The World of Norfolk's MuseumThe World of Norfolk's Museum

We are really excited to announce two new installations this week. A short term display in The R.E.O. to compliment a story on Roy Bell featured in the current Your World Magazine and new display material in the Pier Store Museum to enhance our Norfolk Language display.

Roy Bell was born in 1882 on Raoul Island in the Kermadec Group east of Norfolk Island, coming here to live in 1911 it is now fifty years since Roy was laid to rest in our cemetery at Kingston. Being born into the Bell Family on isolated Raoul was the beginning of an incredible life story for Roy. The hardships the family endured and the immense appreciation for nature were no doubt inspirational for his life’s work as a photographer, ornithologist and a naturalist. On Norfolk Island he was also known as a spiritualist. Roy is remembered for his work supporting Tom Iredale and a group of scientists studying birds, molluscs and shells on Raoul Island. On Norfolk he continued to be a natural history collector making contributions to Gregory Mathew’s valuable publication ‘Birds of Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands’ published in 1928. Today on Norfolk we can be grateful for a wonderful collection of Roy’s photography that has captured the visual history of our island.

Masked Booby's by Roy Bell

Call into The R.E.O at Kingston to see our display commemorating the life of Roy Bell. Then come across to the Pier Store Museum to see the new iPad installed at our Norfolk Language display.

The app design provides an easy to follow audio and visual for visitors to experience, learn and play with the Norf’k language. It begins with an introductory page that prompts you to learn the Origins of Norf’k (Wesaid Norf’k kamfram); Old Folk – Food and Whaling (Oel Salan – Wetels en Wielen); Language of Love (Laengwij’ Law); Humour (Kasedri); Modern Education (Lernen Norf’k Des Dieh); Teach Yourself Norf’k (Tiich Yusaelf fe Tork Norf’k)

Mary Cooper enjoying the Norf'k Laengwij App

The Origins of Nor’k features audio and visual showing four men speaking a single passage in Tahitian, English dialect, Pitcairn and finally Norf’k itself. The Old Folk – Food and Whaling is a group of Norfolk Islanders talking in the 1960’s about gathering food, cooking, whaling and the younger generation. The Language of Love is a story written by Rachel Nebauer-Borg about a young couple courting and the Humour features a poem composed by Andre Nobbs titled Baswaagas that depicts the Norf’k sense of humour in describing a man and a woman who overcome their dislike for each other to fall in love. Modern Education is an audio of three school students learning the language at school and to illustrate the difference one student is Australian, the other a New Zealander and the third a Norfolk Islander. And finally Teach Yourself Norf’k is a set of simple language lessons progressing from simple greetings, questions and phrases through to full conversations, all with written translations and wonderful images. We also have colouring in and lettering activities for the children.

The Norfolk Island Museum offers thanks to both Eddie Hooker and Ron Edwards for providing information to develop our Roy Bell story and many thanks also to all dem sullen who have contributed to the content for this wonderful Norf’k Language resource in the Pier Store Museum.

We also sincerely thank Nicky and Wally Beadman for giving generously and freely so much of their time and expertise to develop the Norf’k Language app and to Peter Muhlhausler for his continued support of Norf’k Language in the Norfolk Island Museum.

Janelle Blucher

Note: This post continues from earlier Ribs, roves and rivets
The ribs are complete and the entire lighter is caulked and undercoated. Dean Burrell drives the fork lift to gently raise the lighter so that the keelson can be hammered into place. Work will then continue on the inside of the lighter.

Regular posts on the building of the lighter will be uploaded to this blog.

The Norfolk Island Museum applied to the Maritime Museums of Australia Project Support Scheme (MMAPSS) to provide for a condition assessment of the HMS Sirius Collection. Rebecca Dallwitz, Objects Conservator for the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) arrived on the island last week to undertake this assessment.

The MMAPSS is funded by the Australian Government and managed by the ANMM, the Norfolk Island Museum have been fortunate to receive assistance through this grant scheme over the past number of years. Some of the projects funded by the scheme has provided for the development of educational resources; a Norfolk Island maritime research project post 1856 including our whaling heritage and the story of the Resolution; it has provided for the writing of maritime significance statements and the conservation of our collections.

Rebecca spent over a week on the island examining the HMS Siriusartefacts on display and in storage and now has the enormous task of pulling the information together and producing a report. Her study not only includes the assessment of the actual objects but also considers the environment, housing, collection maintenance and documentation. It will provide a valuable document to confirm existing best practice museum standards, but more importantly identify what needs to be addressed to ensure the long term preservation and care of such a significant collection. She has already identified necessary activity to address the environment, display material and documentation; this report will be a tool to assist us to procure resources for these necessary projects.

