Minutes of Public Meeting 15 May 2005

Minutes of Public Meeting

Held on Sunday 15 May 2005

Venue: Linnwood, Byron Road, Guildford

Apologies: Carol Duane, Diane Jogia, Audrey Murphy, Gerry O'Brien, Irie Olde, Merle Warwick, John Warwick, Russ Werner, Pam Zopf

The Minutes of the Public Meeting held 13 March 2005, which were mailed or emailed to members, were accepted by the Meeting.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Linnwood once more. The year is certainly marching on and all of a sudden, the days are much cooler!

Once again, I would like to start with "Show and Tell" to fill you in on our latest acquisitions - starting with items that have been very kindly donated to us.

Lilian Ford has been extremely generous in donating an 1896 christening gown from England, worn by her mother - it's just gorgeous! Lilian has also donated a Coleman lamp, thought to be from the 1920's and used up until the 1950's when the family home at Yennora finally had electricity! Also donated is a Coleman iron, thought to be from the late 1920's - and by the weight of it, we should really appreciate the lightweight irons of today. Lilian also very kindly permitted Pat and I to copy some information regarding the history of the Christ Church at Old Guildford, so keep an eye out for these in the future, on the local history displays we do.

Helen Bain has donated this lovely old slate mantle clock - it would be wonderful to have it repaired properly - maybe one day!

Hazel Keepence and Helen Cooper have both donated some doilies for us to use in the house and Helen also donated some old 78rpm records. We really must try out our old gramophones to see how well - or if - they will work. Hilda Corrick has donated a black Kodak Jiffy camera - given to her on her 14th birthday (and don't tell anyone, but she is now 84, which makes the camera a few years old!) Hilda has also very kindly donated some 78rpm records in an album which was originally owned by Mrs Maley.

Glad Donaldson has very kindly donated a pair of 'ladies undergarments' that she had loaned us for the display in February.

Stan Thomas has been busy and has made a chair lifter/mover for us - it makes moving stacks of chairs around so easy! Much better for our backs! Thank you Stan, we really appreciate it - even if some of us have to have 'L' plates on! Sheldon Ross, who is involved with the Merrylands Main Street Committee, has finally 'discovered' Linnwood, never having been here before our 4 R's night - and has very generously donated a computer and printer to the Friends. This will be of great benefit to the committee - to be able to have a computer here on site will be just great - you have no idea how many bits and pieces of information and forms etc. are on numerous committee members' computers all over the place. It will be great to be able to have them centrally on this computer and be able to print them off as we need them.

At the last meeting I mentioned that we were looking at starting our own Nell McCredie Collection of pottery. Well, thanks to our expert e-bay user, John McKenna, we have been very successful in winning quite a few of Nell's smaller pieces. They are all here for you to have a look at and I'm sure you will agree that they are quite lovely. We have only used money that had been given to us as direct donations for these purchases, and I believe there is still a little bit of money left in the kitty, so hopefully we can build on our collection.

It wouldn't be a show and tell without being able to tell you of something having been donated by Kevin Woodward. What would we do without him? Kevin has been so very generous over the past months with items to add to our collection, but this time his donation is of a more practical nature - he has donated 8 white garden chairs for visitors to use whilst enjoying their lunch in the grounds on our Open House days.

So to Kevin and all our other donors - some of whom are not even members, but have heard about the Friends and what we are doing and collecting, a very big thank you from all of us.

At the last public meeting, I did mention that we were considering buying some outdoor furniture for visitors to use and this we have done with the purchase of 24 white garden chairs and 4 tables, to be used outside for the comfort of those who like to sit and chat outside. We have also purchased 6 more trestle tables - these are the very heavy plastic type and should be very durable. We have found that we are constantly running out of tables for our exhibitors to use - the old metal desks that are here are just too heavy to be moved around all the time, so hopefully now we will have enough to be able to accommodate everyone.

Talking of chairs, we have also had the offer of another 30 stackable chairs from the Prospect Heritage Trust, who no longer need them, as their group has received some new ones from Blacktown Council. We would love to have these chairs, but have yet to work our how and when we can pick them up.

