank was lately asked why he did not care to employ women in his bank. 'Because,' he said, 'I feel that I can never be sure of them. A boy enters a bank, and accepts it as his life work. He devotes himself to it entirely, and if he works well I am sure of his service. A girl enters, and takes it as a temporary perch, from which she may mount to matrimony. She may work as well as the boy. I admit that sometimes she works better and is more trustworthy, but it is impossible that she can be as much in earnest, and I do not care to train an officer who may leave me at any moment.' In an article in a late number of the 'Bankers' Magazine,' an English paper, a writer says: 'It can hardly be denied that when women were first admitted to the service of the bank, directors and managers were a shade apprehensive with regard to the innovation, because they feared that their customers might suppose that privacy in respect of their financial affairs might be in danger of less scrupulous observance.' With many words lie goes on to say that 'after three years no ground whatever has been found for these fears.' What he does not say is more important, for though he expresses surprise that women have not disclosed business secrets, he wholly refrains from expressing satisfaction with their work. Like the Australian first quoted, he evidently does not desire to employ too many women after the war, and it he does employ them he will not concede the demand for equal pay. These two quotations may not express the opinions of the majority of managers of banks and offices, and it is possible that some women, having acquitted themselves well in such work, may, in some cases, be retained. But the men will come home, and though many of them may never again be content to do office work some will be obliged to resume it. Will the women now in their positions be satisfied to go back to less important work and a. lower salary?
This question has already been fully discussed in England. Two meetings of leading trade union women have been held this year under the auspices of the National Alliance of Employers and Employed, and at them it was decided to take before a larger conference of women's societies proposals embodying the following points: — 'That women, while prepared to give up their present work to returning soldiers, shall not go back to their old jobs on the sweated wage that existed prior to the war.' 'That the Government should co-relate the questions of women's labour, the conversion of factories to peace industries, and the distribution of raw material, in such a way as to make them inter-dependent.' 'That the hours of labour of the women and the returning men should be reduced to six, five, and four hours per day, so that all the women and all the men work half time, and that as the social system resumes its normal course, and as the women go back to the prewar industries, the hours of the men be increased to a maximum of eight.' 'That any scheme introduced by the Government to prevent the disabled or pensioned soldier from being exploited by low wages after the war be also made toapply to women.'
In these resolutions the question of 'equal pay for equal work' is not mentioned. The working women of England have probably found by experience that, however just may be the claim, it is at present not expedient to make it. Some time ago an experiment was made in a large city of Australia, by some women who worked in kitchens. They demanded equal pay with the men who were doing similar work, and their demand was conceded. But the result was not what they expected. The men where they were employed gave up the work, women were appointed in their places, and in a. comparatively short time so many women applied for employment that the employer reduced the rate; the reduction was sanctioned, and the women have ever since done all the work at a reduced rate.
A similar instance may be found in the case of lift attendants. The award made in Sydney specified the minimum wage, but did not say that it was to apply either exactly to male or female labour. For a time employers paid both alike, but the matter was referred to the Court of Industrial Arbitration and a specific wage for female labour was fixed, which involved a considerable reduction on the former rate.
Basic Wage for Women Workers.
IT is satisfactory to know that the question of a basic wage for women workers is shortly to be considered by the Board of Trade. We shall no doubt hear some interesting evidence, and may hope that after that the working woman may at least receive enough to live on, which now, in some trades, she does not get. And, again, no doubt we shall be obliged to hear discussion on the question of the 'living wage.' This phrase, coined to express a righteous demand, is as misleading as that other phrase 'equal pay for equal work.' It is obviously impossible to decide on the amount which shall at the same time support a man with a wife and family and a single man with no dependents, and to attempt to do so can never end in a decision fair to each worker. To give to the single man the amount given to a married man with children encourages him to waste his money in gambling and drink; it helps him to support prostitution, and gives him an ideal of life and pleasure for which his training has not prepared him, and whose temptations he cannot always resist. He does not marry, because he fears to be deprived of his injurious pleasures. If the same amount must perforce be given to every worker, either that amount should be the living wage of the single man, in which case the married man should receive a subsidy from the Government, in proportion to the number of his family, or a portion of the single man's wage should be retained and given to him when he marries. A detailed scheme for thus assisting the married man and helping the single man to save for his marriage has been lately published by a resident in Queensland, and deserves much more serious consideration than it has yet received. If, after the war, women enter into competition with the men at what have been men's occupations, the question of the 'living wage' will be much more complicated than it is at present. ( Continued on Page 25 .)
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Harvest Time in France. Cleaning a Retort.
The illustrations on this and the previous page do not actually illustrate the article, but they have an important bearing on the matter discussed. The photographs were taken in England and France , where women are engaged in all kinds of work.
