Held on Sunday 12 April 2009
Venue:  Linnwood, Byron Road, Guildford

Welcome & Apologies
John McKenna opened the meeting at 2.20pm and welcomed everyone in attendance.  He also welcomed our Guest Speaker, Jeanette French, from Blacktown & District Historical Society.

In Attendance at today’s meeting, as per the Attendee Sheet:
Helen Olde, Jeanette French, Christine McKenna, Adriana de Haas, Peter Warwick, Pam Zopf, Margaret Warn, Margaret King, Dorothy Warwick, John McKenna, Raema Walker.

Apologies:
Pam Richardson, Beth & Russ Werner, Coral Hamilton, Michael Griggs, Judith Moller, Angela Caire, Audrey Murphy, Leah Armstrong, Jill Finch, Irie Olde, Ann Ravenscroft, Noelene Brown, June de Zoet.

Confirmation of Minutes of Public Meeting held on Sunday 8 February
Moved by Pam Zopf, Seconded by Margaret Warn, that the minutes of the Public Meeting held on Sunday 8 February 2009 be accepted.

Business Arising
There was no business arising from the February meeting minutes.

Correspondence
Helen Olde tabled the Correspondence folder and passed it around the meeting for members’ information.  She advised Members that some events for which FOL receives invitations have already been held by the time of our Public Meetings, however she drew attention to an invitation to “Back to St Bartholomew’s Day” to be held on Saturday 2 May from 9.30am-4.00pm, and also an “Australian Military Records Talk” to be held at Council’s Library on Wednesday 22 April at 10.00am.  This talk is being presented by a representative from the National Archives who will be discussing defence service records which are able to be accessed.

President’s Report
Good afternoon everyone and thank you for coming out on Easter Sunday to our public meeting. It’s a little unfortunate that our first two meetings for the year have fallen on the hottest day of the year in February, and now today, on Easter Sunday, so many thanks to those who have taken the time to come.

As usual, we will start with the ‘show’ part of show and tell. Just a couple of donations to show you today, but very interesting ones just the same:-

• From Phyllis and Don Messer, we have some interesting bits and pieces that should bring back memories of school days for most of us – part of a set of Record brand Mathematical Instruments still in its original tin, a tin of Reeves paints (and even I remember having paint tins like this), a collection of different nibs and pens, including some old fountain pens – remember the mess you could get into with these? And a very small glass inkwell with a silver lid. Also donated is a Benson & Hedges tobacco tin, an unusual cigarette holder and a silver matchstick holder.
• Katherine Hill, an ex-Lynwood Hall resident, has sent through a copy of ‘The Making of Lynwood Hall’ that she has written, which is a basic history of the house.
• Helen Cooper has donated a very unusual timber ‘bellows’ that actually has the year 1912 carved on the top. They appear to have been very well used and have an interesting history. Helen tells us that they belonged to her great-grandfather, Allen Hartley, who came out from England in the 1890’s and settled in the Seven Hills area, having a dairy and a shop at Seven Hills. Eventually a road beside the Seven Hills railway line was named after him.
• From Kevin Sweeney, on behalf of a friend, we have received a cane doll’s bassinet and original cane pram, both of which will certainly fit in with our nursery collection.

Again, many thanks to those members and friends who have donated these wonderful pieces of memorabilia to our collection.

We have still had no response to our letter sent last year to the Minister for Planning, so really have not much to report about what is happening regarding Linnwood’s future. It is also very disappointing to have to report that our request for a couple of minor maintenance issues has also been ignored.

As you are aware, the Friends have been working hard over the past 6 years or so, to raise money for Linnwood. While we have spent many thousands of dollars over that time on items to accommodate members and visitors to the house on Open Days, and also those community groups who hire the house for meetings and exhibitions etc, we haven’t really spent much money on the house itself. We recently sent a proposal to the Department setting out some projects that we wish to do and have received quotes for some of these which we hope to start in the very near future.

They include:

• Replacing the Holland blinds and curtains in the 4 main large rooms, with a view to replacing blinds and curtains in the smaller rooms in the future.
• Extend the safety rail from Pioneers’ ramp to include the rear patio of Linnwood.
• Replace broken and cracked floor tiles in the large room that we use for refreshments.
• We recently had the house professionally cleaned and propose to have this done on a regular basis – probably prior to each Open House.
• Have the carpets throughout the house professionally cleaned.
• Replace the carpet in the front room (not the Drawing Room).
• Clean the underside of the verandah ceilings.

As you can imagine, there is quite a bit of expense involved in these projects, but we believe that each project will be money well spent and make the house more appealing to our members and guests.

We also recently had some colour brochures printed and these have turned out really well. They have already been distributed to members of the Sydney West Tourism Network, and are available from the Friends of Linnwood table in the hall.

Our Calendar of Events is constantly being updated as exhibitors and participants are confirmed and we can now add that for our BIG day in May, the NRMA will be sending some of their historic vehicles and a marquee with memorabilia. In July, as well as having Nana’s Teddies and Toys, we will now have the Pike and Musket Society with a Display of 17th Century English Civil War Military Drill – with a Parade at 1.00pm. Also on the day we will have some performances by the Toongabbie Music Club – just to add some atmosphere.

