Marjorie Pritchard’s caricature of Frank Albert, c 1929
Published in The Australian Motor Boat and Yachting Monthly, 1 August 1929, page 7

It was a clear and crisp autumn afternoon in 1925 when ‘one of Sydney’s show yachts’ sailed up to the Man-o’-war steps in Farm Cove, Sydney. Father and son, Frank and Alexis Albert, were about to host an afternoon with the Governor and his daughter on board their 54-foot cutter, Rawhiti. This was a long way from 41 years previously when, again in Farm Cove, Frank was just 10 years old and first set foot on Sydney’s unfamiliar shores. This tale started for me when one of our Flickr Commons investigators recognised Frank and Alexis in a Samuel J Hood photograph. As I delved deeper into the Albert family history, I became more and more fascinated by their remarkable story. It tells of a journey to the unknown, of new beginnings and innovation. In many ways, the Alberts sailed through Australia’s “golden years”, not just on Sydney Harbour but through that other “golden age” – of rock n’ roll. This is part one of their story.

The photo that started it all. Frank and Alexis Albert at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in Kirribilli during opening season
Photographer: Samuel J Hood Studio
ANMM Collection

It begins on 10 December 1884 in Farm Cove, where a Swiss watchmaker, violinist and author and his family stepped ashore to start a new life. Jacques Albert, his wife Sophie and children Michel François (later Frank) and Pauline, had just spent a six-week voyage on board SS Duke of Westminster from Port Said, Egypt to Brisbane, Queensland. Though Jacques, suffering from incessant seasickness, did not enjoy the voyage, he passed much of his time learning English from a 24-year-old Welsh umbrella-maker he befriended, one William Morris Hughes, who later became Australia’s seventh Prime Minister. From Brisbane, SS Eurimbla took the family to Sydney where Jacques set up a watchmaking shop in Newtown.

After his wife Sophie died in 1890, Jacques set up Albert’s Music Stores in Sydney’s CBD at 118 King Street. According to Jane Albert’s House of Hits, from an early age, Frank had developed a ‘tough, uncompromising determination that would drive him through his successful business life.’ By 1894, Frank had become a partner in his father’s business which had changed to J Albert and Son. He had developed the business further in 1890, by releasing the first of the Boomerang Songsters, a music compilation which sold in its millions for the next 80 years. By May 1894, Frank had begun the process of trademarking the word “boomerang” and its symbol as J Albert and Son’s unique brand. One of his most famous moves, in keeping with the new brand, was to create an affordable, portable and simple form of musical entertainment for consumers in the form of the Boomerang mouth organ. Frank also named his Elizabeth Bay Spanish-style home ‘Boomerang’, which is now heritage listed.

Australia’s welcome to Uncle Sam, sheet music published by J Albert & Son c 1908 ANMM Collection

Back Home, published by J Albert & Son c 1918. This sheet music was sold at the affordable price of 2 shillings. Music publishing was J Albert & Sons’ ‘main staple’ (Albert, House of Hits, p 4). ANMM Collection

Unlike his father, Frank developed a passion for boating, a passion he was to hand down the generations. He became interested in the sport as early as 1900 when he obtained his first boat, a motor launch called Gromoboi. Shortly following his first purchase, he exchanged Gromoboi for a 25-footer of the same name. In 1905, Frank was a founding member and rear commodore of the Motor Boat Club (later Royal Motor Yacht Club) and served as its commodore from 1912 to 1920, which, according to the Australian Motor Boat and Yachting Monthly (AMBYM) of May 1925, was a record for the club. Frank donated various cups to the sport including the Albert Cup and Rawhiti Cup; however, it was for his yachts that he became known throughout the boating community.

Frank Albert c 1926. Jane Albert quotes a description of Frank’s character in House of Hits, pp 55-56: ‘Frank was an average height … He was always very dapper because he had his little goatee beard. I never knew him without a goatee beard.’
Photographer: William J Hall
ANMM Collection

Though Frank purchased numerous motor boats and vessels, including the 30-foot launch Fedora, he turned his sights completely to sailing when he purchased the New Zealand cutter Rawhiti in December 1909. The yacht was designed and built in Auckland in 1905 by New Zealand’s leading yacht builders, the Logan Bros. It was owned by New Zealander, A T Pittar, and was then sold to C T Brockhoff, a champion skipper. It then passed to Frank along with his associate E E Sayer, whom he met in 1902. Together, they skippered the craft interchangeably over the next 16 years. Shortly after they purchased it, the pair commissioned the well-known marine architect Walter Reeks to ‘take her lines off and do what he thought best to bring her up to the highest standard of perfection’ (SMH, 13 Sep 1910). According to the report in The Sydney Morning Herald, the ‘lead keel was remoulded’ and a ‘complete set of new spars and iron work’ was fitted. The green topsides were retained and the underbody was painted a distinctive pink, a colour it has retained to this day. Interestingly, Frank had a penchant for the colour green, even signing his letters with green ink, so it is no surprise that he chose to retain the ‘Eau de Nile’ shade of green for his prize yacht (Albert, House of Hits, p 56). Her owners were confident; Rawhiti would ‘be a hard nut to crack’.

Rawhiti under sail c 1925 Photographer: William J Hall ANMM Collection

Rawhiti at Pittwater c 1920 Photographer: William J Hall ANMM Collection

It seems no truer words were spoken, as not long after Rawhiti hit the water on 10 September 1910, she won the championship for the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and the Blue Ribbon the following year. Frank and Sayer went on to win numerous trophies and titles over the years, including the Basin Cup of 1912 and the Gascoyne and Revonah Cups and Marshall Plate of 1925. A film depicting Frank and his crew on board Rawhiti was shot in 1925 after they won the Rawson Cup outright. The film is now held in the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and is an invaluable historical artefact, documenting not just Rawhiti itself, but the crew rigging and manoeuvring the craft around the harbour.

Rawhiti under sail, probably at the Pittwater Regatta c 1925
Photographer: William J Hall
ANMM Collection

An article published in the May 1926 edition of AMBYM provides a fascinating insight into Rawhiti’s success and Frank’s competitive nature. Dubbed the ‘big green yacht’, the article relays Frank’s consternation over the handicapping of Rawhiti during the Port Jackson Championship season, after they had won the Blue Ribbon for the fifth year in a row:

How do you account for gathering the honor again if the handicapping was against you? … The only reasons I can give … were that my boat was always right up to concert pitch; my crew sailed every race right out to the bitter end; and it was the seconds and thirds that I gathered in that made up the points that brought the championship.

Despite his disparaging remarks, Frank also highlighted an issue that seems to dominate yachting even today:

Handicappers in every sport have a thankless task to perform, but when one particular boat seems to be singled out for harsh treatment, is it any wonder that questions are asked? In practically every race she has sailed, Rawhiti has had no chance whatsoever of winning, yet she was on the mark each Saturday, prepared to take the gruelling skipper and crew knew was inevitable.

After the season, Sayer stepped down as skipper due to ill health. As Rawhiti neared the end of her stellar run, further complications arose after she was rerigged in 1927. One story notes that the new Bermudian rig designed by William Fife and Sons was disastrous as, during its first outing, Rawhiti collided with another yacht and the rigging and mast were destroyed (Albert, House of Hits, p 50).

The Bermudian rig can be seen in this photograph of Rawhiti on Sydney Harbour, c 1927
Photographer: William J Hall
ANMM Collection

Throughout the 1930s Rawhiti did not retain her earlier dominance, despite Frank’s best efforts to induce his son Alexis to take the helm after Sayer. Toward the end of World War II, Rawhiti was sold to new owners from New Zealand. And yet, despite her apparent decline in the sport, Rawhiti continues to excite and enthral as she still races today. This graceful yacht remains one of the few instances in the William J Hall photographic collection, let alone in the entire National Maritime Collection, where one watercraft appears so thoroughly documented. Rawhiti is depicted from all angles in all her beauty, participating in one of Sydney’s most popular pastimes. It is a testament to Hall’s admiration for the yacht that we have access to such an extraordinary array of photographs.

In all this, two crucial elements dominate the Albert story. As I delved into the museum’s collection of sheet music and historic photographs as well as the various newspaper archives available online, I realised it was impossible for me to separate the sailing from the music. The two are inextricably linked and there seems to be a parallel between the way that music and sailing featured so prominently in their lives. Even in the way that Frank himself described sailing, such as his statement that Rawhiti was always up to ‘concert pitch’, musical metaphors never seemed far away. Like the crescendo of a song and the controlled timing required of an orchestra, so too is the same discipline and skill required of a sailor as he or she judges and tacks the wind.

Caricature of Frank Albert, published in The Australian Motor Boat and Yachting Monthly, 1 January 1926, page 9

So, back to 1925, in a moment with the Governor, Sir Dudley de Chair and his daughter Elaine, Frank jokingly says ‘Do you know, Commodore, that in racing, when the wind is a bit sick, we whistle.’ At the tiller, Sir Dudley replies with ‘Good idea … but try scratching the mast with your finger and you’re sure to get a breeze.’ There is something about sailing that frees the soul and releases all inhibition. Perhaps that’s what taking the helm makes you feel; you leave all cares and formalities onshore because out on the waves everyone is the same. That’s probably why Frank referred to Sir Dudley as Commodore, as it was more fitting and relevant to reference his position with the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. As the ‘Aquatic Man’s Paper’ (the AMBYM) stated in one article, sailors are those men ‘with the call of the sea pulsating through his veins’. And Frank Albert was a sailor, through and through.

O’er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,
Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free,
Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam,
Survey our empire, and behold our home!

Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried,
And danced in triumph o’er the waters wide,
The exulting sense—the pulse’s maddening play,
That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way?
~ Lord Byron, The Corsair, 1814

Nicole Cama
Curatorial assistant

To Robert Albert AO, for your vote of confidence and for entrusting me to write about your family’s remarkable story, thank you.

Resources and interesting links:

• Jane Albert, House of Hits: The great untold story of Australia’s first family of music, Melbourne: Hardie Grant Books, 2010.
• Albert Music.
• Australian Register of Historic Vessels.
• Film depicting Frank and Rawhiti on the harbour from National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, available via the ARHV.
• Albert family related photographs from ANMM Collection on Flickr Commons.
• The Australian Motor Boat and Yachting Monthly.
• Chad Thompson, NZ’s finest, Classic Boat, February 2012, pp 30-38.
• Beautiful photographs of Boomerang house taken by renowned photographer Harold Cazneaux in 1928 held in National Library of Australia: entrance hall, entrance portico from pool, front garden, garden view from first floor terrace.

Evening dress worn by Mrs Anna Josepha King, circa 1805. Muslin, silver thread. Collection of the National Trust of Australia (NSW)

The preparation of this dress is a real treat for me as a textile conservator because it is one of the oldest provenanced costumes in Australia. Having the opportunity to get so close to an object like this makes history come alive for me.

Undertaking a condition assessment of the gown with Jane Donnelly, Property and Facilities Co-ordinator, The National Trust of Australia (NSW)

The dress is made of fine cream muslin, decorated with silver plate embroidery in a sprig and spot pattern. The running border around the bottom of the skirt is decorated in a vine pattern with a scalloped edge also in silver plate. The dress has the typical simplicity of the Empire style, with high waist, narrow bodice back and short puffed sleeves. The skirt falls straight at the front and gathers into the waist at the back where it drapes a little longer to the floor. It is tiny in size, more likely to fit a young girl of today.

Assessing a stain on the border of the dress.

A detail showing the silver plate embroidery and the fineness of the muslin.

The silver embroidery has tarnished grey, but the dress itself is in remarkably good condition. Being able to inspect at close range, I can see that the muslin has been torn and beautifully repaired under one of the arms and in an area on the skirt. This makes me wonder how and when the damage occurred, too vigorous a spin around the ballroom? The front has a vertical stain spotting down from the waist to the hem, perhaps a spill from a wine glass many years ago.

Attaching a smooth satin fabric over the padded body form.

Capping the arm holes with discs covered in satin fabric.

To build the mannequin I have shaped and padded a pre-prepared wire form to match the dress size and fashionable Empire Silhouette. Fortunately the dress was lent to us with an undergarment made specifically for it by conservators at the National Gallery of Victoria, where it was last displayed in 2010. Using the undergarment for the many fittings has reduced the need to over handle the fragile muslin dress.

A fitting using the undergarment.

The dress was probably made by a colonial seamstress with fabric imported from India, but not a lot more is known about it. Reading up on Anna helps me to imagine the person she may have been. Anna was 35 when she arrived in Sydney in April 1800 and became the first wife of a governor to live in the colony. It sounds like she was a strong and interesting woman.

There are many more beautiful textiles and other objects from this period to be seen in the East of India – Forgotten trade with Australia exhibition. I encourage you to come to the maritime museum and have a look!

Sue Frost
Textile Conservator

John Dikkenberg on board Endeavour.

Meet John Dikkenberg, the new captain of HMB Endeavour, replica. John joined the museum about three weeks ago and it’s fantastic to have him on board. We caught up with John to find out more about his experience sailing tall ships and his new role as captain. If you have any questions for John, add them in the comments section of this blog and we’ll have them answered for you.

It’s great to have you on board as the new captain of Endeavour. Can you tell us about your experience at sea and on tall ships?

Most of my experience in tall ships comes from James Craig. I’ve been with that ship for about seven years, and been with her as master for about five years. I’ve been going to sea since the late 60s and in a previous life I was the captain of two Oberon class submarines and a River class destroyer.

Is it difficult to take on the role of master of an 18th century square-rigged ship like Endeavour? What are the main challenges?

All tall ships are a challenge but an 18th century ship is particularly so. HMB Endeavour preceded James Craig by over 100 years and the evolution in square rigged sailing ships during that period is very obvious when you compare them. Endeavour also brings the challenge of combining a museum exhibit with an operational ship. Both are important roles and both bring knowledge and experience to the people visiting and sailing her .

What do you think attracts people from all walks of life to want to sail on ships like Endeavour?

There are a variety of reasons people come to ships like Endeavour. Some just love tall ships, some are trying to replicate the experience of a seagoing or migrating ancestor and some are looking for adventure. For everyone, sailing an 18th century sailing ship in the 21st century is a rare privilege and I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t enjoy and treasure it.

What are some of the unusual things you have witnessed at sea?

Seeing my old ship, Torrens, sunk as a target after a torpedo trial. In terms of natural phenomena, the whale migration off the Australian east coast every year.

What are you looking forward to the most as the captain of Endeavour?

Sailing one of the world’s finest tall ships, working with a skilled and dedicated crew and introducing people to the fun and adventure of square rig sailing.

Want to sail with us? Applications are now open to voyage with Endeavour in September/October during the Royal Australian Navy centenary International Fleet Review celebrations.

Steel was born in 1789 in Wiltshire, England, the son of Colonel Thomas Steel of the 117th Regiment and the youngest of four sons – all of whom were soldiers. Following in the family tradition of military careers, Watson Augustus Steel was one of the original foundation cadets of the Royal Military College Marlow (Sandhurst) when it was inaugurated by the Duke of York on 17 May, 1802. Upon his graduation in 1806, Steel was posted to the 89th Regiment of Foot where he remained for most of his army service.

Watson Augustus Steel. Courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW – item MLMSS 1218/2/122

At the outbreak of war with the United States in 1812, Steel left for Canada as an Adjutant with the 89th. He was present at the pivotal battle of Niagara where he suffered a severe head injury and was taken prisoner. Steel was then taken to the American lines at Rochester’s Farm, however once recovered, he and several other prisoners engineered an escape from captivity, allegedly with the assistance of local freemasons. After narrowly avoiding recapture, Steel and his companions sailed a boat to Nova Scotia where he re-joined his regiment at Quebec. However the 89th Regiment was recalled soon after when news was received that Napoleon had escaped from exile in Elba.

Steel was next transferred to India to fight in the Maratha War of 1817-1818, also known as the Third Anglo-Maratha War. The wars began in 1777 and ended in 1818 when British forces definitively defeated the powerful Maratha Empire. The conflict confirmed Britain’s dominance in the region and left England, under the auspices of the East India Company, in control of most of India.

At the conclusion of the Maratha War, Watson Augustus Steel married Elizabeth Senior, the daughter of an officer. He was promoted to Captain in the 34th (Border) Regiment and returned to England where he was based at Canterbury and Gosport for several years.

On the 5th of August 1828, after 26 years of service with the British Army, Watson Augustus Steel retired from military service. He took advantage of regulations issued in 1827 that enabled him to dispose of his commission conditional upon settling overseas. Steel was entitled to 4000 acres of land, and was bound to reside with his grant for a minimum of seven years.

Teak wooden travelling chest belonging to Watson Augustus Steel ANMM Collection V00008147

On 6 February 1829, Steel and his family first set foot on Australian soil, arriving on the ship Persian. Acting on the advice of Governor Darling who recommended the Bathurst district, Steel quickly acquired 20 acres on the west bank of Campbell’s River, an additional benefit being that Steel’s brother, Captain Henry Steel (formerly of the 102nd Regiment) had already relocated to this area several years earlier.

At the time the local parishes were not yet named and it was the rule for grantees to give some distinctive name to their land to enable authorities to locate and distinguish them. Steel, faced with this decision, named his grant ‘Rockley’ after the house in which he was born: Rockley Manor of Wiltshire, England.

The Steel family remained in the Bathurst district for three generations, establishing themselves as one of the most prominent pioneer families in New South Wales. The family weathered bushrangers and gold rushes and Steel, as well as several of his ancestors, are represented in the area’s historical record as Magistrates and council members.

In his later years Watson Augustus Steel moved to Sydney, leaving the management of his Bathurst properties to his sons and brother. By 1872 Steel had moved to Hyde Park House, his residence at 149 Liverpool Street. He died at this location on 19 July 1876 at the age of 87 and was buried at Camperdown Cemetery. At the time of his death he was survived by two sons and three daughters.

Watson Augustus Steel’s service with the British Army saw him travel far from his birthplace in England to places such as America and India. It was also the vehicle by which he was to embark on his longest journey, to Australia. Steel’s legacy in his adopted homeland remains, as the historic village of Rockley still exists today and is now classified as a National Trust Village.

Penny Hyde
Curatorial assistance

The exhibition ‘East of India – Forgotten Trade with Australia’ opens at the Australian National Maritime Museum on 1 June 2013 and runs until 18 August 2013. The exhibition tracks Australia’s colonial links with India, the power and monopoly of the English East India Company, and its decline. For information on this exhibition, please see the museum’s website.

Plan of Rockley and surrounding district. ‘History of Rockley, New South Wales’ by Watson A. Steel, Royal Australian Historical Society Journal and Proceedings Vol XV. Part I (1929)

Download our cute DIY Mother’s Day card.

Simply download the jpg file (177 KB), then when the image opens in a new browser window, right click and ‘Save as’ to your computer. Print the image at A4 size and fold as instructed on the back of the card, then add a special message inside.

Happy Mother’s day to all of the fabulous mums out there!

Download the card, print to A4 and fold.

Make your own cute and cuddly penguin softie at home.

Materials

• Penguin softie patterns - Part 1 (jpeg 146 KB) and Part 2 (jpeg 146 KB)
• Sharp Scissors
• Upholstery thread or wool
• Large darning needle
• A few dressmakers pins
• Large buttons or google eyes
• A small piece of yellow felt
• Pillow stuffing
• Scrap fabrics or felt

TIP: Thicker fabrics, like upholstery fabrics, and non-woven fabrics like felt are easier to hand stitch neatly.  Fabrics that easily fray at the edges are not a good idea. If you are using thinner printed cottons you may like to paste a complimentary coloured piece of felt as a backing fabric to make it thicker and easier to handle.

Step 1. Download and print a copy of our penguin softie pattern - Part 1 (jpeg 146 KB) and Part 2 (jpeg 146 KB)

Step 2. Trace the pattern pieces onto your scrap fabrics and cut them out. The feet and beak can be cut from the yellow felt.

TIP: Each pattern piece is labelled with the number of shapes you need to cut out. You may like to customise the size of the beak, belly and face to suit how you want your penguin to look.

Step 3. Take your front body fabric piece and pin the face and belly onto it using dressmaker pins.Tip: Remember to leave a small seam allowance (1.5cm or so) around the outside of the body.

Blanket stitch the belly onto the body.

Blanket stitch the face onto the body.

Step 4. Sew the belly and face on using blanket stitch.

TIP: If you haven’t done this stitch before, watch this blanket stitch tutorial on Youtube.

Sew on the eyes and beak.

Step 5. Sew the beak onto the face using a running stitch.

Step 6. Sew the button eyes onto the face (you can paste eyes on with glue later on if you are using googly eyes). We have made our penguin’s eyes and beak asymmetrical but you can make them more even if you like.

Sew the two body pieces together.

Step 7. Place your two body fabric cut outs together with the decorative sides facing in. Pin along the edges to hold them in place while you sew them together.

Step 8. Use a running stitch to sew all around the outside of the body.  Don’t forget to leave a gap of approximately 5cm of seam unsewn so you can turn it the other way out again.

TIP: You could also do this part on a sewing machine if you want it done neat and quick.

Step 9. Use the gap in the body’s seam to turn the penguin the other way out. Poke your finger inside the shape to push out all the seams.

Stuff your pengiun with pillow filling and sew close.

Step 10. Stuff the body of your penguin through the gap with as much stuffing as you need to make your penguin full figured.

Step 11. Fold in the seam around the gap in your penguin’s body. Pin it in place and sew to close off the seam.

Sew on the flippers.

Sew on the feet.

Step 12. Sew your flippers and feet to the body.

And there it is!

Too cute for words, but not too cute for a name. Patch the Penguin, perhaps?

So why are we telling this story?

It is a fascinating and little known part of the Allied war effort in the Pacific. The US Army Small Ships Section played a crucial role in transporting supplies to Allied troops fighting in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and other South-West Pacific campaigns. Sailing under the American flag, they carried food, water, ammunition, mail and building and medical supplies. They collected the wounded and repatriated the dead.

Unloading supplies from a US Army small ship, Papua New Guinea, about 1943.
Photographer Neil Sandery

Nothing about this fleet was conventional.  The vessels were largely skippered and crewed by Australian civilians considered too old or too young or medically unfit to join the Australian Armed Services. Some were as young as 15 while others were 70 years old. A small group of US Army officers led by Captain Sheridan Fahnestock co-ordinated the charter and requisitioning of vessels from Tasmania, mainland Australia and New Zealand. It was essential for these ‘small ships’ to have shallow draft so they could navigate the uncharted coastal waters of Papua New Guinea where larger vessels could not safely go. This ‘raggle taggle’ fleet included fishing trawlers, sailing craft, tugs, private launches, speed boats, ferries, landing craft and some larger ships such as freighters. This fleet grew to over 3,000 by war’s end due to an ambitious vessel building program.

US Army Small Ships in Papua New Guinea about 1943. Photographer Neil Sandery

US Army Small Ships personnel in 1943 Neil Sandery, second from right. Photographer Robert Bruce Irving

While researching the story of the US Small Ships, I was struck by a series of photographs taken by Neil Sandery (1917- 1946) who joined the US Small Ships in 1942. He was a keen amateur photographer and his evocative images provide an insight into the hazards and hardships of daily life as part of the US Army Small Ships service. Sandery takes the viewer on board the vessels he skippered as well as the places he visited. His is but one of many compelling stories to emerge from researching the history of the US Small Ships service during World War 2.

Sandery was the skipper of the Timoshenko, one of two trawlers involved in the advance landing of US Army troops at Pongai, Papua New Guinea, in October 1942. Timoshenko and King John were mistaken for Japanese vessels and attacked by an American bomber. Two men were killed and 18 wounded in the attack.

US troops on board the trawler Timoshenko enroute to Pongai 18 October 1942. Photographer Neil Sandery

Unidentified bombers overhead, Papua New Guinea, about 1943.
Photographer Neil Sandery

This exhibition would not be possible without the generosity and assistance of individuals who served with the US Small Ships Service, the US Army Small Ships Association Inc and its President Ernest A Flint, and the efforts of others who have previously researched and written about this fascinating subject.

Penny Cuthbert
Curator

Suggested Reading
Lunney B and Lunney R Forgotten Fleet 2, Forfleet Publishing, 2004
Reday L The Raggle Taggle Fleet , US Army Small Ships Association 

View of the passenger ship CANBERRA at Circular Quay. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

Example of promotional cruise ship images produced by Purcell. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

Example of promotional cruise ship images produced by Purcell. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

The Gervaise Purcell Collection is comprised predominantly of black and white negatives of assorted formats, with some colour negatives and slides too. Registering these objects has meant spending hours each day bent over a light box, looking through a photographic loop, and trying to glean as much information as possible from the negative images to add to object descriptions in our collection database. When looking at images in negative all day, it can really mess with your eyes! Often it’s hard to really get a good sense of what’s going on, the details are harder to distinguish, and lighting and shadows can distort your perspective.  After completing the sorting, measuring and other cataloguing details, I was excited to reach the stage in the registration process where I began to scan the negatives and attach the images to the collection database.

Interviewing the crew of Royal Navy submarine HMS ANCHORITE, in Sydney Harbour.
ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

Loading an Australian made television transmitter for export to Singapore.
ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

When using the transparency attachment on a scanner, negatives are transformed into positives, and you can see the actual image that the photographer originally captured – in all its positive detail! It has been an amazing process to have these images revealed to me after spending so long looking at them in negative and attempting only to imagine the way that they would really look, with all their features like textures, lighting, and detailed elements such as faces in particular.

Passengers on the jetty at Lord Howe Island, with flying boat Beachcomber in background. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

Cargo being loaded onto the ship TAIYUAN. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

A particular highlight in the initial batch of negatives I have registered are images Purcell took in connection with the launch of the regular Ansett Airways flying boat service between Rose Bay and Lord Howe Island in the early 1950s.  Flying boats were seen as a rather romantic method of transport in this era, and the Lord Howe Island route (which operated right up until 1974) epitomised this sense of romance and adventure, with passengers being transported direct from the city to a remote island paradise.

The wing of a flying boat. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

Pilots inside the cockpit of a flying boat. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

A view across the lagoon at Lord Howe Island, looking towards Mount Lidgbird and Mount Gower. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

The Ansett Airways flying boat Beachcomber VH-BRC, on Sydney Harbour. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

Purcell also photographed a significant portfolio for the marine department of Amalgamated Wireless Australasia (AWA) which produced marine radios, telephones and other communication/navigation devices, even documenting the testing of an early underwater television camera – as you can see from the images below, its dimensions are a far cry from the small handheld cameras that divers can film with these days!

Testing of an AWA underwater television camera in Sydney Harbour. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

Testing of an AWA underwater television camera in Sydney Harbour. ANMM Collection. Reproduced courtesy of Leigh Purcell

One thing that has been made clear to me during the process of scanning these negatives is just how talented a photographer Gervaise Purcell was. Seeing the beautiful images he captured of ships in Sydney Harbour at night time and the warm inviting images of people on board cruise ships, even just the product shots of radios, whether in black and white or colour, it has been a wonderfully exciting process – and I haven’t even made it to the box of negatives marked “Swimsuits” yet, where some of his most iconic, fun and striking fashion images are waiting for me!

The registration of this large collection is an ongoing process and records will be added to the online collection, available for searching and viewing, as they are completed.

Tennille Noach
Assistant Registrar – Digitisation

The Australian National Maritime Museum has recently been assisting with a project to build a replica of Barnett’s Myra Too, however the success of this yacht in Barnett’s expert hands forms only a small chapter in a life full of achievement on and off the water.

