Volunteers at the Museum

Volunteers at the Museum

It is with great appreciation that we welcome the return of Michelle and David Cullen to Norfolk Island for their third ‘volunteer holiday’ at the museum.  Michelle and David have become somewhat experts in undertaking cataloguing projects for the museum, their first visit in 2015 was to complete the cataloguing process of the Les Brown Collection and their second visit in 2016 was spent on a cataloguing a backlog of files, books and items into the Norfolk Island Museum Trust Collection.   They arrived back on island two weeks ago and have been busy with further cataloguing and rehousing activities that were identified in the 2016 Norfolk Island Museum Trust Audit and Condition Assessment.

Michelle and David first came to Norfolk for their honeymoon in September 1987, so this year marks their eleventh visit to the island and their thirtieth wedding anniversary.  Already we are discussing possible project and timing for their twelfth visit.   A huge thank you to you both, the work you are doing for us is invaluable!

All the kids are free

All the Kids are Free

That is for entry into the museums, as are all school students, not to mention all residents of the island.  There are four separate museums to visit within the Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area – put it on the list of school holiday ‘things to do’.

The story in the Pier Store Museum begins with the Mutiny on the Bounty; see the Bounty’s cannon that came to Norfolk Island with the Pitcairn Islanders in 1856, have your photo taken while holding its replica.  See the ring that was used on Pitcairn Island to wed the Mutineer men and the Tahitian women.  Learn more of our language through audios and other material including colouring in sheets for the kids.  Other stories featured in this museum include the Melanesian Mission, religion, industry and whaling – hanging from the ceiling are the massive jawbones of a whale.

Be confronted by two cannons as you step inside the Sirius Museum, these are two very rare short barrelled cannons called carronades aka ‘smashers’ for their fast firing power, behind these is an imposing 1.7 ton wrought iron anchor suspended up on its stock.  Learn of the lives of over 1400 people that travelled on the First Fleet and connect with a piece of history when you touch our ballast block. 

The Commissariat Store Museum tells the tales of the prisoners that were incarcerated on the island when it was a penal settlement between 1825 and 1855; the objects in this museum speak for themselves.  Have you ever wondered about the ruin of the crank mill near Kingston Jetty, how it functioned, learn of this here and see the crank wheels on display.

And No 10 Quality Row, our house museum built in 1844, originally the home of the Foreman of Works from 1844 and later the home of Isaac and Miriam Christian when they arrived from Pitcairn Island in 1856.  Set in beautiful gardens this house contains original building fabric and an earlier form of graffiti.  Layers of culture are expressed through this home, try your hand at one of Norfolk’s traditional cultural activities with our simple weaving instructions and fibre provided.  Take home your own hand made woven bookmark or fish. 

Besides the museums – you can watch a DVD at No. 9 Quality Row, purchase a book from The R.E.O. or check out what’s new in our Public Library in New Cascade Road.

There’s plenty more but you’ll have to come and see for yourself – happy holidays.  

Janelle Blucher

Team Leader Heritage Management

April 2017

Preservation Needs Assessment

Preservation Needs Assessment

Late last year we announced our successful application to the Community Heritage Grants Program to provide for a Preservation Needs Assessment for the Norfolk Island Museum.

On island this week is the Museum of Tropical Queensland’s Conservator, Sue Valis to undertake this assessment for us, albeit a little anxious with Cyclone Debbie bearing down on the coast of North Queensland!

A Preservation Needs Assessment generally provides key recommendations for the short, medium and long term management of collections.  It will assess existing policies and their impact on the collection; broadly outline material type and condition of objects in our collection; examine buildings and the environment, storage and display; assess visitor impact; disaster preparedness; and offer suggestions for professional development.  One of the outcomes will be a list of recommendations to inform our Preservation Plan.  Also and importantly, it will be the key tool to support future grant applications for conservation projects and planning to protect the collections for the future.

