1 TOUCHING MAGIC DELIBERATELY CONCEALED OBJECTS IN OLD AUSTRALIAN HOUSES AND BUILDINGS Ian Joseph Evans Doctor of Philosophy – History October 2010 2 Submission for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities and Social Science University of Newcastle NSW, Australia STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work does not contain material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Signed: Ian Joseph Evans Date: 2 December 2010 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the work embodied in this Thesis is the result of original research, the greater part of which was completed subsequent to admission for the degree. Signed: Ian Joseph Evans Date: 2 December 2010 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank: Dr. Marguerite Johnson for opening the doors to the halls of academe, for making sure I stayed on the right track and Professor Hilary Carey for her encouragement and advice. Annie Evans for putting up with my pursuit of this project for a very long time. Michael McCowage for his sketches of houses and concealment locations. Steven Dunbar for his advice and assistance with computer software issues and for creating the pie charts of Australian concealments. June Swann, MBE, for her insight, memories, advice and for providing dates for a lot of old shoes and boots. 7LPRWK\(DVWRQIRUJLYLQJPHWKHEHQH¿WRIKLVIRXUGHFDGHVRIKDQGVRQ research into concealments, ritual marks and other traditional customs in Suffolk and elsewhere in the UK. All the people listed in the Catalogue of Finds who got in touch to tell me what they had found, provided images and opened their doors when I came calling. All of the museums, libraries and organizations and their staff who contributed in various ways. And the many people whose houses had contained secrets for many years and who willingly cooperated with a research project that was more than a little unusual. 5 CONTENTS Abstract 8 Introduction 10 1.1 Ritual Armour 11 1.2 Circumstantial Evidence 14 1.3 Historiography 18 One: Methodology 23 1.1 Prelude 23 1.2 Steps towards Awareness 25 1.3 Discovery 26 1.4 The Research Process 29 1.4.1 Research Tools: The Media 33 1.4.2 Research Tools: Lecturing 35 1.4.3 The Recording Process 36 1.5 Investigation 37 1.5.1 Pattern and Variation 38 1.5.2 Shoes 39 1.5.3 Why Shoes? Why Garments? 43 1.6 Conclusion 45 Two: Cultural Context 47 2.1 Background 47 2.1.1 The Countryside: The Spirit in the Corn 50 2.1.2 The Village: The Curious Case of the Bewitched Onions 53 2.1.3 The City: Rituals of London 55 2.1.4 Discovering the Discoverers 63 2.2 Present and Future Research 71 2.3 Conclusion 72 Three: Tracing the Past 73 3.1 Ancient Roots 73 3.1.1 Dates of Shoe Concealments 75 3.1.2 The Devil in the Boot 77 3.1.3 Masonry and Freemasonry 80 3.1.4 Who Concealed? 84 3.1.5 Mysteries in the Materials 87 3.1.6 Protection: D.I.Y. or Call in the Professionals? 95 3.1.7 Putting it in Writing: Charms and Curses 101 3.2 Conclusion 104 6 Four: Secrets in the Void 106 4.1 Case Study: Analysis of a Concealment 106 4.2 The Cat in the Cavity 121 4.2.1 Information Derived from Cat Concealments 125 4.2.2 A Powerful Tradition 126 4.3 Conclusion 128 Five: Analysis 130 5.1 Site Statistics 130 5.2 Notes on Positional Issues 133 5.2.1 Shoe Finds: The Breakdown 133 5.2.2 Gender Analysis of Shoe Finds 134 5.2.3 Miscellaneous Finds Other than Shoes 136 5.2.4 Analysis: Shoe Sites 139 5.2.5 Locations of Concealed Objects: Cottages 140 5.2.6 Locations of Concealed Objects: Terrace Houses 141 5.2.7 Locations of Concealed Objects: Fireplaces & Chimneys 142 ,GHQWL¿FDWLRQRI&RQFHDOHG2EMHFWV 5.3 The Story in the Leather 144 5.4 Quantifying Finds 145 5.4.1 Varieties of Location: All Finds 146 5.4.2 Men’s Work? 147 5.4.3 Concealment Locations Within Buildings 152 5.4.4 The Missing Shoe 155 5.5 Concealments: A Roman Origin? 157 5.6 Cats 164 5.7 Garments 172 5.8 Conclusion 175 Six: Conclusions 177 Seven: References 186 Eight: Bibliography 207 Nine: Appendix 1: Catalogue of Concealed Objects 224 New South Wales 225 Tasmania 294 Victoria 338 South Australia 358 Western Australia 376 Queensland 400 Appendix 2: Media Coverage 415 Appendix 3: British Researchers & Organisations 419 Appendix 4: Archives, Libraries, Museums & Other Institutions 421 7 Appendix 5: Concealed Cats Found in Germany 424 TABLES 1.1 7RWDO&RQFHDOPHQWV,GHQWL¿HGLQ$XVWUDOLD± 4.1 Residents of No. 37 Lower Fort Street 114 4.2 Birth Dates of Hurley Children 116 5.1 Locations of Objects Within Buildings 132 5.2 Shoe Site Totals by State 133 5.3 Gender and Age Analysis of Shoe Finds 134 5.4 Sites with Objects Other than Shoes 136 5.5 All Find Sites by State 138 GRAPHICS The Chimney at Rhos-Y-Medre, Toowong, Queensland 42 Anatomy of a Concealment 109 Distribution of Concealed Shoes in the UK, 1997 131 Locations of Concealed Objects: Cottages 