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Rananim Vol 2 No 1 Feb 1994

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Rananim Vol 2 No 1 Feb 1994 The fournal of the D.H. Lawrence Society of Australia ISSN No: 1059-9658 Vol2, No. 1, February 1gg4 LAT.]NCH ONTHE GRASS he official launch of the D.H. stood in open grass-lawn, and Law- La* rence Society ofAustralia, rence and Frieda could hardly have held in the Sydney Botanic missed seeing it as, like their fictional Gardens on Sunday November2l, I 993, counterparts in Kangaroo, Richard shoued that the Society has come a Lovatt Somers and his wife Harriett, lons u ar since its modest beginnings in they strolled back to Macquarie Street Thinoul a rear belore. across Palace Gardens from the direc- At that nteering. in the Thirroul tion of the "fortified" Conservatorium Municipai Libran'. a srnall group of 11 of Music. Larvrence enthusiasls formed a com- The Pavilion was also chosen for mittee to o\ersce thc drawing up of the the meeting because it is almost oppo- constitution and ro look at the possibil- site the site where once stood a "more- ity of bringin,c our a Society journal. or-less" expensive boarding house run Twelve months on. the Society's by a Mrs Scott. Robert Darroch sug- Lawrence and Lady Ottoline membership has grorvn to more than gests in his D.H. Layvrence in Australia Morrellat Garsington (detail) - turn to page 10 50, many of whom were at the inaugural (1981), that this may have been where meeting in the Gardens, and the first the Lawrences stayed during their "day or issue of Rananim, a journal dedicated to two" in Sydney before they moved ;' contEht$:' "'1;';";' encouraging interest in Lawrence, has down to Thirroul. been launched. Thc inaugural meeting was picnic- The Spirit of the,Place ' The inaugural meeting had some style, and the Botanic Gardens auth- ,"*l What Walter serious business to carry out. but it was orities kindly gave permission for a Knew :3 also an informal and entertainins social celebratory glass o1 champagne, but By Steamship to Rananim 4, occasion. asked that the affair should not go on The Barber of Thirioul 5 In line with the committee's feeling for too long, as it might run into u,ed- that some physical link dings, for which the Rose Garden is a should be main- the Cafe HoVal ' '10 tained, whcre possible, with the actual favourite venue. In fact, the meeting , A Literary House settings described in Kangaroo, the continued well into the latter part of a That Has Been Preserved 15 meeting was held in what is known to brilliant Sydney afternoon, without dis- Sydney people as the Rose Garden turbing any brides or grooms. Was Willie Struthers My Uncle Jock? 16 Pavilion of the Botanic Gardens. Formal business included the adop- A little research revels that its cor- tion of thc constitution drawn up by Frank Hardy's Testimony 21 rect name is the Palace Gardens Shelter, legal oflicer Stephen O'Connor (with Letters 22 and it was erectcd in 1897, twin of useful help irom the D.H. Lawrence Forthcoming Events 22 another designed for Centennial Park. Society of the UK) and the appoinr ,,, Bits ,'i' 23 In 1922,long before thc Rose Garden, it (cottt'd p2) Paaatz* b The Spirit of the Place A series of paintings on the theme of D.H. Lawrence at Thirroul by Australian artist and member Gary Shead has been on display at the Art Gallery of NSW over the past few months. Shead, whose portrait of publisher Tom Thompson won last year's Archibald Prize for portrait painting, has been fascinated and inspired by Lawrence's Australian period, and several years ago he was responsible for a major work of art depicting Wyewurk, the now-famous diptych which he painted with the late Brett Whiteley. The D.H. Laurence Shead's new series took the various images associated with Societg of Hustralia Lawrence, Thirroul and the novel Kangaroo inlo a larger realm. The series, which is the subject of a book that accompanied the COMMITTEE: exhibition, was well received by both critics and the public, and Chairman: Prof. Raymond Southall was just the latest example of the on-going inspiration that Law- Secretary: Dr. Beverlcy Burgr-nann rence's time in Australia provides for artists, writers, poets and Vicc-President: Robert Darroch musicians of the present day. Treasurer: Stephen O'Connor As the exhibition drew to a close, two South Coast poets, Membcrship Secrctary: Rullels John Geoffrey Sykes and Greg held reading poetry Editor. Rananim: John Lacey O'Brien, a of their Publishcr, Rananim: Sandra Jobson at the Art Gallery, with readings from Kangaroo, (by actor Arthur Editorirl Comtnirtee. Rrnanim: Dignam) in the room displaying the Shead pictures. Robert Darroch, Dr. Paul Eggcrt, The event was called "lmages