Many thanks to Rebecca for your time and professionalism, to the ANMM for sparing her from an extremely busy existing work schedule and to the Australian Government funded Maritime Museums of Australia Project Support Scheme.

Janelle Blucher

The theme for the 36^thannual National Trust Heritage Festival 2016 is ‘Discovery and Rediscoveries’. Discovery can encompass the experience of discovering something for the first time or rediscovering something that has been lost, forgotten or concealed. This theme can be explored through archaeological experiences or any type of cultural heritage. To participate in this year’s festival the Museum has chosen art as its medium.

Painting by Betty Laing

Art of Norfolk Island – rediscovering history through art. This one hour presentation is an illustration of our history. Look through the lens of the artists to visualise the island as it appeared to the settlers from the First Fleet in 1788 and sense the hardships of the second British Settlement from 1825, then appreciate the island culture since the arrival of the Pitcairn Islanders in 1856. Realise the island’s natural beauty is the only common thread throughout our island’s painted history. Gaye Evans delivered this presentation last Thursday, 20 April at the Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area (KAVHA) Research Centre at No. 9 Quality Row. There was no charge for this event and everyone was welcome to attend.

Painting by Betty Laing

Janelle Blucher

Digitise your slide collection and preserve our island stories

Do you have a slide collection tucked away in an old shoebox that you’d like to bring out for a ‘slide night’? It’s sure to impress your friends! Seriously though, if you have a collection of slides that tell us something of our Norfolk story, we’d love to hear from you.

Over the past couple of months Mark Hallam has generously provided his time and equipment to digitise the Norfolk Island Museum slide collection. Any day the weather is not conducive to volunteer his skills at the National Park you will find him in the old Guardhouse building in Kingston working on this digitisation project for the museum. It was Mark that suggested we develop the Museum collection through digitising community owned slide collections. Once Mark has digitised your slides, you take them home along with the digital copy; and the museum also retains a digital copy to add to our collection.

Firstly, call us on 23788 to discuss the content of your slides to ensure it fits with our collection focus, following that we will arrange a suitable time for you to hand them over to Mark to check the condition and undertake the digitisation process.

Already Mark has completed scanning thirteen hundred slides from our collection and just as he thought he was nearing the end, we received a parcel from Rita Hillier; and it was a box of slides. Some may remember the Hillier and Harper Newsagency in Burnt Pine some years back and Rita’s photographic book “Norfolk Island” is still sold on the island today. There’s sure to be a fantastic part of Norfolk’s story in amongst those slides.

It’s worth recognising that the pictures we take throughout our lives capture much more than personal memories. They allow others now and in the future to have a glimpse of the landscape, buildings, people and style, activities and events at a point in time that would otherwise be unobtainable.

Contact either myself or Natasha on 23788 if you would like to share and preserve your part of our island’s story.

Janelle Blucher

These images are from the Bill Davidson Collection - a visitors experience on Norfolk Island

We are extremely grateful for the generosity of museum volunteers David and Michelle Cullen from Camden, New South Wales.

Michelle and David first came to Norfolk for their honeymoon in September 1987 and this year marks their tenth visit and their twenty-ninth wedding anniversary. Both of them work in the finance industry, David’s profession is Money Market Derivatives and Michelle is a Business Analyst. David’s interests include environmental conservation and history; he has been a volunteer with National Parks and Wild Mob on previous visits to Norfolk.

They visited Norfolk during the anniversary week of the 225^th wrecking of the HMS Sirius in March 2015 and it was at that time they thought they might have some skills to offer the Norfolk Island Museum as volunteers. Since then, David with his keen interest in Norfolk’s history and Michelle with her eye for detail and systematic approach to tasks have made a fantastic team undertaking cataloguing projects for the Norfolk Island Museum.

Back on Norfolk at present and now into the third week of their ‘volunteer holiday’, they have completed an enormous project of cataloguing a backlog of files, books and items into the Norfolk Island Museum Trust Collection, over 150 catalogue entries have been completed in the past three weeks. Initially they said they would be available for two weeks of their four week holiday, but they wouldn’t stop until the whole job was done! They both stated, “it’s been difficult to stay on task with the processing as we just wanted to read through everything”, and they also said that it has been their pleasure to be able to provide such valuable assistance to the museum and have thoroughly enjoyed pouring over the interesting documents and books and learning more of our history.