PROBLEMS THAT WILL HAVE TO BE FACED.
Women's Work After The War. ( Continued from Page .9. ) —
Many women work now for an amount that keeps them only because they live in a home which they, in small measure, help to support. Many move, who have no home near their work, live two in a small, hired room, and spend their leisure where they can. The question of a living wage for women is therefore a question of extreme social importance, the very young woman driven into the street by poverty, or by lack of comfort, or by desire for recreation, may easily seem and very often does become, a menace to the health and morals of the community. Much more might be written upon the possible condition of working women after the war, but in this short and imperfect summary enough has surely been said to show that women of every class and condition ought to give the subject serious consideration. To wait and see. and then to muddle through, would be to follow many precedents, but a better policy would be to think and organise, so that peace may not find us unprepared.
___________________________
A military Bureau of Advice has been established in Sydney under the control of Colonel .J. S. Lyster. The object is to assist all officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, and their dependents who are in search of knowledge respecting the adjustment of war claims and other matters connected with demobilisation and an immediate return to civil life.
WOMEN'S WORK AFTER THE WAR. (1918, November 13). Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160627531
BOOTH HOUSE.
HOME FOR AGED WOMEN.
SALVATION ARMY'S WORK.
There was a very large gathering of members of the Salvation Army and their friends to witness the official opening, on Saturday afternoon, of Booth House, another of the eventide homes which have been established by the Army for aged ladies. The building, formerly known as Maybank, is situated in extensive grounds at the corner of Fraser Street and Wardell-road, Marrickville, and is the sixth home In New South Wales and Queensland established by the Army. Three of those are set apart for aged men, and three for women, the whole accommodating nearly 400 guests. The original cost of the house and land amounted to £3300, while the new wing, alterations, and furnishing, cost an additional £2500. making a total of £5800.
The opening ceremony was performed by Sir Elliot Johnson, and among those present were Mr. W. E. V. Robson, M.L.C., and Mrs. Rob -son, Messrs. J. T. Ness and W. Scott Fell, Ms.L.A.. Aid. H. J. Morton (Mayor of Marrickville) and Mrs Morton. Major Jarvie, M.C., and Madame Jarvie, Commissioner H. E. and Mrs. Whatmore, Brigadier Orames, field secretary, Brigadier Bickerton, Brigadier Cross, Brlgadier Sim (financial secretary), Lieut. col. Spargo (women's social secretary for eastern Australia).
Sir Elliot Johnson, when declaring the Booth Home open, said that when he was a boy of 13 years of ago he had a desire to go to sea, and was sent to join a ship at the Salthouse Dock. Having a few days to wait before sailing, with some follow-apprentlces he went for a stroll Into that salubrious locality known as Whitechapel. Passing a small wooden hall they were surprised to hear popular music hall airs being sung, but the words were very strange. Entering the hall they found it was really a religious meet-ing which was being conducted by the man who afterwards became known throughout the world as General Booth. (Applause.)
The General found that If people would not seek Christianity, it would have to be brought to them, and to bring the message home to them he made use of the airs with which they were familiar. He was afraid that his companions and himself, like many others, were inclined to treat the service with levity. But an old gentleman, who had reproved them, said he felt that they had that day seen the -beginning of a movement which would one day extend throughout tho whole world. How truly prophetic those words were they all now knew. The work of the Army had extended all over the world, and its influence was reaching and rescuing thousands, which, but for It would never have heard of Christianity. The Army," by Its work, was counter-acting those pernicious teachings which were being spread by the alien element In our midst, who, by their Sunday schools and other means, were teaching and spreading disloyalty to God. King, and Empire. (Applause.) BOOTH HOUSE. (1923, March 5). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16063609
Maybanke Aged Care Plus Centre - 80 Wardell Road, Dulwich Hill - Exterior facade of building in 2018
Matilda Susanna Curnow (1829–1921)
The death occurred yesterday morning, at her residence, Clifton, Cambridge-street, Enmore, of Mrs. Curnow, the widow of Mr. Wm. Curnow, formerly editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, who died in 1903. The late Mrs. Curnow, who was in her 93rd year, was born in Sydney in 1829.
About her there was a simple charm of personality that won for her a wide circle of close friends. "A light-hearted lady of 8O" was Lady Poore's description, in her book, Recollections of an Admiral's Wife, of Mrs. Curnow in 1909. To those who know her, this description will appeal as portraying a dominant side in the late Mrs. Curnow's disposition. She was not only thoroughly cheerful herself, but it was a mission of hers to bring sunshine into the lives of others. With this object in view, she founded, in 1909, the Optimists' Club of New South Wales, of which Lady Poore was the first president and the late Sir George Reid the patron. At the inaugural meeting held in the Sydney Town Hall, Mrs. Curnow, in the course of her remarks, said: "I quite agree with the thinker who wrote: 'The greatest asset in this universe is faith,' for faith brings hope, and hope makes us cheerful, and cheerfulness is optimism." She further defined optimism as "the process of distilling the best and sweetest out of life and sharing it with others." Hers was no theoretical doctrine. She devoted her life to putting it into practice.