of Place - D.H. Lawrence in Sandra Jobson, Margaret Jones. Australia" and we include, with the kind permission of the author, Address: one of the poems read at the occasion. PO Box 100 Millers Point. NSW 2000. Fax: (02) 982 7805. Letters and contributions to Rananim Evening at Thirroul are very welcome. Pleasc send to the above address, with your name, evening sea of evening light going pale address and telephone number (and, fair of evening light faintly glazed if possible, fax). with yellow eastern sky a glow of rose and smoke blue band - sit at the edge of bush as twilight falls and look (cont'dfrom p l) down on the township scattered Launch out into wide grass road then bush on the Grass rvhere wide scattering lights fizz and a frail transluscent net of light blinks in random among black streets ment of a committee fbr 1 993-94. Mem- the beauty of the known bership Secretary, John Ruff'els, cn- keeping back all alone rolled new members on the spot, and the sea the bush the sky as they drift into dark indifference each received a free copy of Kangaroo, far off far off roll the knolls supplied by Tom Thompson of Angus of the planet of indifference & Robertson, publishers. the night of becoming tolls Not the least achievement of the day, however, was to promote a re- - Geoffrey Sykes (after warding interaction between agroup oi Kangaroo) by D.H. Lawrence people with a common interest, but whose other lives shorv a rclreshing diversity: the Society's membership in- cludes writcrs, lawyers, painters, post- men, teachers, students, academics, If you are able to scnd your article on a tloppy disc (PC or Mac), it would be vcry helpful. Please contact the publisher, Sandra surlers. railway enthusiasts. nurses. Jobson, to establish style details and disc formatting. public servants, merchant bankers and Tel: (02) 971 5013. retirees. - Margaret Jones Razaain What Walter Knew missing from the jigsaw. But the the time. However, what Wilbur following piece of information, of Wright then said is a revelation serendipitous provenance, may be of some importance.l of interest. Wright went on to tell Yeend he name of Walter Smale In October last year the of a rather odd connection be- (W.S.) Friend and that of archivist of The King's School at tween this "pseudo-military his family have become Parramatta, Peter Yeend, wrote movement" and a well-known increasingly important to those me a note about a piece of infor- work of literature. Yeend's notes interested in the historical basis of mation that had been lying in his of the interview state: "..in the the paramilitary Diggers de- files for the past 19 years. (The same conversation he [Wright] scribed in D.H. Lawrence's archives, which include biographi- said that Lawrence, the Lady Kangaroo. The Friends - a cal files on former King's School Chatterley's Lover author, had prominent Sydney commercial boys, are quite famous within the used the material about the above family with extensive pastoral Australian history trade. No one, in his Ast'n novel Kangaroo". interests - did not figure in Robert however, had ever suspected that Yeend's notes say that Walter Darroch's 1981 work D.H. they might contain evidence about Friend had told Wilbur Wright Ltutrence in Australia, but eight Australia's most persistent literary about this in a conversation - vears later they were mentioned puzzle.) which must have occurred some rn Joe Davrs's D.H. Lawrence at This particular piece of infor- years previously - at "the Club". Tlirroul. mation was in the file of an Old Wright did not make clear As Davis points out, a prop- Boy, N. H. Wright. Known as what club he was referring to, but ert), owned by the Friends in Wilbur Wright, he was the Yeend assumed it was either the Craig Street. Thirroul, (on which brother-in-law of Walter Friend. Imperial Service Club or the there was a house called A woolbroker, Wilbur had retired Schools Club. At the time, Yeend Wyewunie) lay, across the road to Bowral where he pursued his did not question Wright more from Wyervurk. the seaside literary endeavours, which in- closely, for the significance of the bungalow that Larvrence and cluded writing for his school's information was not apparent to Frieda rented in 1922. The Friend magazine. him then. Today, however, what family not only owned this and On29}lay 1974, Yeend, in Wright told Yeend has a great other property in Thirroul, but the course of collecting informa- deal of significance. Not only did also had property at Collaroy in tion on TKS Old Boys, went Walter Friend reveal that he was Sydney where, Darroch claims, down to Bowral to interview connected with the Old Guard, he Lawrence went on the day after Wilbur Wright.
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