A series of four glass etched panels that once were in the Kiama Grand Hotel since the 1940s have been donated to the museum recently by Eric Spinder, and may end up as part of our windows into our entrance foyer (backlit ideally). Thanks to Eric (whose brother has an amazing water farm in Tasmania called Grim Water (http://www.capegrim.com.au/)
It is the seasons for donations as we recently received a picture of Mrs Samuel Charles, (nee Sarah Ann, daughter of James Mackay Gray of Gerringong) which will go well with the gravestone of hers we have ( if we can figure out what to do with it) and her eyeglasses, (incorrect, see comment below, actually Mrs Fraser, married to one of the Pilots) and a old panorama of the Pilot’s Cottage, kindly lent for reproduction by Tony Stewart ( who is part of the Holtz family of Kiama) and rumours of an oil painting of early Kiama is about to be donated. Also we had a recent visit by Leo Cady,
http://www.rootsandleaves.com/family/People/f1979.html
who knows many great stories of old Kiama
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1958638.Leo_Cady
and much about orchids.
Our local magpies, as they shelter from a storm on our steps, certainly seemed to be impressed, though they refused to be interviewed.
Alas, the infomation above about the picture donated being Sarah Ann, wife of Samuel Charles is incorrect, it is a picture of Mrs Fraser, who was wife of one of the pilots and the grandmother of Margaret Boyd.
Damn.
On the positive side, a well researched and detailed book ‘Determination and Integrity’ is being prepared by a direct descendant of Samuel Charles, Mr Cameron (who orignal surname was Charles) which places Samuel firmly in his milieu of a North Irish Protestant based on the South Coast of NSW, and his adventures with gold mining in California, mainly involving shipping.
It also gives insight into the two political camps in Kiama, the Orange Protestants (Parkes) and the Freemason Protestants (Charles?) and their often competitive behaviour. The part about Charles’ quite compassionate attitude to his Catholic laborers falsely accused of trying to shoot George Grey shows the tag of ‘intergrity’ was well-deserved, especially since the political lines were drawn across family lines. (Charles was married to a Gray)
I look forward to reading it!
Frankly Samuel Charles probably deserves more recognition than he currently gets and maybe re-naming Jones ( or Boyd)) Beach, Eureka Beach (after the Charles property)
would be appropiate.
http://www.topix.com/au/kiama/2009/02/should-kiama-downs-beach-get-new-name