Articles
Milton in Stained Glass
Open Forum at History House, 9 May 2019. From the mid-nineteenth century, portraits of Milton in stained glass proliferated—in schools, libraries, universities, civic buildings, churches, even residences. Depictions of his works are much rarer and carry a rich freight of meaning because of the nature of stained glass. As an…
A Walk Up Laurie Street
This research began in 2018 when I undertook an intriguing ‘Heritage Walk’ in the New South Wales village of Laurieton, led by Michael Dodkin from the Camden Haven Historical Society.[1]The brief walk explored a vibrant local history in one street of the village, which included an Aboriginal midden, a…
Talk given to Manly Warringah and Pittwater Historical Society
History doesn’t just happen. Take, for example, how New South Wales came into being as a colony; as an oversimplification it is evident that it was the British Government’s objective the to establish a penal colony and a settlement, but how the land, the country, was perceived was then a…
Australia: Nation or Commodity?
ISAA Event, 20 September 2016 You and I are broadly of the same generation, and I would suggest that any differences that we might have on foreign ownership of Australian property, assets and/or brands are going to be fairly marginal. And that they are going to be miniscule when compared…
‘Angels Of Mercy’, The Red Cross On the Homefront During the First World War
In late August 1914 the Sydney newspaper the Sunday Times (30 August) described Red Cross volunteers as the ‘Angels of Mercy’, and Red Cross volunteers would ‘Stretch forth your hands to Save!’ Red Cross nurses, according to the report, had the touch of Christ, were willing to stand ready…
A Response To Paul Gilchrist’s Paper On ‘Evolving Systems’
(a shorter version was published in ISAA Review, Volume 14, number 1, 2015, p.94) To orient readers of Paul Gilchrist’s paper I would characterise it, first, as a commentary on my own paper ‘ My Unfinished World View’ published in the ISAA Review recently and, secondly, as a vehicle…
Commonwealth Heads Of Government Regional Meetings: Malcolm Fraser’s Indo-Pacific Project
Auriol Weigold is a Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Arts and Design at theUniversity of Canberra. The paper from which aspects of this Commentary are drawn, was written with the support of the Australian Prime Ministers Centre, Old Parliament House, Canberra (2011-12), entitled ‘Australia-India relations in insecure times: Malcolm…
Take a Seat – Australian modernist seating
In celebration and acknowledgement of the modernist foundations as the Emu Plains home and studio of artists Margo and Gerald Lewers, until their respective deaths in 1978 and 1962, the Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest programs exhibitions which explore aspects of the modernist era and endeavour. Currently showing,…
The importance of the broad historical context in understanding heritage places
Introduction I think its fair to say that when visiting an historic house, such as Experiment Farm Cottage we could have confidence that its conservation had been undertaken to the standards set by ICOMOS, the International Council of Monuments and Sites. I believe the general public assume the interpretation of…
Romani In Australia: Invisible and Marginalised ‘Others’ In Australian History
Presentation notes The word ‘Romani’ or ‘Rom’ comes from the Sanskrit ‘domb’a, meaning ‘a man from a...group who were musicians’. The word ‘Gypsy’ comes from the mistaken belief among many European peoples that the Romany originated in Egypt http://asianhistory.about.com/od/glossaryps/g/Who-Are-The-Romany-Or-Gypsies.htm Introduction At an ISSA event in May…