You might think we would have enough chairs - having already purchased 60 of the stackable chairs ourselves, and there being quite a few odd ones that were here already, but when you hear that the Lace Guild, who now call Linnwood 'home', had an attendance of over 80 people at their last meeting, you can understand the need for more chairs! The Lace Guild are settling in quite nicely to their new 'home' and have recently changed the display in the cases over on the side wall. If you haven't already seen them, make sure you have a look, they are just exquisite.

We had a very successful Open House in April - with the Travelling Nomad from the Australian Aviation Museum at Bankstown and trains from the Guildford Model Railway group, together with the NSW Corps of Marines and our Art and Craft displays. The day was not without its dramas - there was a major problem with the Nomad - it wasn't going to be able to come due to the tow vehicle having been stolen the week before - but luck (and a LOT of phone calls!) was on our side and another vehicle was found to be available and so the Nomad was able to make it after all. I can tell you, if I didn't already have grey hair, it would have gone grey that week for sure!

The next week was the Holroyd CityFest and we had a stall in the main street on the Saturday. Again, it was mainly for promotional purposes that we were there, and thanks must go to those committee members who gave their time on the day to 'man' the stall. When the parade went by we noticed that there were a lot of floats and groups going past representing many countries of our multi-cultural community - but no real 'Aussie' groups. So ?. we thought that maybe next year, instead of having a stall, we might try and put together a Linnwood 'colonial' float with some members dressed in colonial costumes etc. Anyway, it's just an idea at this stage, but if you think you would like to help or participate in any way, let us know.

The next day we had "Pleasant Past Times" at Linnwood and what a day! With lots and lots of thanks to Carol Duane for pulling it all together, we had representatives from so many different crafts and hobbies here -it was amazing! And not only that, we had so many visitors come through on the day, the poor ladies doing the refreshments were run off their feet and we ran out of food for the BBQ! We really had no idea what sort of numbers to expect on the day, but were absolutely overwhelmed with the response. So to Carol, congratulations on the wonderful job you did organising the day - one of our most successful ever - even if we were all exhausted! Another bonus for the day was the contacts that were made, we had many groups and individuals come through the house on the day who had not been before and there were many expressions of interest regarding future hirings and functions - one of which was a Bush Dance - so we will wait and see if anything comes of these.

To finish off the day we had our Rhymes, Rhythms, Writings and Refreshments evening, with members of the New Writers Group, the Guildford U3A and some wonderful musicians entertain us with original short stories, poems and music. We even had the Mayor, Councillor John Brodie attend, and he just 'happened' to have a short story he had written with him (which was really very good) and we thank him for not only coming along but for participating as well. It was a wonderful evening, and a shame that more people didn't stay - and we had re-stocked the BBQ by then as well! Again, many thanks to those committee and general members who put in such a long day to help make it the success it was.

On that note, I would like to put out a call for 'HELP' - we desperately need more volunteers on these sorts of days - or any of our Open House days. At the moment, it is a very small group who are doing it all. If you would like to help out - even for just an hour or so to give someone else a break, we would really appreciate it - don't forget, under our insurance policy, you can be a volunteer until you are 86, so there are plenty of you out there who are still eligible!

In recognition of our participation in CityFest, we received this commemorative plaque at a reception the week after the festival, so we will add it to our collection - we have 3 now and will soon have to organise a display cabinet to hold them!

On Sunday 1st May, we held a reunion for Linnwood Girls, and whilst we didn't have the numbers we had had at previous reunions, it was still a good day. Again, it was quite traumatic for some of these women to come back - for some it was the first time and there were quite a few tears to begin with, but they persevered and were soon chatting with other women, swapping stories and 'remembering when'. One of the ladies brought some photos with her and very kindly allowed us to scan them. Unfortunately, as yet, I haven't had a chance to have them copied, but there are a couple that show the grounds and gardens near the house, so our "Linnwood Diggers" are interested in these as well.

On the same day, our 'Diggers' had a working bee and made great progress in the gardens over near Faulds House. We were also very fortunate to have 2 special visitors on the day. Fred Appleton (great-grandson of George McCredie) and his wife Lesley Saddington, who are both very experienced horticulturalists. Fred and Lesley stayed for the day, identifying trees and shrubs in the grounds and making many suggestions to the garden group, but I am sure this will all be covered in their report. We would like to thank Fred and Lesley for their time and hope that they will continue their association with Linnwood. Fred also brought along a copy of an old McCredie family photo and allowed us to scan it. Again, my apologies for not having it copied for today, but things have been a bit hectic lately!

