Free Copy In This Edition: Page Page Geelong Miniature Aircraft 2 Helena Rubinstein 20 Donaghy’s Rope Works 3 Solomon’s 22 Rats! 7 New Zealand—Fast Facts 25 John Caesar—Bushranger 8 Brad Pitt 26 Singapore 10 Recipe—Chicken & Chilli 28 The Freemasons’ Hotel Tragedy 11 Word Search—Aussie Rules 29 The Great Barrier Reef 14 Banknotes: Howard Florey 30 Corio-The Early Days Part 10 16 150 Years Ago 31 The Boston Tea Party 18 Then… & Now 32 The Geelong Miniature Aircraft Association (GMAA), has been operating in Geelong in various forms for over 40 years. In 1965-66 a number of local modellers began seeking each other out to help learn how to fly single-channel radio controlled and control line model aircraft. Within a year, a number of individuals began to congregate and fly their aircraft on Belmont Common. Most flew trainers, but some of the more adventurous flew aerobatic capable aircraft. It soon became apparent that a club should be formed in order to have rules, control over frequencies, and an official flying site on Belmont Common. The first ever meeting was held in mid-1967 in Barry Angus' home garage. Barry was duly elected president and the club was officially born—named the Geelong Aero Guidance Society (GAGS). It was later renamed the Geelong Miniature Aircraft Association. Permission to use the area beside the Barwon River was obtained from council and a steel clubhouse (shed) was erected, replaced later by a larger concrete brick building. Many enjoyable years were spent flying on Belmont Common, the National Titles held in 1972 being one of the more memorable highlights. But as the suburb of Belmont closed in around the Common, flying became more difficult and dangerous. Flying over busy roads became unacceptable, and the fear of interference from outside radio sources grew. In early 1979 the club moved to a new field in Dog Rocks Road, Fyansford—still in use today. In fact, until 2011 the GMAA had two excellent facilities to fly at—Fyansford and Mannerim on the Bellarine Peninsula. Gradually, each field started to focus on different types of model aircraft and flying disciplines. After much discussion, in December 2010 it was decided to divide the GMAA into two separate clubs, and the Bellarine Model Aero Club (BMAC) was created. Would you like to learn more about flying miniature radio-controlled aircraft? Feel free to contact the club, or simply come down to the field in Ballarat Midland Hwy Batesford & Geelong Dog Rocks Road. Web: gmaa.org.au Email: [email protected] Postal Address: The GMAA Dog Rocks Rd Rocks Dog To Hamilton Hwy P.O. Box 5226 North Geelong, VIC 3215 In Person: Pop down to Dog Rocks. 2 In 1852 a 30-year-old stocky Irishman, Michael Donaghy, arrived by ship in Geelong, along with his wife and children. The gold rush was in full swing, but Donaghy was not lured to Ballarat by the rich deposits found there. Rather, he had come from Ireland, via England, where he had gained experience in rope making. And discussions with the ship’s crew during the long voyage from Europe had convinced Donaghy that making rope in the new Michael Donaghy colony of Victoria could be a very profitable business indeed, since ships of the time typically needed up to 32km (20 miles) of rope on board! On May 18, 1852, Donaghy produced the first commercially-made rope made in Victoria. His first factory was a small shed erected near the Barwon River at Marnock Vale (Chilwell), and his only assistant at that time was a lad who helped to spin the yarn by hand. Once the flax or hemp fibres were cleaned and combed, they were attached to the hooks of a spinning (hand-turned) wheel, and the rope-maker had to walk backwards as the rope grew longer, continually feeding more fibres into the ever -lengthening rope. The length of rope was governed by how far the worker could walk backward in a straight line, and hold the rope off the ground. After a long, arduous day spinning rope, Donaghy pushed a wheelbarrow laden with rope over rough paths from Chilwell to the waterfront, where he found a ready market among the ship captains, wanting to replace broken or frayed rope on their vessels. The arduous trek each day was soon made easier with the purchase of a horse and yellow-coloured cart, which became well-known in Geelong as it made deliveries across town. By the following year (1853) Geelong’s population had grown to about 15,000. Donaghy’s rope business had become so prosperous that he now employed 30 staff, and had expanded the factory buildings. He had also installed the first crude machinery to lighten the demand on heavy labour. From 1852 until 1873, Donaghy’s original factory While ship rope was still the main was located in Fyans Street, Marnock Vale product manufactured, Donaghy had (Chilwell), an area of Geelong then known as Irish also noticed a demand for flat rope, Town, due to the large number of settlers that had used by miners at the gold fields to come from the ‘Green Isle.’ Michael Donaghy is raise and lower pit cages into their pictured sitting in the cart. mines. The strong, dependable flat 3 rope was added to the production line, contributing to Donaghy’s reputation as a quality rope-maker. The rope business continued to grow slowly, limited to some extent by Michael Donaghy’s insistence that all transactions were paid for in cash. But by 1873 it was evident that new premises, with room for a longer rope walk (See page 6) was needed. And so, in the vast open fields of Geelong West, Donaghy constructed his new rope factory. Donaghy named his new premises the Fairview Rope Factory. Around this time Michael saw fit to introduce his two sons to the business. John and Michael Jr. were both taken on, initially as apprentices, but eventually in 1878, as partners. Donaghy’s “Kangaroo” To add to the growth in Geelong, branches were established brand hay baling twine was in Melbourne, Adelaide, Dunedin in New Zealand, and later readily identified by farmers in Sydney, Hobart, Launceston, Perth, and even Fiji. throughout Australia. Sadly, on May 21, 1883 Michael Donaghy died and was buried in the Geelong Eastern Cemetery. His 41-year-old son John took over as manager of the Fairview Rope Factory. In 1886 John bought out his brother and other partner, James Wallace, and became the sole owner of the business. It was during this time that steamships were taking over from sailing ships. Initially, the demand for rope for sailing ships went into decline. This was compounded by the recession of the early 1890s. However, a new invention was to be the saviour of the rope making business—the hay baling machine! A Family Business A large number of Donaghy’s employees spent all of their working lives at the ropeworks, and it was not uncommon for three or four generations of the same family to be associated with the factory. Up to 250 people were employed at the works at any time, and many of them were quite young boys. In A Donaghy’s worker feeding sisal into fact, the works had the nick-name of Fairview a hacking and combing machine. College due to the large number of juveniles who worked there. In addition, women were found to have the dexterity needed to make the coir mats, and so dozens of young women were also employed in the factory. Industrial relations between management and staff was usually very good. During the late 1880s when about 90 men and women were employed, the factory voluntarily adopted the 8-hour work day. In June 1890, when 50 of the employees resolved to form a Rope-workers Employees Union, they immediately passed a motion thanking their employer for granting them the 8 hour day before the law required it. 4 Shown for the first time at the Melbourne Centenary Exhibition in 1888, the hay baler used twine instead of wire to hold the bale together. The baler became instantly popular with farmers, and Donaghy’s factory struggled to keep up with demand for twine to feed the growing number of hay balers. In fact, during hay- making season even the clerks in the office peeled off their coats to help load reels of twine onto the queue of horses with carts at the front of the factory in Pakington Street. The factory expanded in 1894, with a coir mat assembly line added. The mats, made from the husks of coconuts, are still a popular item at the front door of many homes today. The turn of the century saw severe drought in Australia, causing great concern for rope-makers who now relied on farmers for most of their sales. Despite this, in 1905 Donaghy’s became a proprietary company, the first in Geelong and one of the first in Victoria. The factory was overhauled, and new machinery boosted production capacity dramatically. With World War I looming on the horizon, the decision proved a valuable one to Donaghy’s and all Australia. The 20th century saw the invention of synthetic fibres. As a result, the demand for rope made with natural fibres gradually went into decline. Donaghy’s eventually merged with James Miller Holdings in 1968 but the company did not prosper. The Geelong works closed down in 1978, putting off the 203 staff, some who had been with the company for over 40 years.