History & Technology

Last week the Immigration Museum Discovery Centre participated in the annual Shake Your Family Tree event. Organised by the National Archives of Australia (NAA), this is a national event that brings together family history experts in one location for an entire day.

  Victorian Archives Centre Foyer
Image: Phillip Morrissey
Source: Phillip Morrissey  

It was an opportunity for budding genealogists to delve even deeper into their family history with a full day of activities presented by the National Archives and others. There were many opportunities to speak to experts about resources that can assist with your family history journey and visitors could hear personal stories from fascinating guest speakers. Key sessions were webcast, including a special panel discussion on how migrants have shaped Australia, moderated by Karen Middleton, SBS journalist, and an introduction to the National Archives new website Destination: Australia which showcases over 21,000 images of migrants in Australia after World War II.

Along with many other institutions such as the State Library of Victoria, Public Record Office of Victoria, Genealogical Society of Victoria and the Koori Heritage Trust to name but a few, we set up our stand in the foyer of the VAC in North Melbourne and helped many enthusiastic visitors with questions about doing their family history research. 

Immigration Museum Info desk
Image: Phillip Morrissey
Source: Phillip Morrissey  

Immigration Museum Info desk at NAA
Image: Phillip Morrissey
Source: Phillip Morrissey  

It was the perfect opportunity to promote the services of the Discovery Centre at the Immigration Museum which we hope will encourage more visitation to the Museum and the IDC.

There Once Was An Irish Kids Fest…

On Sunday 18 January we hosted 1,952 people here at Immigration Museum for the Irish Kids Fest, and what a fabulous day it was!  So much of the dialogue around the Irish diaspora at the moment is focused on the harsh economic conditions that make a life away from home more viable, but this was a day to revel in what we love about being Irish and to share the fun of Irish culture and arts.

Céili and set dancing workshop
Image: Justine Philip
Source: Museum Victoria  

In the courtyard, dancers of all ages from the Christine Ayres School of Irish Dancing displayed their intricate footwork and helped children find their feet during céili and set dancing workshops.

Learning céili dance moves
Image: Justine Philip
Source: Museum Victoria    

Throughout the day, children and families heard Irish tales from storyteller Oisín McKenna, found the lost treasure of Ireland during interactive theatre performances with Jack and Molly (Vince and Margie Brophy) and also had fun playing our Federation handbells, making Claddagh crowns and illuminated bookmarks.

Irish storytelling session
Image: Justine Philip
Source: Museum Victoria  

Here at the Discovery Centre, Simon and I helped people to get started on their family history journeys, using the resources available through the National Archives of Australia and the Public Records Office of Victoria.  But best of all, we hosted a limerick writing competition, with a sweet or sticker for every entry, and hourly main prizes for the best ones.  There were LOTS of amazing entries, and it was really hard to choose between them!  We displayed the rest of our favourites on our board for the rest of the week for people to enjoy.

  One of the fantastic limerick competition winners
Image: Phil Morrissey
Source: Museum Victoria  

I’m sure it will come as no surprise that we had a few limerick entries from grownups – they certainly made us laugh, but I’m afraid I can’t share them here.  My favourite was about a young sailor and his predilection for dancing. I’ll leave the rest of that one as an exercise for the reader! 

  Learning to play the bodhrán (Irish drum)
Image: Justine Philip
Source: Museum Victoria  

A busy day full of great craic – can’t wait to see you all again at the next Kids Fest!

Your question: Where can I find out more about the coins and medals I have?

We often in the Discovery Centre receive enquiries about coins and medals. Our Collections Online website provides information about many of the coins, medals and trade tokens in the collection. We currently have approximately 7500 coins online, 2800 medals online and 2800 trade tokens online!

The obverse of the host coin and featured a laureate bust of Charles III (mostly removed with the central dump) facing right. At the bottom of the overstrike is a spray of olive leaves with the artist's initial H at its centre.
Image: Naomi Andrzejeski
Source: Museum Victoria  

Melbourne Museum Discovery Centre

You can come into the Discovery Centre and make use of the library resources from 10am until 4.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday. You can also come in and look at the coins and medals we have on display in our reference drawers, featuring medals from the International Exhibitions held at the Royal Exhibition Building in 1880 and 1888.

