RGSQ News

The Australian Geography Competition mailout was completed during the week of 12-15 March. Special thanks to Lilia Darii, Kath Berg, John and Mary Nowill for taking on extra responsibilities with this mailout and to members: Ian Francis, Roger Grimley, Neville McManimm, Mary Comer, Kay and Graham Rees, Bob Reed, Catherine Martin, John and Doreen Wilkinson for their help and other RGSQ members for their offer of assistance.

I am happy to report that the fit-out work at our new premises in Fortescue Street, Spring Hill is now complete. Staff and volunteers have been working tirelessly throughout this process to keep RGSQ activities going. I would especially like to thank Bob Abnett and his Gregory House Committee, (Paul Broad, Ian Francis, Chris Spriggs and Bernard Fitzpatrick), for their excellent work in designing, organising and supervising the fit-out, and for many member volunteers who have given their time and effort in setting up our new space. It’s a pleasure to now be able to invite members to visit our new home on Open day on April 9th.

RGSQ's new home - Gregory House, 1/28 Fortescue St, Spring Hill [photo: I Childs]

Spring Hill is one of Brisbane’s oldest suburbs, with many houses dating from the nineteenth century. Spring Hill was so named because the hill on which the suburb was built was the source of the creek that was Brisbane's first fresh water supply. Boundary Street was named due to the racist policy of separating Europeans from the Jagera and Turrbal peoples whose territories originally extended from Moreton Bay to Toowoomba, including Brisbane and Ipswich. Aboriginal people were exiled beyond the boundary lines after 4pm, six days a week and completely on Sundays. Police troopers rode the perimeter cracking stock-whips and rigidly enforced the curfew.

Following land subdivisions in the 1870s, the lower Spring Hill slopes became increasingly overcrowded. By the time of the Great Depression in 1929, Spring Hill had become renowned for its seedy cheap rents, crowded boarding houses, high levels of unemployment, brothels and criminals which all helped to give Spring Hill a bad reputation that continued until the 1950s. In the 1960s some parts of Spring Hill began to attract young professionals who were drawn to the character of the area. This heralded an era of gentrification with many of the small timber and tin “workers” cottages and grand historic buildings along Wickham Terrace beautifully restored. Today, Spring Hill is one of Brisbane’s most sought-after places to live. Fortescue Street is representative of these changes.

The Lady in Blue, 122 Fortescue Street
This is the former site of the Presbyterian Mission Hall. Deaconess May Walker gave forty years of her life looking after the poor and needy in Spring Hill, becoming known as the ‘Blue Angel’. She sought to alleviate the poverty and hardship she saw in Spring Hill, particularly women and children. In the 1920s, St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church constructed a mission hall on the corner of Fortescue and Wedd streets to assist with her endeavours. The hall became a community centre where those in need could go and be given food, clothing and nursing also. Now the site is residential units.

Claydon House, 149 Fortescue St [Photo: R Carlisle]

This building was constructed in 1879 by Irish bricklayer, William Jackson. Upon completion of the building, Jackson ran the unlicensed “Spring Hill Tavern” from the premises. Popular legend has it that it was so noisy and disreputable that a public petition demanded its closure in 1888.

The building was converted to a local store in the early 1900s. Renovations over the years have maintained its external heritage significance. The building is now a legal practice.

In 1968 - Colonial Cottages, 130-146 Fortescue St. The former Main Roads Building now the Johnson Hotel [Source https://www.facebook.com/ Lost.Brisbane/photos Main Roads Dept, Spring Hill, 1968. Photo - Richard Stringer]	And now, 2019 - Park Terrace [Photo: I Childs]

The row of five cottages called ‘Park Terrace’ was built between 1889 and 1890 by local engineer James Anderson as investment properties. Fortescue Street was then a well-established suburban street. Targeted at a professional clientele, the rents for each cottage may have been higher than other houses in Fortescue Street. e.g. in 1890, the cottages were home to an engineer, an architect, the secretary of the Queensland Club and a Madame Boucherville (profession unknown). By 1910, the tenants renting the cottages had changed to artisan and working class people including a shop assistant, tailoress, prison guard and a missionary. Park Terrace had fallen into disrepair by the 1970s and Spring Hill’s character and proximity to the city was increasingly valued. By 1988, all five cottages had been restored and they are still there today.

