News and events of the Kununurra Historical Society - Archive, Gallery, Library, Museum and Research.
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Most Recent News PostsA Royal Like! - Posted 18 April 2017 State History Conference - Armadale WA - KHS Presented RWAHS State Merit Award - Posted 10 December 2016
Museums Are ******* Awesome - Museums Australia WA - State Conference - Posted 10 December 2016
Donald Howard's 'Wave Hill Spurs' - Posted 8 November 2016
30 Years of the Kununurra Historical Society - Posted 5 June 2016 (June 5th - Inauguration Day in 1986) Wirraway-Challenge Display DV - Posted 6 November 2015 75 Years of Ord Irrigation - Download KMD's 1941 Paper - Posted 18 August 2015 Memories of Stuart Skoglund - Pearl Ogden Talk - Posted 25 June 2015 Repatriation of Kimberley History Sources & 2015 AGM - Posted 4 April 2015 OR View older (next page of :^) news posts from KHS News - (Page 2 - Page 3 or Page 4) |
KHS News
New Ord Noah Collection
A great new collection of 193 photographs have been derived from the album made by Henry Hall, who was in charge of Operation Ord Noah during the 1971-72 wet season, which saw Lake Argyle fill for the first time. Henry was part of the wildlife group Western Australian Wildlife Association (WAWA so when you see WAWA on boats in this collection that is nothing to do with the Water Corporation's former title post PWD, Water Authority of Western Australia - WAWA).
Clicking album page below will take you to the Album collection, once there click on an image then scroll down for further information or view ALL as a slideshow (only available from main album page - near top right of page).
 This adds to our collections online, with more than 2,400 photographs available in our collections on Flickr, which now, have had over 2,100,000 views (since 2011), so what otherwise would have been seen by nobody, languishing in the archive, have been made "ACCESSIBLE to ALL!" and are being made more and more "DISCOVERABLE" through social media avenues. On behalf of the Kununurra Historical Society, we hope you enjoy.
We are in need of new local members, to all past and present residents, we NEED your Support! Please Join KHS Now if you like what you see! Even if you have never lived in Kununurra, or if you have visited and enjoyed the Kununurra Museum, you can support this work to continue - Join KHS Now.
If you CAN - Please DONATE to continue and support the important work we do to actively collect and preserve a local collection at https://www.givenow.com.au/khs!
Corporate Donations can be given and anyone can keep track of all of their donations, with instantly generated tax deduction proof, as KHS is a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR), ALL Donations are FULLY Tax Deductible at the GiveNow web page for KHS from...
GiveNow to the KHS from https://www.givenow.com.au/khs Please further the work of the Kununurra Historical Society, actively collecting, documenting, digitising and preserving this local archive (of local, State and National Significance) and opening the Kununurra Museum. Read on further below about the volunteer hours noted in (and to see) the Royal WA Historical Society's 2016 Historical Society of the Year Award won by the Kununurra Historical Society (below). We need to find the funding for a paid position to continue the valuable work being done for this local collection, so we are aiming high, as Andrew Forrest suggested in his speech at the National Press Club last year, when he discussed "Lifting Australia's Vision", ethical businesses, philanthropy by Australian businesses (by those who can afford it :^) KHS has been "Lifting Australia's Vision" for our local history in the past ten years, completely by a volunteer driven effort but now find the need to fund a paid position so we are are looking for $500,000, over a ten year period, or $50,000 per year goal and call on Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Foundation and FMG, the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), Wunan (proudly on their website as Kununurra's largest employer) and their East Kimberley Job Pathways (EKJP = Wunan in partnership with the Dept. of Prime Minister and Cabinet), the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley, the Kununurra Visitors Centre, Argyle Diamonds and local businesses, or if part of this history, past and present residents to please GiveNow! to GiveNow on our funding page to ensure the continuation of the important work that has been done by KHS for the past, present and future residents of the town of Kununurra. PLEASE! GiveNow to the KHS from...
