Brough and Grossmann House Education Resource Page 1 Butlers and Blackboards Grossmann House Education Program Stage 1 Past in the Present Teacher’s Kit Brough and Grossmann House Education Resource Page 2 BUTLERS AND BLACKBOARDS TEACHER’S KIT Section 1 Program Briefing - Syllabus Links - Outcomes - Themes - Concepts - Skills - Topic Summary - Experience - Teacher Support - On the Day - Classroom preparation - Other Activities in Maitland - Getting There Section 2 Historical Background - Maitland and the Hunter area - The Merchants of Maitland - Maitland in Victorian Times - The 1870’s House - Maitland Girls’ High School at Grossmann House Section 3 Resources - Maitland High Street 1890 - Owen and Beckett Store 1878 - An interior of a general store c1880s - Owen and Beckett Christmas Goods advertisement 1884 - Isaac Beckett Obituary 1888 - Illustrations of Style of Dress 1870s – 1880s - Bird’s Eye View of Maitland 1878 - Grossmann House plans - Girls from Maitland Girls’ High School 1897 - Time Line for Grossmann House and the Hunter Region - References Front cover: Detail from ‘An Evening Gathering at Yarra Cottage, Port Stephens 1857’ mixed media drawing by Maria Caroline Brownrigg. (Image used by permission, through Hordern House Rare Books, Sydney.) Brough and Grossmann House Education Resource Page 3 SECTION 1 PROGRAM BRIEFING STAGE 1 - PAST IN THE PRESENT Syllabus: History Stage: Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) Topic: Past in the Present Unit Title: Butlers and Blackboards Objectives Students: • develop knowledge and understanding of the nature of history and key changes and developments from the past • develop knowledge and understanding of key historical concepts and, develop the skills to undertake the process of historical inquiry Outcomes: Students: • identify and describe significant people, events, places and sites in the local community over time (HT 1-2) • describe the effects of changing technology on people's lives over time (HT 1-3) • demonstrate skills of historical inquiry and communication (HT 1-4) Themes: • past and present • change and continuity in family life • the impact of changing technologies • significance of local heritage sites Concepts: • continuity and change • cause and effect • perspectives • empathetic understanding • significance Skills: • discuss and recount stories of family and local history • sequence familiar objects and events • distinguish between past, present and future • explore and use a range of sources from the past • identify and compare objects from the past and present Brough and Grossmann House Education Resource Page 4 • recognise that people in the past may have lived and behaved differently • explore a point of view within an historical context • pose questions about the past using the sources provided • use a range of communication forms (oral, written, graphic, digital technologies) Time: 1.5 hours (see “On the Day” for more detail) Topic Summary: This topic examines a significant building in the local community, what it reveals about the past and how things have changed or remained the same over time. Experience: Visit Grossman House, Maitland, a Victorian Regency styled double storey dwelling that was built in c1871 by Isaac Beckett. By visiting the rooms in this authentically furnished Victorian residence, students will be able to compare the features and family life of years past with that of the present. Students will have the opportunity to interact with artefacts that were typically used by children and adults in Victorian times in the laundry and school room. They will learn how to identify and compare objects from the past to those of the present; discover that people may have lived differently in the early 20th Century; pose questions about that time by using the artefacts provided; and clearly distinguish between the past and present. They will be invited to answer the question – who would have liked to have lived in this house back in 1900s? Why? Teacher Support: • Pre Visit (optional) • Program Overview • Background Information • Self-Guided Tour of Historic Maitland • Risk Analysis Brough and Grossmann House Education Resource Page 5 On The Day Introduction: 7 min The students are divided into three groups which rotate during the 90 minute visit. Students will be provided with a period style pinafore/vest for the duration of the visit. The Social Visit to the house: 25 min Students experience the house from the perspective of those who worked, lived and visited. Using nominal costume, students are taken back in time to when the house keeper / butler welcomed visitors in 1871 to Grossmann House or Entcliffe as it was known then. Students explore the social and work areas of the house making connections between the past and present. School Room Experience: 25 mins Students experience the early 20th Century school room, exploring the changes in education over time, particularly in reference to the life Grossmann House as Maitland Maitland Girls’ High School. Using artefacts