Tales from the churchyard

A word about the effort some organisations, trusts have gone to assisting family and history researchers.

Just a couple of examples from afar.

Old St Matthew's Church, Lightcliffe, is a former church in the village of Lightcliffe, West Yorkshire in England.

 

The original building on the site was a chapel of ease called Eastfield Chapel, which was built in 1529. This was damaged during the Reformation, and repaired in 1536. The chapel was rebuilt as a church in Neoclassical style in 1775. It was then replaced in the late 19th century by a new church a short distance away. 
The old church was then used as a mortuary chapel. It was severely damaged by a storm in the 1960s and its fabric deteriorated and the church suffered from vandalism. Now only the tower remains.

   
The tower is square in cross-section and constructed in hammer-dressed stone with ashlar dressings. 
On the west face is a round-headed window with a circular window above. At belfry level is inscribed stone taken from an earlier church on the site. At the top of the tower is an octagonal cupola with a ball finial. 
Inside the tower are an inscribed stone dated 1529, benefaction boards, and a monument from 1830 designed by Richard Westmacott.
In its accompanying churchyard there are over 11,000 grave sites.

Lots of centuries old history, but St Matthews has a website, a number of YouTube clips,
and a Friends Facebook page, and its churchyard cemetery has headstone photographs and transcriptions.

While the Prospect Cemetery in Toronto has affiliated with Google Maps to guide people in finding graves. Especially helpful in large cemeteries (148,000 burial records have been indexed for the cemetery), and when the cemetery concerned is halfway across the world.

Prospect Cemetery (part of the Mount Pleasant Group) has been in use since 1890, with a special focus on its 5 acre Veterans' Memorial, Canada's largest First World War memorial.

It has a Cemetery App with options to 'Find a grave', 'Find a tree' in the arboretum search, and a 'Notable person' search.

There's also a little video of where Toronto's original Potters Field cemetery was located in now downtown Toronto. 

This is what just two different cemeteries have been able to achieve by embracing a number of digital initiatives.

Posting history

Browsing through some of the library's online magazines ( the Wimmera Regional Library now has access to a range of magazines via our website - checkout the eNewspapers & Magazines page and click on the Zinio link to join - its the best way to get access to brand new issues from the comfort of your pc or device and use the app to see magazines in a whole new light).

 Back to the magazines, in Sept-Oct issue of 'Australian Country' is an article on collecting postcards. 
Ron Pollard has a huge collection of postcards all organised into sets & themes and filed in boxes. 
There are the beautifully delicate <<=French silk cards - handmade by French women and sent between soldiers and their families during World War I, as well as 19th century cards, special commemorative ones, and works by recognised artists.
The postcards most people immediately think of are the travel scenes sent by family and friends on holiday. However these are ultimately historic items too, as scenes alter, streetscapes change, fashions restyle, and occasions shift.

So, save these little glimpses of the past even if you can't an avid collector, postcards are an authentic local history source.

Historic trees

Now you can use your iPhone to find the most important trees anywhere in Victoria listed on the National Trust's Register of Significant Trees. Comparable to the Trust's other app the 'Lost 100' as mentioned in a previous post App for the lost, this app utilises similar technology to map sites, direct you to them. The App gives you access to a database of trees and lets you easily find trees using the GPS functionality of your iPhone. Explore nearly 1,200 entries from the Register of Significant Trees. Mapped - Bunya pine in St Arnaud Since 1996 the National Trust of Australia (Vic) has been actively working towards protecting and promoting our heritage for future generations to enjoy. The Register of Significant Trees of Victoria was launched by the National Trust in 1981.The purpose of the Register is to recognise and record significant trees with the aim of improving their management, encouraging their protection and where possible extending their life span. Swamp Oak specimen SwampOak Casaurina obesa is a highly distinctive species, the cladodes usually having a strikingly tangled appearance and its habitat being swamp margins. Stands of swamp oaks are generally located on flat terrain with gilgai-patterned grey heavy clay. The Casuarina obesa forms a dense, tangled thicket about 6 metres high, with a very sparse herbaceous layer. It is a rare specimen due to its very localised distribution. Situated beside the Wimmera Highway west of Natimuk, it is estimated to be approximately 110 years old. It has a spread of 7metres, girth of 2metres, and height of 10metres. Its condition is considered to be Fair. The crown of the plane tree London Plane Tree Platanus X acerifolia, in the grounds of Horsham House in Roberts Avenue. This tree is one of the most outstanding in Horsham. It contains large lower limbs to the north and south and has previously had other lower limbs removed. The tree is well structured and requires little arboricultural intervention. Although the tree appears to have a slightly lopsided crown, no evidence of pruning to produce this shape is apparent. Unfortunately, the driveway runs over its root system, but it appears to have been this way for some time. This particularly old tree of over 100 years is an outstanding example of the species. Spread = 25m, girth 4.2m, height 28m, it was classified in 2003. Marking the entrance to the first Apsley School English Oak Quercus Robur Two English Oaks(only one of which is recommended for nomination) were planted in 1902 to commemorate the Relief of Mafeking. The siege of Mafeking started in October 1899 at the beginning of the Anglo-Boer war in South Africa. The English troops, led by Commander Baden Powell turned out to be an inadequate force against the Boers. They were holed up in Mafeking for 217 days before being rescued by reinforcements and Baden Powell returned to England as a hero. The two trees are planted on either side of the entrance to the former school grounds. The trees are on the north side of the Wimmera Highway, adjacent to the Apsley Hall. The trees are now 111 years old and measure approximately girth – 3.2m, spread - 20m, height – 20m. They were classified in 2004. Weeping Yellow Gum Oaks planted by Walter Laidlaw plaque Yellow Gum Eucalyptus leucoxylon An unusual weeping form of Yellow Gum of horticultural value is growing on the side of the Western Highway near Lawloit, west of Nhill. The Cameron Reserve was established to preserve the important landmark tree after the Western Highway was diverted. The tree is well known for its very attractive weeping habit, and its curious growth form where two large trunks rise at ground level. Classified in 1986, the tree is approximately 221 years old with measurements: spread – 22m, girth - west trunk 2.743, east trunk 3.35, and height – 21.33m. Spreading Grey Box Grey BoxEucalyptus Microcarpa, near the Wimmera River and Burnt Creek in Mardon Drive Horsham. This particularly old and venerable tree was classified in 2004 for its horticultural value, contribution to landscape,and for its outstanding size. Located between two properties, it is the largest known in the area and possibly one of the oldest at around 500 years old. There are unidentified scars on the tree and it is in the vicinity of known scar trees used by local Aborigines. Its spread = 17m; girth = 3.1m, and height = 16m. It is in good condition. Just a warning - the app will take up about 264MB of your device's storage.   http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/vic/trust-trees

