Mawson s Huts Foundation

Transcription

1 Mawson s Huts Foundation Philatelic items produced to commemorate: THE OPENING OF THE MAWSON S HUTS REPLICA MUSEUM IN HOBART ON 2 DECEMBER 2013 (Photographs of Huts & interior views per courtesy of Dr Chris Henderson) Cover with Commemorative Postmark Other items include: 1.45 TAAF mint Mawson s Huts stamp + a Wendy Sharpe postcard; and the book Wendy Sharpe s Antarctica

2 THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE MAWSON S HUTS REPLICA MUSEUM IN HOBART ON 2 DECEMBER 2013 The Mawson s Huts Replica Museum was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Damon Thomas on December 2 nd The date also marked the 102 nd Anniversary of the departure of the SY Aurora from Hobart with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) led by Dr Douglas Mawson on board. The Lord Mayor boarded the SY Preana at Elizabeth Pier and was brought to Constitution Dock, from where he could capture his first glimpses of the Replica Museum. He was met there by David Jensen, CEO of the Mawson s Huts Foundation (MHF) (see photo at right). The SY Preana has had a long association with Douglas Mawson and the AAE. She is, in fact, the only surviving vessel in Hobart to have accompanied the SY Aurora down the Derwent in 1911, when the expedition departed for Macquarie Island and Antarctica. She also took part in the AAE Centenary celebrations on 2 December 2011 when a flotilla of boats accompanied the Aurora Australis down the Derwent. Now here she is again on another momentous day that celebrates two very important events related to the AAE s history. For those of you with an interest in small boats, you will find the story of the SY Preana (pictured on the right) well worth researching. If you have access to the web you can start by exploring the following: For those who don t have computers an informative brochure has been provided per courtesy of Jim Butterworth, who can be contacted on He is a great source of information about the SY Preana and a leading member of the dedicated team that so lovingly restored her. Other websites that feature the SY Preana include: and From l to r: SY Preana, David Jensen and the Lord Mayor, Alderman Damon Thomas at Constitution Dock. (Photograph per courtesy of the Deputy Lord Mayor, Ron Christie.) SY Preana on another day (photoraph per courtesy of Jim Butterworth)

3 The first person to speak at the opening ceremony was Jon Tucker (at the microphone in the picture on the right), who was the lead architectural carpenter and co-ordinator of the construction of the Replica,. Jon acknowledged the team of people involved throughout the many phases of construction of the Replica and who worked together like musicians of an orchestra playing a Symphony, or the 1912 Overture conducted by Douglas Mawson! Following Jon and officially opening the Museum was the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Damon Thomas. His speech was recorded and transcribed, and what follows are some of the highlights. He firstly acknowledged Jim Butterworth and team on their loving restoration of the SY Preana, and recommended that on completion of their tour of the Museum people should take a look at the beautiful steam yacht. Today, being the 102 nd anniversary of the departure of Dr Mawson s AAE to the Antarctic, on behalf of the city he congratulated the Mawson s Huts Foundation for the work it had done in bringing this visual replica to Hobart. We believe that this replica will be extremely popular. It will be a new tourist attraction for our city and we are excited together with the Foundation to be able to launch it today. Jon Tucker speaking at the opening. Immediately behind him is David Jensen, (CEO of the Mawson s Huts Foundation;) and then left to right are: Barbara Tucker (Postmistress for Cape Denison PO on the forthcoming Spirit of Mawson Expedition); Greg Holland (MHF Director); and the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Damon Thomas. (Photograph per courtesy of Dr Chris Henderson) The Lord Mayor then spoke of the importance of Hobart as a gateway to Antarctica from the time of Captain John Briscoe, who arrived in Hobart on 10 th May 1831 in the brig Tula, after sailing in Antarctic waters and naming the area east of the present Mawson station, Enderby Land. From that time on many of the famous names associated with the heroic era of Antarctic expeditions including Dumont D Urville, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink, Roald Amundsen, and of course Douglas Mawson, used Hobart as their base. At the present time Hobart is home to the French and Australian Antarctic resupply and research vessels, and has been for decades now. He acknowledged that the Foundation had fought very hard to obtain the $350,000 funding for the Replica Museum from the Federal Government, and he paid particular tribute to Senator Carol Browne in that regard as she had worked tirelessly on everybody that David Jensen didn t manage to work on! He was delighted that the City Council was able to provide the site for the Museum (which has been vacant for 30 years) to the Foundation at a peppercorn rent. He was also pleased to learn that so many Hobartian architectural and building artisans as well as local and interstate businesses had come forward to lend their support (see David Jensen s speech). He foresaw that when the School term begins next year there will be thousands and thousands of Tasmanian school children coming through with absolutely no preconception when they arrive and would leave with an intimate knowledge of what life

