Chapter 3: Ships that pass
p41 ‘Before me as . . .’ from Edith Coleman, 1935, ‘Roses of yesterday: Are modern blooms complete?’ The Argus, 13 April, p6. pp43–45 This reconstruction is largely based on the recollections of George Harms, 1963, and Susan Millman, 1950, quoted in Peter Harms’ family history. The details of the dock scene are drawn from the diary of Alfred Withers, 3 January 1857, in Andrew Hassam, 1994, Sailing to Australia: Shipboard diaries by nineteenth century British Immigrants (Manchester University Press: Manchester) p60. ‘The vans almost . . .’ is from Richard Jefferies, 1883/1923, The story of my heart (Bretanos: New York) pp72–73. p46 ‘Men for the . . .’ and ‘women for the . . .’ from a 1928 overseas settlement poster ‘The Southern Cross’, National Archives of Australia, A434, 1949/3/21685. Details of this particular voyage of the Ionic throughout this chapter are drawn from George Harms’ recollections and ‘The SS Ionic’, The Mercury, 24 September 1887, p2 as well as a later journey on the same ship by John Fraser, 1887–8, ‘Shipboard diary’, New Zealand Yesteryears, http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/diaries/ionic1888.html [accessed 29.01.17]. p47 Accounts of women on ships from Francis Thiele, 2001, ‘Recreating the polite world: shipboard life on nineteenth-century lady travellers to Australia’, The Latrobe Journal, No 68: Spring and Andrew Hassam, 1995, No Privacy for Writing: Shipboard diaries, 1852–1879 (Melbourne University Press: Melbourne) including ‘It seems as if . . .’ p110. Jane Snodgrass to her mother Margaret, 18 October 1886–17 January 1887, http://www.theshipslist.com/accounts/LochLong_1886.shtml [accessed 28.01.2017] . pp48–49 ‘The conical peaks . . .’ 6 January 1888, ‘Nothing of interest . . .’ 13 January 1888 and ‘Nothing of interest today . . .’ 17 January 1888, from John Fraser, 1887–88, ‘Shipboard diary’. p50 ‘It is no use . . .’ in ‘Letter Written on Board the S.S. Great Britain From the Hon. Anna-Maria Georgiana Bright to her Parents, the Viscount and Viscountess Canterbury’, 1875, MS 12973, La Trobe Manuscripts Collection, SLV, p30, quoted in Francis Thiele, 2001. pp50–51 ‘As we sail . . .’ diary of Elizabeth Fenton, 11 August 1829, in Hassam, Sailing to Australia, pp181–2. ‘At 4 o’clock . . .’ quoted in Hassam, Sailing to Australia, p162. p52 ‘The country consists . . .’ Edith Coleman, 1926. ‘Orchids at the National Park’, Victorian Naturalist, 43, p211. p53 Charles Lamb, 1840, The essays of Elia, V1–2 (Edward Moxon: London) p67. ‘cannibal blacks and . . .’ Ada Cambridge, 1903, Thirty years in Australia (Methuen and Co: London) p1. The alternative journey is from a biographical note on Edith Coleman, Rica Erickson Papers, SLWA. p56 ‘Everywhere they looked . . .’ Michael Cannon, 1995, The Land Boomers: The Complete Illustrated History (Melbourne University Publishing: Melbourne) p4. pp57–59 Extract from Edith Coleman, 1931, ‘Ships that pass: Fascination of Point Lonsdale’, The Argus, 10 January, p4. The black tea-tree (M. pubescens) is probably Melaleuca lanceolata, black paperbark or moonah.
