.
This page,
clockwise from
top left
Ladies at the market stalls at Fifties Fair; a gentleman and a vintage car outside Rose Seidler House at Fifties Fair; a father and daughter feed the horses at Autumn Harvest at Rouse Hill House & Farm. Photos © James Horan; Hong Kong House during Sydney Open 2014. Photo © Haley Richardson
Opposite page
50 Martin Place during Sydney Open
2014. Photo © Haley Richardson
ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
.
EXHIBITIONS 2014–15
TITLE LOCATION EXHIBITION DATES
Celestial City: Sydney’s Chinese Story Museum of Sydney 29 Mar – 12 Oct 2014
Iconic Australian Houses:
an Exhibition by Karen McCartneyMuseum of Sydney 12 Apr – 17 Aug 2014
Dream Home, Small Home Museum of Sydney 23 Aug – 23 Nov 2014
Harry Seidler: Painting Toward Architecture Museum of Sydney 1 Nov 2014 – 8 Mar 2015
Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO® Bricks Museum of Sydney 13 Dec 2014 – 12 Jul 2015
Toys Through Time: from Peg dolls to Spacemen Museum of Sydney 29 Mar – 9 Aug 2015
Head on Portrait Prize, part of Head On Photo Festival Museum of Sydney 2 May – 8 Jun 2015
Female Immigration Depot 1848–1886 Hyde Park Barracks Museum 28 Jun 2014 – ongoing
Notorious Criminals: a Snapshot of Sinister Sydney Justice & Police Museum 18 Oct 2014 – ongoing
Breakers: the Dying Art of Safebreaking Justice & Police Museum 18 Oct 2014 – ongoing
Meroogal Women’s Art Prize Meroogal 20 Sept 2014 – 26 Jan 2015
KEY EVENTS
TITLE LOCATION TOTAL VISITORS DATE
Autumn Harvest Rouse Hill House & Farm 1,667 31 May 2015
Christmas Fare Hyde Park Barracks Museum 2,600 18 Dec 2014
Fifties Fair Rose Seidler House 1,741 24 Aug 2014
Mayhem events Elizabeth Bay House and Justice
& Police Museum
573 14 Feb and 8 May 2015
PLAY[ground] Hyde Park Barracks Museum 5,174 6–8 June 2015
Seidler Focus Tours Outreach 498 15–16 November 2014
Susannah Place – 170th Anniversary Susannah Place Museum 903 14 September 2014
Sydney Open 2014 Various 48,639 2 November 2014
24
ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15
TRAVELLING EXHIBITIONS 2014–15
KEY TITLE LOCATION EXHIBITION DATES VISITORS*
52 Suburbs Around the World Liverpool City Library 13 Aug – 2 Nov 2014 27,088
Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery 13 Dec 2014 – 25 Jan 2015 2,277
New England Regional Art Museum,
Armidale
1 May – ongoing 3,466
A Convict in the Family? Western Australian Museum, Albany 3 Aug – 21 Sept 2014 4,638
Museum of the Riverina, Wagga Wagga 10 Oct 2014 – 26 Jan 2015 5,515
Newcastle Museum 9 Feb – 27 Apr 2015 30,886
Liverpool City Library 20 Jun – ongoing 286
Iconic Australian Houses:
an Exhibition by
Karen McCartney
Glasshouse, Port Macquarie 5 Dec 2014 – 15 Feb 2015 8,427
JamFactory, Adelaide 30 Apr – ongoing 6,890
GRAND TOTAL 89,473
* All visitation figures are to 30 June 2015
� Below
Iconic Australian
Houses. Photo © Jamie North
Liverpool
Newcastle
Wagga Wagga
Armidale
Port Macquarie
25
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
.
DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT
DIGITAL
The implementation of the HHT’s digital strategy in 2013 established
a new approach to online engagement for the organisation. As
well as creating the foundation for the development of the new
website, the strategy has helped to ensure digital content is a key
output of everything we do. This strategy works in tandem with the
Sydney Living Museums brand strategy, and these two initiatives
underpinned real growth in digital engagement during the 2014–15
financial year.
