Flinders Archaeology Blog

Blog Post 4-Directed Study

Photograph of Oaklands Estate circa 1884 courtesy of David Jarman

This is my final blog post about my Directed Study into the former Oaklands Estate at Oaklands Park, SA. Through the weeks of delving into newspaper records, hurriedly trying to schedule a bit of field work, and meeting with a number of people in the Marion area who have been immensely helpful with providing information about the property, I have learnt much about the history of the estate and its people, and yet I still feel that I have barely scratched the surface.

As the historian David Jarman has shown, research of this sort can take a lifetime to compile, the question that I found hardest to answer was how much of this information to present as part of my report. In particular, I found myself in possession of a multitude of photographs—so many that it would have been impossible to include them all in such a short report. I did, however, find a use for a number of these photos, and that was in the assessment of archaeological potential.

The photographs were used to locate landmarks that were present in historical photos and that still exist at the site, such as trees and roadways. These landmarks were then plotted using GPS points and used to estimate the location of the original estate building and yards. From here it could be determined that there were at least two sites that could yield high archaeological potential: the original homestead (located at least in part beneath the car-park) and the stables (located on the open grassed areas).

While I have submitted my report and tried to include as much as possible in it, there are still many little stories and rumours pulled from newspaper articles and interviews that did not make it into the final report. I think that James Deetz had it right in his famous book ‘In Small Things Forgotten’: the difficulty with historical archaeology isn’t necessarily how much information you may find, but how to interpret that information into a work that is a true representation of the lives associated with a site.

References

Deetz, J. 1977 In Small Things Forgotten. Doubleday: New York.

Intangible Heritage Workshop, 4th Conversation: Jill Burfield


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My final conversation for the day was with Jill Burfield. Although Jill had not lived in Marion Council, she recalled Marion and attitudes of earlier times.

Jill’s mother gave birth to her in a private hospital in Rose Park in 1934 at the age of 30, which was considered ‘old’ to have kids. In 1939, Jill’s younger sister was born. Her mother wasn’t feeling well and went into Memorial Hospital to give birth. At one point, she felt herself slipping and pressed the button for assistance. The nurse’s response? A drink of brandy.

Above: Jill gives a lively explanation of what community meant in the mid-20th century

As you couldn’t just go buy scones or cakes, Jill’s mother used to make them and have her friends around to fill time as a home mum. Exchange systems were common among members of the community- ‘if you had some almonds, you would give some to your friends and they might give you some plums’, Jill explained.

Women weren’t expected to work; it was all about when you were going have children. Jill was, and is, a strong feminist. She finished year 11 and went into the work force as a teacher, when ‘everyone was expected to get married and have children’. In those days, education for women was superfluous to their roles as home makers and mothers.

Above: Jill passionately discusses being a feminist in more gendered times

Jill painted a mental picture of a past with strictly gendered expectations. Women and men were born into specific social roles and were expected to maintain those roles throughout their lives. Despite this, it was also a time where people would share what they had with one another. Thanks, Jill.

Nessa Beasley

The final chapter in this investigation of the Loch Sloy (there may be more to come!)

Previously, the researchers investigating the location of the burials of the people who drowned when the Loch Sloy sank off the Kangaroo Island coast in 1899, had searched archives, spoken to various people and made contact with members of the May family.

The time had come to make a decision about conducting a survey to see if there were any indications of burials.  This took place in December 2011.  The fitter members of the group (and believe me you have to be fit to walk through dense scrub and rocks for nearly three hours) undertook the walk out to our identified area, starting at Rocky River just near the tourist centre in Flinders Chase National Park.  The other not so young, and not so fit researcher (me!) met with contacts at the Hope Cottage museum in Kingscote.

The intrepid explorers located the cairns that had been erected by the May family to indicate where the Loch Sloy went down, and some features near the cliff that looked like graves because of their orientation and the formal layout of rocks.  The rangers at Flinders Chase were very helpful in suggesting different routes to the site that might prove less exacting.

One option was to start from Cape de Couedic and follow the ETSA track until it ended and then walk the rest of the distance.  This may prove to be easier, we were told.  Our contact with the Kangaroo Island Walking Group indicated that this walk had been done before.

Following this survey, we had to decide when would be an optimal time to conduct an excavation.  Because of Amer Khan’s work commitments and the time involved in preparations and permits, we would not be able to return to Kangaroo Island until March 2012.

Permits were applied for and granted, funding was released and AARD (Aboriginal Affairs & Reconciliation Division, South Australian government) indicated that there were no known burials in the area we were going to investigate.

With everything in place, and with some students from Flinders University to help with the excavation, we returned to Kangaroo Island.  Again, the fitter and younger people made the trek out to the site returning with massive blisters and the belief that the original route taken in December was the better one.  Progress was made, though, and the features that  had been previously identified as possibilities were excavated to bedrock, but disappointingly showed no burials.

However, these two trips provided extremely valuable information and insight into excavating in remote areas and enabled the researchers to meet people on Kangaroo Island who were extremely helpful and knowledgeable.  Future investigations will focus on the exact location of the wreck and from that, and a re-look at the information, we may still find the graves.

It is hoped that, in the future, some sort of recognition of this shipwreck will be implemented.  This may take the form of an event (with guests from the U.K.) at Kilpatrick’s grave and maybe interpretive signs telling the story.  Another suggestion was that the beach where the survivors came ashore could be renamed the ‘Loch Sloy’ beach.

We all look forward to future involvement in this project and would like to thank everyone concerned from Kangaroo Island and mainland South Australia.