from the school room, today’s students explore early 20th century experiences of school and are asked how this compares to their own experiences. This will assist them to understand how classroom practices and learning tools have evolved over time. Laundry: 25 mins Working in small groups students analyse the change in laundry technology and products. The students will experience the wet and dry laundry of the mid-1800s and gain an understanding of the hard work that was required to do what we now do so easily. This will help students to appreciate the important role of the laundry worker of the past and her place in a house such as Grossmann House. Brough and Grossmann House Education Resource Page 6 Classroom preparation What can primary sources tell us about the past? Butlers and Blackboards makes use of primary sources in a variety of forms in order to communicate concepts and ideas about changes in community life over time. This program makes use of: • Real objects such as a fully furnished Victorian Townhouse; • School items and Laundry items that can also be handled; and • Photographs or images from the past and present. In preparation: • Ask the students to think about what sort of information primary sources are able to tell us about the past. Choose relevant historic objects, documents and images and prepare questions for a class exercise. • Take students on a street walk around Maitland Public School and Grossmann House noting different styles of buildings and imagining the lives of the past residents (map and key questions provided). • Choose an object from Section /appendix and ask students what they think it was for and identify on the visit. Sources Questions Pictures including What is in the picture? photographs, drawings How are the things in this picture different to how they are and picture today? (look at the clothing, transport, buildings, advertising, advertisements technology and objects) What does it tell you about the past? Objects What is the object made of? What does the object do? How do you think this object was made? Who would have used the object? What do you think this tells you about the past? Brough and Grossmann House Education Resource Page 7 How historic buildings, streetscapes and neighbourhoods reveal aspects of the past. Neighbourhoods and communities are made up of a variety of dwellings, parks, public and commercial buildings which individually and together can tell us about the past. Research old photographs and maps of the area surrounding your school, and of the school itself, to examine change over time. Photocopy a relevant page from a street directory that you can use to compare with older maps to examine change over time. Compare these photographs and maps with the students’ observations made on a neighbourhood walk. Use these questions to help them look at the buildings around them and their relationship to the community. What has changed? What continues to be the same? What is this building for? (home, school, station, shop etc.) Describe the materials, size, ornaments and decoration. Who would have lived/worked/shopped/studied here? Would they have had servants/employees – where did they live/work? Where is the building situated in relation to the local community? What sort of changes can you see (any additions, garages to replace carriage ways, shopfronts added and balconies gone?) What is this building used for today? What can this building tell us about the past? Take photographs of the building/s as it is now to compare with historic images. As a class or individually – draw a map of the neighbourhood. Use the image of the 1878 Bird’s Eye View of Maitland in Section 3 to inspire the students to create a bird’s eye view of their own local area. Compare how Aboriginal artists create artworks that depict the landscape of their country from an aerial perspective. Brough and Grossmann House Education Resource Page 8 Other Activities in Maitland Walka Water Works Located on the Hunter River floodplain at Oakhampton 2km from Maitland Courthouse. Built in 1887 as a domestic water supply to Newcastle and the Lower Hunter. The Walka Water Works offers the opportunity for environmental studies and historic structures connected with the history of engineering and technology. Website : http://www.maitland.nsw.gov.au/Tourism/Walka Tocal Homestead, Paterson Paterson is located close to Maitland and Tocal Homestead offers education programs for children K – 10. Tocal has a long and proud history, during which it has become one of the foremost agricultural institutions in Australia. Tocal was on part of the land of the Gringai clan of the Wonnarua people. The name 'Tocal' is a Koori word meaning 'plenty'. Its involvement with agriculture began in 1822 when James Webber took up the property as one of the first land grants in the Paterson Valley. Website: http://www.tocal.com/tocal-homestead Old Maitland Gaol Located in Maitland, the gaol opened on 1st January 1849, following the closure of Newcastle Gaol on 31st December, 1848.