It was this spirit of trying to brighten the lives of others, especially little children, that prompted Mrs. Curnow to work heart and soul for the Free Kindergarten, the cause nearest to her heart. Through her energy and devotion, and with the hearty co-operation of Mrs Frances Anderson and Miss Louisa Macdonald, a branch of the Free Kindergarten was founded in Newtown many years ago, and it proved a blessing to the young children in the slum area in which it was situated.
Other enterprises which claimed the late Mrs. Curnow's wonderful energy and enthusiasm were the formation of a Women's Literary Society, the Women's Industrial and Centenary Fair in 1888, the furtherance of the claims of the Women's Jubilee Fund, and the Sydney University Women's College. In the last-named she was particularly interested.
Mrs. Curnow was a bright conversationalist and a considerable reader, with a nimble wit. Many visitors to her home will recall animated discussions with her on various topics. She was a great student of the Bible, with broad views, and was a keen admirer of Henry Ward Beecher, Martineau, Wilberforce, Stopford Brooke, and H. C. Brierley, among others. Psychical research, too, figured among her interests. Mrs. Curnow lived a full and vigorous life, and to the end her mind was clear and bright, though for the past few years she was a comparative invalid. Her exquisite handwriting is familiar to all her friends.
There was a family of six–four boys and two girls. The surviving children are Miss Nellie M. Curnow, Mrs. Clark, and Mr. Leslie Curnow, who is engaged in journalism in London. Mrs. Curnow has also left seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
The interment, which will be of a private character, will take place this, morning. AN OPTIMIST. (1921, September 16). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15981423
WOMEN'S COLUMN.
MRS. CURNOW.
AN APPRECIATION.
The battalions engaged in social service have always included all sorts and conditions of men and women–scouts, banner bearers, sentries, King's messengers–most of them volunteers, all enthusiasts. Among such workers Mrs. Curnow many years ago took her place. Always ready to listen to a new theory, always waiting to sympathise with a new idea or a new method, intelligent, energetic, she would make an effort to peer through the dullest mists, and try to find firm foot-hold for advance where more cautious souls hesitated and shrank back. Sometimes a visionary, always a mystic, she still remained sane and generally practical, because she possessed in large measure the saving grace of common sense.
Such a woman was sure to find useful work for her day and generation, and she found abundance, and did it, 30 or 40 years ago. When three adventurous women met and decided that there was need for a society whose members, all women, should not only meet and discuss literary matters, but also occasionally the topics of the day, so that they might hear advanced opinions, Mrs. Curnow was one of the three, and the first convener. The Women's Literary Society was the mother or grandmother of the first Women's Club in Sydney, and many of its younger members, are now notable women in the intellectual life of the State. When the project for a women's college was mooted, and the scanty interest of the many had to be aroused and money collected, Mrs. Curnow did her share by promoting an entertainment which helped in both ways. When a few women, more than a quarter of a century ago, declared that the hope of the nation was with the children, and decided therefore to try to open free kindergartens, again Mrs. Curnow took an active interest, which remained until her death. Through her instrumentality the second kindergarten for Sydney, in Victoria Lodge, Newtown, long since removed to another home, was opened, and maintained, at first, mainly through her exertions. And when, a few years ago, pessimism prevailed, for times were hard and the great mass of the people indifferent, she again did good work by founding the Optimists' Club and insisting that while God is in Heaven all must be right with the world.
Always in sympathy with the demand of woman for the right to do her duty, Mrs. Curnow recorded her vote in the last election, at the age of ninety-one. She has gone to the rest she longed for, and we cannot mourn a passing so peaceful, but many a woman who enjoyed her bright conversation, and valued her sympathy, will remember to the end of life her cheery versatility and her unvarying kindliness.
M. FRANCIS ANDERSON.
WOMEN'S COLUMN. (1921, September 16). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15981299
Maria Gordon-Craig (Palm Beach - mother of Ailsa) was an early 'Optimist'. Maria was also one of the ladies who did and did and did for others - decades of fundraising for the Newtown Free Kindergarten among many other ventures into lifting the spirits of others mark her years on this planet. She was a founding member of the Optimists Club:
Secondary Schools for Girls
By E. M. Tildesley
NEW SOUTH WALES has an admirable school system organised under the Department of Education. It provides for the instruction of girls through all stages from the kindergarten to the University. But alongside this system exists another, older and more deeply rooted — contributing in a diversity of ways to girls' education. It may be of interest to follow the course of this unofficial system from its beginning.