4 was like for the expeditioners on that frozen barren wasteland. He emphasised that the Replica Museum actually incorporates and adds to Hobart s links with Antarctica, a matter that the Federal and State Governments and local Government was very keen to foster. He made mention of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery s exhibitions with polar themes (see page 7), the outstanding Maritime Museum of Tasmania, a small museum in the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) Headquarters in Kingston, and also a number of historic sites dotted around the city. Hadley s Hotel in Murray Street for instance was where Amundsen stayed in 1912 after returning from his successful journey to the South Pole in December 1911, not to mention the Hobart GPO where he announced his success to the world. In Franklin Square there is a statue of one of Tasmania s early governors, Sir John Franklin, who tragically died searching for the North West Passage in Canada s icy north. The Lord Mayor mentioned that, when news of Robert Scott s death in his quest to reach the South Pole in 1912 reached Hobart, his sister Etty was living in Hobart married to Tasmania s Governor, Sir William Ellison McCartney, and more than coincidentally Scott s mother Hannah and one of his older sisters Esther were visiting Hobart at the same time. He advised that when doing the Hobart s Dockside Walk to look out for the life size bronze statue telling the story behind Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink s Antarctic expedition; the first to spend the winter on the Antarctic continent. All these places and landmarks are described in the Polar Pathways booklet (see page 7), which describes walks and tours that would guide visitors to some of Hobart s unique Antarctic and Southern Oceans connections and sites. Finally to the south, is Macquarie Island, a Tasmanian sub Antarctic island in the southern ocean that provides a rich Antarctic experience to the small number who visit each year. At this point the Lord Mayor acknowledged the dedicated work of the founding Chairman and CEO of the Mawson s Huts Foundation (MHF), Mr David Jensen AM, without whose leadership and foresight we would not be assembled here today. He is the founding chairman of the MHF, which was established in 1997, to expressly conserve the historic huts at Cape Denison. In 2008, David became the CEO to run the Foundation full time to raise funds for the project, and in 1999 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his work on Mawson s Huts. The Lord Mayor stated: On numerous occasions people questioned whether that Hut would ever happen down on the water front and I always responded that knowing David Jensen, I was always certain it would. David is a motivated man and an individual who never gave up on this historic project. David Jensen fulfilled his quest, reaching up as far as you can, right to the Governor General. We are proud of people like you who start new ventures, take the risk, and make enormous efforts on behalf of your/this community and we are The plaque unveiled by the Lord Mayor (Photograph per courtesy of Ron Christie.) very very grateful. Today s opening, David, is the culmination of a four year dream, well done you have made this dream a reality. And so it gives me great pleasure to declare open another addition to Hobart s link with the Antarctic, the Mawson s Hut Replica Museum. We wish every success to the Foundation and thank you ladies and gentlemen for being here today. The Lord Mayor then unveiled the plaque (see picture at right).