Chapter 4: A teacher of great promise
p61 ‘Nothing in Nature . . .’ from Edith Coleman, 1931, ‘The Teachings of Nature: Lessons from Plants and Insects’ The Age, 26 September, p4. pp63–64 This reconstruction is based on a letter from Edith Harms to the Education Department, 20 January 1896, PROV 640/P0 729 37893. p64 ‘The long narrow . . .’ Charles R. Long, 1922, ‘Part II: 1872–1901’, in E. Sweetman, C. R. Long and J. A. Smyth, History of State Education in Victoria (Education Department of Victoria: Melbourne) p76. p66 I am grateful for the painstaking search by Peter Gill for the records of Edith Harms and Frank Tate at the PROV and other archives. p67 ‘slating Villa all . . .’ The Age, 2 February 1888, p6. pp68–69 Enrolment numbers and pupil-teacher salaries from Les J. Blake (ed) 1973, Visions and Realisation: A centenary history of state education in Victoria (Education Department of Victoria: Melbourne) v2, pp312–313, 286. Housemaid salaries from Henry H. Hayter, 1890, Victorian Year Book 1889–90 (Government Printer: Melbourne) v2, p228. pp68–70 Teacher Records for Edith Coleman, PROV, VPRS 13579/P1 v39; Harry Harms, VPRS 13579/P1 v37 and Lottie Harms VPRS 13579/P1 v37. Lottie married J. G. Bowman, a commander in Calcutta of the British India Steamship Navigation Company, on 20 August 1898, in Camberwell, ‘Family Notices’, The Australasian, 3 September 1898, p55. Details of Education Department history from Blake, 1973, Visions and Realisations, v1, pp270–271, 286. Details of Harry’s life from Peter Harms’ family history. pp71–72 Edith’s connection with Frank Tate is documented in Kate Baker, 1942, p16. ‘Developing a fine . . .’ quoted in Grant Rodwell, 1997, ‘Nature Enthusiasm, Social Planning and Eugenics in Australian State Schools, 1900–1920’, Journal of Educational Administration and History, 29, p9. Richard J. W. Selleck, 1990, ‘Tate, Frank (1864–1939)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography (Melbourne University Press: Melbourne) v12. pp72–4 Details of subjects offered to trainee teachers from Long, 1922, ‘Part II: 1872–1901’, p90. ‘Mr Tate was . . .’ and Tate’s letter to Edith are from Kate Baker, 1942, p 17. Tate’s passion for literature and nature is described in Selleck, 1990, ‘Tate, Frank’ and much of this discussion of nature study in Australian curriculum is drawn from Rodwell, 1997, ‘Nature Enthusiasm’, pp1–19, although the interpretation is my own. p73 ‘The city sits . . .’ Liberty Hyde Bailey, 1911, The Country Life Movement in the United States (The Macmillan Company: New York) p20. p74 ‘What is most . . .’ John Dawson, quoted in Rodwell, 1997, p10. p75 ‘Sir, I have . . .’ letter from the head teacher at Camberwell to the Education Department, 14 March 1893, PROV 640/PO 512 93/45652. Details from medical certificate provided by John Cuthbert, 18 September 1891, PROV 640/PO 512 91/57869. ‘owing to ill health . . .’ letter from Edith Harms to the Education Department, 8 October 1892, PROV 640/PO 512 92/50138 . . . p76 Details of Victorian school history from Long, 1922, pp66–84. pp77–78 The two photos referred to are from Foster Primary School History, http://www. fosterps.vic.edu.au/school-history/ [accessed 14.02.2017] and (reproduced) J. W. Anderson, ‘Children and School House, Foster Vic’, SLV. p78 Garden plantings from Long, 1922, p79 and details of environmental days from Libby Robin, 2002, ‘Nationalising nature: Wattle Days in Australia’, Journal of Australian Studies, 26, pp13–26. pp79–80 ‘It came down . . .’ Mary E. Fullerton, 1921/1964, Bark House Days (Melbourne University Press: Melbourne) p59. p80 Quotes for Gippsland bushfires from Don Watson, 2016, The Bush: Travels in the heart of Australia (Hamish Hamilton: Melbourne) p 12–3. pp80–81 ‘the most beautiful mosses’ and ‘lace curtains of supplejack . . .’ quoted in Watson, 2016, p18. p81 ‘Orange twigs and . . .’ Jean Galbraith, 1928, ‘As the days of a tree’, Australian Garden Lover, January, p380. p82 Hamilton’s report from Teacher Records for Edith Coleman. These Caladenias are also classified in the genus Arachnorchus. The teacher’s residence was reported in Blake, 1973, Visions and Realisation, v2, p524 with the inappropriate nature of such accommodation for single women being discussed in Ada Cambridge, 1903, Thirty years in Australia (Methuen and Co: London) p150. ‘the teacher beat . . .’ and ‘A little girl . . .’ from M. Hamilton, 13 September 1896, report re complaint, PROV 640/P1 934 2131. p83 ‘I find the . . .’ letter from Edith Harms to the Education Department, 1 December 1896, PROV 640/P1 934 2131. ‘long walk to . . .’ Teacher Records for Edith Coleman. pp85–87 Abridged extract from Edith Coleman, 1926, ‘Forest orchids: Flowers of winter and spring’, The Age, 7 August, p27. These Pterostylis (greenhood) species are also classified as Bunochilus longifolius and Oligochaetochilus vittatus.