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A Royal LIKE of Kununurra Museum on fb
 On Saint Patrick's Day - March 17th 2017, which was the day of the 1963 Royal Tour to Kununurra, I decided to post on the Royal Family's Facebook Page, which got a Royal response from a possible future Queen. [I was impressed! Thank you Kate (and family! :^) from the KHS.]  This pristine looking 16mm colour film was made by cinematographer (& WA Ag. Dept. Entomologist), Kevin Richards and was added to YouTube in April 2017 (after the Royal Like - Will have to post this one to the Royal Family's fb page! :^)
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War in the Kimberley-75 Years in 2017
Wirraway-Challenge Week - March 20-26 2017 - 75 Years Some Kununurra Museum News of new research web pages and information on coming events to commemorate 75 years!  'Wirraway-Challenge' Display at the Kununurra Museum with photograph of RAAF 12 Squadron, Pilot Sergeant Lew Dwyer - "We had no 'Mae West' (Life Vest), No Dinghy, and we were going half way to Timor on anti-sub'[-marine] patrols!" with another photograph of RAAF Pilot Sergeant Warwick Carmody standing on the wing of force-landed RAAF CAC Wirraway A20-62 (notice the mud from the wet saltmarsh). On the right hand side of that photograph has been superimposed a colour photograph taken at the site showing the cockpit canopy on the dry saltmarsh as it was in 2014 before salvage. Montage AB for KHS.
At this time 75 Years ago, war came to Australia, starting when the Japanese attacked Darwin on February 19th 1942. After this day many attacks were to be made on the Top End, the Kimberley and Queensland, especially devastating in the Kimberley during March 1942.
Kununurra Museum on Social Networking![[ f]](http://www.kununurra.org.au/_/rsrc/1488229479407/khs-news/warinthekimberley-75yearsin2017/FB-FindUsOnFacebook.png) Have a look at the Kununurra Museum Facebook page from...
https://www.facebook.com/Kununurra.Museum/ [Opens in a new tab]
As well in the past few weeks Kununurra Museum now has a Twitter presence now linked to the Facebook page, so that posts are shared between the two. Kununurra Museum on Twitter from...
https://twitter.com/KununurraMuseum [Opens in a new tab]
This has been useful, by following Archives and Museums from all over the world on Twitter, feeds come in about new collections, like the Bio-Diversity Heritage Library, who have digitised thousands of documents, all freely available to download in eBook formats, PDFs or as images.
John Gould (1804-1881) - The Birds of Australia (1848) - FREE! Things like all of John Gould's original 1848 'The Birds of Australia' - All seven volumes have been digitised and are freely available [All DL'd for KHS digital archive to extract all Kimberley birds for the Museum Slideshows!] - See
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/105698 [Opens in a new tab]
New KHS Website PagesThe main reason of this post is to draw attention to some new pages added to the website in recent weeks.
The Miles of Wyndham This is about an oral history made with Maggie Lilly in 1986 by Ursula Brimble, who inaugurated the meeting to form the Kununurra Historical Society in that year. This is one of our earliest archives that is shared with Battye Library, who digitised this in recent years. The page has an extract to listen to about 'the Miles of Wyndham - 3 Mile - 4 Mile - Six Mile - Seven Mile - Nine Mile - 12 Mile & 20 Mile - What a classic! As well as a synopsis of what Maggie discusses, near the end are links to each of the digital audio files at the State Library of WA. Have a read and a listen to the wonderful tale from Maggie Lilly about 'the Miles from Wyndham'. [Goes to the new page on this site] or an extract and new photograph added today (Feb 28th 2017) of extending the Wyndham Aerodrome circa 1930, as follows.
1930-ca - Extending the Wyndham Aerodrome8m 24s - Marriage and Children - Edwin James [Liljengvist] known as, 'Sam Lilly' was born at Derby [CHECK year?]
Sam Lilly - Went to Wyndham in 1924
Sam helped build the airstrip in Wyndham.
[KHS Note]
A photograph found at the State Library of New South Wales (online).
1930-ca Extending aerodrome Wyndham - ex SLNSW bcp_05819h
 1930-ca - Extending the aerodrome at Wyndham - DL'd for KHS from the State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW) bcp_05819h
The State Library of NSW has some great digital archives, I found out talking to staff there a few years ago, that they had a very progressive and dynamic directive, thanks to an attitude of, no hesitatation just digitise it and ask questions later! This image for example is freely available as follows.
http://acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=393858 [Opens in a new Tab]
Title Extending aerodrome - Wyndham, WA
Call Number At Work and Play - 05819
Digital Order No. bcp_05819
This image may be used freely without requesting permission. Please acknowledge that the image is from the collections of the State Library of NSW. (OK - Thanks SLNSW! :^)
The Wyulda - Scaly Tailed Possum & Violet Valley Here some old information in the form of a 1922 news article about the 'Wyulda' found circa 1919 by Mr Rademy (pictured below), who at that time was at Violet Valley, as well as some more recent information as the Wyulda was recently discovered in other Kimberley locations for the first time. Read more about The Wyulda with photographs of Violet Valley thanks to SLWA
[Image links to the Wyulda Page] History of Thompson's SpringA History of Thompson's Spring - Named in 1886 by Tom Kilfoyle is presented on this page - September 1886 - Charly found a spring I called it Tomsons spring." Also has some history about the masonry dam added at a much later date!