Don’t forget, next Sunday 19th April, as part of Holroyd City Council’s CityFest 2009, we are having the Cavalcade of  History and Fashion present “An Elegant Affair – the House Party” - fashions from the Edwardian Era. If you would like to attend, it is $10 per person, which includes afternoon tea, and you will need to book, so please contact Helen or me as soon as you can.

We were recently approached by Guildford West Public School to host a tour by approximately 150 students – so we did some interesting displays of memorabilia throughout the house, and had some activities planned, but wouldn’t you know – it poured rain on the day and they had to cancel, so we had to put all the displays away again – but – they have promised to re-schedule, so we will put it all together again and hope for fine weather. We did have some of the infants classes come and visit last week, but they just came and looked at the house from the outside and were to do some drawings etc. It would be really good if some of the other schools in the area also included Linnwood as part of their “Local Environment” unit, so perhaps we can look at doing some promotion, using our ‘new’ brochures to encourage this. 

We also have 3 other tours booked for later in the year – 2 for the National Trust and one by the Sydney WEA.

Now, some sad news to report. Many of you will know my mother-in-law, Merle Warwick, a founding member of the Friends, a long time resident of Guildford and a familiar face at our raffle table on Open House days. Unfortunately, Merle passed away last Saturday after a battle with cancer. I’m sure we will all miss her smiling face at our open days and also all those wonderful little cakes (known in the family as ‘Nanna cakes’) that she made for so many of the functions held here at Linnwood.

Well, I hope that covers everything that has been happening over the past couple of months – thank you once again for coming today, I hope you enjoy the talk by our guest speaker and please stay for afternoon tea at the conclusion of the meeting.  Thank you.

Treasurer’s Report
John McKenna presented the Financial Statements for the months of February and March 2009.  He advised that the Open Day in March raised $1,600, which was more than we anticipated.  John belongs to the Forrester Car Club which held a car meet on the front lawns of Linnwood in March, and they raised $134 for Linnwood. 

John explained an anomaly in respect to February income and March expenses.  We received a cheque from the Australian Lace Guild for rental, however as all rentals are payable to the NSW Heritage Office, their cheque for $900 was banked into the FOL bank account and in turn a FOL cheque for $900 was made out and sent to the NSW Heritage Office.

General Business
There was no general business or questions from members.

Guest Speaker
John McKenna then introduced Jeanette French from Blacktown & District Historical Society.

Norman Lindsay was born at Creswick, Victoria, in 1879.  He was the 4th son and 5th child of 10 children (five of whom became well known artists).  Norman was a sickly child and spent much of his childhood drawing anything he could find.  He wagged school often but always took with him a sketch book, ink, pens, pencils and a manuscript book so that he was already ready to paint or write.

He studied art in Melbourne and came to Sydney where he worked at “The Bulletin” as an artist and cartoonist.  He produced many propaganda posters and postcards for the Government during World War I.  He continued at “The Bulletin” until 1956 - his last works there being drawings and postcards for the Olympic Games.
 
Norman was married twice - with his first wife Katie they had three sons.  He used several models for his nude painting, but his favourite was Rose and he eventually married her and they had two daughters.

Norman wrote several books, all of which are now out of print - except for his best known work, “The Magic Pudding”.  This was first published in 1918, has never been out of print, and has recently celebrated its 90th birthday.  The book was written as a result of a bet with a gentleman who thought that children liked stories about fairies best, but Norman believed they liked stories about food - hence “The Magic Pudding”.

The Norman Lindsay Gallery is situated in the Blue Mountains.  It was built by Paddy Ryan in 1895 - a 4-room sandstone cottage situated on 47 acres of land, built originally for Francis Foy of the Mark Foy department store family.  Norman and Rose bought the property in 1912 and proceeded to change the property to suit their needs.  Additions included more rooms, columns, courtyards and two studios.  The bull-nose roof was changed to a sloping bungalow-style roof, sandstone paths and garden walls were erected, and in time Norman created fountains, statues and garden urns.

The etching studio was built in 1913 and included a heavy press on which Rose printed over 300 of Norman’s etchings - the original plates of which date from 1913-1938.  In the 1960’s a studio and some land were sold, but by means of a Commonwealth Federation grant, this was all purchased back and the original property remains intact.

Volunteers and a handful of paid personnel work in the ticket office and in the shop, also giving talks in the rather fragile painting studio - this studio is only opened by a guide when a group of people wish to see it.  If there are any volunteers available, the etching studio will be opened, and many of Norman’s tools and art materials are on display.

When Norman died in 1969, aged 90, legal problems arose when he left the property to the National Trust, as in fact the property was in Rose’s name.  These problems fortunately were overcome and the Gallery and gardens have become one of the most visited National Trust properties in Australia. 

Norman left the house and a substantial number of oil paintings as the basis for the collection at the Gallery, also a large number of books and reference books, so that as many people as possible could view his art.  A large selection of his art work was also left to the University of Melbourne.   The Gallery has been open to the public since 1972, and is accessible every day except Christmas Day.

For further information on the Lindsay family and the Gallery, visit www.normanlindsay.com.au.  It is definitely worth a visit, at 14 Norman Lindsay Crescent, Faulconbridge.

Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Friends of Linnwood Inc will be held on Sunday 14 June at 2.00pm.  Our guest speaker will be Heather Bentley who is an independent historian, and her topic will be “Renaissance Banquets and Feasts”.

Raffle
The raffle was drawn by Jeanette French and won Dorothy Warwick.

Meeting Close
The meeting closed at 3.20pm.