The Norfolk Island Museum definitely has challenges working within the heritage buildings in Kingston; the stone walls effusing salt, the proximity to chloride laden air, relative humidity and air circulation control, to name just a few.  These environmental challenges are just one of the key areas that Sue can offer suggestions to mitigate the effects.  Of particular note is the high level of UV on Norfolk Island, even the amount that penetrates through the filtered sashed windows in the gallery spaces is quite surprising.  Unfortunately this means we will need to consider blocking out the natural light but it also confirms that Norfolk’s air is clean!

This Preservation Needs Assessment is possible with thanks to the Community Heritage Grants Program managed by the National Library, along with its partner institutions and the Federal Government.  And of course our thanks and appreciation to Sue Valis for coming to Norfolk to undertake the assessment followed by the huge task of compiling the report when she returns home; and to the Museum of Tropical Queensland and the Queensland Museum for supporting her visit.

Janelle Blucher

Team Leader Heritage Management

March 2017

Measuring the UV on the Bounty ship model

Volunteers Extraordinaire

 Volunteers Extraordinaire

Don and Sue Brian returned to our shores, once again, to offer their time and expertise to the Norfolk Island Museum.  This visit was specifically to undertake the accessioning process of the objects recovered from the infrastructure services upgrade of the Double Boatshed, Blacksmiths’ Compound and areas of Quality Row during 2015 by the then Commonwealth Heritage Manager, Matt Alexander, archaeologist Douglas Hobbs and the KAVHA works team. 

Our volunteers, Sue and Don, began with the artefacts collected from excavations at the Double Boatshed and the Blacksmith’s Compound. Firstly they needed to correlate the data attached to the objects with the reports to confirm each objects provenance, then each object or grouping of objects were allocated a Norfolk Island Museum catalogue number, these numbers were physically recorded onto the objects, their condition assessed and recorded, photographs taken and the collection rehoused according to material types.  The details were entered into a spreadsheet and then uploaded into the museum’s Inmagic Database.  A total of 1,150 objects for this project were documented, assessed and entered into the KAVHA Collection in the care of the Norfolk Island Museum.  A huge task, but this was not all.

The second stage of their volunteer project was to carry out the same process for the objects recovered from the 2015 upgrade of the infrastructure services along the rear of the Quality Row buildings.  Some of these objects may relate to “Irish Town” the former soldiers garden hut area on the hill above the Old Military Barracks Compound, the others from a midden that appears to be dating to the early Pitcairner period, these objects are comprised mainly of glass and ceramics with some stone, metal and animal remains. 

Two items of particular interest were identified in the bags of materials which had not been previously noted, one was a worked flint of the same shape and size as that used on a Short Land Pattern Musket and the other was a small hallmarked silver piece which may be a button back provisionally dating to 1792.  This project amounted to 2,829 items being identified, described, recorded, and accessioned into the Norfolk Island Museum database as part of the KAVHA collection.  All but 900 of these were individually, physically numbered prior to being rehoused.  Those which were not numbered were bags of broken bottle glass dating back to the 1920s.

New display cabinets in Pier Store

Also, whilst they were on island they kept themselves ‘extra’ busy by tidying up at our museum store, undertaking conservation of a community owned artefact and installing our precious scrimshaw and whaling gun into the new Norfolk Pine cabinets within the Pier Store Museum.  We received two new cabinets costing $1,000; they were donated to the museum by Sue and Don.   They also, funded their own way to Norfolk, however we were able to provide them with $1,000 as contribution towards their airfares, this $1,000 came from funds they had donated back to the Museum Trust in 2015 when they undertook an Audit and Condition Assessment of the Trust’s collection.

Absolute dynamos to say the least!  Thanks must also be offered to Chris Ciantar and Sorrel Wilby for their support of the Norfolk Island Museum by providing accommodation, to Lou and Jimbo Tavener for the car and to Brian Prince the Commonwealth Heritage Manager for providing the workspace. Thanks to you all from the Norfolk Island Museum.

Janelle Blucher

Team Leader – Heritage Management

March 2017