The new Sydney Living Museums website experienced a 29%
increase in visitation and a 12% increase in overall page views across
the site. This is highlighted by engagement around our core content
with viewing times of our story pages increasing by 25%, and many
stories regularly averaging view times of more than five minutes
per page.
We have also experienced continued growth in our social media
following across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
Usage patterns indicate that improved awareness of and interest
in our activities are playing a large part in the lift in visitation to
our website. In particular we have seen a large increase in visitors
landing on (or entering our website via) our event and exhibition
pages, up by 121% on the previous year. If we include Sydney
Open 2014 in these figures the increase jumps to 200%.
Improved visibility of our long-term displays and installations,
such as a specific page for the artwork Edge of the trees at the
Museum of Sydney, has also helped lift the overall number of
page views of our exhibition content, up by 184%.
The total views of our events pages has also more than doubled,
increasing by 110% when compared to the previous financial year.
Increased activity around our exhibitions and events also helped
lift the number of page views of our core museum pages, which
increased by 250,000 page views or 40%.
DEVICE ACCESS TO THE SITE
The trend of people moving from using their desktops to handheld
devices continued to accelerate over the past year. Desktop usage
only grew by 6% while tablet use grew by 52% and mobile use grew
by 87%. As a result, we now have an almost 50-50 split between
visits from desktops versus visits from mobiles and tablets.
Certain sections of the website, however, tend to have even higher
mobile usage. The exhibition page for Towers of Tomorrow with
LEGO® Bricks received much higher mobile usage, with 60% of page
views occurring on a mobile/tablet and only 40% on a desktop.
The reverse is true of our education pages, of which 80% of page
views were from a desktop.
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
PEOPLE WATCHING VIDEOS FOR LONGER
The number of plays and minutes watched
via YouTube, our main video distribution
channel, has markedly increased with
the number of plays almost doubling to
71,687 and the number of minutes watched
increasing from 47,155 to over 153,000.
Our Facebook followers have grown by 72%
to over 29,000 and our individual post ‘likes’
are now averaging 146, up from 35 during the
previous financial year.
ENGAGEMENT WITH HASHTAGS
The #sydneyisopen tag used to support
Sydney Open 2014 was used more than
2100 times. #slmtowers (Towers of Tomorrow
with LEGO® Bricks) was used more than
700 times.
Twitter followers have grown by 44% to 2318,
with profile visits up 17% to average 1500 a
month. Notable followers include @museweb
54,000 followers and @LeBronJames
3.14 million followers.
Instagram has shown the greatest growth of
all our social channels. Growing by 181% to
2700 and reaching a total of 17,900 likes from
400 images shared.
TICKET SALES TO OUR
EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
Digital marketing played a key role in
many of our sellout events during 2014–15.
Advertising on platforms such as Facebook
had particular success, helping to sell out
events well in advance.
Due to its popularity, the Towers of Tomorrow
exhibition required the HHT to manage
visitation through timed sessions for the first
time, and actively encouraged presale tickets.
This resulted in 58% of tickets sold in advance,
with 51% of visitors buying online and 7%
purchasing over the phone via the box o?ce.
ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15
26
Above, left to right
Sydney Open
2014 website; the #SLMtowers hashtag on Instagram for the Towers of Tomorrow
with LEGO® Bricks
exhibition.
DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT
2014–15 2013–14 2012–13
TOTAL WEBSITE VISITS 1,178,859 929,194 786,316
Page views
Main website 2,902,017 2,385,788 1,908,427
E-commerce 132,214 172,822 173,396
Microsites/blogs* 85,888 145,604 342,789
Collections 174,828 283,641 314,200
Page views total 3,294,947 2,987,855 2,738,812
eNEWS SUBSCRIBERS† 27,000 45,203 13,202
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter followers 2,318 1,610 1,062
Facebook followers 29,425 17,101 6,931
Facebook impressions‡ 1,861,984 – –
Instagram followers 2,700 960 150
VIDEOS
Video plays 71,687 37,887 19,864
Minutes watched on YouTube 153,053 47,155 3,165
* Numbers are down from the 2013 figure, as in the 2014–15 reporting period there was no microsite for Sydney Open, with the event site
part of the main SLM website.
