Fellowship of First Fleeters Hunter Valley Chapter

Transcription

1 Fellowship of First Fleeters Hunter Valley Chapter To live on in the hearts and minds of Descendants is never to die. All correspondence to: 28 Steel Street, Hamilton President Secretary: Treasurer: Membership: Barbara Gow Kerry Neinert Phil Aubin Cynthia Huggup Ph: Ph: Ph: The Coal River Bulletin Newsletter No: 64 November 2018 General Meeting 15 th October, 2018 President Barbara welcomed one and all to our meeting. The National Anthem was sung and courtesy of Don s slide show we had great back up from a Signing Choir. Barbara then briefly outlined her planned program for next year which includes interesting Guest Speakers and three outings. Looks like another great year for our Chapter! Our Guest Speaker today was Paul Turton, a well known ABC radio identity - the topic being Some Stuff about the ABC. President Barbara introduced Paul with a brief bio as follows: While Paul has been a radio broadcaster for over 40 years, at the beginning of his working life he was indentured as a Carpenter/Joiner - lasting 3 months. In 1980 he worked as a Rock Disc Jockey and after he matriculated in 1991 he then knocked on the ABC door and has been coming and going in different ABC studios around NSW for over 30 years. His title now at ABC 1233 is the NSW Emergency Co-ordinator an important and relied upon service in our area. Newcastle ABC radio first broadcast on December 19 th 1930 and was the first regional station outside a capital city. The studio was located in Newcomen Street in the City and was originally a WW2 bunker with 3 ft. thick walls. A new studio was approved in July The site is now a semi-commercial venture with apartments incorporated on the site. The ABC transmitting antenna is located at Beresfield. The ABC audience statistics show men over women. As we imagined there have been many so called bloopers over the years and Paul shared some hilarious recorded moments with us. Of course in the early days broadcasters had no modern technology to assist them and if something went wrong it really went wrong. Paul commented that in these early days the recording studious could be lonely places. Many of us recognised familiar names of announcers based here in Newcastle who were mentioned in the course of his presentation. Barbara thanked Paul for sharing the history of ABC radio 1233 and for bringing back so many happy memories.

2 Many thanks to Kerry Neinert who gave our 5 minute talk today a summary of a tour she had taken to Parramatta The Convict Women s Trail. A guide greeted their group in Sydney wearing Colonial dress and shared lots of history with great humour. The tour continued onto the Parramatta Female Factory which housed convict women waiting for assignment, their children, reoffenders, emancipated women, or others requiring medical care, destitute invalid emigrant women, staff and administrators. The factory was established by Governor King which ran between 1821 and There were apparently some very interesting and humorous tales surrounding these inmates. The building is now a Women s Health Care Centre. The tour included time at Parramatta Park which was constructed in 1885 and which includes the first large dam built in Australia. It is believed to be the eleventh earliest single arch dam constructed in the world since antiquity. It was also the only masonry dam in the world to combine the use of Roman and Portland cements in the one structure. Apparently the dam was filled by convicts using buckets. Unfortunately the park also had a dark history being the hanging place for convicted criminals. The 5 minute presentation has proved a very popular addition to our meetings and we already have several volunteers for next year. A reminder: this brief talk can be of an interesting person or of some historical event or place. Congratulations Terry & Judy Musgrave who celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary 26 th October, 2018

3 Maitland 200 years Celebration Sunday, 16 th September 2018 President Barbara reports This event was held to celebrate the 200 years that have passed since the first land grants were made along the Hunter River. Our Chapter participated with Don, Cynthia, Phil, Bill and Barbara setting up our stall early in the morning - in a gazebo on loan from Maitland City Council. We were then supported by Di Stepa and Bob Walker resplendent in his soldier s uniform and Chris Robinson, also in uniform, with his stall featuring equipment used by surgeons of the first fleet. Other stalls included displays by various Maitland history groups and the Mindaribba Land Council. Barbara manned the stall during the official ceremony so Phil reports that John Clarke (you may remember him from ABC radio) compered the ceremony. After Welcome to Country an aboriginal dance group performed as did the Maitland City Choir. The Mayor of Maitland and representatives from all levels of government were represented and a descendant of an early Maitland settler spoke of their experiences. Attendances during the day were not as strong as expected but much interest was shown in our first fleet display and we met more people with first fleet links. These "convicts under the eye of soldier Bob were featured in the Maitland Mercury Newspaper