Silver coin - Florin (Two shillings), 1947
Image: Unknown photographer
Source: Museum Victoria  

Australian Coins and Medals

The Numismatics Association of Australia provides links to many relevant websites, and has also published online the past issues of its Journal, which has many articles of interest on the history of Australian coins and medals. See also the website of the Numismatics Association of Victoria for its activities and journal.

The National Museum of Australia features convict tokens and agricultural medals on their website.

Reserve Bank of Australia’s Museum of Australian Currency Notes provides a timeline of Australian paper money and educational resources.

The ANZ Banking Museum also provides information about Australian currency, the museum tells the story of Australia's banking heritage through displays of items such as banknotes and coins, moneyboxes, office machines, firearms, gold-mining equipment and uniforms.

Penny coin from Australia 1920 (Kookaburra side)
Image: Jon Augier
Source: Museum Victoria  

Useful publications include:

Leslie Carlisle Australian historical medals, 1788-1988 (2008) available in the Melbourne Museum Discovery Centre.

World Coins and Medals

The British Museum’s Department of Coins and Medals provides a guide to books, web resources and associations. The site covers not just British coins and medals, but Roman, Greek, Oriental and modern coins, tokens, medals and paper money.

The Royal Numismatics Society (UK) has a web page of links to relevant web resources.

1930 Penny, proof coin
Image: Jon Augier
Source: Museum Victoria  

Useful publications include:

Standard Catalog of World Coins, published by Krause Publications. There are separate volumes now published for each century from the seventeenth century to the present.

And see the detailed book list at http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/departments/coins_and_medals/reading_list.asp

Got a question? Ask us!

Matilda swapped a life working as an engineer for a life curating the museum’s historical Engineering collection. She’s very curious about how stuff works, how it’s made and why. If a machine’s got a switch, she’ll definitely flick it.

Last week I visited a foundry in Melbourne that was casting a vital component for our restoration of the Great Melbourne Telescope. The original part of the telescope - the declination disc - had been modified and broken at some time in its history and was not repairable.

The Great Melbourne Telescope in its own house at the Melbourne Observatory, 1870. The red arrow points to the declination disc needing replacement.
Source: Museum Victoria  

This is the first part of the project to be made by a sand moulding or casting process very similar to that which was used in Ireland in the late 1860s. Our modern part is made from a type of cast iron invented in the 1940s which has magnesium added to give it properties that make it easier to shape. The electric induction furnace, which is used to melt the metal, was developed in the early 20th century.

A couple of weeks ago, Peter made a pattern out of wood for the casting. Tom next used the pattern to form a hollow in a sand mould. This kind of mould is a mixture of washed sand and a binder, made in two halves, and cured to retain its shape once the pattern is removed. The two halves of the mould were then closed, after a pouring spout, flow paths and risers (to allow the metal to flow to and fill all sections of the hollow) were added. Heavy weights on top ensured it remained closed when the metal was poured.

The sparks fly as Bryn takes a sample from the furnace for temperature testing.
Image: Matilda Vaughan
Source: Museum Victoria  

The pounded earth floor and the filtered light through the open doorways and skylights in the roof of the foundry transported me back in time. It was 7 AM and Bryn had already been awake for hours and the sparking pot of molten metal (spheroidal graphite iron) was his morning's labour. He tested its temperature and composition, turned the knob of the electric induction furnace's control panel, and gave the signal. After the removal of the slag crust, the metal was ready for pouring.

Bryn pours the molten metal into the next mould as Tom looks on. Our filled mould is on the floor behind them.
Image: Matilda Vaughan
Source: Museum Victoria  

Bryn added the final ingredients and carefully tipped the 1500°C molten metal into the pre-heated ladle. He then transported the ladle to the moulding area and poured it first into our waiting mould, and then onto the other smaller moulds. Being such a large casting, ours needed almost 24 hours to cool down before breaking open the mould.

