ROYAL AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY SPRING 2015 Calendar of events for members and friends Date Time Event Presenter Members Friends SEPTEMBER Fri 11 10.30am - 4pm RAHS Conservation Workshop 2/3: M Scott $50 $55 Making a Solander Box Wed 16 11am - 1pm *RAHS/WEA: Historical research and M Flynn $32 $35 getting your facts right Thurs 17 5.30pm for 6pm RAHS/ASHET: The Bleichert Ropeway P Shadie and $10 $12 P Hammon Sat 19 10.00am RAHS/NAW Excursion: Sydney Harbour - S Player $10 $12 How did it get so wet? Wed 23 11am - 1pm *RAHS/WEA: Scanning your photographs P Taydler $32 $35 OCTOBER Wed 7 1pm - 2pm RAHS Day Lecture: The many lives of S Castrique Free Free Charles Ormsby Esquire: Cockatoo Island, its superintendent and the convict prize- fighters Sat 10 9.30am - **RAHS/OHNSW Workshop: Capturing J Wilton and $95 $105 4.30pm Memories: Oral History in the Digital Age A Host Thurs 22 5.30pm for 6pm RAHS/ASHET: “By George the A Grant $10 $12 thoroughbrace is broke!” Sat 24 - Sun 25 All day 2015 RAHS Conference - Migration Matters - Bankstown Sports Club Explore the conference website which includes the program and booking details: www.rahs.org.au/2015-royal-australian-historical-society-conference/ Two Day Conference - RAHS/Affiliated Society Members $135, Non Members $150 One Day Conference - RAHS/Affiliated Society Members $100, Non Members $115 NOVEMBER Wed 4 1pm - 2pm RAHS Day Lecture: Scholarly Scoundrel J Worthington Free Free Tues 17 11am - 1pm *RAHS/WEA: Breathing new life into L Allen $32 $35 displays from historical collections Fri 20 10.30am - 4pm RAHS Conservation Workshop 3/3: M Scott $50 $55 Binding Sun 29 2pm - 5pm RAHS/Female Orphan School: Various $20 $25 Seminar and Exhibition - Victoriana Sydney 1837-1901: A journey in photography DECEMBER Wed 2 1pm - 2pm RAHS Day Lecture: Memories and R Arrowsmith Free Free experiences of Australian WWII brides in America Tues 8 5.30pm for 6pm RAHS/ASHET: Selling an American Dream L Janiszewski $10 $12 - Australia’s Greek Cafe and E Alexakis Tues 15 4pm - 7pm RAHS Christmas Party Free Free JANUARY 2016 Tues 26 10am - 4pm RAHS History House Open Day – Pot Luck Talks between Free Free History and Book Sale 11.30am-3pm Bookings Essential: Book for events online at www.rahs.org.au/events or call (02) 9247 8001. *Joint WEA events must be booked through WEA (02) 9264 2781. **To book for RAHS/OHNSW Workshop - Capturing Memories: Oral History in the Digital Age visit the Oral History NSW website: www.oralhistorynsw.org.au/article/another-workshop-in-the-series-introducing-oral-history Events take place at History House unless otherwise indicated in the detailed calendar (attached) and on the RAHS website: www.rahs.org.au. For event updates, subscribe to our regular eNewsletter and blog or join us on Facebook. RAHS Conservation Workshop 2/3: Making a Solander Box Friday 11th September, 10.30am – 4pm at Guild of Bookbinders, Writer’s Centre, RoZelle Cost: $50 RAHS members, $55 friends. RAHS Conservator Margaret Scott’s Conservation Workshop Series is being held again in 2015 at the Guild of Craft Bookbinders, Writer’s Centre in Rozelle. In the second workshop in this series, Margaret will guide attendees in the process of making a Solander Box used for storing manuscripts, maps, documents, and valuable books etc. – an essential item for archive storage. This workshop is limited to 8 attendees. RAHS/WEA Lecture: Historical research and getting your facts right Wednesday 16th September, 11am – 1pm at History House Cost: $32 RAHS members, $35 friends. Bookings through WEA (02) 9264 2781 Drawing on examples from his current projects updating Mollie Gillen’s The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, the Biographical Database of Australia (BDA) and Phillip’s landing place in Sydney Cove, Michael Flynn author of The Second Fleet: Britain's grim convict armada of 1790, will offer tips and advice and discuss the importance of ‘getting your facts right’ in researching and writing history. RAHS/ASHET Lecture: The Bleichert Ropeway Thursday 17th September, 5.30pm for 6pm at History House. Light refreshments on arrival. Cost: $10 RAHS members, $12 friends Built by German engineers Adolf Bleichert & Company in the 1880s, the Bleichert Ropeway carried valued coal and oil shale across the Jamison Valley in the Blue Mountains. In 2014/15 the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute in partnership with Scenic World and the National Parks and Wildlife Service undertook a comprehensive field survey of the remains of the ropeway. Students from UNSW also developed a computer gamification of the ropeway to illustrate how it operated. Join Peter Shadie, CEO of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, and Philip Hammon, co author of The Burning Mists of Time, a history of the coal and shale mining in the Katoomba area, and discover one of the first examples of industrial scale coal and shale oil mining infrastructure