This is the second volunteer project Michelle and David have completed for the museum, back in July 2015 they both worked for two weeks to complete the final step in the process of cataloguing the Les Brown Collection files which amounted to two filing cabinets full of files.

This type of project also reminds us of the generosity and foresight of the people that have donated these items to the museum to complement and improve our repository of information, it serves to not only preserve our history and heritage but also develops this resource for researchers and provides a basis for further analysis of historical information.

To David and Michelle, a huge thank you for your careful processing of these items, it was a huge project that we could not have achieved without your dedication these past few weeks.

Thank you. Janelle Blucher

The Historic Shipwreck Act 1976 requires all owners of shipwreck material older than 75 years to register their objects. Registration simply records the details of your shipwreck material and in no way interferes with your ownership. On Norfolk Island the museum is the agency to contact to register shipwreck material.

The purpose of the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 is to protect maritime objects. It is also to ensure that historic shipwrecks are protected for their heritage values and maintained for recreational, scientific and educational purposes. It seeks to control any actions which could result in damage, interference, removal or destruction of an historic shipwreck site or relic. It does not prevent private ownership of relics, or their sale or disposal, but it does regulate their transfer and disallows further removal of objects from wreck sites or disturbance of sites.

The reasons to register your material are not only that it is a legal requirement, but that without registration you cannot sell or transfer your material.

The registration form is a relatively simple one page form that includes your contact details, a description of your relics and information such as: (if known) where the relic was found, what historic shipwreck it is associated with, where it is stored and its condition. Aside from getting a copy at the museum, you can download it from http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/historic-shipwrecks/possessing-exporting-historic-shipwreck-relics see the link under Notification to find ‘Notification custody of shipwreck relic’.

Registering artefacts isn’t a new concept on Norfolk Island. Many owners of HMS Sirius objects were brought forward for photographing, identification and recording during the 1985 SiriusExpeditions. They were then included in the expedition reports, enabling us to revisit them in recent years to take additional photographs, reconfirm the provenance or associated stories, conserve them and return them back to their owners.

We also urge you to record whatever information you have about your objects. Norfolk Island is surrounded by maritime events and many relics have been recovered from our seas and shores over the years including from our convict and whaling heritage to name just two. The value we place on an object often relates to its connections to a story or a place. An object by itself may tell you where or when it was made, but knowledge of its story or place is much more meaningful.

If you have any shipwreck material older than 75 years (even if you’re unsure of its age) please contact us at the Norfolk Island Museum to process your registration and answer any questions that you have.

Our photo shows a fine example of a shipwreck relic: The bell of the Mary Hamilton in repose at the Norfolk Island Central School, no longer directing the students throughout their day with its ring. The Mary Hamilton was on a twelve month whaling cruise when she called at Norfolk Island on 19 April 1873 to load wood and water. Her master went ashore but as she was being brought around from Cascade to Kingston by the Mate she struck a rock off Nepean Island; bilged and eventually sunk.

Janelle Blucher

The Australian Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) is a body of diverse artists and others interested in marine and maritime art, every painting style is represented amongst its members from traditional to contemporary, realist to abstract. Local artist Tracey Yager was invited to become an exhibiting member of this prestigious Society.

There are specific membership categories and entry requirements for this Society and membership is by selection only. Tracey is honoured to have been selected and invited to become not only a member, but to be conferred with an Exhibiting Membership, this enables Tracey to take advantage of her recognition by this Society by using the letters ASMA after her name and her artwork may be exhibited in the Society’s exhibitions.

This National organisation has a rich mixture of expertise and interests supporting its members by promoting maritime and marine art in Australia. This year marks the 20^thanniversary of the Society and to celebrate this occasion they are holding an Exhibition hosted by the Royal Art Society of NSW at their Lavender Bay Art Gallery in Sydney until 30 October. This exhibition features two of Tracey’s artworks.

Tracey flew to Sydney for the opening and said, “I’m pretty excited that my works are being exhibited at the Royal Art Society of NSW Art Gallery, it’s a beautiful heritage building in such a gorgeous location in Lavender Bay. On the night of the opening we travelled to the gallery via ferry and walked up through Wendy Whitely’s Secret Garden – such an inspiring beautiful journey. The gallery was full to the brim and the standard of art work was very high. I was lucky to have a crew of Norfolk people there as support, it really made it a very special night”.

