In Her Own Words: the Writings of Elizabeth Macquarie. Transcribed and edited by Robin Walsh and published by Exisle Publishing, Wollombi, 2011, 264 pp.

This handsome volume presents a scholarly, annotated edition of all the surviving writings of Elizabeth Campbell, the wife of Governor Macquarie. There are two quite substantial documents. One is Elizabeth’s journal maintained between May and December 1809, on her voyage out to New South Wales. This contains particularly interesting comments on the two colonial cities visited en route, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town. It is frustrating that in Governor Macquarie’s own journals, diaries and letters there is so little indication of the reasons and assumptions which informed his major decisions on matters such as town-planning: Elizabeth is more forthcoming about both her own reactions and those of her husband to physical features of Cape Town.

The other extensive document written by Elizabeth is one of the 40 letters which survive between 1801 and 1835. Between November 1825 and March 1826 the widowed Elizabeth wrote to William Cowper ‘and friends’ in Sydney describing in unique detail the final months of Lachlan Macquarie’s life in 1824.

Only fourteen of the surviving letters date from the Macquaries’ time in New South Wales: 24 were written between 1823 and 1835. The 40 letters, with Walsh’s extensive marginal annotation, take up 94 pages, while the travel journal of 1809 occupies 25 pages. There are in addition six other texts written by Elizabeth, including the well-known inscription on the family mausoleum on Mull, notes in her copy of Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson and her contributions to the family Bible.

But the book is not all ‘in her own words’. Walsh has compiled a 40-page biographical introduction, consisting of a series of thoughtful thematic essays, rather confusingly arranged, so that widowhood is discussed before pregnancy and ‘a life of her own’ before ‘strength of mind’. The notes to the letters themselves are exemplary in their thoroughness and take up more or less equal space with Elizabeth’s words.

There is a full bibliography and a serviceable index.

Ian Jack, February 2012.

David Kemmis  Where Trains Have Travelled.  Scenes along the Southern Line of New South Wales, (10th ed.), privately published, 2005.

This is the work of a dedicated enthusiast, an ongoing labour of love that commenced long before its first edition in 2001.  As the author explains in his Preface, the work has expanded in scope over time but remains focused on identifying ‘relics of the railway’s pioneering corridor (author’s emphasis) from Picton to Wagga Wagga’.

There is a substantial amount of information relating to railway construction and operation, including the impact of difficult gradients and curves to the line that will relate more to the specialist reader.  However, the book is also rich in social history revealed in the development of the line as it services the needs of expanding communities, and the growth of industry and agriculture.  It also reveals the many changes caused by the decline of the railways as roads and motor vehicles took over mass transportation.

The book contains many photographs, some of which are used to illustrate the technical aspects and others that reveal the importance of the railway, especially as it is reflected in the grandeur of many of the stations and grand stationmasters’ residences such as the one shown at Gunning.  But this importance can also be seen in the simple elegance of the one-room stations at Colo Vale and Gerogery.
This book and the information it provides will become even more important as a historical record should a Very Fast Train project change the nature of the line completely.

The book includes a good index and bibliography, but it would be helpful if a future edition moves the Contents page for Part Two to the front.  The binding won’t stand regular use.

Robert Clarke
 

Helen Townend, The Bodalla Estate from 1860 to 1989.

This book celebrates the 150th anniversary of the dairy industry in Bodalla.  As such the content is very much the story of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and the dairy farms, cheese factories and model village he set up in the 1860s as part of his large Bodalla Estate.  There is no detailed biography of Thomas Mort, nor does the book attempt to cover his many commercial achievements in Sydney.  However throughout the book, as the author notes, there runs a strong theme of genuine affection and appreciation for Mort's generosity and humanity.

The author uses transcripts from a variety of documentary sources to illuminate the early days of Mort's Estate and its later evolution into the Bodalla Company.  These "voices from the past" are presented in chronological order and there is very little comment provided by Townend.

