science

Harold Lethbridge (1880-1944) who had spent his youth on Forest Vale Station, observed much of the habits and customs of the Gunggari people. He studied at Brisbane Grammar School and having graduated from Sydney University with a Bachelor of Medicine in 1904, he commenced a long career as a medical practitioner in Narrandera, in the Riverina Region where he worked closely with the Wiradjuri people of NSW. During the First World War, Harold served with the Australian Army Medical Corps in Egypt, France, and England; his wife Gwen followed him wherever possible. The Lethbridge collection contains over 50 letters from Harold to his father, describing in detail his experiences in the Casualty Clearance Stations, and his pioneering work in No. 2 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Southall - assisting men who were limbless, and for this work, he was awarded an MBE in 1918. Later in life, Harold became a collector and translator of Aboriginal songs and was given the name 'The great white father' by descendants of the Wiradjuri people, in recognition of his service to their community. Several of the songs he collected have been recorded, notably 'Maranoa Lullaby' which was performed by Aboriginal tenor Harold Blair in 1950 and chosen by the National Film and Sound Archive as one of its ‘Sounds of Australia' - you can listen to a snippet of this recording online. More contemporary recordings include - the Wiggles 'Emma' in 1991 and the Brodskey Quartet in 2015. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/forest-vale-station

Quite possibly from 1924 and certainly by mid-1925, Dudley Eglinton had lost his eyesight and could no longer observe. He still wrote articles which were published and indeed his final article ‘The Southern Cross’ for the Queensland Agricultural Journal was published in December 1936. He managed this by dictating to his third wife Anna Catherine Sophie Cordes Eglinton (born 1860 but one source states 1880). But Anna was not a mere helper. She was very competent, and as later described, considerably ameliorated the shortcomings brought about by his blindness. John Henry Nicholson and his wife Anna Cordes Anna Cordes and John Henry Nicholson – State Library of Queensland. (wrongly ascribed as 1890… but must be after 1905 when married.) Dudley Eglington had married Anna on 4th August 1926 when he was already blind. She was the widow of John Henry Nicholson – schoolmaster, poet and author of ‘Halek’ and other works (1838 -1923). Nicholson’s first wife had died in 1901. Anna had married him in 1905 but after three months suffering from ‘melancholia’, Nicholson had spent much of his remaining time at the Goodna Mental Hospital7. Anna had a German background, was intellectually accomplished, and perhaps she enjoyed the mental stimulation even though living in a position of a carer for old men. She survived Eglinton by 11 years, dying in 1948, and together with Eglinton and his family members is buried in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane. In his final decade, his wife attended to his secretarial work and he would dictate correspondence, articles and papers. From at least one article that appeared under both their names, she appears to have collaborated with him. You may well visualise an intelligent articulate person able to perform the research, collaborating with a person with the experience and background knowledge, but whose blindness severely limited him. His wife attended for him and presented a paper to the first official meeting of the newly formed Astronomical Society of Queensland on 3rd October 1927. An interesting snippet is that Mrs Eglinton (Anna) was in receipt of a literary pension from the Government – undoubtedly as the widow of J. H. Nicholson. This amounted to £52 in 1932/33. It only appeared in a listing in the newspaper9 because there was a controversy about a political inclusion of three persons in the grant including the Prime Minister’s chauffeur and a typist. Another recipient was Mrs G. Essex-Evans (widow of the poet). She was a sister of Dudley Eglinton and received an identical amount of £52. Source: www.aaq.org.au/dudley-eglinton/

This exposition was held at Wembley, London, England. Henry Mobsby designed the Queensland Court and travelled as State representative to London to supervise the construction of the layout, design trophies, and formulate a colour scheme. He travelled with his wife and daughter on the ‘Ormuz’ arriving in London on 8 March 1908. While in England, he exhibited Queensland products at Newcastle, Lincolnshire, and Gloucestershire and also at Aberdeen in Scotland and Dublin in Ireland. He and his family returned to Australia on the 'Ophir' in October 1909. Source: picryl.com/media/australian-pavilion-franco-british-expos...

The announcement regarding the staff to be sent from Queensland to work at the exhibition was made in December 1907 and under the leadership of John Campbell, Henry Mobsby was appointed as the display officer and asked to design the state’s Court in the Australian Palace. In area, Queensland secured the second-largest court within the pavilion and it was located in a prime position. The Mobsby family, together with the other exhibition staff and their families, traveled in a second-class cabin according to the ship’s passenger list. The Ormuz sailed from Pinkenba wharf traveling south to the Australian ports of Sydney, Melbourne, and Fremantle before crossing the Atlantic for England. Onboard the ship were 120 cases of Queensland exhibits, 152 of which contained bottled wine. Unfortunately, pilfering went on during the voyage because the wine cases ended up being 57 bottles short and it was also noted that both Henry’s luggage and that of another staff member, had been opened and articles extracted. Altogether Queensland sent over 1,593 boxes of exhibits to display at the fair, including 380 boxes of pamphlets, 30 boxes of pictures and albums, and 27 boxes of postcards, 155 the majority of which would have been produced from Henry’s photographs taken during his travels around the state. These pamphlets and postcards proved to be a very useful tool for attracting visitors to the Queensland Court, and one which the other states lacked. Henry designed the Great Pagoda, the centerpiece for the Queensland Court, and it was made up of sixteen varieties of native timbers and built by the Ipswich Railway Workshops. The different product displays (known as trophies) were Henry’s design and this was the first time Queensland had used the skills of a professional artist in this regard. The trophies were distinctly original and based on the principle that they should be formed out of the various exhibits, rather than elaborately designed structures upon which exhibits were placed. They received much praise from everyone. The first and foremost section of the Court was devoted to agricultural and pastoral exhibits. Source: HENRY WILLIAM MOBSBY (1860 – 1933) “....a most valuable officer” Published – January 2017 By the Author Kaye Mobsby espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_418596/HenryWMobsby_biog...