Book review: Digby & Claude

A recent publication out of the National Library of Australia Digby & Claude is written and illustrated by Emma Allen and Hannah Sommerville as a picture book. It touches on a common theme of constant change within the urban environment.

Digby and Claude feel connected to their neighbourhood and community. This is a story about friendship, about imagination and connection to place, but it is also about change. As the Main Street in their town undergoes development, change is also reflected in their own adventures to build a secret hiding place. “Claude agreed that the best places of all are where you belong”. 

Though set in the past, this story remains relevant today. This book can connect readers young and old to the place where they live and what it means to “belong”.

Sarka to Westgarthtown: The Wuchatsch Family in Germany and Australia

A new local history book has been added to our collections.  One of which will be preserved in the local history collection at Mill Park Library.  Särka to Westgarthtown by Robert Wuchatsch has been a long time in the making.

This 525-page book tells the story of the Wuchatsch family in Germany and Australia from the early 1700s. Profusely illustrated, it covers in narrative style the lives of Johann, Hanna and Magdalene Wuchatsch; their children; grandchildren; and greatgrandchildren. Subsequent generations are included in family tree form. Parts of the book are in German as well as English so Wuchatsch relatives in each country can read them.

In his Foreword, George R. Nielsen, Ph. D., Professor Emeritus, Concordia University, Chicago wrote:

If by chance this book, in addition to informing you, inspires you to become involved in your own heritage, look not only for the details, but also the excitement of the search. Like Rob, pay attention to your feelings and experiences … Sensing apprehension while crossing the Iron Curtain at Friedrichstrasse or at Checkpoint Charlie may no longer be possible, but imagine the loneliness one feels entering a rural isolated graveyard in the late afternoon with a pen and notebook reading headstones while the raucous kookaburras in the eucalyptus trees surrounding the cemetery find your efforts entertaining. I hope as you read this book you are motivated to go on a quest of your own and see places you never thought you would see or experience … See how Rob did it and plot your strategy.

Westgarthtown is an historic dairy farming settlement established in 1850 by German and Wendish immigrants, located with within the residential suburbs of Thomastown and Lalor in the City of Whittlesea.

Book review: Mietta's Italian Family Recipes

Mietta's Italian Family Recipes by Mietta O'Donnell is a lovely tribute to the late journalist and restauranteur who died before this book came to its fruition.
First published in 2000, with a new edition published in 2015, it is first and foremost a book of recipes. It includes Italian recipes made for Australian conditions, beautifully presented with the context of the family stories as Tony Knox writes in the foreword ".. it needed context. What better way to look at Italian food in Australia than to interview those who introduced it: the descendants of the people whose families, like her grandparents, had come to Australia and started restaurants, serving spaghetti that was'nt tinned".
Mietta's family was the Vigano family of Sth Morang whose story is related at the beginning of the book.
This book is beautifully presented sprinkled with black and white photos of people - not food - and arranged under various categories including antipasto, broths and minestrone, pasta, fish, chicken, deserts and more.

Signed by hand

Mollie King - [passport photograph] [picture] / Australian Immigration Office. State Library Victoria

The National Library of Australia’s recent publication Signed by Hand is a lovely snapshot of Australian history highlighting the handwriting and signatures of famous Australians and others who we know from the past such as authors Jane Austen and Charles Dickins.
Personal papers including official documents,  letters and cards of our ancestors add a real personal connection with our ancestors.  Barry Jones writes in his introduction: “Objects, including autographs, can concentrate the mind wonderfully – they take me a different time and space, as I reflect on human history and our struggle for meaning.”
Some researchers have been inspired to have their ancestors handwriting samples analysed 

There are quite a few tips online for deciphering old handwriting if you are lucky enough to have more than just a signature.
To be further inspired by other signatures and autographs visit the Internet Archive which has digitised Portraits and autographs by W.T. Stead which was published in 1890.  It includes photographs and hand writing samples from famous people of the day starting with Queen Victoria.