Facts about girls' education in the early days of the colony are hard to come by, though, no doubt, parents who wished their daughters to become, in the language of the time, ''elegant and accomplished females," employed a governess at home, with visiting tutors for special subjects. Governesses, like blackfellows, are now a vanishing race; but in the first half of the nineteenth century they abounded. The only way in which a gentlewoman without a competence could earn her living was by teaching. Though we have here very little in the way of data about the governesses of Georgian days, we know something of their English contemporaries; and as many governesses in this country were Englishwomen, perhaps the sketch of Jane Fairfax in Miss Austen's 'Emma' will serve as an example.
To quote: — Jane Fairfax had been given an excellent education. Living constantly with right-minded and well-informed people, her heart and understanding had received every advantage of discipline and culture; and every lighter talent had been done full justice to by the attendance of first-rate masters. At eighteen or nineteen she was, as far as such an early age can be qualified for the care of children, fully competent to the offices of instruction herself. She had long resolved that one-and-twenty should be the period. With the fortitude of a devoted novitiate, she had resolved at one-and-twenty to complete the sacrifice and retire from all the pleasures of life, of rational intercourse, equal society, peace and hope, to penance and mortification for ever.
JANE was apparently not a born teacher, and we are relieved on her account when she makes a good match. Emma's own preceptress, Miss Taylor, though she lived at Highfield for sixteen years, 'less as a governess than a friend,' also reached the haven of matrimony in the end, and everyone except Mr. Woodhouse rejoiced for her sake. On the whole, the governess's lot cannot have been a happy one; but education owes her much. The staple of her instruction consisted in good principles and good manners, though she usually undertook to teach music and painting as well as the three Rs. Both Miss Taylor and Miss Fairfax wrote a beautiful hand. In that branch of study we have, alas! fallen from their standard.
Schools, no doubt, appeared early in the history of New South Wales. In one Sydney family there is record of at least four generations of schoolgirls. The great-grandmother attended Miss Mivart's in Hunter street, the grandmother was at Miss Johnson's in Elizabeth-street, and the mother boarded at Rosebank in William-street with the Misses Martin. Here we pass from the region of legend to that of full recollection. The former pupil of these ladies cherishes happy memories of her schooldays. 'The elder Miss Martin painted beautifully and the younger was a wonderful pianist. They were strict, but they were good sports.' And if the girls under their care did not study some subjects now considered important they did at least have implanted in them a love of good literature — perhaps the best gift education can bestow. Rosebank collected day girls in a specially chartered omnibus from as far afield as Pyrmont and Balmain.
Lady Murray, mother of two most distinguished Australians, one the famous translator of 'Euripides' and the other Governor of Papua, presided over a notable school at Springfield, Darlinghurst-road, which on her retirement was taken over by Mme. de Monsigny. A gathering of Spring-field girls not long ago served to remind Sydney how widespread and beneficent was the influence of these two headmistresses. Anything like an exhaustive catalogue of schools that have long ceased to exist is impracticable, but several more require mention. Miss Hooper, in Upper Fort-street, numbered among her pupils Miss J. F. Russell (afterwards Mrs. Barff), the third woman graduate on the roll of Sydney University, while Miss Flower, whose school stood on the site now occupied by the Australian Club, taught an-other brilliant early graduate, Miss Jean Amos (after wards Lady Anderson). Miss Flower's school was known all over the State and had many country girls. Finally, to close this imperfect list of past headmistresses who played their part in shaping our secondary system, one may cite Miss Baxter, of Argyle, Surry Hills, whose girls won medals in the Junior and Senior Examinations year after year; and Mrs. Wolstenholme, who had a school in Marrickville before her marriage to Professor Anderson, and whose name is enshrined in the Maybanke Anderson Free Kindergarten.
Geographical considerations greatly affect schools, and all these, with others unrecorded, were not far from the centre of our present far-flung city. So was Ailanthus College, kept by the Misses Gillam in a William-street house, which derived its name from a fine ailanthus tree in the front garden. This school was later merged in Shirley, founded by Miss Hodge and Miss Newcomb, who should live in educational history as pioneers of the kindergarten method.
The oldest existing secondary school in Sydney is St. Catherine's, Waverley, which was founded by Bishop Barker in 1856, with Miss Law as its first headmistress, primarily to provide education for the daughters of the clergy. After it at some considerable interval come Claremont, Randwick, established by Miss Hyland, and Normanhurst, Ashfield, whose first principal was Miss Ellen Clarke; later she took Mrs. Stiles into partnership. These schools both date from 1882.