In 2011 Tracey attended the extremely popular MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart and wanted to become involved, by 2015 she had won the poster competition for that year’s festival and became an exhibiting artist with her work featuring small, lovingly built wooden craft at work, rest and play. These artworks can be seen on her website at www.traceyyager.com. It is her involvement in this festival that led to the selection and invitation to become an Exhibiting Member of ASMA.

One of the artworks selected for the exhibition at the Royal Art Society is titled ‘Unloading the Norfolk Guardian’ depicting the newly constructed lighter No.3 at work alongside Cascade Pier. Throughout 2014/15 the Norfolk Island Museum Trust suggested and supported a project to document the construction of this newest addition to Norfolk’s lighterage fleet. The construction was undertaken by local John Christian Bailey and his team. Our photographic record starts with a stack of timber, shaped into bare boat ribs, eventually becoming a skilfully constructed craft. It was ‘dunked’ into the water to season its timbers and the following day it was put to work unloading the ship. Now, we can see it beautifully depicted in this fabulous watercolour. Tracey stated that she felt it was important to capture this scene at Cascade Pier as an historical record of the Pier, as it was, prior to the commencement of work that will see it extended, heightened and strengthened.

Tracey’s other piece in this exhibition titled ‘Tender of Friendly Light’ represents a small clinker style wooden boat tethered beside a yacht, it speaks of light and shade with a sublime use of colour and a stunning reflection on water.

Maritime art illustrates the history of our world from almost the beginning of time, a powerful medium providing us with an interpretation of social commentary, trade, travel, war and more; in addition to a presentation of beauty or curiosity. Norfolk Island by nature and culture abounds with a history connected to the sea. We are very fortunate for such an accomplished artist to capture our Island’s maritime heritage. Congratulations Tracey.

Janelle Blucher

Image - No 10 Quality Row House Museum

We are pleased to announce the Norfolk Island Museum (NIM) has been awarded funding through the 2016 Community Heritage Grants (CHG) Program to provide for a Preservation Needs Assessment. This funding is by the Australian Government through the National Library of Australia and its partners; the Department of Communications and the Arts; the National Archives of Australia; the National Film and Sound Archive and the National Museum of Australia.

We have been fortunate for this Program in past years providing the Norfolk Island Museum with the capacity to undertake a variety of important projects including; the 2015 Significance Assessment, Conservation of the Bounty Cannon Project, Disaster Management Planning and opportunities for professional development, to name just a few.

A Preservation Needs Assessment will provide key recommendations for the short, medium and long term management of the collections in our care. It will assess existing policies and their impact on the collection, broadly outline the types of objects in the collection and their condition, examine building and environment, storage and display, visitor impact, disaster preparedness as well as training and skills. The outcome will be prioritised recommendations for a Preservation or ‘Action’ Plan. Also and importantly, it will be the key tool to support future grant applications for conservation projects and planning to protect the collections for the future.

The Grant Agreement specifies the assessment must be undertaken by a qualified conservator therefore we have engaged the services of Sue Valis, Conservator at the Queensland Museum to undertake the task. Sue is currently based at the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville where the artefacts from the wreck of the HMS Pandora are held, this was the ship sent from England to capture the HMAV Bountymutineers, then on its return voyage became shipwrecked off the coast of Queensland where tragically 34 lives were lost. Her experience includes conservation and collection management of a diverse range of collection material in various locations. She has spent many years providing support and advice to museums in regional areas and is very much looking forward to visiting us here on Norfolk to complete the Preservation Needs Assessment.

We are grateful for our successful application to the Community Heritage Grants Program, this year there was a strong field of 172 applications whereby 77 organisations were offered a grant. Our thanks go to the grant panel, the National Library of Australia and its partners for our selection.

Janelle Blucher

The Norfolk Island Museum and Research Centre welcome historian Cathy Dunn and her ‘History Lovers Group’ to the island this week. During this time Cathy has offered to present her latest lecture on research techniques and records for Norfolk Island 1788 -1814, a lecture that has been well received at the Society of Australian Genealogists this past week.

Cathy will take you on a journey back to the first British Settlement of Norfolk Island, providing insight into the archives and records that are available, where copies are kept and what can be found online, a fantastic learning opportunity for budding genealogists or history enthusiasts.

A professional family historian, author, tour guide, heritage and public history consultant, a visit to her website www.australianhistoryresearch.info will illustrate the breadth of her knowledge. This period of Norfolk Island’s history has been a study focus for Cathy for many years evidenced by her many visits to the island, presentations and publications.