Wild Men of Montmorency

“Diamond Valley footy in the 1970s and 1980s was hard and tough footy at its best and sometimes worst. It was physical, brutal, occasionally spectacular and thrilling, captivating fans and players alike.  In this tribal cauldron where suburb was pitted against suburb there was no room for the feint-hearted”.

The Wild Men of Montmorency and other tales by Andrew Brasier recently published by the Montmorency Football Club adds to the community history and more importantly the recreational and sporting history of the local area.The collection of profiles presented relies heavily on the experience and memories of the author’s own association with the Club but this helps to interweave the voices of his contemporary subjects, mainly players but also administrators throughout the book.  

The 1970s through to the 2000’s is the main time frame covered. Despite the Club’s history going back to 1924, this is not a typical local history with little reference to the early history – and what there is – is presented at the back of the book.  Hall of Famers, including players who rose to the VFL are well represented.  Contemporary and some older photographs help illustrate this easy read. 

These walls speak volumes - Book review

Victoria’s local history community have been waiting eagerly for the sequel to Pam Baragwanath and Ken James’ Mechanics Institute’s history. If the Walls Could Speak.

These Walls Speak Volumes is now available. This book represents early Victorian history. They were local, independent, self –funded and self-help initiatives. They were the forerunner to public libraries and community hubs we know today.
Each of Victoria’s institutes is highlighted with a short history and very often a photograph. Local institutes featured include: Arthur’s Creek, Christmas Hills, Diamond Creek, Eltham, Epping, Heidelberg, Hurstbridge, Kangaroo Ground, Kinglake, Mernda, Panton Hill, St Andrews, Thomastown, Warrandyte and Whittlesea.
Articles are well sourced including records from local history collections, Public Records Office Victoria, local history groups and local historians.

The Mernda Mechanics Institute was built at the rear of the Old Bridge Hotel. It was planned and built by W. Baird. The foundation stone was laid on 12 September 1888 by Robert Harper MLA. It was built from bluestone which was carted from Melbourne by local resident W. G. Cockerell. Walter Thomas was the first librarian and trustee of the Mernda Mechanics Institute and Free Library. The Whittlesea Shire Council held council meetings there from 1915, until 1939.

Montmorency farm on the Plenty

Montmorency, for many, is still a hidden part of Melbourne.  Once situated in the Shire of Eltham, Montmorency is now part of the City of Banyule. For those who know it, the trees, the widening streets, hilly terrain, remnant bushland and Were Street with its environs, the suburb has special appeal.

A new book by local historian and resident  Maureen Jones is now in our collection. Montmorency is the author's tribute to this special place.  The history from its earliest years as a hunting ground for the Wurundjeri willam people, through its uptake by white settlers.  Ownership of the land remained in the hands of one family for over four generations spanning seventy years, before the land evolved through small farmlets into the suburb we now know.

This book uses land records combined with personal stories, photographs and newspaper articles to provide an up to date local history of this area.

Book Review: Au Revoir My Darling: an intimate war correspondence 1940-1945

For five years Eileen and Ken MacFarlane wrote to each other at least once, sometimes seven – times a week. In their letters they describe their daily lives and the depth of their relationship also comes through. The Mills and MacFarlane families from Rosanna had known each other for some time. The best letters are reproduced in this book by her daughter Heather Haughton.

Eileen especially brings alive the Home front point of view during those war years living in Heidelberg Melbourne, with a baby a toddler, and elderly parents living with her she decides to operate a poultry farm and save money eventually to build a home of their own on property in Montmorency. In addition she took the time to also build an air raid shelter.

Her letters are full of rich descriptions of life around the house and yard with references to local people, businesses and places.

In particular she gives a terrific description of the Victorian bushfires which took place January 1944 including locally “We’ve had a week off the worst bushfires yet..Altogether nearly half a million sheep, about 2,000 cattle, 3,000 horses and a quarter million of poultry. 3000 hectares burnt between Eltham and Heidelberg”.

This book is a surprise and welcome addition to our local history collection at Ivanhoe Library. A valuable primary resource of reminiscences especially of the home front during World War 2 in our local area.

A sample chapter from the beginning of the book can be downloaded on the publishers website at New Holland publishers