Timberwork

We recently had the opportunity to collect some Ironbark that had been bulldozed to make way for a new boundary fence. This beautiful timber was traditionally used for construction work on the Greenough Flats, but now large trees are relatively scarce.

The Hills Hoist has been replaced by a more traditional clothesline, complete with props.

The Vegie Garden has been extended, and the timber used for new gateposts.

Twitter

This museum is now on Twitter.
Just type in GreenoughMuseum.

Christmas Shopping in the 1860s

In the Maley Archives at this museum are hundreds of documents relating to Maley's Store and Mill. Below are two that relate to this time of year.

Above is a note from Robert Brockman allowing Henry Shields to update his cooking equipment.
Brockman was a farmer at Greenough, and Shields is most likely Convict No.7269, a seaman and carpenter who was court martialled in Singapore at sent to the colony in 1863.
Below is the December 1868 delivery list to Maley's store from Crowther's store in Geraldton.

Halloween Day Photos

Below, courtesy of Denis and Dimitri are images of the recent Halloween Market Day held at the museum.

The day was a great success thanks to the dedication and hard work of members of the Community Group of Greenough, the musicians and stall holders. Thanks also to the Geraldton Guardian for sponsoring the children's fancy dress competition.

Invitation to Halloween

You are invited to our Halloween/Market Day that is to be held on Sunday 30th October between 10am and 3pm.

Display Shed Redevelopment

It had been hoped that the redevelopment of this shed would have been completed in time for the museum's 45th birthday next week. However, difficulties in obtaining quotes from builders and uncertainity over the future management of the museum has delayed the project. We have, however, with assistance from the Greenough Regional Prison, had the old bush poles replaced by steel posts, and today Keboda Stone completed a limestone buttress to fill a gap in the west wall. This work was funded by the City of Greater Geraldton through a Lotterywest grant.

Let's hope the project is completed well in advance of the museum's 50th birthday.

Pioneer Museum & the National Gallery

What does the Greenough Pioneer Museum and the National Gallery of Australia have in common?

They both have a drawing by Tom Rands of the 1888 flood at Greenough in their collections.
Our drawing, donated to the museum by Phyl Duncan in 2007 is pictured above. We believed it was the only image of that devastating flood in existence.
Image our surprise when we were informed that the exhibition entitled "Out of the West" currently on display in the National Gallery has another Tom Rand drawing of the 1888 flood.
The NGA drawing was purchased in 2010 and can be viewed at http://nga.gov.au/exhibition/OUTWEST?Default.cfm?MnuID=2&GallD=3.
On comparing the 2 sketches I presume that ours is a quick preliminary sketch, and that Rands then decided to improve the composition by including adjacent buildings.