toowong

Brisbane Ladies Coronation Brass and Reed Band "Early female brass bands in Australia: They were rare but they made their mark." Jeremy de Korte, 2018 If one were to read various articles or histories of brass bands or view photos from a period from 1900-1950s, they would notice an almost total lack of material relating to women playing brass instruments. Against some odds, there were female brass bands in Australia and these bands, for the brief time they were in existence, made their mark and gained favorable reputations. It is unfortunate these bands did not survive; however, it is shown that their legacy lives on. Who is to say if they were ahead of their time as some bands were started out of a social necessity, whereas other bands were started as recreation and training for women and girls. The Brisbane Ladies band was formed around 1940, (“Concert To Mark Formation Of Women’s Brass Band In City,” 1940; Holman, 2018). On a side note, it is the idea of a female band forming in Brisbane that brought out another bout of sexist (and instrumentalist?) behavior in the media with the publication of a letter in a local newspaper in 1934 (Incredulous, 1934). As can be read in the letter, the language says it all and mirrors that of the writing from 1906 – old attitudes don’t seem to go away. The Ladie's Band SIR-- Have Queensland women become utterly ridiculous? One can pass over extravagancies in clothes since the clever seamstress can design even a pair of men's pants in such a way that they will appear attractive on female legs. One can forgive women's baseball and women's cricket in the sacred cause of sport. But this idea of a women's band in women's brass band! is beyond all limits. Your news item in today's paper says that " no difficulties in playing the instruments--even the big bass -- are likely to be encountered by the ladies." The most adroit bandsman can not avoid looking absurd when he plays the big bass, yet there are Brisbane women who apparently are willing to attempt it. Surely not -- I am sir, &c. Brisbane "INCREDULOUS" Courier-Mail, 07/03/1934, p. 10 Source: bandblastsfromthepast.blog/tag/brisbane-ladies-coronation...

Those bicycles are penny farthings, would have been difficult to race and keep upright.

The baby on the table is my Aunty Ruth Hull (b.1900) and the lady touching her is her mother (my grandmother) Ethel Hull. The two other women are Ethel's sisters Adeline and Althea Fewings who were not yet married at the time of this photo. All the people in this image were born, married and died in the State of Qld.

HULL Ruth Maud ROBERTS (1900-1957) FEWINGS Ethel Charlotte Maude HULL (1871-1965) FEWINGS Adeline Mary Tooke HARDING (1873-1952) FEWINGS Althea Theresa Karslake HULL (1877-1934 Ethel family tree www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fewings-23

ghumbys-flickr(a-t)yahoo.com Thanks for sharing your family's story, it's a great photo made richer with the history you've shared. We'll add these details to the record. :)

ghumbys-flickr(a-t)yahoo.com Check out the One Search record (our online catalogue) and you'll see we've updated the description with the family details you provided. Thanks again for bringing this photo to life. hdl.handle.net/10462/deriv/110150

ghumbys-flickr(a-t)yahoo.com We have other photos in our collection taken at Ecksleigh in Toowong - you might recognise other family members bit.ly/2cGzLfI