Sepia Saturday #163 - Frozen Souls

I developed a love of cemeteries at a very young age when my Grandmother would take me, on a weekly basis, to visit the graves of family members.  Over the years, visiting and photographing cemeteries has become a hobby for me and I have spent many hours walking up and down rows of old graves, reading the headstones and wondering about the history behind them.  I am drawn to the eerie beauty of the cemetery and I am always amazed at the time, effort and money people put into creating memorials to their loved ones. I am especially drawn to very old cemeteries because they hold so much local and family history.  The weathered and worn headstones in these cemeteries have a character rarely found in the modern, manicured cemeteries of today. 

Apparently, there is a name for people like me!  Wikipedia tells me that I am known as a 'Taphophile' or 'tombstone tourist' - a person who has a passion for, and enjoyment of, cemeteries.  Although, I like to spend as much time as I can on my hobby, I have yet to visit a snow covered cemetery in person, but this is something I hope to do in the future.  However, for now, I will have to be content with looking at the beautiful photos that others so kindly share on the internet.   Below is my contribution to this weeks theme:

Jeffries Gravestone -  by dannyfowler

Untitled - Highfield, Sheffield, England by andrewbasterfield

Tiverton Cemetery - by Lewis Clark

Frozen Souls - Wisbech St Mary church by Richard Humphrey

The Death of ... by cremeglace

 

In Beechwood Cemetery

Here the dead sleep--the quiet dead. No sound
Disturbs them ever, and no storm dismays.
Winter mid snow caresses the tired ground,
And the wind roars about the woodland ways.
Springtime and summer and red autumn pass,
With leaf and bloom and pipe of wind and bird,
And the old earth puts forth her tender grass,
By them unfelt, unheeded and unheard.
Our centuries to them are but as strokes
In the dim gamut of some far-off chime.
Unaltering rest their perfect being cloaks--
A thing too vast to hear or feel or see--
Children of Silence and Eternity,
They know no season but the end of time.

Archibald Lampman

This post is part of a series of posts for Sepia Saturday, which provides an opportunity for bloggers to share their history through photographs.  You can view more Sepia Saturday images here.

 

 

 

 

Photo Credits

andrewbasterfield, . Untitled. 2010. FlickrWeb. 6 Feb 2013. http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewbasterfield/4375086523/. 

 

Clark, Lewis. Tiverton Cemetery. 2010. commons.wikimedia.orgWeb. 6 Feb 2013. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tiverton_,_Tiverton_Cemetery_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1654175.jpg>. 

 

cremeglace, . The Death of .... 2019. FlickrWeb. 6 Feb 2013. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/cremeglace/3208536607/>. 

 

dannyfowler, . Jeffries Gravestone. 2009. FlickrWeb. 6 Feb 2013. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannyfowler/4200461045/. 

 

 Humphrey, Richard. Frozen Souls. 2010. commons.wikimedia.orgWeb. 6 Feb 2013. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frozen_souls_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1657895.jpg. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trove Tuesday - Was He Really A Bushranger?

The bushranger was an outlaw from colonial times in Australia.  They were adept bushmen and would often hide in the dense bush of the Australian landscape and ambush coach services, travellers or settlers.  Small-town banks were also a target for these outlaws.  Early bushrangers were mostly escaped convicts, but later they consisted of land workers who saw bushranging as an easy way of making money.
 
Some in Australia, hold bushrangers in high esteem and they are often seen as political rebels - heroes to those powerless to the harshness of colonial rule.  The special place these rebels hold in the hearts of Australians can be seen in the example of the Victorian Cricket Team using 'Bushrangers' as their nickname.  Another example of this is the public interest which was aroused recently when the burial of Ned Kelly's remains, 132 years after his execution gained media attention.  

While most Australians are familiar with the names Ned Kelly, Mad Dog Morgan, Captain Thunderbolt and Ben Hall,  The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), Friday 6 March 1868, page 7, reports on the activities of an unknown bushranger in the Wahgunyah, Rutherglen and Beechworth areas of northeastern Victoria.  But, was he really a bushranger?

WAS HE REALLY A BUSHRANGER?

(FROM THE OVENS ADVERTISER, FEB 27.)