Wirraway-Challenge Week (March 20th to 26th) - Kununurra Museum It is 75 Years on March 20th 2017, since RAAF 12 Squadron Pilot Sergeants, Lew Dwyer and Warwick Carmody, had engine failure over the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, while on a mission to Drysdale River Mission, fling their first leg between Batchelor and Wyndham. They had to turn south and 'head for Australia' in Lew's words. They only just made it to the widest part of the Ningbing saltmarsh, with a textbook wheels-up landing, as it was too wet to land on the coastal saltmarsh, just 5 km inside Western Australia, adjacent to the WA-NT border (Longitude 129 degrees East of Greenwich). Read more and see 8 x Parts from a DVD about the forced landing of CAC Wirraway A20-62, for a story of Survival & Rescue by Aboriginal stockmen from Carlton Hill station, organised by pedal radio from Wyndham. Go to the Kununurra Museum's - Wirraway-Challenge Display - Page (Wirraway means Challenge! :^) All of the YouTube digital videos (DVs) are embedded lower down on that page or go straight to the...
Kununurra Museum's YouTube Channel [Opens in a new tab]
Also see the Kununurra Museum Events Page.
1971-72 - KHS - Bert Lee Operation Ord Noah Collection[Image below opens the collection in a new tab or window]
 1971-72 - Operation Ord Noah - L-R Graeme Bell - Chopper Pilot - Henry Hall - KHS-2013-31-b-P-BD-14
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Bert Lee 1971-72 Operation Ord Noah
KHS - Bert Lee Operation Ord Noah Collection is now online!After distressing scenes when the Aswan Dam in Egypt first filled the WA Government did not want a repeat here, so the WA Wildlife Authority (another NLA) got involved to rescue and relocate animals caught by the Ord in flood filling Lake Argyle for the first time. Thanks Bert (in Townsville)!
Bert Lee - 'Operation Ord Noah' Collection
[As embedded Slideshow here on this page >>> ] - Use the '4 cornered' gadget in lower right hand side to go full screen - Once there use controls at top right to show full documentation for all of our archival photographs on Flickr! This collection, placed online last night has been included in the Trove Australia Group on Flickr, so are now also accessible to all via a NLA Trove search!
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WA Historic Number Plates Database
Great New Searchable DatabaseTo search for eg. WY (Wyndham) or any WA country town number plates the Carnamah Historical Society now provide this outstanding tool for WA history researchers - Thank You! See the post here from the KHS Kununurra Museum - FaceBook page... |
2 Million Views on Flickr
KHS on Flickr Our 2nd Millionth View
If these photographs had not been digitised and placed online, they would have still been in the archive and virtually nobody would have seen them. KHS - Making archives accessible to show the significance of this Kimberley History to anyone, anywhere in the world! Enjoy!  The best way to view KHS collections on Flickr from...
KHS Subject Themes - 100 albums (Linked to Image Above - Click Image)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/khs-museum/collections/72157625849162917/ KHS Archive Collections - 19 albums
http://www.flickr.com/photos/khs-museum/collections/72157625974583388/ or view as individual Albums from here... KHS Albums on Flickr - Page 1 - Decades then A-F http://www.flickr.com/photos/khs-museum/albums |
KHS presented the Royal WA Historical Society 2016 (State) Merit Award
State History Conference - Armadale WA
 At the Royal WA Historical Society (RWAHS) State History Conference during September, which the KHS President was able to attend for the first time and was greatly surprised that the Royal WA Historical Society (RWAHS) - State-wide Merit Award for 2016 was awarded to the Kununurra Historical Society. The KHS President was delighted to be able to accept the framed award for KHS and express our appreciation to those gathered at the conference. (Our congratulations and our apologies go to runner-up Societies this year, Toodyay
and Kalgoorlie ;^)
An extract below from the RWAHS Newsletter, History West, in the October 2016 issue...
Kununurra is a remote and isolated location but this does not deter the Society. Despite, or as a result of this remoteness, the Society has made a push to develop its digital resources which have been uploaded onto a very informative website. The website includes a wealth of information about Kununurra, including photographs, local events and news. This year three volunteers recorded 3,330 hours on a variety of tasks, including digitisation of the collection, transcription activities and working on the archives. In dollar terms this work is worth some $116,550. The Museum, which in 2015 was open five days a week, increasing to seven days a week in 2016, attracts a large number of visitors. Over the past year 2,009 people have visited. This year Kununurra celebrates its 30th year in operation. Well done! Thank you RWAHS! According to the RWAHS 'History West' website 'Reports and Awards' page only a handful of societies have taken out the RWAHS Merit Award, as follows...