† Decreased subscriber numbers in 2015 was due to a database cleansing conducted at the start of the year.
‡ Figure refers to lifetime post total impressions, which is the total number of times a Sydney Living Museums Facebook post appeared on a Facebook user’s timeline, regardless of whether or not they followed the page.
SPECIAL PROJECT
27
.
MUSEUM OF SYDNEY TURNS 20
It is fitting that in the Museum of Sydney’s
20th year it achieved its highest ever visitation of
166,000, including 91,501 paid admissions (an 81%
growth on 2013–14), engaged with new audiences,
participated in signature NSW events and received
its largest grant to date.
Looking back over 20 years of the Museum of Sydney on the
site of first Government House, there have been innumerable
highlights. Almost 100 diZerent temporary exhibitions have been
shown in the galleries, from Fleeting Encounters: Pictures and
Chronicles of the First Fleet, Guwanyi: Stories of the Redfern
Aboriginal Community, Flying Boats: Sydney’s Golden Age of
Aviation to Painting The Rocks: the Loss of Old Sydney, Margaret
Olley: Home and more recently Harry Seidler: Painting Toward
Architecture and Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO® Bricks.
In the 2014–15 reporting period the Museum of Sydney led
the program to commemorate the bicentenary of the death
of Admiral Arthur Phillip RN and participated for the first time
ever in Vivid Sydney. July 2014 also saw the opening of The
Governors Table Bar & Dining, an historically inspired bar and
restaurant, which augments our site visitation (see page 42).
The year concluded with an $820,000 federal government
grant to increase visitor understanding of the site of first
Government House.
These and many other activities and exhibitions exploring our
city and its inhabitants have attracted over 1,476,500 visitors to
the Museum of Sydney – an amazing achievement for our
first 20 years.
Top to bottom
The exhibition space of the Towers of
Tomorrow with
LEGO® Bricks exhibition. Photo © Haley Richardson; visitors inspect models of First Fleet ships at the Museum of Sydney. Photo © Stuart Miller; the Edge of the trees installation and the Museum of Sydney forecourt. Photo © Douglas Riley
ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15
28
Top to bottom
Professor The Honourable Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO with the St Andrew’s Cathedral choristers, standing with the Captain Arthur Phillip RN memorial bust outside the Museum of Sydney. Photo © Stuart Miller; the Museum of Sydney forecourt featuring new signage. Photo © Douglas Riley
SPECIAL PROJECT
29
.
3 CONSERVATION & CURATORSHIP
Our properties and collections are handed on to future
generations in good heart.
We use research from primary historical sources and physical
evidence to guide decision-making about the best types of
intervention to ensure the integrity and durability of our places.
We present and interpret our sites with reference to the unique history
and authentic story of each place. We make good use of our curatorial
expertise to make informed decisions to properly maintain our
properties and collections.
MAINTAINING OUR PROPERTIES
CAPITALISED MAINTENANCE
In 2014–15, supported by $1.904 million (total of $4.4 million over
three years) in capital funding from the NSW Government, the HHT
commenced a range of major maintenance projects across all
HHT properties, implementing the first year of a three-year capital
maintenance program. The focus of these projects was improving
public safety and accessibility, achieving statutory compliance such
as fire safety and electrical code requirements, replacing ageing
infrastructure, regularly replacing obsolete or unsupported plant and
equipment, and works to protect our revenue such as improvements
to venue facilities and equipment. Over 45 individual projects were
completed, ensuring our buildings, mechanical and electrical systems,
site services, fences and security are all structurally sound, fit for
purpose and available for daily use.