The lower half of the sand mould, with the casting removed. The sand from the top half is in pieces in the background. The sand will be cleaned and reused, as will the molten scraps of metal.
Image: Matilda Vaughan
Source: Museum Victoria  

At 6 AM the following morning, Bryn was ready to break open the mould. The weights were removed and the upper part of the mould lifted away. Then the casting itself was lifted into the air and the sand and metal debris removed. It was then transported by the overhead mobile crane to the finishing room, where the hardened parts of the spout, risers and flow paths were ground and knocked off and the surfaces cleaned.

Bryn (left) with the pattern for our declination disc, and Tom (right) with the freshly removed casting. Note the four cylindrical 'risers' at the edge, the pouring pathways (almost like a running person) in the middle and the square shaped pouring spout (head of the running person). These pieces are reused for the next batch of metal.
Image: Matilda Vaughan
Source: Museum Victoria  

The next step for this part will be heat treatment to 'relax' the metal, followed by the final shaping and machining. It is a rare sight to see this process so close in our urban environment and one of the great aspects to working on restoration projects of this magnitude.

Links:

Great Melbourne Telescope website

Great Melbourne Telescope on Collections Online

Emily is a third-year History of Art student at the University of Birmingham. She worked at MV after winning a Global Challenge award which gives students opportunities to work overseas.

In August and September I spent six weeks in Museum Victoria's Humanities Department helping to plan for the Centenary of World War I exhibition, which will be held at the museum in 2014. My main focus was on a collection of magazines named Aussie published for soldiers during and after WWI.

At the end of my placement I came away eager to contribute more, however small, and link up Melbourne Museum's WWI centenary commemorations with those that will happen in the Birmingham. I set out to find any connections between Australia and the University of Birmingham relating to WWI.

Australian and New Zealand soldiers came to Birmingham in 1914 to be treated at the University of Birmingham’s Great Hall, then called the 1st Southern General Hospital (and it is where I will be graduating next summer). Looking through the university’s collections, I came across an embroidered quilt that was produced by convalescing soldiers. Made up of nine panels, it includes an Australian panel depicting a crown with ‘Australian Commonwealth Military Forces’ written on a scroll underneath and a New Zealand panel featuring an intricate fern with ‘NZ’ over the top.

Australian Servicemen embroidery detail on Matron Kathleen Lloyd's linen cloth.
Source: BIRRC-H0013, Research & Cultural Collections, University of Birmingham

New Zealand Regiment embroidery detail embroidery detail on Matron Kathleen Lloyd's linen cloth.
Source: BIRRC-H0013, Research & Cultural Collections, University of Birmingham  

I also found photos at the Birmingham Archives and Heritage collections, with wounded soldiers from Australia and Scotland posing with nurses in the grounds of the hospital. Museum Victoria also holds many photographs taken and postcards purchased by soldiers from their time in England during WWI.

Australian soldiers with nurses at the 1st Southern General Hospital, now the University of Birmingham's Great Hall.
Source: UA10/i/4, Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections, University of Birmingham  

In addition, in the university’s collections there is an interesting article in The Mermaid magazine, entitled ‘A Trip to Gallipoli’ by Percival M. Chadwick. He was a Civil Engineering Lecturer at the University of Birmingham who left in 1915 to go and fight in Gallipoli for twelve months, only to return to Birmingham again to be treated at the university in the 1^st Southern General Hospital. He was attached to the New Zealand Engineers working with Australian and New Zealand Infantry and Cavalry regiments including a Maori contingent. He states:

The officers with whom I worked gave me a homely welcome, and I speedily felt quite at ease among them.

I could reiterate what Percival M. Chadwick said about Australians, about my colleagues at Melbourne Museum. It was a pleasure working there and one of the most enjoyable work experiences I have had. I very much look forward to seeing what Melbourne Museum puts on in its centenary exhibition in 2014 and I hope it is a success for everyone.

