Self portrait, 1924 oil on canvas, 61.2 x 51cm Gift of the artist at the request of the Trustees 1924 Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales photograph: Ray Woodbury for AGNSW   Inverell Cultural & Arts Council in conjunction with Best Employment and Inverell Shire Council present...

   Presented by the Historic Houses Trust (NSW) and Inverell Cultural and Arts Council (Inc)

Using the resources of the Historic Houses Trust's Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection and the Collections Management Unit, this one day seminar will focus on interpreting, researching and caring for late 19th century & early 20th century interiors. 

Presenters include

  • Joanna Nicholas (historical overview/interpreting late nineteenth century interiors)

  • Megan Martin (sources rare book and trade catalogue collection)

  • Tamara Lavrencic  (collection care)

DATE: MONDAY 24th April, 2006
 

Location: Inverell Town and Country Club, Otho Street, Inverell
Time: 9.00am – 4.00pm
Cost: $66.00 (incl. GST)
LUNCH and MORNING TEA INCLUDED

Limited Numbers - Bookings Essential

Print Booking Form

 

 

MEGAN MARTIN

Megan Martin is Head of the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection at the Historic Houses Trust of NSW, responsible for developing a specialist collection of publications and documentary materials relating to the history of houses, domestic interiors and gardens in NSW. She co-curated the exhibition Augusto Lorenzini: Italian Artist Decorator in Victorian Sydney at Elizabeth Bay House in 2001. Other publications include Settlers & convicts of the Bellona 1793: a biographical dictionary (1992), A pictorial history of Ryde (1998), biographical entries for Australian art pottery 1900–1950 (2004) as well as contributions to the Australian Dictionary of Biography. She has worked as a consultant historian in the heritage field and has been a member of the Management Committee of the History Council of NSW since the Council’s formation in 1996.

JOANNA NICHOLAS

Joanna Nicholas is the Curator of the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection (formerly the Conservation Resource Centre.) The focus of the collection is the history of houses their interiors and gardens. She has been the curator of Meroogal, the Trust’s property at Nowra and curated the exhibition And So To Bed – a short history of beds and bedding in Australia at Elizabeth Bay House in 2002. Joanna has been a contributor to the Trust’s Historic Interiors and Gardens Course and was a contributing author to The Art of Keeping House, published in 2004. Her interests include 19th and 20th century houses and interiors – particularly furniture and soft furnishings, visual and decorative art. Joanna sits on the Committee of the Furniture History Society (Australasia). Her background includes working as a Curator for the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and lecturing for the Museum Studies Unit, University of Sydney.

TAMARA LAVRENCIC

Tamara Lavrencic is the Collections Manager for the Historic Houses Trust of NSW, and in this role, oversees preventive conservation, object documentation, disaster prevention and pest management for the 13 properties managed by the Trust.  Graduating from the University of Canberra’s Materials Conservation program in 1983, Tamara has over 20 years experience in collection care covering library, archive, art and museum collections. Tamara is currently the National President of the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material.

 

About the Historic Houses Trust

The CAROLINE SIMPSON Library & Research Collection is open to anyone with an interest in the history of house and garden design and interior furnishing in New South Wales.

The collection supports the Historic Houses Trust’s work of interpreting and managing places of cultural significance in New South Wales and provides a specialist research resource for scholars, heritage and conservation practitioners and museum professionals outside of HHT.

It includes material across a wide range of formats: architectural pattern books; architectural fragments; wall coverings; floor coverings; manufacturers’ trade catalogues and sample books; garden ornament; fittings (including curtain and blind hardware, door and window furniture); soft furnishings and trimmings; personal papers and manuscripts; pictures; photographs; books and periodicals. The scope of the collection is broad, covering houses and gardens of all kinds and ranging from the 19th century to the present day. We also record significant houses, interiors and gardens in situ, usually on the point of change, through photographic survey, and sometimes through oral history.

Catalogues & Databases

Books, periodicals, and other documentary material including photographs and personal papers can be found by searching the ONLINE LIBRARY CATALOGUE.

Our collections of wall coverings and floor coverings can be searched through the MUSEUM COLLECTIONS DATABASE.

The COLONIAL PLANTS DATABASE is a database of plants known to be available in the colony of New South Wales up until the 1860s. The database is a work in progress. As at 1 September 2005 it comprised more than 10,000 listings, compiled from Botanic Gardens records, nursery catalogues and manuscript plant lists created by colonists like Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay (1767-1848). A more detailed discussion of the SOURCES used in compiling the database is given below.

Where we are

The Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection is located within the HHT Head Office complex at 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney, the former site of the Sydney Royal Mint.

 The Library occupies a two-story space that served originally as the office of the Superintendent of the Coining Factory.

ACCESS is via the reception desk in the Mint Offices on Macquarie Street. The closest train stations are St James and Martin Place

Opening hours

Open Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm, closed on weekends and Public Holidays.

 

 

 

Contact details

The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 02 8239 2233
Fax: 02 8239 2433
Email: library@hht.net.au

Caroline Simpson OAM (1930–2003)
In 2004 the four children of the late Caroline Simpson gifted their mother’s outstanding collection of Australian colonial furniture, pictures and objets d’art, plus an important collection of pictures of other colonial places around the world, to the HHT and provided an endowment for this library which has been named in her honour. The gift, valued at over $12 million, was officially accepted on behalf of HHT, by the Hon Bob Carr, Premier of New South Wales, on 19 August 2004 at Clyde Bank, a significant colonial house in The Rocks. Clyde Bank had been acquired by Caroline Simpson in 1992 and, following its conservation, was opened to the public in 1994 as a showcase for her private collection.

Caroline Simpson had supported many causes during her lifetime, particularly those that helped to conserve Australia’s colonial heritage. Her philanthropy was generous but mostly anonymous. She did not seek public recognition for her contributions but in her own way had a significant influence on the understanding and conservation of Australia’s colonial past.

The Historic Houses Trust is indebted to her four children – Louise Dobson and Alice, Emily and Edward Simpson.
For additional information contact:
 Inverell Cultural and Arts Council (Inc)
Phone: (02) 6728 8167

Tourism Inverell
Campbell St, Inverell
Phone: (02) 6728 8161 
Fax: (02) 6728 8166 

Email: trfestival@northnet.com.au

 

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     Page last updated on : 28/04/2006      © Tom Roberts Festival 2006