Requiring coordination of diverse trades and specialist consultancy
support, the works included:
refurbishment of venue facilities and repair to a water-damaged
subfloor at Elizabeth Bay House;
replacement of failed sewer lines and diversion of gas supply
pipelines at Vaucluse House;
restoration and metal conservation of decorative iron fencing
at The Mint;
fire safety upgrades to a number of buildings replacing ageing
indicator boards and alarm systems and installing new sensors in
most public areas;
upgrading a 25-year-old mechanical plant at the Museum of Sydney;
installation of residual current devices on more than 40 electrical
boards, replacing obsolete circuit breakers;
structural stabilisation of the c1855 barn at Rouse Hill House &
Farm, and reconstruction of over 500 metres of split hardwood
timber post-and-rail fencing to improve security and animal
management;
upgrade of audiovisual display equipment at the Museum of
Sydney and The Mint;
replacement of perimeter fencing at Elizabeth Farm, and
replacement of garden equipment storage and chemical
handling area.
Based on our Total Asset Management approach, this year we
updated our property asset condition reports and developed a
ten-year forward plan for cyclical and major maintenance. We
submitted an updated Business Case to NSW Treasury outlining the
capital funding required to successfully implement the program.
PORTFOLIO CONSERVATION PROJECTS
In consultation with the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, the HHT
completed the repointing of the sandstone parapet at Susannah Place
Museum. All external timber and metalwork across the four houses
was treated to inhibit rust and to assist in the preservation of original
painted finishes.
Major surveys have been undertaken on the Museum of Sydney’s
photographic collection and Susannah Place Museum’s in situ
domestic metal fittings to assess current conditions and provide
guidance for future conservation work.
Semi-permanent interpretive panels were installed at Rose Seidler
House to improve the visitor experience and understanding of the
house as part of a compound, most particularly as Harry Seidler’s first
commission in Australia.
At Elizabeth Bay House, conservation work was undertaken on the
portico columns at the front of the house, an area exposed to the
elements of Sydney Harbour. This treatment included remediation for
rust and an application of two coats of enamel paint to ensure the
longevity of this feature.
A number of building conservation projects commenced over the
year including painting the northern range of the Hyde Park Barracks
Museum (HPBM) with cement paint, repairs to the roof guttering on
the southern side of HPBM using brass bolts and copper over-straps,
cleaning and maintenance of the underfloor archaeology displays
at HPBM and The Mint, cedar repairs to the front door of The Mint,
inserting a carved cedar wedge to a rotting column base on The Mint
verandah, repairs to an original cistern and the painting of a ground-
floor room in the Court 26 range at HPBM and a new coir matting
floor covering for the HPBM breezeway and stair halls.
Collections conservation included the installation of eight custom-made
Holland blinds on level 2 of the barracks to reduce the impact of light
on collection items on display, and conservation cleaning of The Mint
archaeology collection artefacts including 1799 and 1820s farthings, the
1813 holey dollar dump, hospital-period glass bottles and a syringe,
and 1820s military uniform buttons left behind from when the building
was used as a military hospital. Hyde Park Barracks Museum collection
items, including iron dormitory beds, also received conservation
treatment in preparation for their display in the Female Immigration
Depot 1848–1886 exhibition. Several items from the archaeology
collection, such as paper, ceramics, textiles and glass artefacts,
underwent conservation cleaning, reconstruction and mounting. One
of the two convict shirts from the HPBM archaeology collection was
prepared and mounted for loan to the South Australian Museum
travelling exhibition Treasure ships.
30
ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15
We undertook research into how best to conserve chairs at Rouse Hill
House & Farm whose webbing has deteriorated and springs come
loose. We also reviewed a garden maintenance guide for Rouse
Hill that outlines approaches as well as specific protocols to enable
successful preservation of the garden and key plants.
