.

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.

FACEBOOK

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

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

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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37

.

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