Chapter 5: Marriage among the flowers
p89 ‘There is certainly . . .’ from Edith Coleman, 1936, ‘Marriage among the flowers’, The Australian Woman’s Mirror, 1 September, p19. pp91–92 Much of this reconstruction is based on Edith Coleman [E.C.] 1931, ‘Thirty years of motoring in Australia: A woman looks back’, The Age, 1 August, p8, as well as newspaper accounts of the Marysville expedition (19 November 1904) and early car events and photos. John Thomson recalls Walsham being built in 1902/03. p94 ‘The grassy flats . . .’ Edith Coleman [E.C.] 1926, ‘The Promise of Spring: Healesville’, The Age, 26
July, p14. p95 ‘Today a run . . .’ Coleman, 1931, ‘Thirty years’. pp95–96 ‘It was a . . .’ Alan D. Mickle, Healesville MS8697, Box 2406/6 La Trobe Collection, SLV, quoted in Tom Griffiths, 2001, Forests of Ash (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge) p121. p97 ‘Carbine and Collier Two-Speed Cycle Company Ltd’, The Champion, 7 November 1896, p490. p98 ‘The motorcycle has . . .’ Geelong Advertiser, 1 June 1897, p2. Edith notes that James bought the third motorcycle for himself in ‘Thirty years’. ‘The motor-cycle . . .’ is from ‘Wheel notes’, The Australasian, 30 November 1901, p22. p99 ‘Cycling notes’, Punch, 20 August 1903, p30. ‘It lives in . . .’ Coleman, 1931, ‘Thirty years’. ‘disrespect for motors . . .’ letter from Edith Coleman to Rica Sandiland, 31 December 1931, Rica Erickson Papers SLWA. p100 ‘If I call . . .’ Annie Dillard quoted in Diana Saverin, 2015, ‘The Thoreau of the Suburbs’, The Atlantic, 5 February. Edward J. Banfield, 1911, My tropic isle (T. Fisher Unwin: London) is dedicated ‘To my wife’. Bertha Banfield features in photos in E. J. Banfield, 1925, Last Leaves from Dunk Island (Angus and Robertson: Sydney) which she edited and published after his death. Comments about Donald Macdonald from Tom Griffiths, 1989, ‘The natural history of Melbourne: The culture of nature writing in Victoria, 1880–1945’, Australian Historical Studies, 23, p356. Eleanor Alliston’s nature writing discussed in C. A. Cranston, 2002, ‘Islands’ in C. A. Cranston and Robert Zeller (eds) The Littoral Zone: Australian Contexts and Their Writers (Rodopi: Amsterdam) pp219–260. p101 ‘It was largely . . .’ Eleanor Alliston, 1984, Island Affair (Greenhouse Publications: Elwood) p63. See also Escape to an Island, 1966 (Heinemann: Melbourne). ‘In 1903 there . . .’ Coleman, 1931, ‘Thirty years’. ‘The smell of . . .’ quoted in Susan Priestly (1983) Crown of the Road: The Story of the RACV (Macmillan: South Melbourne). p102 ‘Dorothy drove me . . .’ letter from Edith Coleman to Rica Sandilands, 18 October 1932, SLWA. Purchase of l’Éclair cars from ‘Motor Notes’, Punch, 12 May 1904, p34, see also ‘Motor Notes’ Table Talk, 3 March 1904, p23. ‘good, bad and execrable’ and ‘For the motoring . . .’ from Coleman, 1931, ‘Thirty years’. p104 ‘No Greek or . . .’ from Coleman, 1931, ‘Thirty years’. ‘the public to . . .’ and ‘lamps, hood or . . .’ from ‘Thirtieth anniversary of the First Sydney to Melbourne Motor Car Race’, Shepparton Advertiser, 6 February 1935, p2. ‘The return was . . .’ from Coleman, 1931, ‘Thirty years’. p105 ‘One by one . . .’ ‘Great Motor Contest’, The Australian Star, 20 November 1905, p6. p106 Motoring statistics from ‘Thirtieth anniversary’, Shepparton Advertiser, 1935. ‘Those who have . . .’ ‘Mr. J. G. Coleman on Motoring in Great Britain’, The Australian Motorist, 1 September 1930, p42. p107 ‘You did not . . .’ letter from M. J. Godfery to Edith Coleman, 4 October 1933, John Thomson collection. ‘Daddy does the . . .’ Edith Coleman to Rica Sandiland, 12 November 1931, SLWA. p108 ‘Other members of . . .’ Edith Coleman, 1929, ‘A Garden Wilderness’, The Argus, 3 August, p3. The Australian Handbook, 1896 (Gordon and Gotch: London) p262. p109 Flyer for Mason’s Paddock, Blackburn (1919) and Subdivision plan for Blackburn Park, Haughton Collection, SLV, http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/ 169710 and 167982 [Last accessed 2.1.17]. pp111–113 Extract from Edith Coleman [E. C. Walsham] 1936, ‘Fishy, maybe, but what a father!’, The Australian Woman’s Mirror, 15 December, pp17, 54.
Chapter 6: Maternal devotion
p115 ‘With the seething . . .’ from Edith Coleman, 1938, ‘The huntsman spider (Isopeda immanis): Courtship, egg-laying and emergence of spiderlings’, The Australian Zoologist, 9, pp 180–190. pp117–118 This reconstruction is based on the recollections of Loris Peggie, Edith’s papers on mistletoe, photos of Blackburn in Robin da Costa, 1978. Blackburn–A picturesque history (Pioneer Design Studio: Lilydale) as well as family photos of Gladys and Dorothy. It was also inspired by McCubbin’s Gathering Mistletoe (1886). Prasophyllum archeri is also classified as Genoplesium archeri. p118 ‘always well cloaked . . .’ A. W. Steel, quoted in Robin da Costa, 1978, pp98–100. p119 ‘Within a few . . .’ and ‘The creek banks . . .’ Edith Coleman, 1938, ‘Notes on the increase of the blackbird’, Emu, 38, p516. ‘Our little creek . . .’ and ‘One could gather . . .’ Edith Coleman [E.C.] 1924, ‘Birds at Blackburn’, The Age, 29 March, p26. Cryptostylis longifolia is now known as Cryptostylis subulata. The greenhoods Pterostylis have been reclassified to the genus Oligochaetochilus. p120 ‘about seventy species . . .’ November monthly meeting report, 1922, Victorian Naturalist, 39, p78. ‘already occupied with . . .’ and ‘geometrical beds with . . .’ and ‘put the herbs . . .’ from Edith Coleman, 1948, ‘Planning the herb garden’, Your Garden, 1, pp22–23. p122 ‘Twenty years ago . . .’ Coleman, 1938. ‘Notes on the increase of the blackbird’. ‘Our once popular . . .’ from Coleman, 1924, ‘Birds at Blackburn’. p124 ‘Many of those . . .’ Edith Coleman to the Editor, ‘Bird Life’, 23 October 1913, The Argus, p12. p125 ‘So it would . . .’ Alec H. Chisholm, 1925, ‘Our women of the open ways: Part II’, The Australian Woman’s Mirror, February 3, p16. p126 ‘the least trying . . .’ from Mary B. Sproule, 1928, Gatherings of a grandmother: during a period of seventy years residence in Australia (Arbuckle, Waddell Pty Ltd). p20. ‘Mrs Barnett’s paper . . .’ da Costa, 1978, Blackburn, p100. p127 ‘luscious cake with . . .’ from Lois Meyer, 1998, ‘Memories of Dorothy Coleman’, Tintern News, 1998, p7. For an example of Edith’s theological analyses see ‘Manna in the Wilderness’, The Age, 3 September, 1938, p3. Dorothy is acknowledged in Jean Uhl, 1980, A work on wheels: A history of St. John’s Anglican Church, Blackburn, 1890–1980 (St. John’s Anglican Church: Blackburn). ‘I’m very keen . . .’ letter from Edith Coleman to Rica Sandilands, 25 February 1932, SLWA. p128 ‘light general’ Box Hill Reporter, 27 October 1911, p7. ‘Englishwoman who has . . .’ Rica Erickson, 1999, ‘A thumbnail sketch of Edith Coleman 1931–32’, FNCV Archives. The recollections of Mabel (Roberts) Peggie provided by Loris Peggie. For a discussion of women and art see Rufi Thorpe, 2015, ‘Mother, writer, monster, maid’, Vela, http://velamag.com/mother-writer-monster-maid/ [accessed 10.1.2017]. p129 ‘A soft, pink . . .’ Edith Coleman, 1925, ‘‘Bill Baillie’: A pet opossum’, Victorian Naturalist, 42, p72. p130 Ellis (Marian) Rowan, 1908, Bill Baillie: His life and adventures (Whitcombe and Tombs: Melbourne). ‘I think he . . .’ a letter from Edith Coleman to Donald Macdonald, Notes for Boys, The Argus, 20 October 1925, p4. ‘to a girl . . .’ letter from Dorothy Coleman to Donald Macdonald, Notes for Boys, The Argus, 28 April 1914, p5. Annie R. Rentoul, 1910, ‘The Kookaburra’, Bush Songs of Australia for Young and Old, quoted in Gladys Coleman, undated, ‘Sketches from the Bush: The Kookaburra’, The Leader, John Thomson collection. p132 ‘She sits alone . . .’ Lyndsay Gardiner, 1977, Tintern School and Anglican girls’ education 1877–1977 (Tintern Church of England Girls’ Grammar School: East Ringwood) p21. Details from annual Tintern Girls School Speech Day reports in late December in The Argus. pp132–133 ‘two little girls . . .’ Blackburn Gossip, Box Hill Reporter, 15 March 1918, p4 and also ‘Semi-final matches’, Box Hill Reporter, 22 March 1918 p4. p133 ‘the mother of . . .’ Gardiner, 1977, Tintern School, p46. pp133–134 ‘as she was . . .’ and ‘How Father will . . .’ and ‘The memory of . . .’ from a letter from Harry Harms to his Aunt Lizzie after his mother’s death, 22 April 1917, Peter Harms collection. p134 ‘the sweetest, most . . .’ from Kate Baker, 1942, p16. Mary Harms is on the electoral roll of 1919 with Henry at 21 Manningham Road, Glenferrie. Her unexpected death is reported in The Argus, 27 February 1922. Further details of Henry’s life from Peter Harms. p135 ‘Mrs. Coleman was . . .’ from ‘Treasures of the Bush’, Woman’s Realm: News and Views, The Argus, 10 August 1929. p136 ‘A few days . . .’ letter from Dorothy Coleman to Donald Macdonald, ‘Notes for Boys’, The Argus, 12 December 1916, p5. Gladys’s contributions are mentioned in Donald Macdonald, ‘Notes for Boys’, The Argus, 20 September 1913, p15. ‘Mallee Fowl’s comments are in Donald Macdonald, ‘Notes for Boys’, The Argus, 30 December 1913, p8. Dorothy Coleman’s Student Record,
University of Melbourne Archives. p137 ‘I am doing . . .’ letter from Dorothy Coleman to Rica Sandilands, 22 August 1932, SLWA. Gladys Coleman’s Student Record, UMA. pp139–141 Extract from Edith Coleman [E.C.] 1929, ‘Some social insects: A caterpillar company–defensive tactics’, The Age, p10.
The Wasp and the Orchid Page 32