140 Locations of Concealed Objects: Terrace Houses 141 Locations of Concealed Objects: Fireplaces and Chimneys 142 &DWLQD6XEÀRRU%R[ IMAGES :KHUHDUFKLYDODQGRWKHULPDJHVKDYHEHHQLQFOXGHGWKHVHDUHLGHQWL¿HGLQWKHFDS tions by the name of the contributor or photographer or in the following manner: BM Brit ish Museum, London; BA British Archaeology magazine; CoSA City of Sydney Archives, Sydney; CM Cuming Museum, London; FLS Folklore Society, London; GWMM Goulburn War Memorial and Museum, Goulburn, NSW; GF Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College, London; HCCMAS Hampshire County Council Museums & Archive Service, Winchester; HHT Historic Houses Trust of NSW, Sydney; HRP Historic Royal Palaces, Lon don; ML Mitchell Library, Sydney; MV Museum Victoria, Melbourne; NL National Library of Australia, Canberra; NMG Northampton Museums and Gallery, Northampton; NMS Na tional Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh; NMW National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; NPG Na tional Portrait Gallery, London; PRM Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford; RCAHMS Royal Com mission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh; SoA Society of Antiquaries, London; SLNSW State Library of NSW, Sydney; SLR State Library of Victoria, Melbourne; SR State Records, Kingswood, NSW; V & A Victoria and Albert Museum, Lon don; WHM Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes; WL Wellcome Library, London. Images supplied by private individuals or from regional collections are credited by name. Uncredited images are by Ian Evans. 8 ABSTRACT he objective of the research that resulted in this thesis was to establish whether the Tpractice of concealing objects in sealed voids in old houses and other buildings, widely known in the United Kingdom for many centuries, also occurred in Australia. The supplementary tasks were to establish how widespread it was, the period in which it occurred, and whether the practice displayed the same characteristics as in the United Kingdom. These objectives necessitated the discovery, photography and recording of as many concealed objects as could be located. Distinguishing qualifying objects from UDQGRPORVVHVRUVWUD\VZDVEDVHGXSRQSHUVRQDOH[SHULHQFHLQWKH¿HOGWRJHWKHUZLWK information derived from research in the UK and discussions with colleagues in this area of research in that country. Following on from that, my intention was to place this FXVWRPZLWKLQWKHIUDPHZRUNRIIRONPDJLFULWXDOVFDUULHGRXWLQ(QJODQGXQWLOWKHHDUO\ mid 20thFHQWXU\%\FRQ¿UPLQJWKDWIRONPDJLFZDVLQWULFDWHO\ZRYHQLQWRWKHOLYHVRI the English people a high probability that such practices were brought to Australia by convicts and settlers became evident. This research required an unusual methodology in that the virtually complete absence of any contemporary documentation, an absence of record that is recognised by UK researchers, suggested that a similar void might exist in Australian archives and libraries. My own prior extensive research into Australian domestic architecture had already failed to identify any references to such practices in this country in the literature relating to architecture, social history or the building trades in both Australia and England. 7KHIRFXVRIWKHUHVHDUFKSURMHFWWKHUHIRUHZDVWR¿QGDVPDQ\FRQFHDOHGREMHFWV LQ$XVWUDOLDQVWUXFWXUHVDVSRVVLEOHDQGWRH[DPLQHDQGUHFRUGWKHVH¿QGVLQDQHIIRUWWR understand the practice from a scrutiny of the objects and the place and manner of their concealment. The discovery phase was implemented by means of media releases, radio and television interviews, published articles in mainstream and heritage media and by lectures to specialist groups, particularly archaeologists. The result of this work, extending over a period of more than six years and which included travel to Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and within New South Wales, resulted in the accumulation of a VLJQL¿FDQWQXPEHURI¿QGVRIGHOLEHUDWHO\FRQFHDOHGREMHFWV7KHVHKDYHEHHQUHFRUGHG in a National Catalogue of Finds on which this thesis is based. ,W ZDV FRQ¿UPHG WKDW REMHFWV ZKLFK LQ WKH FRQWH[W RI WKLV UHVHDUFK LQFOXGH 9 boots and shoes, garments, cats and a variety of domestic artifacts and children’s toys, were concealed in Australian houses and buildings, that they were both numerous and extremely widely distributed, that the types of objects and their placements were the same as those found in the United Kingdom and elsewhere and in consequence that a folk magic custom long established in the United Kingdom was practiced in this country, raising the possibility of an ancient lineage for a practice that was previously unknown in $XVWUDOLD)XUWKHUUHVHDUFKLVUHFRPPHQGHGLQDQHIIRUWWRH[WHQGWKHVFRSHRIWKLVRQH man study. It is considered that this research will produce new insights into the lives of Australians in the period 1788 – 1930s.