The lecture is presented at the Research Centre, No. 9 Quality Row, Monday 7 November, 9am – 10.30am at a cost of $20 per person. Seats are limited so booking is necessary. Contact the museum on 23788 to book your seat.

Janelle Blucher

The Norfolk Island Museum is the custodian of artefacts recovered from the wreck site of the HMS Sirius. This week we received a copy of a ‘draught’ of His Majesty’s Ship to complement this significant collection of First Fleet material.

In maritime terms we generally think of the draught or draft being the measured vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull, but in this instance we are referring to a scale drawing by the late Fred. ll. ‘Spring Esquire who was considered to be the Australian expert on draughts of British Ships of the Line.

Fred Spring was a former draughtsman for Qantas whose scale drawing included British Spitfire fighter plane. His original drawing of the draught of the HMS Sirius (formerly known as the Berwick) was prepared for the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, he described the drawing as follows, “The draught of the HMS Siriuswas compiled from the Original Sheer Draught taken off her body in the Single Dock at Deptford January 14^th 1782. Mastings and Riggings were taken from Standards Specifications and Formula as laid down by the Naval Establishment”.

John Shortland, a lifelong friend of Fred, has kindly donated the only copy of this drawing to our museum. John visited Norfolk Island along with historian Cathy Dunn on her ‘History Lovers Tour’ in 2014 it was during this time he indicated he might like to make this donation. And so… this drawing comes to Norfolk Island with Cathy Dunn and is presented to our museum on behalf of John.

John has his own family connection to the HMS Sirius, descended from John Shortland Junior, 2^nd Mate who was stranded on Norfolk Island in March 1790 after the ship wrecked on the reef at Kingston. He left Norfolk Island in 1792 aboard the HMAT Supply eventually making his way back to England. Appointed Lieutenant on the Reliance he returned to NSW in 1794, together with the new Governor John Hunter and Henry Waterhouse 2^ndCaptain (also originally of the Sirius). John and Henry bought the first pure merino sheep to NSW from the Cape of Good Hope, selling to John McArthur, founder of the Australian Wool Industry. In September 1797, while in pursuit of escaped convicts, he discovered the Hunter River and named it for his former Captain John Hunter of HMS Sirius.

It is with great appreciation we say thank you to John Shortland for this wonderful donation and to Cathy Dunn for the personal delivery and historical detail.

Janelle Blucher

Volunteers Extraordinaire

Don and Sue Brian returned to our shores, once again, to offer their time and expertise to the Norfolk Island Museum. This visit was specifically to undertake the accessioning process of the objects recovered from the infrastructure services upgrade of the Double Boatshed, Blacksmiths’ Compound and areas of Quality Row during 2015 by the then Commonwealth Heritage Manager, Matt Alexander, archaeologist Douglas Hobbs and the KAVHA works team.

Our volunteers, Sue and Don, began with the artefacts collected from excavations at the Double Boatshed and the Blacksmith’s Compound. Firstly they needed to correlate the data attached to the objects with the reports to confirm each objects provenance, then each object or grouping of objects were allocated a Norfolk Island Museum catalogue number, these numbers were physically recorded onto the objects, their condition assessed and recorded, photographs taken and the collection rehoused according to material types. The details were entered into a spreadsheet and then uploaded into the museum’s Inmagic Database. A total of 1,150 objects for this project were documented, assessed and entered into the KAVHA Collection in the care of the Norfolk Island Museum. A huge task, but this was not all.

The second stage of their volunteer project was to carry out the same process for the objects recovered from the 2015 upgrade of the infrastructure services along the rear of the Quality Row buildings. Some of these objects may relate to “Irish Town” the former soldiers garden hut area on the hill above the Old Military Barracks Compound, the others from a midden that appears to be dating to the early Pitcairner period, these objects are comprised mainly of glass and ceramics with some stone, metal and animal remains.

Two items of particular interest were identified in the bags of materials which had not been previously noted, one was a worked flint of the same shape and size as that used on a Short Land Pattern Musket and the other was a small hallmarked silver piece which may be a button back provisionally dating to 1792. This project amounted to 2,829 items being identified, described, recorded, and accessioned into the Norfolk Island Museum database as part of the KAVHA collection. All but 900 of these were individually, physically numbered prior to being rehoused. Those which were not numbered were bags of broken bottle glass dating back to the 1920s.