5 Following the unveiling, Jason Mundy (far right in adjacent picture), General Manager of the Strategies Branch of the Australian Antarctic Division, made a short speech: As everyone will know Mawson s Huts have a special resonance and a special symbolism for the Australian Antarctic Division. They were the birthplace of the Australian Antarctic programme and today they are a very significant part of the heritage and for the future we see for Antarctica. When we reflect on where Mawson s voyage went and what Mawson did it was a voyage that was very much characterized by tenacity and determination and a steadfast intention to prevail against all of the odds. I think it is appropriate when we reflect on the way these huts in Hobart were built as well to reflect on the tenacity and determination that was brought to the exercise by the Mawson s Hut Foundation and by the many people who were involved in building these huts. On behalf of the Australian Antarctic Division I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the exercise and I would like to look forward to the Antarctic Division s continued association with the Mawson s Huts Foundation and the conservation of the huts in Antarctica and looking forward to telling the story about Mawson s legacy and the modern Antarctic programme. Thank you very much and congratulations. In the final address, David Jensen thanked the Lord Mayor for opening the Museum and for all his support over the years. He also David Jensen making the closing speech. Behind him and to the left is Alderman Marty Zucco, the Lord Mayor is obscured immediately behind David, and then from left to right are Jon Tucker, Peter McCabe, Greg Holland (obscuring Barbara Tucker) and Jason Mundy (AAD). (Photograph per courtesy of Geoff Harrisson, grandson of Charles Harrisson who was a member of the AAE) thanked the guests for being present especially those who have flown in from Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere. He looks forward to showing everyone around the Museum, but points out that for Health and Safety reasons they are limited to 48 at a time. He continued: Visitors from Sydney include a lovely man, Russell Hodgeman and his wife Patricia. Russell is the son of Alfred James Hodgeman, who was a member of the party at Cape Denison and was the cartographer and the man who designed putting these two prefabricated huts together. We are going to have pleasure in showing Russell through the Museum, especially the photographs that he has supplied and that his father had on his bunk. They all had nicknames down there and he was known as Alfie or that s him. Also here today are Geoff Harrisson and his wife Regina. Geoff is the grandson of Charles Harrisson, the only Tasmanian member of the AAE. Members of the Mawson family rang me this morning with great regret that they couldn t send a representative but they intend coming down as soon as they possibly can. They asked that the seven grandchildren of

6 Mawson, who have supported the Foundation over the years, be recognised in spirit and that they will continue to support it. As the Lord Mayor has mentioned this would not have been possible without a grant from the Federal Government and we are very grateful to have that. It wasn t all we wanted, but it was only through the tremendous support we have had through the Hobart Business Community and individuals too numerous to name that made it possible. So with that $350,000, which we thought wasn t quite enough to construct the huts, we have constructed the huts, fitted them out and are now open for business after you have gone through today. There are several companies I do have to say thank you to:- Clennetts Mitre Ten at Kingston have supplied all our materials. We have also helped educate Will Clennetts and Simon Cornelius, as they knew nothing about Mawson and we had a breakfast session with them in Launceston about six months ago and they are now stalwarts of the Mawson story and supporters of the Foundation. Robert Morris-Nunn and Martin Schmidt of Circa have helped us with the design and guided it through Council. The Tasmanian Ports Authority provided A very happy and relieved David Jensen at the conclusion of the opening ceremony. (Photograph per courtesy of Marion Wheatland ) a shed on the Waterfront in which we constructed the Replica, while people like Stuart Hamilton of Southern Lighting and Sean DeFreitas of Saunders Signs contributed without hesitation. Everyone without exception, the people I rang and asked for support gave it in some form or another; and that includes people like John Gillies who made the radio inside and the acetylene plant. To Chimu Expeditions, our friends in Sydney, who are organising a fund raising cruise for us to the Antarctic in February I offer a large thank you and to UCI who fitted out the reception area for us. The Red Arrow team headed by Tim Williams who did the interpretation area inside; to Rex Gardner Managing Director of the Hobart Mercury. Rex and I have been friends for many many years. We worked together in London and his paper has been extremely helpful and supportive in getting this project completed. I would finally like to express my regret that my wife Lindsie couldn t make it in time today. She had a terrible back problem and we had to postpone her flight until today, and should be touching down about now. I have had the pleasure of showing her the hut previously. Lindsie played an important part in this project and supported me over the years in my ambition to get it done. She also suggested to me in 1996 that I do something about saving Mawson s Huts. We are New Zealanders and we were actually a bit disgraced that New Zealand is conserving four Huts in the Antarctic and Australia was conserving none. But thankfully the support of the Australian Antarctic Division now is enormous and critical in our work. I should also mention another family connection, my daughter Gretchen made the pillows on the bunks, Cherie Woolley a lovely Hobart lady made the mattresses, while another friend of my daughter s made the Burbury jackets; the Country Women s Association knitted the Balaclavas which were exact replicas and the same colours - you just couldn t tell