4 Outing Wednesday September 19 th 2018 Many thanks to Di Stepa for the following report: For our September outing 11 of our members ventured up to Singleton for a visit to the Australian Army Infantry Museum. After meeting at the on-site café for morning tea we proceeded on a tour of the museum conducted by a very pleasant and knowledgeable guide. The museum was relocated from Ingleburn to Singleton in 1973 and officially opened on 15 th March In 1998 the museum came under the command of the Army History Unit. It is an excellent modern facility which is beautifully maintained. The displays are most interesting and very well presented. The museum s collection ranges from the Australia s pre-federation state colonial armies and their first deployments overseas in the 19 th century through to today s 21 st century diggers. It is a place where all can learn about the history behind the familiar names such as Gallipoli, The Somme, Tobruk, The Kokoda Track, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as less familiar peace-keeping operations Australians have been involved in. The exhibition is divided into two areas. The ground floor displays focus on the chronological history of infantry operational deployments, from Sudan in 1885 through to current deployments. A highlight was the story (relayed by the guide) with an associated display of how the remains of a soldier found during archaeological work on the WW2 western front were identified. The mezzanine displays focus on the weaponry and associated types of ammunition and how these have been developed and improved over time. We spent over two enjoyable and informative hours on the tour before driving to Branxton for lunch together at the Royal Federal Hotel. All in all, a very pleasant day.

5 November October 10 th Logan Cherry 22 nd Brittany Pacey 28 th Judy Pepper 29 th Neil Pacey, 29 th John Green December 2 nd Colleen Simpson 1 st Helen Pacey 1 st Barbara Turner 5 th Noelene Snowden 1 st Mary Woodlands, 2 nd Sam Pacey 8 th Athol Searston 3 rd Jane Van Woerkom, 4 th Bettye Searston 10 th William (Bill) Gow 10 th Helen Moore 22 nd Cynthia Huggup 14 th Saffron Bartley 24 th John Turner, 26 th Don Huggup 29 th Caroline Ruppe Up-coming dates for your Diary: 10 th December 2018 Christmas gathering at the Gates Hotel, Adamstown. See your invitation with all details next page. 19 th January 2019 Fellowship of First Fleeters Australia Day Luncheon Details in the current Founders magazine. 18 th February 2019 First meeting of the year for our Hunter Valley Chapter Guest Speaker: Judy Aubin Topic: Some little known facts (but not really secrets) of 3 interim Governors of NSW Again details in our next Newsletter in January ** Studies show that 6 out of 7 dwarves aren t Happy. ** Sleeping just comes naturally to me. I can do it with my eyes closed. ** What do you get if you walk under a cow? A pat on the head. ** She was only a whisky maker, but he loved her still. ** Waiter! This coffee tastes like mud. Yes sir, its fresh ground. Judy Aubin Your Editor

6 Fellowship of First Fleeters Hunter Valley Chapter Your Invitation to our Christmas gathering: WHEN: Monday 10 th December WHERE: The Gates Hotel Glebe Road, Adamstown TIME: for drinks and nibbles 12 noon lunch Cost: $30 p.p. includes: 2 course lunch (2 meats plus ham & vegetables) Choice of 2 desserts and A surprise Santa gift for each person on your table as a Tombola won t be held this year. Please confirm your attendance with President Barbara by 30 th November as numbers are required for catering. If you have special dietary requirements let Kerry know so she can contact the Hotel staff. Payment: Payment also by 30 th November: Preferably Direct Deposit to BSB Acc. No or by cheque to Treasurer Phil at: 3 Rydal Road, LAKELANDS 2282