New display cabinets in Pier Store

Also, whilst they were on island they kept themselves ‘extra’ busy by tidying up at our museum store, undertaking conservation of a community owned artefact and installing our precious scrimshaw and whaling gun into the new Norfolk Pine cabinets within the Pier Store Museum. We received two new cabinets costing $1,000; they were donated to the museum by Sue and Don. They also, funded their own way to Norfolk, however we were able to provide them with $1,000 as contribution towards their airfares, this $1,000 came from funds they had donated back to the Museum Trust in 2015 when they undertook an Audit and Condition Assessment of the Trust’s collection.

Absolute dynamos to say the least! Thanks must also be offered to Chris Ciantar and Sorrel Wilby for their support of the Norfolk Island Museum by providing accommodation, to Lou and Jimbo Tavener for the car and to Brian Prince the Commonwealth Heritage Manager for providing the workspace. Thanks to you all from the Norfolk Island Museum.

Janelle Blucher

Team Leader – Heritage Management

March 2017

Preservation Needs Assessment

Late last year we announced our successful application to the Community Heritage Grants Program to provide for a Preservation Needs Assessment for the Norfolk Island Museum.

On island this week is the Museum of Tropical Queensland’s Conservator, Sue Valis to undertake this assessment for us, albeit a little anxious with Cyclone Debbie bearing down on the coast of North Queensland!

A Preservation Needs Assessment generally provides key recommendations for the short, medium and long term management of collections. It will assess existing policies and their impact on the collection; broadly outline material type and condition of objects in our collection; examine buildings and the environment, storage and display; assess visitor impact; disaster preparedness; and offer suggestions for professional development. One of the outcomes will be a list of recommendations to inform our Preservation Plan. Also and importantly, it will be the key tool to support future grant applications for conservation projects and planning to protect the collections for the future.

The Norfolk Island Museum definitely has challenges working within the heritage buildings in Kingston; the stone walls effusing salt, the proximity to chloride laden air, relative humidity and air circulation control, to name just a few. These environmental challenges are just one of the key areas that Sue can offer suggestions to mitigate the effects. Of particular note is the high level of UV on Norfolk Island, even the amount that penetrates through the filtered sashed windows in the gallery spaces is quite surprising. Unfortunately this means we will need to consider blocking out the natural light but it also confirms that Norfolk’s air is clean!

This Preservation Needs Assessment is possible with thanks to the Community Heritage Grants Program managed by the National Library, along with its partner institutions and the Federal Government. And of course our thanks and appreciation to Sue Valis for coming to Norfolk to undertake the assessment followed by the huge task of compiling the report when she returns home; and to the Museum of Tropical Queensland and the Queensland Museum for supporting her visit.

Janelle Blucher

Team Leader Heritage Management

March 2017

Measuring the UV on the Bounty ship model

All the Kids are Free

That is for entry into the museums, as are all school students, not to mention all residents of the island. There are four separate museums to visit within the Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area – put it on the list of school holiday ‘things to do’.

The story in the Pier Store Museum begins with the Mutiny on the Bounty; see the Bounty’s cannon that came to Norfolk Island with the Pitcairn Islanders in 1856, have your photo taken while holding its replica. See the ring that was used on Pitcairn Island to wed the Mutineer men and the Tahitian women. Learn more of our language through audios and other material including colouring in sheets for the kids. Other stories featured in this museum include the Melanesian Mission, religion, industry and whaling – hanging from the ceiling are the massive jawbones of a whale.

Be confronted by two cannons as you step inside the Sirius Museum, these are two very rare short barrelled cannons called carronades aka ‘smashers’ for their fast firing power, behind these is an imposing 1.7 ton wrought iron anchor suspended up on its stock. Learn of the lives of over 1400 people that travelled on the First Fleet and connect with a piece of history when you touch our ballast block.

The Commissariat Store Museum tells the tales of the prisoners that were incarcerated on the island when it was a penal settlement between 1825 and 1855; the objects in this museum speak for themselves. Have you ever wondered about the ruin of the crank mill near Kingston Jetty, how it functioned, learn of this here and see the crank wheels on display.

And No 10 Quality Row, our house museum built in 1844, originally the home of the Foreman of Works from 1844 and later the home of Isaac and Miriam Christian when they arrived from Pitcairn Island in 1856. Set in beautiful gardens this house contains original building fabric and an earlier form of graffiti. Layers of culture are expressed through this home, try your hand at one of Norfolk’s traditional cultural activities with our simple weaving instructions and fibre provided. Take home your own hand made woven bookmark or fish.