At Elizabeth Farm the bedrooms and dining room have been
reinterpreted to better reflect the specific bedroom use of John and
Elizabeth Macarthur and their family. A program of soft furnishings
continues to be implemented, made possible by our volunteer Soft
Furnishings Group, with new embroidered and plain curtaining
completed and possum-hide bedcovers about to be installed.
FOUNDATION CONSERVATION PROJECTS
Through the generous support of our Foundation, we carried out
extensive structural repairs and stabilisation work to the barn (built
c1855) at Rouse Hill House & Farm. This involved temporarily supporting
the end of the massive timber structure to enable the 8-metre-long
rough timber corner posts to be cut out and removed. The posts had
very extensive old termite damage with only a thin perimeter shell
of sound wood still supporting the load. Matching new eucalyptus
hardwood poles were sourced nearby and notched and bolted
back into the surviving structural frame. Decayed timber purlins
were completely removed and replaced, to stiZen and stabilise the
open gable end. Owing to long-term decay of timber elements
the south-east corner of the building had
also slumped out of alignment by up to
200 millimetres, and we jacked all the new
elements back into the correct positions so the
roof again sheds water eZectively. We re-used
original fixings, bolts, iron pressure plates and
previously notched timbers to preserve the
details of the construction as well as the overall
form of the building.
At the former caretaker’s cottage (c1858)
we carried out extensive work to improve
the removal of roof water and ground
drainage to prevent further deterioration
of timber structural elements. This involved
carefully peeling oZ the weatherboard
cladding, timber repairs and the realignment
of roof sheeting to try to get the shell as
weatherproof as possible while retaining all
original fabric. Due to storm damage that
lifted a large section of the original roof, more
extensive structural repairs were required,
and we salvaged and re-used as much
original material as possible.
" Above
Soft Furnishing Group members Henrietta Cheshire and Dianne Finnegan with Curator Joanna Nicholas in the Elizabeth Bay House dining room. Photo © James Horan
31
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
.
CONSERVATION PROJECTS
SEIDLER DECK REBUILT
When Harry Seidler built a new
house for his parents in 1948, he
incorporated an elevated deck
extending the living room into the
outdoors. Originally constructed
from spotted gum, the timber was
not durable and was replaced by
Seidler in the 1980s with Western
Australian jarrah. Due to water
damage we have replaced the
entire deck timber. We have slightly
modified the original construction
detail to ensure moisture is not
trapped between surfaces in
the future. Visually the deck
remains identical to the original.
MINT COURTYARD LIGHTING
We installed LED strip lighting under
the centre plinth and against the
base of the old coining factory
building at The Mint to light the
pathways and sandstone walls.
While primarily for visitor safety and
amenity, the lighting also highlights
the superb 19th-century sandstone
buildings. Permanent lighting
removes the need to manually
install temporary event lighting.
LIFT LOBBY UPGRADE, MUSEUM OF SYDNEY
An underused lift lobby on level 3 of the Museum of
Sydney was transformed into a new display area in
order to add new content to the museum. Through
capital funding we were able to remove a utility
cupboard to extend the space, replace flooring and
walls, increase the ceiling height and add exhibition
lighting. The result is an impressive semi-permanent
display area that greatly adds to the visitor experience.
The current display profiles HHT collection objects
relating to Luna Park. We also upgraded the lift control
panel to satisfy current design standards for accessibility
and digital functionality, as well as improving
convenience and ease of use for museum visitors.
Clockwise from top left
Harry Seidler (middle) on the deck at Rose Seidler House. State Library of NSW: PXA 6900/39; the decking being replaced. Photos © HHT; The Mint at night with new lighting. Photo Richard Taylor; the new Luna Park display in the former lift lobby at the Museum of Sydney. Photo © James Horan
ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15
32
ELIZABETH BAY HOUSE
FLOOR RECONSTRUCTION
AND FACILITIES UPGRADE
At Elizabeth Bay House we
reconstructed a section of
water-damaged timber flooring. Replacement of
original adzed structural timbers in the cellar was
necessary, which required the careful dismantling of
about 20 square metres of floor. Removing all the
interior finishes and existing materials back to the bare
sandstone and brickwork revealed interesting facets of
the original construction and changes that have occurred
during the house’s 180-year history. The structural
repairs required also necessitated the refurbishment
of the men’s washroom, and we used the opportunity
to bring this up to a contemporary standard to better
service our commercial venue hire clients and guests.