Recently, we were informed by Pioneers that a large branch had fallen in the grounds and when we saw it, were very thankful that it had not fallen a few days earlier or there might have been a few cars with dents in them! The large gum tree to the right of the front of the house had dropped a VERY large branch which fortunately fell straight down and not towards the house. It actually fell onto another tree and broke quite a few branches on that one as well. After informing LJ Hooker in Parramatta, the branches were finally cut up and taken away last Monday. Other than that, there doesn't appear to have been any other maintenance problems in the past couple of months and we are very grateful to Holroyd Council for continuing to mow the grounds - they always look a picture for our Open House days.

We were able to have a locksmith come out and do some work for us recently. We had him re-key the locks on all the shutters and can now open them - which is great for both ventilation and the ability to run power out onto the verandahs - we were able to have some very effective lighting for our 4 R's night and supply power to the musicians without any problems. We also now have access to the two rooms off the back verandah and the room under the dormitory building, which our gardeners intend cleaning out and using. They feel this will be more suitable than the cellar, which they are currently using. Before we can clean out and use the smaller of the two rooms off the back verandah, the Heritage Office requested that we do an inventory of all items in the room just in case there was anything of any historical significance. This we have now done - and we didn't find anything of any significance, historical or otherwise, and we now await their approval to dispose of all the rubbish.

Well now, what is coming up? Our June Open House is on the Sunday of the long weekend, so for all those who don't go away for the weekend, we will be open! We will have an exhibition by the Parramatta RSL Camera Club, and this promises to be very interesting. In keeping with the theme, we will try and have all our old cameras on display and for those who like to 'dress up' we are going to have some costumes here for 'old-time' photos. Many thanks to Christine McKenna for organising the costumes and the Duane family for 'volunteering' to do the photos. It should be a lot of fun.

August will see us have a very busy Open House. We will have the Australian Scottish Cultural and Information Centre here with the Australian Gaelic Singers, and hopefully some Clan displays, and possibly some Scottish Dancers or Fiddlers. We will also have the Sydney Antique Machinery Club here with some interesting machines out on the front lawn, the African Violet Association will be here and the Porcelain Artists will actually be demonstrating their very interesting craft. All this on top of our regular exhibitors - so make sure you keep that day free. October will see us have another Children's theme day. Already we have a workshop organised by the Young Textile and Fibre group, the Double Eagle Fencing Academy will be back(and maybe get arrested by the Marines again!) and we are working on Careflight and the NSW Ambulance Service being here as well - but these are yet to be confirmed. The Nomad is also a possibility for this day as well. As we have confirmation of these activities, we will be sure to let you know and add them to our Calendar of Events flyer.

With regard to our Open House days, it would appear that there is still some confusion about the entry fee. As the door entry on the day is one of our major fundraisers, the $2 entry applies to both members and non-members. As our yearly membership fee is really quite low, we feel that $2 entry is not too much to ask. I'm sure you have all had to pay much more than $2 to gain entry to other historic homes with much less to see than what we offer each time we are open. To clarify things further, children under 5 will be admitted free. We will have new signs printed before the June Open House to make sure everyone is aware of the admission fee and hopefully our volunteer at the door will not be harassed any further. We have also decided to trial 'hand-stamping' on admission - this is to try and avoid any embarrassment to both the door person and visitors alike, when people are going in and out of the house to look at exhibits or to buy food from the BBQ.

We have recently been approached by Holroyd Council to participate in a Neighbourhood Day at Young Park, Walpole Street, Merrylands on the afternoon of 4thJune. This will again be a promotional opportunity for us, but they have also requested a local history display, so as well as displaying Linnwood photos, Pat and I will display some of our local history photos and newspaper articles, which always seem to generate a lot of interest.

Well, I think that just about covers everything we've been up to over the past two months and what's coming up in the future. Please come along to our Open Days and tell your friends to come too, it would be a shame to miss some of the things we have lined up.

JMcK advised that our Bank Balance as at 30 April 2005 is $16,117.35, and our profit for 2005 so far is $3,700. This was helped by a very successful April Open House, and our Pleasant Past Times and 4R's on 17 April far exceeded expectations.

However there have been some major expenses - extra tables and chairs to cater for our ever-increasing crowds ($741.85) and public liability insurance ($687.50).