Miss Marian Clarke first opened Abbotsleigh at Parramatta, and subsequently migrated to Wahroonga. Miss Gurney and Mlle. Soubeiran were the founders of Kambala. Both these have now come under control of a church council. Miss Wallis was the first owner of Ascham. Miss Badham took charge of the earliest Church of Eng-land Grammar School, which was opened in 1895.
Many of us have abiding memories of her ripe scholarship and brilliant wit. Among other achievements rarely emulated she taught her girls Greek and oarsmanship. Her friend, Mrs. Garvin, was the pioneer head of the Sydney Girls' High School.
AT the present time there are, exclusive of convents, no less than thirty girls' schools — twenty-five of them in Sydney itself — which are registered by the department as supplying adequate instruction up to Leaving Certificate standard. Some are privately owned; the majority are governed by councils under the aegis of a Church. Of these the Church of England claims most, but the Presbyterians and Methodists each have several. All these schools compete in public examinations with the High schools, and when we bear in mind that High schools admit only the pick of the pupils in the State primary schools, whereas the non-State schools do not impose an intelligence test as a preliminary to enrolment, the re-sults they obtain show that they can hold their own. The secondary schools help to diversify the educa-tional landscape. They possess marked individuality. In this they are essentially British. Other great systems of national education have aimed at a rigorous uni-formity. Napoleon a century ago, like the Bolsheviks nowadays, sought to make all schools conform to one pattern. In our Mother Country, by contrast, one finds a bewildering variety of types of schools. Like the British Constitution, the British educational system was not deliberately framed. It could say with Topsy, 'I 'spects I growed.'
The different schools have a personal quality and form individual tradition. Now in education personality is an all-important factor — far more essential than equipment or curriculum. In the privately-owned schools the personality of the head is the determinant. Those of us who have been so fortunate as to be educated under a great headmistress realise how much more we owe to that fact than to our choice of subjects for study or the information we obtained from books. For this reason alone the private school will always, one hopes, survive. To an educational genius work under a department or even a council has certain disadvantages, though she may prevail against them. As a wise professor said of examinations: 'They cannot hurt our souls.' On the other hand, private ownership does not ensure the same continuity as a denominational school, with the power of organised religion at its back. If a private school is to celebrate its jubilee, as some are near doing, its foundations must be well and truly laid and its successive heads must maintain its original tradition, though not, of course, so rigidly as not to adapt it to the changing spirit of the times. Parents who choose private schools are no doubt actuated by various motives, but one of them must always be that the personality of the head gives them confidence in the education their daughters will get under her.
The denominational schools provide a definite religious atmosphere, and though in many cases the pupils who attend them belong to other Churches, definiteness has value; undenominational religion is apt to be a shadowy and unsubstantial thing. Likewise, the denominational school is sure of powerful friends ; its Church regards it as a valuable ally, and it enlists the goodwill and support of many who have not the direct interest in its wellbeing that arises from concern for an individual pupil. The economic problems involved in keeping a school tend to grow more urgent and Church schools can raise the wind for costly improvements to their buildings and equipment in ways impossible to the others. The tendency at present is for denominational schools to increase in numbers and enrolment. The council of perfection for those who believe in the principle of a definite religious atmosphere would be to establish such schools for all the children they number among their adherents; but so far the Roman Catholic Church, which considers this a vital matter, is the only one that has attempted it. Other Churches have to put more reliance on Sunday schools and on the hours allotted in the public schools for religious instruction. On the purely secular side, denominational schools have done magnificent work, and so advanced the general cause of education. From time to time the newspapers print cables and interviews tending to create the impression that our educational standard is the best in the world. Some of those best qualified to judge would hesitate to agree.
When the headmaster of Winchester visited Sydney a few years ago those who heard him realised that the great school founded centuries ago in Alfred the Great's ancient capital has a cultural standard which it would be hard to match in this young metropolis, and even a cursory acquaintance with the educational level attained in such countries as Austria is a whole-some corrective to any inclination towards boastfulness here. The European child has a richer cultural back-ground. In comparison the Australian girl has less chance of acquiring culture in the family circle and fewer opportunities of reading widely. But she has on the whole a sturdier physique — our climate with its constant calls to out-of-doors may claim the credit for this — and in her school studies she tends to be what the French approvingly call serieuse. That is, she is a conscientious worker. Schoolgirls often put in long hours at preparation over and above their lessons in class. This is particularly the case with day-girls. Boarders, at least, go to bed early. Such strenu-ous study as a rule shows zeal rather than wisdom. No satisfactory educational system should make school-work a grind. If parents followed headmistresses' ex-ample in insisting on a reasonable amount of sleep for examination candidates there would probably be no fewer marks gained, and certainly in the long view no harm done to education. But it is hard to convince girls that there is no positive merit in spending hours over home-work.
