Maurice Shadbolt, William Malone and Chunuk Bair

 

School of Humanities and Social Science,
The University of Newcastle
2012, Semester 1

Held in the Cultural Collections (near the Information Desk)
Level 2, Auchmuty Library, Callaghan Campus

Friday 18^th May, 10:00am, followed by morning tea

 Dr James Bennett

School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Newcastle University

‘Maurice Shadbolt, William Malone and Chunuk Bair:  Gallipoli and late 20^th century New Zealand cultural nationalist productions’

With some notable exceptions, representations of Gallipoli (especially popular ones) have long been confined to singular national (and nationalistic) interpretations of the campaign that are typically built around the elevation of mythology, national identity and sentiment. Peter Weir’s 1981 feature film, Gallipoli, a near classic version of the Anzac legend, is perhaps the most influential text ever on this historical turning point.

Given the audience’s familiarity with Weir’s feature film, the paper will introduce it as a comparative anchor for the discussion around Maurice Shadbolt, architect of a cultural nationalist moment in 1980s New Zealand. Particular emphasis will be given to Shadbolt’s dramatic 1982 stage play, Once on Chunuk Bair, and his related writings from other genres on the First World War. The 1991 adaptation of the play into a low budget feature film will also be briefly considered. The paper will interrogate Shadbolt’s motivation for this incisive intervention in New Zealand public life, situating it in an era when the nation was transitioning to decolonisation and cultural independence.

In order to place discussion of Gallipoli and cultural nationalism in a broader context, the presenter will also briefly speak to the issue of a key shift in Gallipoli studies over the past decade underpinned by a growing body of revisionist historical scholarship on the campaign. This work informs two significant transnational documentaries made to mark the occasion of the 90^th anniversary in 2005. Both are important tools in helping us to transcend the national paradigm and to rethink the campaign in more holistic and complex ways.

History Seminar Series, Semester 1, 2012

School of Humanities and Social Science,
The University of Newcastle

2012, Semester 1

Held in the Cultural Collections (near the Information Desk)
Level 2, Auchmuty Library, Callaghan Campus

All seminars are held on Fridays at 10:00 am, and  are followed afterwards by morning tea

9th March – Michael Rosenthal, Warwick University (UK):  Edward Close: prospects of the colony 1817-?

23rd March – Alan Ward, Newcastle University:  Is a treaty any use at all? A perspective from restless New Zealand

4th May – Lyndal Ryan, Newcastle University:  Was New Zealand part of New South Wales 1788-1817

18th May – James Bennett, Newcastle University:  Maurice Shadbolt, William Malone and Chunuk Bair: Gallipoli and late 20th century New Zealand cultural productions. Please note that this date has been changed.

1st June – Elizabeth Roberts-Pederson, University of Western Sydney: “Some measure of revolution”: physical treatments for war neurosis in Britain, 1939-1945

Download the program as a PDF

Everyone is welcome!

Is a treaty any use at all?

School of Humanities and Social Science,
The University of Newcastle
2012, Semester 1

Held in the Cultural Collections (near the Information Desk)
Level 2, Auchmuty Library, Callaghan Campus

Friday 23rd March, 10:00am, followed by morning tea

Emeritus Professor Alan Ward

Is a treaty any use at all?
A perspective from restless New Zealand

Since the 1960s there have been insistent proposals for a ‘treaty’ (or ‘Makarata’) between the Commonwealth and Australian Aboriginal people, as a basis for Aboriginal advancement. Lately the trend has been towards explicit recognition of Aboriginal rights in the federal Constitution. Arguments in support of such proposals sometimes include reference to the allegedly better race relations in New Zealand, allegedly deriving from the Treaty of Waitangi concluded between representatives of the British Crown and some 530 Maori rangatira in 1840. There is an assumption that the Treaty of Waitangi has constitutional force, or the force of fundamental law, against which statute law and the received common law are measured. This talk will examine those assumptions.

All welcome!

Names to faces

The Newcastle Herald has been of great assistance yet again by publishing one of our photos in its fascinating A moment in time series. On Saturday 14 January 2012, they published the above photo showing some teacher trainees, asking for people to identify the young faces, and, in the same column on Saturday 21 January, they reported the information kindly supplied by members of the public.

Trevor Fullerton emailed the Herald to say he was pictured on the far right of last week’s photo.

Mr Fullerton said it was taken at The Junction Demonstration School in 1956 when Newcastle Teachers’ College was located in Union Street, Newcastle.

“It was the first demonstration lesson observed by a group of students in their initial year of training, ” he said.

“The [standing] students are, from left to right, Jocelyn Driscoll, Brian Evans, Patricia Dark, Bill Fowles and Trevor Fullerton.”

David and Dale Dark of Clarence Town also sent an email, saying they had called David’s sister Patricia Dark, (now Menzies) who now lives at Dorrigo and remembers the photo being taken.

Many thanks to the Herald and to Mr Fullerton, Mr and Mrs Dark and Mrs Menzies!

If you wish to see the full-sized photo, click on the image on this page. Former Newcastle Teachers’ College students may also be interested to see the rest of the photos in the set, Newcastle Teachers’ College, on our Flickr site.

Names to Faces

Tug-o-War at Northern (Rhondda) Colliery Picnic, 1957

This wonderful photo appeared in The Newcastle Herald on Saturday 19 November in its excellent  A moment in time series. The photo is of a tug-o-war and was taken at a works picnic attended by management and workers of Northern (Rhondda) Colliery, near Teralba, New South Wales. It was taken by the late Vic Ash and provided to us by Barry Howard who identified some of the people as follows:

On the rope, from right to left – Jack White (at front, closest to camera), Peter Murray (Mine Manager), Norm Ward, unidentified man, Dawson Robertson.