Besides the museums – you can watch a DVD at No. 9 Quality Row, purchase a book from The R.E.O. or check out what’s new in our Public Library in New Cascade Road.

There’s plenty more but you’ll have to come and see for yourself – happy holidays.

Janelle Blucher

Team Leader Heritage Management

April 2017

Volunteers at the Museum

It is with great appreciation that we welcome the return of Michelle and David Cullen to Norfolk Island for their third ‘volunteer holiday’ at the museum. Michelle and David have become somewhat experts in undertaking cataloguing projects for the museum, their first visit in 2015 was to complete the cataloguing process of the Les Brown Collection and their second visit in 2016 was spent on a cataloguing a backlog of files, books and items into the Norfolk Island Museum Trust Collection. They arrived back on island two weeks ago and have been busy with further cataloguing and rehousing activities that were identified in the 2016 Norfolk Island Museum Trust Audit and Condition Assessment.

Michelle and David first came to Norfolk for their honeymoon in September 1987, so this year marks their eleventh visit to the island and their thirtieth wedding anniversary. Already we are discussing possible project and timing for their twelfth visit. A huge thank you to you both, the work you are doing for us is invaluable!

DONATION OF RARE PRINTS

It was in July that I received emails from a visitor to Norfolk Island, enquiring if we knew of the collection of rare prints and maps at the Antique Print & Map Room in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. And to inform us that of particular interest, was a rare engraved map of Norfolk Island from the official British Admiralty sanctioned edition of the accounts of Cook’s second voyage.

I knew of the Antique Map & Print Room, and of the map being referred to, the question to follow was, ‘Do we have a copy of this map in our collection and if not would we be happy to receive one?’ And so began the process to accept and receive this generous donation.

The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote these words, “My offer is all about the significance of the items themselves; and of recognising the great work of the Museum, in its honouring of history and heritage, and efforts in making this available to inform others now, and into the future. I am personally very, very grateful for the Museum and its staff, custodians past and present, who have nurtured my history heart.” Our generous donor has since offered more than this rare map.

I had the opportunity to meet the donor in Sydney plus visit the Antique Print and Map Room and returned to Norfolk with this beautifully framed map, plus an engraving by John James Barralet titled ‘View of Matavai Bay’ Tahiti, taken from the official British Admiralty sanctioned edition of the accounts of Cook’s first voyage. During this meeting, the donor intimated a wish to donate a further three prints into the Norfolk Island Museum Trust Collection, so watch this space!

Matavai Bay in Tahiti is significant for its association with the Mutiny on the Bounty story. Our interpretation of this part of our history is enhanced by the installation of this print in the Pier Store Museum. The first map of Norfolk Island drafted by Cook on his second voyage of discovery has now been installed into the Commissariat Store Museum, suitably positioned to illustrate Cook’s discovery of Norfolk Island in 1774.

So, to our anonymous donor, we offer a sincere and public thank you from the Norfolk Island Museum and the community of Norfolk Island for such consideration for our history and your contribution to our story.

A view of Matavai Bay in Otaheite from One Tree Hill c 1773 Artist: John James Barralet (c1747 - 1815)

Norfolk Isle. (Norfolk Island) c 1777 Mapmaker: James Cook (1728 - 1779)

This unique bamboo mug was brought over from New Zealand by William (Bill) Gasson who believed it should be returned to Norfolk Island. It belonged to his father, Corporal Jim Gasson of New Zealand’s ‘A’ Company during WWII. Bill isn’t sure how his father ended up with the mug; he assumes he was probably the last to drink out of it, ‘he was a real character’, said Bill.

The handmade mug is made from bamboo with a handle secured by screws, it has been varnished and handpainted with an ink drawing of an oversized allied serviceman putting his hand up to stop a proportionally smaller drawing of a tank carrying the Axis leaders, Hitler, Hirohiro and Mussolini, the artist is unknown. The caption reads ‘What-a-way-you ‘Little’ men’. It also features fifty-two signatures of the New Zealand servicemen who were stationed here in 1943, it’s quite a treasure.

Bill also provided us with copies of part of Jim’s diary, as well as photographs of his time here. Jim records the arrival of ‘A’ Company at Norfolk in April 1943. ‘Landing at Norfolk Island had a dash of excitement. The transport lay half-a-mile off-shore and we loaded up with full equipment, rifle slung on back, and climbed down a landing net into a motor launch below. It was typical of Army training that for the only exercise with some suggestion of danger we had been given no training at all’.