THE present state of girls' secondary schools in New South Wales is such as to put good heart into their champions. Examination results next month will show us that the subject in which girls are least apt to fail is English, in which a fair number of boys are usually ploughed. On the other hand, mathematics is confessedly a stumbling-block to girls rather than to boys. To prophesy is not easy, but if one might venture on a forecast it would be that the present tendency to differentiate between the sexes in currricula is likely to accentuate itself. The great battle for the right of girls to full development of their intelligence was won in the 'seventies and 'eighties, and it was natural that at first educationists should be bent on proving that girls could learn what boys did. But now we are realising more and more that it is not necessary or desirable that their studies should be on all fours. Girls' schools have always devoted more time to general culture and the arts; now they are beginning to concern themselves with domestic science as well as accomplishments. They have never lost sight of the great truths that education is for living, not for a livelihood, and that it is their function to help their pupils towards that happiness which is, in the words of the ancient sage, 'an activity of the spirit along the lines of excellence.' Secondary Schools for Girls (1929, December 11). Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), p. 30. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160393345
ANDERSON—WIGHT.—January 26, at St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn, by Rev. Clive Statham, Emeritus Professor Francis Anderson, Sydney University, to Josephine, younger daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Borthwick Macdonald Wight, Sydney.Family Notices (1928, February 3). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16438983
Philosophy and Finance
A CLEAR conscience, a good digestion, a sense of humor, and to be happily married, is the prescription for happiness of Professor Francis Anderson. But ability to drive a good bargain is an attribute from which the professor, who is returning to Hunter's Hill to live, derived happiness while in England. He bought a second-hand car, and with his wife at the wheel, motored thousands of miles sight-seeing without a puncture and without engine trouble. Six months of constant use, then he sold the car for £20 less than be paid for it.Secrets of the Town (1930, February 23). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 17. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226030838
Gill, Herbert & Fairfax Corporation. (1930). Professor Francis Anderson and his wife returning to Sydney by the ship Port Melbourne, New South Wales, 15 February 1930 Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-160681036
Marriages
226/1878 WIGHT BORTHWICK MCD JONES EMILY J SYDNEY
WIGHT—JONES.—February 19, at St. Philips', Sydney, by the Rev. Canon O'Reilly, Borthwick M., only son of the late Captain Borthwick R. Wight, of London, to Emily Jane, second daughter of Charles Davis and Jane Jones, late of Great Malvern, Worcester. Family Notices (1878, March 9). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13409344
Children registered
WIGHT PHOEBE JANE 4999/1879 BERTHWICK MCDONALD EMILY JANE NEWTOWN
WIGHT JAMES DAVID 2226/1880 BORTHWICK MCD EMILY JANE SYDNEY
WIGHT RUSSELL MCD 7980/1881 BORTHWICK MCD EMILY JANE REDFERN
WIGHT JOSEPHINE 10109/1884 BORTHWICK MCD EMILY JANE REDFERN
WIGHT EDGAR A 11153/1887 BORTHWICK MCD EMILY J REDFERN
Shipping Intelligence.
ARRIVAL.
From Hobart Town, yesterday, whence she sailed the 29th ultimo, the ship Medway, 45 ' tons, Captain Borthwick Wight, with 300 bushels of wheat, and sundries. Passengers, Miss Kemp, Captain Webster, Dr. Westbrook and son, Mr. Mc'Dougall, Mr. Griffiths, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson and family, Mr. and Mrs. Wintle and family, Mr. Jamott, Mr. Burton, and Miss St. John. Agent, Mr. Mitchell. Shipping Intelligence. (1839, October 10). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2544229
DEATH.
WIGHT—On April 20th at her late residence, 2, West Newington Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, REBECCA, widow of the Captain BORTHWICK WIGHT, and the beloved mother of Mr. BORTHWICK WIGHT, Wardell, Richmond River, aged 54 years. Family Notices (1869, August 3). Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser (Grafton, NSW : 1859 - 1889), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61890552
JONES.—June 4, at the residence of her son-in law, Borthwick M. Wight, Iona, Cavendish-street, Stanmore, Jane, relict of the late C. D. Jones, late of Malvern, Worcester. Family Notices (1896, June 6). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14052616
WIGHT.—January 2, at her residence, Newtown Road, the wife of B. M. Wight, of a daughter. Family Notices (1879, January 18). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28392781
WIGHT.—April 28, at her residence, Pitt-street, Redfern, Mrs. Borthwick M. Wight, of a daughter. Family Notices (1884, May 6). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13560983
WIGHT.-January 31, at her residence Pitt-street, Redfern, Mrs. Borthwick M. Wight, of a son. Family Notices (1887, February 12). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28354710
WIGHT.—August 24, 1906, at Sydney, Borthwick McDonald Wight, late of Cambridge-road, Drummoyne, only son of the late Captain Borthwick Wight, of Lorraine-place, London, and Jeddburgh, Scotland. Funeral this (Saturday) afternoon, at Waverley Cemetery, 4 p.m.. Home papers please copy. Family Notices (1906, August 25). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28156332
WIGHT.-June 21, 1925, Emily Jane Wight, of Ginnahgulla, Alexander-street, Hunter's Hill, widow of the late Borthwick Macdonald Wight (suddenly). Private interment June 23, 1925. Family Notices (1925, June 24). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 12. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16220487
MR J H. WANT.
