Australiana, Vol 43 no 1, February 2021

I trust all members enjoyed a wonderful festive season and new year with family and friends. Who would have thought at this time last year that 2020 would present us with the challenges that it did? Hopefully 2021 will prove to be more the ‘norm’. As I write this, regional COVID outbreaks appear to have been contained, and travel between states is less restricted than before. This is all relevant because as a national organisation, your Board is attempting to provide events of national significance which we all will have the opportunity to attend.

The State Library of New South Wales recently purchased a rare original ornithological watercolour by Elizabeth Gould (1804–1841), formerly in the collection of the late James Fairfax AC. This adds to the collection of manuscript letters and other original materials the Library has acquired relating to this important illustrator, one closely linked to Australia through her work with her husband John, as well as through her family. David Hansen tells the story of the artist and the work.

In 1832, John Gould produced A Century of birds from the Himalaya Mountains, the plates ‘drawn from nature and on stone by E. Gould’, and five years later, five volumes on the birds of Europe with 448 lithographic plates, most by Elizabeth Gould with 68 by Edward Lear. The bird specimens his brothers- in-law in NSW sent to him formed the core of a publication on Australian birds he began to issue in 1837–38, with plates by his wife, but discontinued when he resolved that their next project should be to produce a magnum opus on The Birds of Australia. The couple decided to undertake a voyage to Australia.

Mostly out of self-interest, we love to help people enhance their research skills, and thus advance knowledge of Australiana. Almost everyone will recognise themselves in this story. Art historian Stephen Scheding had lots of information on artists but needed to organise it, so he created an archive. Then he made his research material available to others via a free searchable archive on the internet at 'artresearch.com.au' Here’s how he did it, and how you can contribute.

Sometimes it is easy to find information about an artist in reference works. Sometimes information can be readily found through internet resources. Stephen Marshall, looking at wider issues of art appreciation, chose as an example William Young, who painted many watercolours around Sydney and NSW from the 1920s to 1940s in a conservative style. He found that researching Young was not easy, and although Stephen discovered some biographical data about him, Young remains elusive as a person.

Continuing our story of the women artists who worked in Western Australia,1 we examine the careers of those who exhibited in the Paris and Glasgow international exhibitions at the turn of the century – when Western Australia was in the midst of a Gold Rush. While Lady Forrest’s work was exhibited in a separate space, others who exhibited there together were Mrs J. S. Anderson, Dircksey Cowan, May Creeth, Annie Dorrington, Etta Finnerty, Gertrude E. Ford, May Gibbs, Mrs E. Hardey of Geraldton and Mr W. C. Thomas of Albany (plate 1). May Creeth and her sister Helen have already been covered in earlier articles2 so we will briefly mention her and concentrate on what we know of the other women who exhibited in Paris and Glasgow.

When small change was hard to obtain, some merchants minted and branded their own unofficial currency. Tokens were used as normal currency, accepted by everyone everywhere until British coins became readily available. Copper ‘token’ pennies and halfpennies were circulating in all the Australian colonies in the 1850s and 1860s. These tokens were handled, pocketed, stolen, and put in tills and church offering boxes until they became obsolete. Peter Lane explains the history of, and catalogues, the tokens made for use in South Australia.

Many people help create each issue of Australiana: authors, editor, photographers, owners of items, designer, expert readers, proof-readers and other talented individuals and institutions. Once we publish, each story is pretty much set in stone, so we try to check our research, facts and conclusions first. We catch dozens of mistakes in drafts but some sneak through, and it's impossible to find all the relevant information. After each issue appears, members and other readers give feedback to your editor and authors. These two examples add to the information already published.