As a member of the research team (for my directed study) I have been able to observe how the processes for archaeological investigation work in a government department, and how an archaeologist works with people with different backgrounds and skills.  It’s hard to know if we are any closer to finding the burials but the media coverage has unearthed new contacts that may be able to help. We are optimistic.

Even though my directed study with Flinders University Archaeology Department is now finished, I look forward to being involved in this project as a volunteer.

I would like to thank Jen McKinnon for putting my name forward for this project.  I have learned so much Jen, thank you.  I would also like to thank Heather Burke who, as ever, has been helpful in her comments and technical assistance throughout this topic.

Watch this space for more blogs in the future!

Intangible Heritage Workshop, 3rd Conversation: Diana Catchlove


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My third interview for the Intangible Heritage Project was with Diana, who originally lived on the corner of Morphett and Sturt Roads. During our conversation together, she recalled many of the wonderful businesses and community members who defined Marion when she lived there.

Memories of Change in Marion

Today; rather than the market gardens, numerous vineyards and family businesses that she remembers, Diana feels that Marion is defined by the Westfield shopping mall and housing developments.

Above (Diana): ‘There were so many vineyards and groves from that area and it’s really sad now to see so few vines in the area…’

I asked Diana if she could trace the changes in Marion to a particular time. She felt that the 1950s was the era of change when more shops began operation and housing trust homes were built. Butchers, green grocers, even her father had a deli at Marion at one stage.

Post-War Poverty

Remembering post-war life, Diana spoke about the frugal lifestyles people had to endure. Diana’s household welcomed an electric fridge around 1949, which was a big event in her household. She recalls her mother using a copper, ringer and wash trough in earlier times. Reckitt’s blue was used to whiten the clothes back then. ‘Lots of kids these days don’t know what a copper stick is…or scrubbing board,’ Diana chuckled after my ignorance became evident.

My discussion with Diana provided a small window into a time which seemed much more concerned with community and relationships. People knew each other by name, and knew their neighbours well. Thank you Diana, it was a pleasure.

Nessa Beasley

Results of the City of Marion’s Intangible Heritage Project Workshop


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As part of a practicum with the City of Marion, I conducted interviews during a workshop in April about the intangible heritage of the area. Intangible heritage includes the expressions of heritage that are invisible, including the memories and feelings of place linked with the participants’ past in Marion. The results of conversations with a number of community members are briefly recounted here. The interviews (four in total) were a wonderful mixture of stories about objects, places and people of earlier times in Marion.

Intangible Heritage Project Workshop, 1st Conversation: Rodney Coombs

The first participant interviewed, Rodney Coombs, was born in 1944 and lived on Unley Road in a single bedroom with five relatives until his family was moved to Springbank Camp. At the camp they lived in a tin warehouse where hessian was erected to create ‘rooms’. It was here that Rodney, only four years old, was diagnosed with poliomyelitis (‘polio’).

Above: Rodney (1949), coming home for a day from hospital (courtesy of Rodney Coombs)

The image above is of Rodney returning home for a brief Sunday visit from hospital, tied to an iron frame in 1949. He had been transported on Bill Smith’s open buckboard (in the background). His mother (pictured right, above) had been told he would not survive.

Rodney described the memory of his illness as…‘traumatic for everybody concerned’. When he was around eight years old he was able to start walking again. The second picture (below) is Rodney’s first day of attendance (1952) in an opportunity class where he was placed to catch up on his education.

Left: Rodney’s first day of attendance in the opportunity class (1952) (courtesy of Rodney Coombs)

His right arm was placed in a sling which was later found to be detrimental to his rehabilitation.  Now left-handed, Rodney has limited movement in his right arm despite operations to restructure his muscles and tendons.  Rodney’s photographs and stories were captivating for the half an hour we had together. Thanks, Rodney.

Nessa Beasley

Beaumont House circa 1890

All Wrapped Up

This is my fourth and final blog post for my Directed Study. My big assignment is done and dusted, and now I can tell you the results of my project. The award for the most artefacts is a tie between brick fragments and pieces of metal. The metal consisted of lots of nails, all weathered in some way, as well as pretty random metal sheets. The brick fragments were not overly varied, they were all the same terracotta colour and ranged from quite small to reasonably large. There was a decent amount of glass fragments within the collection. Most of these were small pieces, completely useless for diagnostics or dating. There was one bottle neck with a ring seal finish, although even that was chipped. There was also a small ink bottle that seems to be a boat style in an olive green colour. It was very pretty but was, unfortunately, broken. It was cracked in two so I was still able to see how it looked together, however the bottle’s finish was missing. Regarding ceramics, there was a pretty blue bowl base, however this had no makers mark or stamp and the pattern was not discernible. The collection had one intact saucer, however this was an extremely 1970’s looking earthenware saucer, which I think held little significance to Beaumont House. There was a large amount of wood and small animal bones in the collection. Most of the wood was insignificant, however there was one artefact that looked like a picket fence post and it was charred on one end. That, however, was the extent of the intriguing artefacts. The range of nails is one aspect of the collection that can be kept and used as teaching materials, because a lot of them seemed to be handmade and in reasonably good condition. It seems from the types of material analysed and the large amount of broken artefacts, that the site excavated was most likely some sort of rubbish tip, and possibly a fairly recent one. It was good fun analysing all of the artefacts and imagining what they were used for, as well as corresponding with people who participated in the first Field Methods class in 1992. I will leave you with a picture of the glass ink bottle and a picture of Beaumont House circa 1890.

The Glass Boat Kink Bottle

One of the Various Nails in the Collection