JMcK also praised our fellow members, Sue, Flo and Del, for their great work in raising $500 for the Gardening Committee.

Christine McKenna advised they have undertaken an inventory of the small room off the back verandah which is to be sent to the Heritage Office. Cataloguing of donations is proceeding slowly.

Winston Tattersall gave his usual entertaining report (attached separately to these minutes), and advised that the Committee had held its AGM on 27 April 2005. Yvonne Tattersall was appointed Chairperson, Pam Zopf remains as Treasurer and Research Officer, and Winston has taken on the role of Secretary. Winston also called for volunteers to help clean out the room beneath Pioneers so that the gardeners can store their equipment.

Winston Tattersall suggested that a Cobb and Co coach in the CityFest parade next year, with Friends of Linnwood dressed in period costume, would look great -costs would probably be prohibitive though.

JMcK welcomed Peter Crittenden, who is employed by the National Trust as a guide at Old Government House, and he is also a guide at the Trust's other property near Parramatta, Experiment Farm Cottage.

Old Government House is Australia's oldest surviving public building, built between 1799 and 1818, and is situated in Parramatta Park.

In 1788 Governor Philip sailed up Parramatta River from Port Jackson, looking for arable farm land, and at Duck Creek took a walk along the southern side of the river and named the area Rose Hill. Because the water was fresh and the land was so fertile, he decided that this would be the site of the second settlement. He also decided that as he was travelling out to "Rose Hill" so frequently, he needed a residence. He built a small house with a thatched roof, and then later left the colony for five years.

Governor Hunter arrived three years later, and found the former Governor's house badly in decay so he pulled it down and built the first part of what is now Old Government House. It consisted of three rooms on the ground floor and three rooms on the top floor, all measuring the same size.

Most of the House was then built by Governor Macquarie, and Peter Crittenden showed slides of the various rooms and the restoration work that has been carried out. Furniture in the downstairs rooms are re-creations back to the time of Governor Macquarie (1810-1821).

One of the original pieces of furniture in the House is a long case clock, made by an ex convict.

Black and white "tiles" on the floor of the entrance foyer of the House are actually painted onto the floor boards - this feature is historically correct as was noted in a letter written by Lady Franklin, wife of the then Governor of van Dieman's Land.

The Northern Colonnade links the South Pavilion which was used by the servants and hence was very plain and bare, with the Northern Pavilion used by the Macquarie family, which featured furniture and plants, and had a separate front door which Mrs Macquarie used, in order to avoid coming into contact with visitors waiting in the main entrance foyer to see the Governor.

The last colonial governor left in 1850 and very little maintenance was carried out on the House. It was left to a committee to lease the House, firstly as a private residence and then a boarding house. At the turn of the century, St John's Grammar School moved in.

In 1909 the Kings School took over the lease and undertook a major restoration, the first ever done on an historic house in Australia. They basically gutted the building and just left the brickwork, then re-built the House very similar to the original, at a cost of ?4,000. The Kings School stayed at the House for 55 years, and the National Trust took over in 1967 and have since undertaken three restorations.

The National Trust is currently working on a soft furnishings project for the House, and over 30,000 hours were spent in 2004 making beautiful curtains and bed furnishings. Old Government House is the first "museum" in Australia to actually re-create the soft furnishing of the 1820's period. It has taken 5-6 years to research and source the materials, and organise funding. All the sewing has to be done by hand, and FOL Committee member Christine McKenna is one of the very talented volunteers working on this huge project.

The Garrison Building, which is now leased to Lachlan's Restaurant, offers lunches, dinners, private functions, and beautiful Devonshire teas.

Old Government House is open from 10.00am-4.00pm Monday to Friday, and 10.30am-4.00pm on weekends. They also have Ghost Nights on the first and third Friday of every month.

This is a very interesting building and a very significant part of Australia's history. Further information can be found at www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au - click on Trust Properties, then Sydney, then Old Government House. Or, visit the Friends of Old Government House web site - www.friendsofogh.com.

The next Public Meeting of the Friends of Linnwood will be held on Sunday 10 July 2005 at 2.00pm, and our Guest Speaker will be Tiffany Duane, member of the NSW Police Force (and Friend of Linnwood), whose topic will be "Women in Policing".