App for the Lost

 The National Trust's webpage begins with "Imagine if you could stand at the corner of Bourke and Exhibition Streets and see the Southern Cross Hotel as it was when the Beatles stayed there" then it goes on to tell you how you can view the hotel on 'Lost! 100 lost buildings of Melbourne' the Trust's iPhone app.
 In a period of mass destruction, from the 1950s to the early 1970s, historic buildings in Melbourne's CBD were being bulldozed at an appalling rate. At the time, such buildings were seen as useless relics, developers were going to erect better, more modern, utilitarian buildings in their place. But times change, and now we look back with regret at some of those decisions.
 Lost is a dynamic app that uses augmented reality to allow users a 3D understanding of some of Melbourne's most amazing lost and hidden heritage buildings. The interactive app enables users to "ghost" - visually overlay buildings from the past onto the present. At all 100 sites, the app superimposes images of demolished buildings over what is now at the location, by augmenting the iPhone's existing camera function. The app has links to Facebook and Twitter so users can upload their images, stories or comments about the sites.
 A history, photos and stories of these often long-demolished buildings is available. You can also view 80 'unlocked' buildings from any location - but uniquely, when you are within metres of a further 20 buildings you can access their 'locked' files.

The Fire Brigade Tower - then and now

 The app gives users an insight into buildings such as the Victorian tea-rooms in the Fitzroy Gardens, the Fish Markets and the Eastern Market (which was replaced by the Southern Cross Hotel).
The Fire Brigade Tower at the rear of 447 Little Bourke Street, built in 1882, was a 6-storey lookout tower of Melbourne's first fire station. It had an uninterrupted view of the whole of the city. The United Insurance Companies' fire brigade building was then used by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade until 1918.
In 1959 the National Trust selected it as one of Victoria's most significant buildings, despite this the unused building was demolished in 1961, to make way for a carpark for the London Assurance Company - what an improvement.

The Buck's Head Hotel development

The Buck's Head Hotel at 290 Little Lonsdale Street opened on 1st July 1848. The large building was built of brick and bluestone, it contained the bar, dining room, 4 sitting rooms, 6 guest bedrooms, and accommodation for the landlord and his family. The Hotel took up the corner of Sutherland Street (the narrow lane on the left) and Little Lonsdale Street.
After serving drinks for 103 years, the hotel lost its liquor licence and was auctioned in 1951. In 2011 the site was the subject of an archaeological dig, before construction began on a new multi-storey office tower.


The app includes eight buildings still standing, that the Trust deems under threat, including the Queen Victoria Market, the Celtic Club in Queen Street, the Le Louvre boutique, the art deco Palace Theatre in Bourke Street, and the Women's Venereal Disease Clinic.

The VD Clinic cowering beneath the towering Victoria University

 The Women's Venereal Disease Clinic, is one of the "Heritage at Risk" buildings. The former home of the clinic was constructed in 1919 at the rear of the Board of Health offices in response to the rapid increase in diagnoses following the end of the Great War. In 2011 the Melbourne City Council nominated the building for heritage protection, but the Planning Minister did not grant the request, and in April 2012 the Victoria University (the owner) proposed to demolish the clinic and neighbouring former tuberculosis clinic to erect a 32 storey high-rise.

Apparently not at risk - The Department of Forensic Medicine building, next-door to the Clinic

 The Southern Cross Hotel was opened, live on TV, by then Prime Minister Bob Menzies in August 1962. Situated on Exhibition Street between Bourke and Little Collins Streets, it replaced the grand but by then virtually unused Eastern Market. Built in the 'Featurist' style, the Southern Cross hosted Frank Sinatra, and the Beatles in 1964, as well as the Logies and Brownlow Medal count for years (before Crown was invented). The Hotel closed in 1995, a bid to have it listed by Heritage Victoria failed, and it was demolished in 2003 to make way for an office complex.

The Beatles at the Southern Cross from Picture Australia

 Currently the app is compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, and Lost is free to download. Discover hidden and lost buildings you may not have been aware of at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lost!/id511203200?mt=8