GARDENER’S COTTAGE REPAIRS
AT VAUCLUSE HOUSE
In addition to ‘the big house’, the Vaucluse
House estate features a number of other
buildings such as the 1920s gardener’s
cottage in the western paddock. Built over
a filled-in creek channel, the cottage has
suZered from subsidence and structural
cracking for many years. Working with
a structural engineer we discovered the
cracking was due to changes in soil moisture
below the foundations caused by tree
root activity, and we carried out structural
repairs. Due to the extent of the repairs we
also upgraded the interiors of the cottage,
japanning all the timber floors with black
lacquer, repainting and re-carpeting, as well
as removing unsympathetic additions.
RESHINGLING THE ROOF
OF THE VAUCLUSE HOUSE
KITCHEN WING
In 2014–15 with support from our
Foundation, we replaced the
roof over the dairy and larder
at Vaucluse House with 7000
new shakes, sourced from the
Wauchope area of northern NSW.
The roof was last shingled about
25 years ago. Over time
the red colour of the
newly split shingles will
fade to a silvery grey.
Clockwise from top left
Roof repairs to the Vaucluse House dairy and larder. Photo © Stuart Miller; Elizabeth Bay House washroom floor after completion. Photo Thomas Hull; Elizabeth Bay House floor during construction. Photo © HHT; the Gardener’s Cottage at Vaucluse House. Photo © HHT
SPECIAL PROJECT
33
.
CARING FOR OUR COLLECTIONS
The HHT cares for more than 45,000 items within its core collections
and a further 250,000 items within the archaeological collections.
The collections are spread across all our properties and an oZ-site
collection facility. Central to collection care is preventive conservation,
the broad actions that address issues such as pest management, mould
remediation, environmental management and collection storage. By
focusing on these issues, we aim to limit damage to the collections over
time and minimise interventionist conservation treatments.
MOULD REMEDIATION
Sydney’s extremely wet summer and autumn led to several mould
outbreaks in our properties during 2014–15. Mould remediation of
collection material was undertaken by conservation specialists at two
sites, with a total of 247 objects treated (219 of these were books in a
single bookcase).
COLLECTION CONSERVATION
In 2014–15 we worked with 20 conservation specialists in the treatment
of 63 objects including historic photographs of bushrangers, mid-
19th-century gilded mirrors, an elaborate toy theatre, archaeological
coins, glass artefacts and buttons, and an early 19th-century convict
shirt. A range of objects was conserved from the collections held in the
Eastern Sydney Portfolio: Anna Blaxland’s wedding ensemble (c1822),
a marble-topped cedar table from Elizabeth Bay House (c1830) and
soft furnishings at Vaucluse House including portieres, bed-hangings,
valances and mosquito nets.
LIVING COLLECTIONS
Mrs Macquarie’s 1814 cello was played at two events during the year:
one with the Australian Opera and Ballet orchestra at The Mint, and
another in Bathurst with the local Bathurst Chamber Orchestra, as
part of Bathurst’s bicentenary celebrations. Preparing the instrument
involved collaboration between HHT collections staZ, a musical
instrument conservator/restorer and highly skilled cellists.
MUSEUMS DISCOVERY CENTRE
HHT staZ have been working with the Museum of Applied Arts
and Sciences (MAAS) and the Australian Museum on the design
and development of a new shared storage facility at the MAAS
site in Castle Hill. The new development comprises a three-storey
purpose-built collection store and a visitors centre.
SHARING OUR COLLECTIONS
We continue to share our collections through loans to cultural
organisations. In 2014–15, new and ongoing loans saw 148 objects
loaned to 12 organisations, including four located interstate.