DIED THIS MORNING.
The Hon. J. H. Want, K.C., M.LC, died at 20 minutes past 11 this morning at his residence, ''Ellerslie,' -85 Darlinghurst-road, Darlinghurst. The Hon. John. Henry Want was the fourth son of Randolph John Want, of Sydney, solicitor, and was born at Sydney in 1846. His brothers were Randolph. Frederick, Sydney, and Thomas Watt, of whom only Sydney Want survives aim; aua ue had four sisters, Mrs Scarvell, Mrs. Doyle, Mrs. Simpson, and Mrs. Read, of whom only the first and last named survive him. He was educated at the Sydney Grammar School, which was then under the head-mastership of Mr. W. J. Stephens, and on leaving school he went tor some time into his father's office, and then to the Hartley shale and oil mines, which were then owned, by his father, Sir Saul Samuel, and others, the. property being the origin of the N.S-W. Shale and Oil Company. Here he put in some manual labour, and at the same time studied law, and ultimately began to read in earnest for the Bar. ' ' He was one of three pupils who read with the present Chief Justice of New South Wales, Sir Frederick Darley; the other two being the Hon. C. E. Pilcher, K.C., and his Honour Mr. Justice O'Connor, of the Federal High Court, so that the three pupils (who were the only three ever taken by the Chief Justice) all made their mark at the Bar and in public' life.
The legal career if the deceased' gentleman was brilliant, and he earned one of the largest incomes of the day at the Bar. -He was admitted to the Bar on November 13, 1869, and was made a Q.C. on December 13, 1887.
In politics he was distinguished by his great strength of character, and he held the office of Attorney-General in his first Parliament, as he was appointed Attorney-General on October 7, and was returned to Parliament for Gundagai on October 22, 1885. He held office, with a short intermission, to January 19, 1887. He sat in the twelfth and thirteenth Parliaments for Gundagai, but was returned for Paddington in 1889, 2nd sat for that seat till 1894, when he was appointed to the Legislative Council. He was again Attorney-General, from December, 1894, to April, 1898, and from June, 1898, to April, 1899.
For some, time previous to his death he took little active' interest, to politics. Mr. Want was in his younger days an enthusiastic yachtsman, and owned the Miranda and other well-known yachts. In this respect, as in some others, he inherited the nature of his father, who was a great yachtsman, and had owned the Whynot, the Julia, and other boats that in the middle of last century were the cracks of Sydney Harbour. The late Mr. J. H. Challis, benefactor of Sydney University, and Mr. Randolph Want were associated in the ownership of a fine schooner yacht. But it was in the Whynot and 'the Julia that 'Jack' Want (as he was invariably called in those days, as in after life) got all his early sailing knowledge — a knowledge which at many times afterwards proved, very valuable to him in his profession. Not only did he become an exceedingly skilful yachtsman, but he was absolutely fearless. Nothing delighted him better than to run down to Melbourne and across to Tasmania in one of his own boats, and there were few islands within a hundred miles of the coast of either of the three States that he had not visited. .
The ill-fated Mignonette, which was lost at sea in 1884, with such tragic and sensational circumstances, was his property. Mr. Want had purchased the Mignonette in England, and she was being brought to Sydney for him by a crew consisting of three men and a boy — a lad about 17 years of age. On July 5 of that year the yacht was cast away, during a storm, about 1600 miles from the Cape of Good Hope, and the crew were- compelled to take to an open boat, with no water, and with no food but a few turnips. They caught a turtle on the fourth day, which lasted them for several days, and some' rain water was caught 'in' their oilskin coats, but on the eighteenth day, when they were still probably 1000' miles from land (in fact it is doubtful if the 'boat was ever nearer), they had been for six days without food, and without water for five. One of the men then suggested that someone should be sacrificed (eaten) to save the rest. Several days later, while the boy was asleep in the boat, he was killed, and his body eaten. Two of the crew were subsequently tried for murder, and -convicted. There was an appeal, on the ground that under the circumstances the killing was justified by necessity, but the appeal was dismissed, though the prisoners were subsequently released, under the Royal prerogative.
