History Sub-Committee
The History Sub-committee seeks to collect, document and share photos, film, oral histories, reports and ephemera relating to Williamstown Botanic Gardens.
Voicing our Gardens is our oral history project done to support our ongoing work.
Voicing our Gardens is our oral history project done to support our ongoing work.
Voicing our Gardens is a project generously supported by the Hobsons Bay City Council 2014 Community Grants Program. The project collected and shared stories that have contributed to what we know about Williamstown Botanic Gardens.
Our project has built a picture to understand the meaning of the Gardens to the community; the role they've played in people's lives and the feelings and senses they associate with the place - the smell of the pines and the sea, the feel of the grass under their feet and that warm cosiness of a place that holds fond memories.
We have recorded interviews with members of the community, key Gardens staff and relatives of past Curators. We've discovered a connectedness that goes back to the earliest gardening techniques with many of the gardeners and curators working here for many years and passing their knowledge and skills from one generation to the next.
We've heard stories of scooting through the Gardens from the beach hoping not to get caught wearing bathing costumes, ignoring the sign that proclaimed "People wearing bathing costumes only are not permitted in these Gardens" - and of how one of the past Curators was very vigilant looking out for larrikinism from the local youth. Many locals were born here as often were their parents before them. They visited the Gardens as children and in turn have brought their own children and now their grandchildren here.
We've designed interpretation panels for display (see below), have hours of recorded interviews, screeds of typed transcripts and many images that evidence the past. To give you a snapshot of the project and to demonstrate the power and emotion of the voice we've produced a digital photo album which we invite you to watch here:
Our project has built a picture to understand the meaning of the Gardens to the community; the role they've played in people's lives and the feelings and senses they associate with the place - the smell of the pines and the sea, the feel of the grass under their feet and that warm cosiness of a place that holds fond memories.
We have recorded interviews with members of the community, key Gardens staff and relatives of past Curators. We've discovered a connectedness that goes back to the earliest gardening techniques with many of the gardeners and curators working here for many years and passing their knowledge and skills from one generation to the next.
We've heard stories of scooting through the Gardens from the beach hoping not to get caught wearing bathing costumes, ignoring the sign that proclaimed "People wearing bathing costumes only are not permitted in these Gardens" - and of how one of the past Curators was very vigilant looking out for larrikinism from the local youth. Many locals were born here as often were their parents before them. They visited the Gardens as children and in turn have brought their own children and now their grandchildren here.
We've designed interpretation panels for display (see below), have hours of recorded interviews, screeds of typed transcripts and many images that evidence the past. To give you a snapshot of the project and to demonstrate the power and emotion of the voice we've produced a digital photo album which we invite you to watch here:
The following video is a story as told by Chic Wyatt, daughter of Curator Ernie Anderson who worked in the Gardens from 1910 until he retired in 1960.
Would you like to contribute to the story of our Gardens?
We urge you to dig into your memories and search your cupboards for any photos, invitations to garden parties, postcards and other memorabilia that will enrich our knowledge and understanding of what our Gardens mean in the lives of all who experience and enjoy them.
We are chatting to people to record their memories and experiences of the Gardens. These, before now, unrecorded stories have already proven to be a rich source of recollections and stories – the hessian shoes on the horses pulling the mower, the compost heap that reached the sky, the vigilant Curator Billy Crowe, Curator Ernie Anderson ringing the bell to warn that the gates close at sunset every day, buying a billy of hot water for your picnic cup of tea, playing on the cannons. Would you like to know who pushed her sister into the pond? All of this and more can be found in our oral history archive.
We would love to hear from anyone who would like to share their photos and memorabilia with us. We will convert them for digital use and return the original promptly to you.
Please contact us via this web site or our facebook page.
You can follow the progress of our collection via this link on the Victorian Collections website.
We urge you to dig into your memories and search your cupboards for any photos, invitations to garden parties, postcards and other memorabilia that will enrich our knowledge and understanding of what our Gardens mean in the lives of all who experience and enjoy them.
We are chatting to people to record their memories and experiences of the Gardens. These, before now, unrecorded stories have already proven to be a rich source of recollections and stories – the hessian shoes on the horses pulling the mower, the compost heap that reached the sky, the vigilant Curator Billy Crowe, Curator Ernie Anderson ringing the bell to warn that the gates close at sunset every day, buying a billy of hot water for your picnic cup of tea, playing on the cannons. Would you like to know who pushed her sister into the pond? All of this and more can be found in our oral history archive.
We would love to hear from anyone who would like to share their photos and memorabilia with us. We will convert them for digital use and return the original promptly to you.
Please contact us via this web site or our facebook page.
You can follow the progress of our collection via this link on the Victorian Collections website.