ACQUIRING NEW COLLECTION MATERIAL
In 2014–15 the HHT acquired items for the Caroline Simpson Library
& Research Collection (CSL&RC), Meroogal, the Hyde Park Barracks
Museum and The Mint:
W H ROCKE & CO FURNITURE CATALOGUE
This trade catalogue was published by a Melbourne firm in 1874
and is the earliest known surviving Australian furniture pattern book,
predating by 20 years a furniture pattern book published by the
Sydney firm David Jones & Co. The Rocke catalogue, provenanced to a
19th-century Tasmanian cabinetmaker, was acquired in February 2015
for the CSL&RC. The CSL&RC also holds the David Jones pattern book.
MEROOGAL KITCHEN CLOCK
This cased clock once stood atop a cedar meat safe in the kitchen at
Meroogal, and was repatriated to the house by the Nowra Museum
and Shoalhaven Historical Society. The clock had originally been in the
kitchen of the Mackenzie family home, Fairfield, at Cambewarra.
OTHER ACQUISITIONS
Key acquisitions for the Hyde Park Barracks Museum collection
included an 1820 convict pardon with seal granted to Michael
Gorman for capturing ‘The Wild Colonial Boy’, bushranger John
Donohoe, a 1957 miniature painting of the barracks by George Byfield
(c1902–1982), engravings depicting convicts and immigrant women,
and an early 19th-century brickmaking hack barrow. New additions to
The Mint collection include a gold sovereign balance and a Morgan
gold melting crucible.
TRANSFER OF HAMILTON ROUSE HILL COLLECTION
Miriam Hamilton nee Terry (1924–2014) was the daughter of Roderick
Terry (1899–1980). Roderick and his brother Gerald were the last Rouse
family members to permanently reside at Rouse Hill House. Through
Rod and Gerald the house and contents were retained in family
ownership, as per their mother Nina’s wishes, until the property was
resumed by the NSW Government in 1978. Miriam and her husband,
Ian Hamilton, bought Rod’s share of Rouse Hill in 1977. They lived there
with him until his death, and eventually left the property in 1983.
Miriam had a lifelong interest in the history and heritage of Rouse
Hill House, its garden and contents and, with the HHT, agreed to the
setting up of the Hamilton Rouse Hill Trust to preserve and retain at
the property her substantial collection of furniture, family memorabilia
and eZects. As a director of the Trust, Miriam maintained a close and
active working relationship with HHT curatorial and property staZ,
sharing her extraordinary personal knowledge of Rouse Hill in the
20th century.
Following Miriam’s passing in October 2014, the Hamilton Rouse
Hill Trust was wound up in accordance with the Trust Deed and the
collection was formally transferred to the HHT. Miriam’s children have
now generously oZered the HHT a further significant donation of
objects, manuscripts, photographs and research material related to
the histories of Rouse Hill House and Meroogal. To be known as The
Miriam and Ian Hamilton Collection, these items will be located at
Rouse Hill House, Meroogal and in the CSL&RC at The Mint.
34
ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15
ENDANGERED HOUSES FUND
We reconstructed the kilometre-long access driveway into Beulah
from Appin Road, balancing cut-and-fill requirements on site so
we only needed to bring new topping material to the property.
We engaged a historical archaeologist to study and document
original sections of road construction that were uncovered during
the work and preserved these intact under the new surface. We
also adapted the decayed 1850s sandstone and timber bridge
across Woodhouse Creek; the bridge is now accessible by modern
vehicles carrying up to a 13-tonne load. This involved carefully
preserving the fine sandstone abutments and headwalls while
we constructed a new reinforced concrete bridge floating above
the original construction. No loads are carried by the 19th-century
structure, but the headwalls and culvert still maintain their original
function in channelling the creek.
The Appin Men’s Shed Group repaired and replaced timber-
framed sash windows and doors at Beulah homestead in order to
secure the building while we prepare documentation for a major
restoration program.