A very keen fisherman, Mr. Want bore the reputation among his friends of knowing all the best spots, and of being— as one gentleman expressed it to-day— 'able ' to' catch fish when no one else could do - so.'
He was a hardworking National Park Trust, and was equally jealous of preserving the valuable fisheries of the State, and the flora and fauna and natural attractions of the great public reserve on the shores of Port Hacking. Strange to say, in his early life he had no taste for law. When he entered his father's' office upon leaving the Grammar School he found the studies very uncongenial. It was then that he gave way way to his desire for a freer and more open life; and, throwing down his' books, went up to the shale mines at Hartley.
The writer of a sketch which was published in a Sydney magazine some years ago told 'how he returned to the law. 'The story goes that he was rather a dull boy at school, yet .not so dull as not to believe there was one schoolfellow even duller than himself. When, therefore, some years later, he was managing a mine at Lithgow, and heard that his schoolfellow was-reading for the Bar, he said to himself, 'Well, if he can be a lawyer, I can!... MR. J. H. WANT. (1905, November 22). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113280825
John (Jack) Want
STORY OF THE LATE MR. WANT.HOW HE SURPRISED A SHIPMASTER.-
A story of the late Mr. J. H. Want which serves excellently to illustrate his nature as a sportsman and fearless yachtsman, is told by a gentleman well-known in Sydney legal circles.
''I was travelling up from the Bluff (N.Z.) to Melbourne once,' he said, 'and our steamer ran through some very heavy weather. Our boat, I remember; took in a tremendous lot of water. When the blow had moderated a bit, I was chatting with the shipmaster, and the conversation was upon the subject of the weather.Presently the captain said. 'Do you know a man named Jack Want, in Sydney?' - -'I said that I did, and asked why he mentioned him. ''He replied that we had some great yachtsmen in Sydney, and that Want was one ofthem. Then he went on to say that on a trip across, a little while previously, he had met similar weather to that we had just passed through. As it was clearing up a bit, the look-out man made out what appeared to be a fishing boat in distress. Evidently it had been blown out to sea, for it was quite a hundred miles from land. We bore down on the boat. When we got fairly close I found that it was a yacht, hove-to. Finding her in such an extraordinary position, I signalled her, ‘Do you' want anything?' '' The answer surprised me a bit. He signalled. 'All right, run short of soda-water.' ''It was then,' added the captain, 'blowing hard enough to blow the yacht out of the water. However, I left him, but I was curious to know who he was. When I got to Melbourne, I found that the only yachtsman out in those waters was Mr. Jack Want, of Sydney; who had been down the coast for a yachting trip. It turned out that he had been caught in the storm, and had just hove-to till it blew over.' A YACHTING INCIDENT. (1905, November 22). Evening News(Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113280827
Photo at right: J. H. Want, Government Printing Office 1 – 11612, courtesy State Library of NSW.
" Jack'' Want.
OF the Attorney-General a contemporary says : " Attorney-General Jack Want is not particular about dress. As seen in the street daily, a stranger would take him for a bushman. His necktie and collar are disarranged, and his face and hands are always as brown and rough as a blacksmith's. Jack can turn his hand to anything. In his day he has turned an honest penny by coal mining, fencing, and shearing. He is also a first class whip.
While Sir Frederick Darley was on circuit years ago, Jack Want came from the coal pit, jumped on the box seat of the coach, and took the reins from the driver. He cracked the whip and inspired the horses with new life and the passengers with terror. Judge Darley protested and insisted in vain that the hired driver should take control, but he soon realised that the stranger could drive, and presently he overheard his name, and guessed he was a son of his old friend Mr. Want. When they arrived at their destination Judge Darley invited the coal miner to dine with him and gave him some advice, with the result that Jack is now Attorney-General of New South Wales. "Jack" Want. (1898, April 6). The Muswellbrook Chronicle (NSW : 1898 - 1955), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107013819
"jack" want. For Mr Want, who died last week at the comparatively early ago of 59, there has been nothing but warm commendation. Even the Courts suspended operations to take part in the funeral. Until recently he was a picture of health and strength. But his light went out suddenly, almost without warning. A born fighter, he hit hard, both as a pleader and a politician. But he made surprisingly few enemies. For one thing, the sting of personal animosity was conspicuously absent from his composition. He fought for a cause or for a client, but seldom or never with the direct object of humiliating an opponent. If you happened to be in the way so much the worse for you. He would go over you as a matter of course. Still you felt that if anyone else had been in the way it would have been much the same. It was because "you happened to be there" that the catastrophe happened, not because of any animosity on the part of the gifted " King's Counsel." Peace to his ashes. "JACK" WANT. (1905, December 2). Nepean Times (Penrith, NSW : 1882 - 1962), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100956106