7 the difference. Finally I would like to invite you all to join us and have a look through the huts. Lord Mayor again thank you so much for opening us on this beautiful Hobart day which I am told lasts all through the summer. Acknowledgements: The production of this philatelic promotional document would not have been possible without the help of a great number of enthusiastic people who willingly supplied quality photographic images and information (in hard copy and electronic format as well as verbally). They include: the Deputy Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Ron Christie; Jim Butterworth (SY Preana); Dr Chris Henderson; Geoff Harrisson; Marion Wheatland; the Mercury newspaper; the Tasmanian Travel & Information Centre; Fiona Chapman of the Dept of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts; the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery; Polar Pathways (Lorne Kriwoken); the Maritime Museum of Tasmania; Darnielle Fenn & Christine Hurley at the Mawson s Huts Replica Museum. My sincere apologies if I have forgotten anybody. Come one, come all, David Jensen and the Lord Mayor of Hobart invite you to come to Hobart to see and be amazed by this magnificent Replica of Mawson s Huts; it is a Museum of which we should all be very proud. Photo courtesy Mercury newspaper. Hobart & the Mawson s Huts Replica Museum: If you plan to come to Hobart to see the Replica Museum allow plenty of time as there is so much to see and do, especially if you are interested in the history of Polar Exploration. Before you leave home obtain a copy of the 60-page booklet entitled Polar Pathways from the Tasmanian Travel & Information Centre. It will be the best $10.00 you have ever spent as it provides information about the people, the places & the surprising stories that link Hobart to the vast distant continent Antarctica, many of which were mentioned by the Lord Mayor on page 4. The Centre also has a number of other informative brochures about Hobart s maritime and Antarctic links that they will send you. Examples of what there is to see in Hobart are two exhibitions at the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery. The Islands to Ice Exhibition is a permanent exhibition situated in the Argyle Galleries, Level 2. It features the region South of 40 latitude. From 21 st January to early March 2014 there is a temporary photographic exhibition entitled Mawson s Men in the Bond Store Basement. Contact the Tasmanian Travel & Information Centre for more information: (t ; bookings@hobarttravelcentre.com.au )

8 The Commemorative Cover The numbered covers illustrated on the right were produced to commemorate the opening of the Mawson s Huts Replica Museum in Hobart on the 2 December They also serve to commemorate the 102 nd Anniversary of the departure from Queen s Wharf, Hobart on 2 December 1911, of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) on board the SY Aurora. The cachet on the left hand side of the covers was taken from a drawing by the renowned artist Peter Anderson, who also designed the commemorative postmark. An enlarged version (X3) of the postmark is shown below the cover (at right). It is unfortunate that this postmark has not been listed in the Stamp Bulletin and does not appear on the Australia Post website. The cover is serviced with three AAT Centenary of the AAE 60 stamps, which were issued on 10 September They depict scenes from Cape Denison, which illustrate the extreme weather conditions; the scientific work being performed; and examples of Antarctic wildlife, namely a Weddel Seal and a Cape Petrel. The green Centenary - Mawson s Head cachet has been applied to the back of each cover (see image at far right).

9 Other items for sale A Wendy Sharpe postcard plus a mint TAAF 1,45 Mawson s Huts $10.00 the pair. The Postcard The stamp On reverse Actual size This beautiful 1,45 stamp featuring Mawson s Huts was issued by the philatelic section of the French Antarctic programme (Terres Australes Antarctiques Francaises TAAF) to commemorate the centenary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE). Using a photograph taken in 1997 by Geoff Ashley, who was engaged by the Mawson s Huts Foundation to prepare a conservation report on the historic building, the stamp was designed by Claude Andreotto, a well known and much appreciated stamp designer in France. The stamp also features Mawson s head and Adélie penguins. It was issued at Dumont D Urville Terre Adelie (the French Antarctic Station 233 km to the west of Cape Denison) on 1 January 2013.

10 The Book: Wendy Sharpe s Antarctica (ISBN ) is available for $25.00 plus postage. This 106-page, soft-bound book, which is in landscape format (actual size 300mm wide x 210mm high), was edited by David Jensen AM and published by the Mawson s Huts Foundation. It features many of the paintings and sketches that Wendy produced during her six-week voyage on board Aurora Australis, which included a return helicopter flight to the Mawson centenary celebrations held at Cape Denison in January Also included in the book are photographs of Wendy inside the Huts and at work on the Aurora Australis as well as her CV and a brief biography. Front cover Back cover Penguins with Mawson s Huts and Aurora (Oil on linen) Wendy at work on the trawl deck of the Aurora Australis Two exhibitions of 118 paintings and 20 limited edition etchings by Sydney award winning artist Wendy Sharpe were held at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney in July 2012 and at the Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart in August 2013 with all proceeds going toward the conservation of Mawson s Huts at Cape Denison. Details of this exhibition can be seen at: