Once again,
a Remembrance Day Service
will be held
at the Moonambel Memorial.
Please feel free to join us.
a Remembrance Day Service
will be held
at the Moonambel Memorial.
Please feel free to join us.
MAHG |
|
Once again, a Remembrance Day Service will be held at the Moonambel Memorial. Please feel free to join us. The Children in the Lock-Up Back in 2003, the Moonambel Arts and History community, under the guidance of Jan Curtis and Merri Hogan, embarked on a journey to last 18 years. It was then that the community discovered that the lock-up at the original Moonambel police house was one of only five remaining portable police lock-ups in Victoria. At the time of discovery, it had been used for hay storage and as a chicken coop among other things. In 2003 Moonambel art and history community applied for and received a grant from Victorian Heritage to relocate the lock-up to the Moonambel Common and then restore it. Many years of research accessing original police records and the original Moonambel Police Charge Book from years 1883 to 1914 revealed 53 persons, including three children, were held in the lock-up. Under the guidance of Secretary, Jan Curtis, the research and development of the Historical Police Precinct continued. Original sculptures of the children were created by local artists Merri Hogan and Barry Fox and placed in the lock-up. Over time these had become degraded and derelict. MAHG had taken the plight of the children to their hearts and decided they needed to have new interpretations made. MAHG Secretary, Jennifer MacKay, had seen photos of wire sculptures of ‘ghost soldiers’ in an English churchyard and with the suggestion from Merri Hogan she presented to the MAHG committee the proposal for the new sculptures to be made by Clunes artist Tom Ripon. We assumed that was the end of a very sad story as the children were committed to the Department of Neglected Children. Fortunately, Jennifer continued the story with the help of the Genealogical Society of Victoria. She found a descendant of the eldest child Edith Octive Dean. In finding this, it was also revealed that Edith Octive and Alice Louisa were sisters and the one year old Constance was a half sister. On 20th May, 2021,Tom Ripon, the sculptor, and Eileen Ryan, the descendant, unveiled the sculptures in the lock-up. Eileen, with her sisters, Val and Marion, entertained the crowd with stories the sisters related of their grandmother, Octive (Ollie) and their Aunt Connie. Alice had died at the age of 21. The ladies had no idea of the plight of their grandmother and dear Aunt Connie all those years ago. This was something that was never mentioned and the circumstances of which Eileen is eager to explore. We would like to thank Ann-Maree Richardson of the Genealogical Society of Victoria research team who helped Jennifer to trace the descendant of the eldest child, Edith Octive Dean. Also, we acknowledge the Pyrenees Shire for funding the project. What a torrid time we have had over the last 16 months. All thoughts of an exhibition were put on hold and are still awaiting a safe time to put things into action. So apologies for the length of time between blogs. Although we are in strange times, we have continued with the history aspect of our group by concentrating on the installation of 'The Children in the Lock-Up'. With the help of finance from the Pyrenees Shire, we commissioned international sculptor Tom Ripon to create images of the three children who were detained in the police Lock-Up for their own safety. Hard to believe you would be safer in a dark room with no window and a solid door. But times were harsh in Moonambel in 1896. The lockup has been painted in preparation for the installation. More history on the incident has been discovered and we are hoping to have the formal opening in May. We thank Merri Hogan and Barry Fox for the mannequins which have been in the Lock-Up for some time now. Unfortunately, time has been unkind to the figures and they became quite dilapidated. Hopefully the new figures will stand up to the elements. 2018 is the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice to end World War I. We will once again hold a small service at the Moonambel Memorial in the main street to honour this event. The booklet has been updated thanks to financial help from the Pyrenees Shire. This makes our finances last for other activities we have happening this year. The booklets are available from various businesses around the area as well as the Information Centre in Avoca. As part of our history component, we held our second Remembrance Day service at the Moonambel Memorial. Over forty people attended which is amazing for such a small community. Our President, Garry Hutton, conducted the ceremony with Graeme Akers, representing the services, placing the official wreath. The community was then invited to place commemorative items at the memorial with most choosing to lay the rosemary sprigs which were handed out with the service booklets prior to the commemoration. At the conclusion of the service Garry invited the crowd back to the CFA shed for morning tea. We were pleased with the turn up and plan to make this an annual event for the town. We were not successful in gaining the RAV grant
but we have gained a lot of insight and knowledge in how we wish to proceed with this ongoing project. Thank you to the townspeople for your enthusiastic support. We are hoping to be successful in acquiring a Small Towns Transformation grant valued at $350 000. We would love to upgrade the Common area for our community as well as the broader population.
A meeting has been called to air this wonderful opportunity. Check the poster below and come along to hear about out vision. MAHG had successfully applied for a $11,440 grant from Restoring Community War Memorial Program. 8 trees were replaced including sturdy tree guards and 52 plaques are now in front of each tree dedicated to a soldier who served in WWI. written by Jan Curtis Remembrance Day is nearly here. The Avenue is looking spick and span. The new trees are looking good. The plaques are all in place and the information stand is in place. It has been a very long time since a Remembrance Day Service has been held in Moonambel. All we can do is hope that the Community embraces the spruced up Avenue and attends our Service ... |
Our website was created December 2012. The History page lists activities from 2003 to 2012.
Coming Events
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