References:

Links:

University of Birmingham collections

Four characters from the new production of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab that will screen on ABC on 28 October. Left to right: Charlie Cousins as Roger Moreland, Oliver Ackland as Brian Fitzgerald, Marco Chiappi as Duncan Carlton and Felix Williamson as Detective Kilsip.
Image: Stills photography by Bill Bachman and Arsineh Houspian
Source: Burberry Entertainment / ABC  

"Whereas, on Friday, the 27th day of July, the body of a man, name unknown, was found in a hansom cab. AND WHEREAS, at an inquest held at St. Kilda, on the 30th day of July, a verdict of wilful murder, against some person unknown, was brought in by the jury. The deceased is of medium height, with a dark complexion, dark hair, clean shaved, has a mole on the left temple, and was dressed in evening dress. Notice is hereby given that a reward of 100 pounds will be paid by the Government for such information as will lead to the conviction of the murderer, who is presumed to be a man who entered the hansom cab with the deceased at the corner of Collins and Russell Streets, on the morning of the 27th day of July."

So begins Chapter III of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, a very early detective novel set in Melbourne. Written by English-born and NZ-raised Fergus Hume, this 1886 tale of mystery and murder in the young colonial city became an unexpected international smash. On Sunday 28 October at 8:30 PM, a telemovie based on the novel will screen on ABC TV.

A scene from the new telemovie of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. Left to right: Marco Chiappi as Duncan Carlton, Jessica De Gouw as Madge Frettlby and Felix Williamson as Detective Kilsip
Image: Stills photography by Bill Bachman and Arsineh Houspian
Source: Burberry Entertainment / ABC  

Filmed on location around the city, and steered carefully by the production designer Otello Stolfo, 1880s 'Marvellous Melbourne' has been meticulously recreated by a talented team of researchers, builders and other craftspeople. The props and the costumes were made and sourced with a keen eye to authentic period detail. The cream of the Australian acting community, including John Waters, Marco Chiappi, Shane Jacobson, Jessica De Gouw, Oliver Ackland, Chelsie Preston, Felix Williamson and Helen Morse, bring the story to life, through the faithful script adaptation by Glen Dolman, directed by Shawn Seet, produced by Margot McDonald and executive producer Ewan Burnett. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab was developed and produced with the assistance of Film Victoria.

Costumes, jewellery, costume drawings and other documentation from this telemovie have just been acquired by the museum from the production company, Burberry Entertainment. Curator Michael Reason explains the significance of the costumes: "This acquisition represents television production in Melbourne, particularly how the city’s history has been presented, and it's also a way for us to record literary Melbourne. The costumes were all locally made so they represent bespoke tailoring in the city and even the Phillips Shirts factory which has operated for 60 years. It is an honour to preserve these wonderful costumes, created by costume designer Wendy Cork and costume supervisor Christiana Plitzo, as very few items of Australian film and television wardrobe have survived, particularly in museums." 

Costumes acquired by Museum Victoria from the production of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. Left: Jessica De Gouw as Madge Frettlby. Right: Chelsie Preston Crayford as Sal Rawlins.
Source: Burberry Entertainment / ABC

Costumes acquired by Museum Victoria from the production of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. Left: Felix Williamson as Detective Kilsip. Right:Shane Jacobson as Samuel Gorby.
Source: Burberry Entertainment / ABC  

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab predates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, who first appeared in print in 1887. Part of its appeal in the US and UK was its location in a faraway and mysterious location: a developing Melbourne that was only five decades old. "The book was true to the city and includes places like the Melbourne Club, St Kilda and Little Bourke St," says Michael. "It's an intriguing story of people reinventing themselves by coming to Melbourne and leaving behind their past." The characters of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab cover the class spectrum of Melbourne colonial society, from the well-to-do to residents of the young city's notorious slums.

Hansom cab made by Simmons & Sons, South Yarra, 1880s. Hansom cabs were horse-drawn vehicles for hire, like a Victorian-era taxi. They were fast, light and agile. The driver sat at the rear and could control the doors to prevent passengers from fleeing without paying their fare. (ST 029057)
Source: Museum Victoria  

As for its author Hume, sadly he never achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a playwright. Having sold the rights to The Mystery of a Hansom Cab for 50 pounds, he never profited from its phenomenal success, and his subsequent 100+ novels and short stories were never particularly popular and he died in relative obscurity in England in 1932.

Links:

Burberry Entertainment

Costumes on Collections Online

Scan of rare first edition of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (McLaren Collection, University of Melbourne)

Radio National Book Club episode discussing the book