Jim writes of the time the ship ‘Ronaki’ stayed fast on the reef and the troops were given the job of unloading her over the side – ‘Our boys caught on to the possibilities with cases of cigarettes but those boxes were damned hard to break by dropping them on to the rocks. We scored one box of ‘Lucky Strike’ and hid it under a big rock but a blasted MP came along and found it’.

Jim also assisted Stan Gazzard, owner and editor of ‘Nformation’, the local newsletter for the forces on the island during World War II. He says, ‘I found relaxation visiting Stan Gazzard, owner and editor of the local paper ‘Nformation’, which was a cyclostyled job. Stan persuaded my company commander to release me to help him produce the paper so I spent some time there. Helping to produce the paper consisted of drinking his liquor and eating the sumptuous meals his sprightly young daughter cooked’.

The bamboo mug has been accessioned into the Norfolk Island Museum Trust Collection and will be on display in the Pier Store Museum once an appropriate display cabinet has been sourced. A fantastic object to enhance our display on World War II and Norfolk Island.

The Research Centre - No. 9 Quality Row

This year is off to a running start with increased visitors to our museums and sales in The R.E.O. shop surpassing the total January 2017 sales already!

Besides focusing on these very welcome additional visitors, behind the scenes we have been busy relocating the Norfolk Island Museum Trust’s collection of library, archival, photographic, audio and visual material from the Guardhouse building near Kingston Pier into the Research Centre at No. 9 Quality Row. This relocation project eventuated from conversations looking at opportunities to enhance the visitor experience within the Kingston Pier area.

The Guardhouse building has safely housed this collection for many years, however as the collection grew it became packed to capacity, making it difficult to safely and comfortably access this great resource, and difficult to maintain the interior of the building. Areas of the interior walls had begun to leach salt and exposed stone and mortar created dust retaining moisture on the shelves and books, heavy rain resulted in leakages through the chimney. The Guardhouse, now empty, can be developed more appropriately as an interpretation space for our visitors to learn more of the stories associated with the Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area.

The new repository at No 9 Quality Row offers many advantages – it is clean, there is greater width between books shelves and filing cabinets, the windows have blinds to keep out the damaging UV rays, there is a ceiling fan to keep the air circulating and the room features two inbuilt cupboards with drying fixtures to store precious items away from high humidity levels. Our Research Centre attendants are delighted with the move and look forward to utilising this material to complement their existing research resources.

The relocation of this precious material was carefully managed by Norfolk Island Moving and Storage. It was no mean feat relocating over one thousand books, three large double-sided book shelves, nine filing cabinets, oversized archival and map drawer cabinets, display material and equipment, and so much more. This project was made possible with the support of the Commonwealth’s Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities.

In addition to the relocation activity, we have progressed with our Sirius Management Plan, a document that is a legislative requirement for the management and protection of the heritage values of the Sirius wreck site and relics. Graeme Henderson, leader of the Sirius Project expeditions in the 1980’s, is the consultant engaged to undertake the review and update of this Plan. Graeme has undertaken an enormous amount of work; in the lead up to his visit to Norfolk Island in December to meet with stakeholders and community and since his return back to Western Australia. We are now at the stage of ‘almost’ a first draft.

Also, we’re looking forward to another Norfolk Island Museum Trust meeting early in February. At this meeting I will have the pleasure of presenting more exciting ‘donations’ for Trustees to consider accessioning into our community collection. We’ll let you know what they are as soon as we can!

And finally, don’t forget entry into the Museum is free for residents of Norfolk Island. Check out our website for information on our venues and collections http://norfolkislandmuseum.com.au/

New Installations at the Norfolk Island Museum

Caulking, undercoat and keelson

Condition Assessment of the HMS Sirius Collection

Discovery and Rediscoveries - History Through Art

Digistise your slide collection and preserve our island stories

Museum Volunteers

Protecting and Preserving our Maritime Heritage

The Australian Society of Marine Artists 20th Anniversary Celebratory Exhibition

Successful application to the 2016 Community Heritage Grants Program

Research techniques and records for Norfolk Island 1788 - 1814

Draught of HMS Sirius

Foundation Day 2017

Volunteers Extraordinaire

Preservation Needs Assessment

All the kids are free

Volunteers at the Museum

Donation of Rare Prints

Bamboo Mug

Relocating the Museums library, archival and photographic material