The author has sourced some fascinating details such as Mort's Regulations at Comerang (for example, everyone to be in bed by half past ten), and the use of Mort family photographs complements the text.  The book comprehensively covers the operations of the dairies and cheese factories, including illustrations of the equipment and processes.

The use of secondary documentary sources creates some ambiguity for the reader seeking historical accuracy.  There is no primary source offered which can pinpoint the commencement of the dairy enterprise, although the inference is that it was 1860, when Mort acquired the Estate.  In a letter from Thomas Mort to Mr Daniell (19 October 1864, File 5, MLMSS 7341/5) he states "As I am now going into dairy farming and believe that you are turning your attention to the cultivation of the land, I write to ask if you will be kind enough to procure for me an assortment of meadow grasses of which I send the names".  In 1966 John Mort, while attempting to decipher the names of the seeds Thomas Mort was requesting, noted in a letter to the Department of Agriculture that Mort's letter was "written at Comerang, his homestead on Bodalla Estate, which at the time he was commencing to develop" (File 5, MLMSS 7341/5).  Does this imply that the development of the Bodalla Estate commenced in 1864, not 1860?

That said, the book succeeds admirably in its goal to "describe in detail the establishment, operations, difficulties & successes of Mort's remarkably successful Bodalla Estate through to the final outcome for the estate in 1989".  [ISBN 9780977539919, A4, 128 pages, diagrams, illustrations, colour photographs.  Available from the Moruya & District Historical Society Inc, (02) 4474 3224, 85 Campbell St, Moruya, NSW 2537]

Pam Lofthouse

Tony Hall, The Life and Death of the Australian Backyard, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, 2010, ISBN 978 0 643 09816 9, 161 + xi pp, paperback, $69.95.

This is an important book for local and regional historians in Australia. Although its author is a town planner, it takes a historical approach in examining why substantial backyards, long considered to typify Australian suburbs, largely disappeared from new Australian suburban houses during the 1990s. Even in many long established suburbs, older homes were demolished and replaced by structures that occupied far more of each block.

Hall argues that the origins, form and function of the backyard can be linked to an underlying and highly desirable set of values emphasizing the importance of space and gardens. Australian backyards provided privacy, some security, ventilation and outlook.  ‘The backyard’, he writes, ‘has been an integral part of the suburban image throughout Australian suburban history…It offers opportunities that are not necessarily available or likely to be carried out in public space’ (p 39). Using case studies from different parts of Australia, he shows how in the 1990s a new suburban residential form emerged and the old one stopped being built. Backyards only rarely exceeded one hundred square metres and many were frequently much smaller. ‘The design of both the house and the space around it presumes an entirely indoor lifestyle, insulated from the prevailing climate and with little propensity for exercise’ (p 72).

In explaining this phenomenon, Hall observes and regrets that large numbers of Australians by the 1990s were working significantly longer hours and times taken to commute were increasing. Houses became locations to wash and sleep. They were principally seen as financial investments rather than places to be enjoyed. Maximising the investment involved maximising the floor area. Poor planning systems were also partly to blame. ‘If’, Hall comments, ‘there was a desire to control the size of backyards then it should be legally possible to do so’ (p 95).

Hall not only considers the backyard’s gradual disappearance but also recommends ways in which it can be restored, including new planning codes and the ‘active promotion of new design of sustainable houses and gardens that reflect Australian traditions and landscapes’ (p 149). Even more important, he proposes a campaign ‘for a return to a relaxed and enjoyable lifestyle in harmony with the Australian environment’ (p 149).

The Life and Death of the Australian Backyard has many virtues. It is clearly written and argued. There is minimal use of technical language. Hall has made close first hand observations of many the case studies and examples he discusses. There are numerous diagrams, illustrations and photographs. The book is quite attractively produced. My only criticisms are that the very useful colour photographs are all grouped together rather than placed next to the sections of the text to which they refer and the recommended retail price of $69.95 is a bit steep for a paperback of less than 200 pages. In spite of these problems, I have no hesitation in strongly recommending the book to all those interested in Australian suburbia’s past, present and future.

David Carment