On Monday last the usual equanimity of one of the most philosophic of the Wahgunyah bonifaces was rather rudely disturbed by the entrance into his hostelry of a stranger with a rather Jack-Sheppard like head and face, who announced himself as being from the land of bushrangers (New South Wales), and expressed his intention of trying his hand in that way on this side of the Murray, as "sugar was scarce on the t'other side." He made inquiries as to the probability of his being able to gather a little heap on this side, but the landlord paid little attention to his vapourings as his experience of many characters - for he had studied man- kind and not books during rather an eventful life - had led him to thoroughly coincide with the Hon the Attorney-General, that it   is the "still man" ( and as he naively   remarked, the d-----d roguish one too) that was most to be dreaded. Perchance, however, he saw the muzzle of a pistol peeping from the stranger's pocket, and considering that further companionship with such a fellow would not conduce to maintain his character as an honest man, he left the would-be highwayman in sweet dalliance with one of the fair maids of his establishment, and went to attend to some business in the bush. He had not been long gone  when the unknown made inquiries after him, and muttering threats of revenge, ordered his horse, and proceeded in the direction the landlord had gone. The landlady felt anything but easy at the strange conduct of her   guest, and at once informed the police of it, and expressed her fears for her husband's safety. Senior-constable Buckmaster proceeded to investigate the matter, and, having     first assured himself of our landlord's safety, whom he sent home with a whole skin, went in search of the fellow who had caused such a hubbub. A stern chase is invariably a long chase, and it was not till he reached Rutherglen that he found the party he was searching for, comfortably seated in one of the hotels of that lively and interesting township, enjoying some refreshment. At first he did not appear disposed to account for himself, but being called upon to produce a receipt for his horse he did so, and also gave his name. He was then accused of carrying a pistol, and at once admitted the fact, and produced a very dangerous-looking firearm, but a careful inspection of the article   rendered it doubtful whether, when charged, it would have been more dangerous for the   person who stood before or behind it. How a   strange change came over the man's talk; he said no more of bushranging, even denying having done so, and finally assumed an air   of injured respectability. He was then warned that such conduct as he had been   guilty of would not be tolerated, even in that minor stage, in Victoria, as little sins some- times led to great evils, and he was advised to be more circumspect for the future. But, was he a bushranger? He has since given the Beechworth people a touch of his quality by trying to shoot Mr. Evans, the grocer, in the street, and in broad daylight.

[The man is now supposed to be a lunatic ]

This article was of particular interest to me because my YATES family has had a family connection with this part of northeastern Victoria since 1858-59, when my 2 x great-grandfather, Thomas Alexander YATES, purchased land in the area, established a farm and raised a family.  The YATES family would have been living close to Rutherglen at the time this incident occurred. 

This post was created for a series of blogging prompts called Trove Tuesday, hosted by Amy at Branches, Leaves & Pollen. 

Sepia Saturday #162 - The Writing is on the Wall!

This weeks Sepia Saturday doesn't feature bicycles or caps, but is a look at outdoor advertising.  I've taken the theme of 'the writing is on the wall' and the result is featured below.

Outdoor advertising has a long history and, with increased consumerism, came increased advertising. As literacy increased within the population, companies began to look for effective ways to sell their wares.  Billboards offered an opportunity for companies to communicate visually with their customers.  Pictured below are examples of this type of advertising from Australia.

 This 1930 black and white photo is of a billboard at Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia.  It is promoting trade between Australia and Canada and was designed by Rousel Studios, Sydney.  This print is part of the Powerhouse Museum Collection.

Billboard Circular Quay, Sydney, NSW, Australia, c 1930

 Advertising sign produced by Stan Denford from Rousel Studios,  for David Jones depicting men and women in evening dress.  This is another print featured in the Powerhouse Museum Collection.

David Jones Advertising Evening Wear, Sydney, NSW, Australia, c 1925

 Another of the Powerhouse Museum's Collection of Rousel Studio's advertising billboards.  This one is for Grace Bros advertising furniture. 

Grace Bros. Furniture, Sydney, NSW, Australia, c 1930

 An example from 1872 in Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia, advertising Gibbs and Emerick, signwriters, household painters, plumbers, glaziers and paper hangers.  This photograph is from the State Library of Queensland collection.

Gibbs and Emerick Sign Writers, Stanthorpe, QLD, Australia, c 1872

This post is part of a series of posts for Sepia Saturday, which provides an opportunity for bloggers to share their history through photographs.  You can view more Sepia Saturday images here.