Bill Barnett, crew member of the 1967 America’s Cup challenger DAME PATTIE, c 1967. Copyright. ANMM Collection Gift from Graeme Andrews

In 1915 Barnett was born into a family of boat builders and shipwrights. His father had been an apprentice to Watty Ford and caretaker of the Shore School boatshed at Berrys Bay. He was also an active and talented sailor, acting as for’ard hand for George Press in the legendary yacht HC Press. Bill Barnett himself recalls that many of his skills were absorbed as a young boy through watching his father work.

Under his father’s supervision, Barnett built his first dinghy at around age fourteen before gaining an apprenticeship at Neptune Engineering and Slipway in Lavender Bay. He then moved on to the Manly Ferry Company where one of his first jobs was to build lifeboats for the Manly ferries Dee Why and Curl Curl.

During the war Barnett worked as a shipwright with the Shell Oil Company at Gore Bay, all the while building and sailing yachts in his spare time. After leaving Shell Oil, Barnett built his own house and boatshed at McMahon’s Point, next door to where he was born, and struck out on his own as a boat builder.

During this time Barnett established an excellent reputation as a shipwright with his innovative designs for surf boats and Dragon class yachts. This reputation was only enhanced by Barnett’s skills as a sailor, skippering many of his own designs to success in sailing competitions and club events. This culminated in 1951 when Myra Too captured the State, National and International 18-footer titles with Bill at the helm.

Bill Barnett accepting the championship ribbon after winning the 1951 National 18-footer title with sheet hand Fred Everett (white cap) and bailer boy Brian Stewart (right) ANMM Collection 00013526

Barnett’s career then reached new heights when he was approached to build a 12 metre yacht for Australia’s 1967 challenge for the prestigious America’s Cup. The yacht was designed by Warwick Hood and christened Dame Pattie after Pattie Menzies, the wife of former Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Dame Pattie raced competitively during trials, however was unsuccessful against the American yacht that won the series, Intrepid.

“Being asked to build the Dame was the most momentous thing, with regard to boatbuilding, that had happened to me”

(Bill Barnett, Boating Legends of Sydney Harbour, p 40)

Barnett went on to build Frank Packer’s 1970 America’s Cup challenger Gretel II to Alan Payne’s design, an effective combination that was unfortunately also defeated by Dame Pattie’s 1967 rival Intrepid.

In 1971 a devastating fire tore through Barnett’s McMahon’s Point boatshed, destroying the structure and its contents, including valuable tools and archives. The shed was rebuilt with the assistance and generosity of the local community and Council and Barnett continued to work from the shed until only several years ago.

The loss of half models and plans such as those for Myra Too in the 1971 fire have meant that the Myra Too replica is being built from a combination of memory, photographs and above all – that intangible boat builders ‘instinct’. Now 98, Barnett himself has overseen details of the design with his own apprentice Bob McLeod building to plans created by Alan Payne’s nephew David Payne.

It’s all in the blood, afterall.

Bill Barnett with 6-metre yacht PRINCE ALFRED (c 1970) Copyright. ANMM Collection Gift from Louis D’Alpuget

On May 11, the Australian Open Skiff Trust hosted an event to celebrate Billy Barnett and his achievements as a sailor and shipwright. The tribute lunch also assisted in raising funds for the completion of Myra Too. For photographs of this event, please see the museum’s Flickr set.

Penny Hyde

Curatorial assistant

References: Fred Thomas, Boating Legends of Sydney Harbour (2006)

Australian National Maritime Museum Oral History recording #39 with Billy Barnett.

Reblogged from Australian National Maritime Museum:

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We will remember them

Amidst ANZAC day commemorations, Samuel J Hood's photographs stand as a poignant pictorial record of those who served and lost their lives in World War I. There are many photographs in the collection, however, here are some highlights depicting Australian soldiers marching the streets of Sydney. Macquarie Street, Garden Island and Central Station are featured in their former early 20th century glory, as crowds of people gather to catch a glimpse of the brave men about to set sail for war.

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