in Australia. Image: Bleichert Ropeway, undated [Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute] RAHS/NAW Excursion: Sydney Harbour - How did it get so wet? Saturday 19th September, 10.00am (tour will be approximately 90 minutes) Meet at Wentworth Park, corner of Wattle Street and Bridge Road, Pyrmont Cost: $10 RAHS members, $15 friends. Numbers limited to 15 people. The distinctive sandstone of Sydney’s cliffs and rock shelters is the product of hundreds of thousands of years of geological history. The original Australians have been witness to massive changes in climate and environment over at least the past 40,000 years. One of the most obvious to us now is Sydney Harbour, which was created as the rising sea level gradually flooded an occupied river valley. Join geoarchaeologist Sam Player for a walk around Blackwattle Bay and into Pyrmont to look at the evidence of this deep history that surrounds us. Image: Harbour Bridge/City 1937 [Adastra Aerial Photograph Collection] RAHS/WEA Lecture: Scanning your photographs Wednesday 23rd September, 11am – 1pm at History House Cost: $32 RAHS members, $35 friends. Bookings through WEA (02) 9264 2781 Photographer Paul Taydler will draw on his many years of experience to offer practical advice for anyone interested in scanning their photograph collection. This workshop will cover the basics of image scanning, resolution and tonal range. You will gain sound knowledge to produce scans of high quality, suitable for print reproduction and web use. The session will include demonstrations and a handout covering the topics discussed. RAHS Day Lecture: The many lives of Charles Ormsby Esquire: Cockatoo Island, its superintendent and the convict prize-fighters Wednesday 7th October, 1pm – 2pm at History House Cost: Free Superintendent of Cockatoo Island from 1841-1859, Charles Ormsby was gentleman, autocrat and master of surveillance when the island became the venue for a secret fight club with prize-fighting convicts as its main attraction. This talk will examine his irascible life and uncommon career as superintendent of the last penal settlement created in NSW. Sue Castrique is a researcher and writer, whose book Under the Colony’s Eye: gentlemen and convicts on Cockatoo Island 1839-1869, has just been released. Sue also has experience bringing the past to the screen as a writer and script editor for historical documentaries. Her work has been recognised with a number of awards including three Australian Writer’s Guild Awards, an AFI and the Reuben Mamoulian Award. RAHS/OHNSW Workshop: Capturing Memories: Oral History in the Digital Age Saturday 10th October, 9.30am – 4.30pm at History House Cost: $95 RAHS and Oral History NSW members; $105 Non-Members. Numbers limited to 30 people. Bookings: www.oralhistorynsw.org.au/article/another-workshop-in-the-series-introducing-oral-history or 8094 1239 This day will be useful for people who are new to oral history as well as those with some experience, as we will discuss how to plan, record and share interviews. The workshop will cover guidelines for best practice recording of oral history interviews such as preparing for interviews, interview techniques, what equipment to use for recording and transcription, what to do with your interview once you have recorded it and how to share your interviews. Enquiries: Oral History NSW [email protected] or (02) 8094 1239. RAHS/ASHET Lecture: ‘By George, the thoroughbrace is broke!’ Thursday 22nd October, 5.30pm for 6pm at History House Cost: $10 RAHS members, $12 friends. Light refreshments on arrival. Cobb & Co was Australia’s – and the world’s – largest horse drawn coaching organisation. The company began its operation in Melbourne in 1854 with several ‘Concord’ coaches of a type that had already proven its rugged reliability in North America. The innovative use of full leather springing had been a significant factor in the success of the Concord coach and it was no less successful in the punishing conditions of Australia’s new coach routes. Andrew Grant has been deeply involved in preserving, documenting and promoting Australia’s transport heritage since 1980, chiefly as a senior curator at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. After retiring from the Powerhouse in 2012, Andrew has continued his involvement in transport history and preservation through heritage consultancy. 2015 Royal Australian Historical Society Conference Saturday 24th – Sunday 25th October at Bankstown Sports Club, 8 Greenfield Parade, Bankstown NSW Booking details including attendance fees available at www.rahs.org.au. The RAHS Affiliated Societies Committee (ASC) is pleased to announce that the theme of the 2015 Royal Australian Historical Society Conference is Migration Matters. There will be a pre- conference event on Friday 23rd October where you will have the opportunity to meet fellow delegates. The vibrant culture of Bankstown makes it the perfect location for this conference.