(RWAHS) Affiliated Societies Merit AwardsCarnamah Historical Society [2010?]
Being as remote as we are (>3000 km from Perth by road) it would have been unlikely to attend without a bursary, which is greatly appreciated by KHS and we thank all involved from RWAHS , especially to Nick Drew, and all who assisted in organising the conference, the travel bursary and for the funding from LotteryWest to attend the conference.
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Museums Australia WA (MAWA) State Conference
Museums Are ******* Awesome!The engaging three day Museums Australia WA (MAWA) conference - Engaging Communities - New Times, New Strategies, 12-14 October 2016 was attended by the KHS President, with a full three day program of tours and interesting speakers, we were kept up to speed on what's happening at the cutting edge of other collecting institutions and museums in WA, as well as in the UK and the USA - from where we learned about "Museum Hack" tours at "the Met' " museum in New York and much other useful museum related information. The conference had much of interest on offer and was very useful for networking with other conference-goers in many and varied museum and other collecting institution situations, well worth attending. Being as remote as we are (>3000 km from Perth by road) it would have been unlikely to attend without these bursaries, which are greatly appreciated by KHS and we thank all involved from MAWA who assisted in organising the conference, these travel bursaries and for the funding from LotteryWest to attend the MAWA conference. |
Wave Hill Spurs donation to Kununurra Museum
A Talk & Presentation by 1940's Stockman, Donald Howard is to be given at the Kununurra Museum next Tuesday June 14th 2016 at 7pm. All welcome.
An Ord-Victoria Rivers Region stockman who was at Wave Hill and other NT & Kimberley stations back in the 1940s, Donald Howard, is to visit Kununurra next week and there will be a presentation event at the Kununurra Museum. Donald will give a talk and will be presenting his genuine hand-made, 'Fred Gutte spurs' or 'Wave Hill spurs' to the Kununurra Historical Society to go on display at the Kununurra Museum on Tuesday June 14th 2016 at 7pm, all welcome to attend.  Guttye made the spurs to his own design and sold them to stockmen and drovers on their personal order. The spurs became famous on every stock route and station throughout northern Australia. Donald said he had paid Mr. Gutte several old-style round tins of Log Cabin for the job. "A few months ago I presented the museum with 'The 1886 Rosewood Penny' which I found on Rosewood Station near the NT-WA border,” Donald said, going on to explain that they were droving cattle from Wave Hill station to the Wyndham Meatworks. "While watching cattle graze during ‘dinner camp,' I was scratching some small squares of dried mud left in a creek bed after the Wet, when one square failed to break up. I gave it an extra poke then picked it up and found an 1886 English penny which is now on display at the Kununurra Museum."  The 1886 penny is now 130 years old, that being the same year that we are commemorating this year, when Wyndham was proclaimed a town at Cambridge Gulf, the northern hub to the Halls Creek gold-rush that set in that same year. The 1886 penny is now on display with Mrs Tom Kilfoyle's 1890's travel trunk, and some 'well used' TK & JK Rosewood Station branding irons at the Kununurra Museum. Donald said he hoped his donations would not only be a welcome addition to the museum’s collections but would 'spur on' others to give items of significance to this growing regional collection. On other occasions during his stay he will also be speaking at the Anglican church on Family Life as the Rev. Donald Howard. The local Anglican minister (the Rev. Gary Alexander) said that his guest speaker would concentrate on family life and show how biblical principles were still a strengthening influence in modern homes. Rev. Donald Howard will speak at 9.30am at the Anglican Church on Sunday, June 12th then at 5:30pm on Wednesday 15th at the Sandalwood Sanctuary (Research Station Road - Mock's old dairy). On Sunday, June 19th he will address the Anglican Church at at 9.30am and in the afternoon, will speak at a combined churches gathering in Whitegum Park at 3.30pm. Donald Howard worked on Territory and Kimberley stations, including Wave Hill and Flora Valley. He was one of the finalists in the Steer Riding at the Negri Races in 1948, in what was virtually the Championship Steer Ride of North–West Australia. He hopes to launch a book of his exploits next year at the Kununurra Museum. |
30 Years of the Kununurra Historical Society
30 Years of the Kununurra Historical Society - Sunday June 5th 2016  |
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