A bit of history research

Saw the PROVic's display "Currach Folk" - photographer Bill Doyle's studies in the mid 1960s of Gaelic-speaking fishing and farming communities on the Aran Islands and the Dingle Peninsula of Ireland’s west coast, with their distinctive currachs (boats). The images capture the hardship, dignity and humanity of people whose lives are shaped by the sea.

"Researching Properties" seminar -an overview of the PROV records that relate to the land and the built environment that may be used for research into houses and land in Victoria, (interestingly it included a Marnoo/Kara Kara Parish map as an example) and involved the case study of the history of a Victorian-Art Deco home (just a couple of streets from an ancestral home below) in the City of Melbourne using PROV records.

Heatherlie ghost town

The Mt Difficult Heatherlie “Grampians freestone” sandstone quarry, was established in the early 1860s. Grampians sandstone was noted for its excellent quality and durability. Although one of the strongest freestones in the world, the cost of quarrying and transportation also made it one of the most expensive.

Large quantities of stone were taken from the quarry between 1880 and 1930, demand dropped with the Depression of the 1890s and the quarry closed in 1892/93 after the Public Works contract expired. It was re-opened by a private firm at the turn of the century, and operated spasmodically between 1900 and 1938, and closed again in 1938 due to lack of orders. It finally ceased major operations in 1941 due to the Second World War and the high cost of quarrying. Now part of the Grampians National Park, it can only be used to supply freestone to repair buildings in which the same stone has already been used.


Some of the machinery needed to operate the site is still in place- the furnace and steam chamber, the winch and the four-cylinder steam compression engine.

In 1881/82 a contract was let for the building of a government-financed tramway from Heatherlie to Stawell branch railway (length to be built of 15 miles using 50 lb rails, Victoria Railways laid sidings at the quarry). Stone was moved in blocks weighing up to 11 tons, and carted by tramway to Stawell.

For many years after its construction tourists and day-trippers also used the line. The railway line was closed in 1949 and was dismantled in the following years.

There are a few remnants still visible - raised earth, some of the sleepers and a few rails still in place at the end of the line, plus the remains of a timber trestle bridge at Back Creek off Osleps Track.


Heatherlie stone was used for several local buildings in Stawell, including the Court House (completed in 1872), the Town Hall, the Anglican Church and St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church. The stone was also used on the construction of significant public sites in Melbourne – Parliament House, the State Library & Melbourne Town Hall.

During the mid 1880s more than 140 men were employed at one of the quarries living mainly in tents. Many had their wives and children with them and, when the township of Heatherlie was surveyed and a school opened, a few workers built more permanent dwellings of stone offcuts or rough bark.

Only the managers and their families lived in the crude stone miners cottages that still stand close to the quarry.

Heatherlie was surveyed as a township in 1888, but really only existed on the survey map, as the town did not eventuate, some lots were sold but most workers preferred to travel from Stawell.

The only building actually erected was the school, an education department building was relocated from Darra, near Ballan, for the 33 children in the town, and opened on 14th November 1888, but it closed in October1889 due to no children attending. It never re-opened, and the building was removed in 1892.

A small pile of stone in the centre of the photo mark the site of the school

Slowly the township disappeared, now only the sigposts remain.

Shine a little light

After a smart remark concerning the previous post I was compelled to send the following -

How many library managers does it take to change a lightbulb?

At least one committee and a Light Bulb Strategy focus meeting and plan.

A spark of library humour

Here is a question to keep you awake at night -

How many cataloguers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Just one, but they have to wait to see how LC does it first.
(for the great unwashed LC stands for Library of Congress, the oracle of classification when cataloguing)

Under the spell

Under the spell of the ages : Australian country gardens by Trisha Dixon.
The National Library of Australia publishes some beautiful books, and this is one.
Lovers of landscape scenery will delight in ‘Under the spell of the ages’ which showcases 25 of Australia’s most elegant and exquisite historic gardens. Trisha Dixon's superb celebration of Australia's most memorable gardens counterpoints photographs and illustrations with quotations from famous Australian writers.

Fountain at Micalago

Following the theme of gardens created around rivers and waterways, Dixon journeys to many special places – the gardens surrounding the towers of Bontharambo near Wangaratta. The words of Miles Franklin, Hardy Wilson, Betty Casey Litchfield, Louisa Meredith and Sunday Reed are inspired by the gardens of Brindabella Station, Brownlow Hill, Elsey Station, Coolringdon Station, Cambria, Wallcliffe House and Heide, among many others. While Bolaro Station in Adaminaby, is immortalised with the last poem ever written by Banjo Paterson.
The view on the front cover is a pergola on Micalago Station, just south of Canberra. The garden at Micalago is one of discovery, with stepping stones leading from one courtyard to another, inviting exploration of the outer reaches of the garden – to where Judy Davis climbed trees in the film version of ‘My brilliant career’.

The wisteria pergola is at Frenshaw near Mittagong, similar to the Edna Wallings style, it also has a sunken garden.

Gracemere near Rockhampton, a timeless old homestead with cane squatter’s chairs on the verandah surrounded by a sea of colourful bougainvillea.


The Cedars near Hahndorf, was the home of artist Sir Hans Heysen, it has the beauty of billowing roses, fragrant lilac, drifts of foxgloves and hidden corners – a child’s delight.

Where do fairies come from?

Fairy dust and the quest for the egg” by Gail Carson Levine and illustrated by David Christiana.

"Quest for the Egg" is the first part of a Disney Fairies series.
Prilla, a brand-new fairy (created when a baby giggles, that giggle finds its way to Never-Land, and a new fairy is born) of a kind never known before in Never-land. Prilla acts much more like a human being than an ethereal fairy. She refers to Tinkerbell (a pots and pans fairy, and the fairy from the classic “Peter Pan”) as Miss Bell, and appears to have no magical talent.

When Mother Dove's egg is lost in a huge storm, Prilla and two other fairies set out on a quest to rescue the egg before it is too late, and Prilla finds both love and acceptance.

“Quest for the egg” is full of surprises and depth, it has its own history and magical rules, and is populated with interesting characters. The accompanying watercolour illustrations employ a flowing curvy style of painting.