The man holding the little girl, third from right, is “Nugget” Hayden.

Since the photo appeared in The Newcastle Herald, more information has been supplied by members of the public. On Saturday 26 November, The Herald reported:

Argenton’s Francis Fenwick called in to say his daughter had recognised him in the photo (above) published last week, standing on the very right behind the boy with dark hair.
Known as “Fenno” and now 87, Fenwick was a bulldozer driver for carrying company Hawkins and worked at the Rhondda Colliery for two and a half years.
He said he remembered manager Jack White and superintendent Peter Murray as if it were yesterday.

On Saturday 3 December, The Newcastle Herald reported:

Elaine White recognised her late husband Jack White at the front of the rope in the picture of the Miners Picnic at the Northern (Rhondda) Colliery in 1957.
Mr White died in 1979.
The man behind him, Peter Murray, died six years ago.
“I can tell you it was the staff versus the miners and the staff did pull the miners across the line,” she wrote.”

On Saturday 10 December The Herald reported:

Patricia McBlane sent an email to point out her husband Norm McBlane in the photo published on November 19 of the Northern (Rhondda) Colliery picnic in 1957.
She said her husband, then 14, is pictured at the far right of the photo.
His father Doug (Jock) McBlane worked in the mines and called events from the microphone at the picnics.

It is great to receive information about the people in our photos. Our Flickr site has been a boon in this regard, and now the publication in The Newcastle Herald of this and other photos from our collections has added greatly to our knowledge, and given pleasure to those who recognise themselves or loved ones in the photos.

Our thanks go to Helen Gregory of The Newcastle Herald for publishing the photo, the late Vic Ash for taking it, Barry Howard for supplying it to us, and, of course, Mr Fenwick, Mrs White and Mrs McBlane for giving us the information.

You can see the full sized scan of the photo on our Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/uon/5569587548/sizes/o/

Broadmeadow Roundhouse

Cultural Collections Seminar Cultural Collections Reading Room Level 2, Auchmuty Library The University of Newcastle Friday 18 November 2011 10am- 11am (followed by morning tea) Broadmeadow Roundhouse Shane Blatchford Shane has worked at both Broadmeadow and Cardiff Locomotive Depots. He will be sharing his experiences and stories of the people behind the railway that made it run. He will also cover the history of the Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot. RSVP: Brenda.Sullivan@newcastle.edu.au or 02 49215824

No bar to time – Another round

No bar to time: the sequel
Ed Tonks

10:00 am, Thursday 29 September

Cultural Collections Reading Room
Level 2, Auchmuty Library

By popular demand, the well-known author and historian, Ed Tonks, will be presenting the sequel to his talk, No bar to time, in the Cultural Collections Reading Room.

If you have seen our wonderful photos by Ralph Snowball of hotels in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, recognised your favourite pub and wanted to know more about it, now is your chance to hear about it from an expert. Ably guided by Ed Tonks, you will let the work of legendary photographer, Ralph Snowball, be your ticket to a journey through the  heart of old Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.

Everyone is welcome!

Walter Donnelly's Toronto Hotel, 1900

UniNews archive online

The University News / UniNews Archive is now online!

We have now digitised virtually all the extant issues of The University News, later renamed UniNews and made them available at our Libguides site. If you were a staff member or student in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s or ’00s, you can enjoy revisiting events, and reminiscing over past times.

• 1970s
• 1980s
• 1990s
• 2000-

Special thanks to Tom Robinson who scanned the newsletters, OCR’d and added the metadata to the PDFs.

No bar to time

No bar to time: a perspective of Snowball’s hotel photographs of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. Ed Tonks Wednesday 24 August, 10.00 am Cultural Collections Reading Room Level 2, Auchmuty Library

Let the work of legendary photographer, Ralph Snowball, be the ticket to a journey through the suburbs and heart of old Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. Become acquainted with hotels such as the BONNIE DOON, HAND OF FRIENDSHIP, LOCOMOTIVE, GOLD MINERS HOME, HUNT CLUB and many more. Establish the link between a Mayfield hotel and The Junction. How many hotels were there once in Adamstown? What was the earlier name for the Lambton Park Hotel? What hotel licence was once held by Arthur North? Which hotel once promoted Marshall’s Ales? Name some hotels designed by Newcastle architect Wallace L. Porter? Which brewer once made SB branded beers? What is the connection between the Gateshead Tavern and Telford Street, Newcastle? Come along and find out, as Ed Tonks, well-known local historian and author, shares his expertise. Everyone welcome!

Bonnie Doon Hotel, 1911 Hand of Friendship Hotel, 1903

Local Treasures: Subdivision Plans

The Northumberland and Permanent Building Investment and Loan Society, a set on Flickr.

Day Shift – 21/06/2011 – 02:10 PM

Presenter: Carol Duncan

Interviewee: Gionni Di Gravio, Archivist, Newcastle University

University of Newcastle Archivist Gionni Di Gravio discusses the University’s recent foray into the art of plan scanning presenting the first fruits from a collection of land sale subdivision plans formerly in the custody The Northumberland and Permanent Building Investment Land and Loan Society (est 1876).

The beautiful building that once housed these plans, erected in 1886, originally stood on what is now the corner of Blane (now Hunter) and Burwood Streets Newcastle.

The Northumberland Permanent Building Investment Land and Loan Society (est. 1876)