Left
The 1836-46 stone
and timber bridge
spanning Woodhouse
Creek on Bealah,
Appin. Photo © Paolo Busato
Below
The restored
Beulah bridge.
Photo Richard Taylor
35
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
.
KEY ACQUISITIONS
OIL PAINTING OF QUEENS SQUARE DEPICTING THE HYDE PARK BARRACKS
The HHT bought a c1954 painting by William Edwin Pidgeon (1909-1981) in July 2014 for the
Hyde Park Barracks Museum collection. It is an important representation of the barracks in its
mid-20th-century streetscape and shows buildings in the courtyard that are no longer extant.
ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15
36
CONVICT LOVE TOKEN
The HHT acquired a convict love
token in November 2014 for the Hyde
Park Barracks Museum collection.
This particular token carries the
chilling message, ‘Joseph Smyth/
CAST FOR DEATH/4 July 1817/Aged 33’
on the obverse, with the name ‘Mary
Ann Smyth/Aged 27’ engraved on
the reverse. Joseph Smith, a master
brickmaker, was tried for burglary in
London on 2 July 1817 and sentenced to
death. His sentence was commuted to
transportation for life and he arrived
in Sydney on 5 April 1818. His wife,
Mary Ann, was also sentenced to
transportation for life, arriving in the
colony in 1820.
KALMAR MID-20TH-CENTURY FURNITURE
A small suite of furniture designed by Steven
Kalmar (1909–1989) in Sydney in the early
1950s was donated to the CSL&RC in May
2015. Kalmar was a Sydney-based furniture
designer whose company, Kalmar Interiors,
promoted contemporary and aZordable
furnishings, especially suitable for the postwar
open-plan houses being built in Australia’s
suburbs. Kalmar was born in Hungary, trained
as an architect and was one of a number
of émigré Europeans who helped introduce
Australians to modernism in design.
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.
THROSBY PARK
The homestead and various farm buildings at
Throsby Park contained a diverse assortment of
furniture, ephemera, farm machinery, buggies and
domestic goods. Much of this material had been
acquired by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
(NPWS) after 1975 to assist in the presentation of
Throsby Park as a model house museum.
HHT collections and curatorial staZ removed most of the contents of
the Throsby Park homestead in December 2014 and January 2015.
Items for the HHT’s permanent collection were accessioned and
recorded and have been temporarily placed in secure storage. An
auction of other furniture and chattels not being retained by the HHT
was held in Sydney on 17 April 2015. These comprised items previously
passed in at auctions of Miss Dell Throsby’s personal eZects, plus
furniture and objects acquired by the NPWS. A loan agreement with
the lessee covering 71 items of furniture and pictures to be retained
at Throsby Park homestead was executed. Of particular significance
is a fine colonial long-case clock by watchmaker James Oatley
supplied to Charles Throsby in 1823 for his residence in Casula.
The HHT oZered a long-term lease of Throsby Park homestead
and estate through an open public tender. There was
significant competition and we received a number of
credible oZers, including interesting propositions for
commercial activation and sympathetic rural land use.
Following tender evaluation, we negotiated with a leading tenderer
to reach a best and final oZer acceptable to both the lessee and
the HHT. The lease was taken by a distant descendant of the
original owner, Dr Charles Throsby. Tim Throsby’s oZer included
extensive heritage restoration, major repairs and maintenance,
and viable long-term use of the property as a family home.
Top
New lessee Tim Throsby on the verandah of Throsby Park. Photo © Nicholas Watt. Right
Bedroom 1, set up as a museum history room, Throsby Park. Photo © Douglas Riley
ANNUAL REPORT 2014–15
38
Clockwise from top
View of Throsby Park house and front drive. Photo © Douglas Riley; Australian cedar sofa in Greek Revival style from the Throsby Park Collection, c1840. Photo © Rob Little/ RLDI; the servery; hallway at Throsby Park. Photos © Douglas Riley
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39