References
Early Settler Recollections of Bygone Brisbane, http://www.brisbanehistory.com/HAP_recollect.html

Saunter through Spring Hill. Brisbane Heritage Trails. Brisbane City Council https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/20150604_-_saunter_through_spring_hill.pdf
|Brisbane could rename historically racist Boundary streets, Brisbane times January 30, 2016

Dr Iraphne Childs, RGSQ President

Wild Apricot for Members is a free App for IOS (Apple) or Android phones that is very convenient for managing your RGSQ events. You can book and pay for events as well as checking your bookings. With a finger click you can ensure that all your bookings go into your calendar as a reminder, just in case you forget. How easy is that?

Download Wild Apricot for Members from the App Store and use your normal RGSQ account/password to login. Next time you open the App, it will automatically log you in. And yes - you can also pay your membership fees and update your personal profile. New features will be added from time to time.

The RGSQ website is built using the Wild Apricot web engine.

by Iraphne Childs

Many members will have known, may have worked with, or at least be aware of Dr. John Sinclair, the pioneering conservationist who spent decades lobbying to stop sand mining and logging on Fraser Island. Sadly, John died on 3rd February aged 79 after a battle with cancer.

John was born in Maryborough and formed the Fraser Island Defenders Organisation (FIDO) in 1971. In the 1970s he took the then-Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's government to court for failing to protect the natural environment of Fraser Island. With his solicitor, Mr Stephen Comino, he subsequently took a case to the High Court of Australia which overturned the decision of a Mining Warden to grant a mining lease on Fraser Island (Sinclair v Mining Warden at Maryborough (1975). John Sinclair made great personal sacrifices in the two-decade battle for protection of Fraser Island. He was left bankrupt. However, the public attention his efforts and the court cases received paved the way for Fraser Island’s eventual listing as a World Heritage-listed site in 1992 assisted by the Fraser Government’s decision to cancel export licences for mineral sands.

John gave a lecture at RGSQ Milton in February 2009 entitled “The Great Sandy Region: natural wonder of the world”. In this lecture he emphasised the geographical and biological uniqueness of Fraser Island, saying that “this fragile and beautiful region must be protected from unsympathetic development and its wilderness qualities saved from pressures on the land and surrounding estuaries”. Clearly, in 2009 he was still very concerned about the future of Fraser Island, despite its World-Heritage listing.

John’s conservation efforts have been widely recognised: in 1976 he was named Australian of the Year for his leading role in protecting Fraser Island; in 1990 he was honoured with the United Nations Environment Program’s Global 500 Award for individuals who made a significant role in protecting the environment; in 1993 he received the Goldman Environmental Prize; in 2014 he was appointed in the Order of Australia and in 2017 received an Honorary doctorate from the University of the Sunshine Coast. John’s achievements and passion for the environment will continue to provide inspiration to protect the values of our precious World Heritage Sites. His latest project was to extend the Fraser Island Great Walk by building a 52 kilometre-long George Haddock Track. Mr Sinclair's family have requested that he be remembered by donations to further the wisest possible use of Fraser Island. A public memorial service will be held in about a month.

References:

Tony Moore, Sydney Morning Herald, 4/2/19 The conservationist who stopped mining on Fraser Island dies at 79 https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/the-conservationist-who-stopped-mining-on-fraser-island-dies-at-79-20190204-p50vii.html

The Courier Mail “Fraser Island protector praised for his courage”, 6 February, 2019 Environmental Defenders Office, 5 February 2019, Remembering Dr John Sinclair AO, the dedicated conservationist who helped protect Fraser Island from mining for future generations. https://www.edoqld.org.au/vale_dr_john_sinclair_ao

A new technique for monitoring severe weather in Australia

Professor Hamish McGowan

Professor Hamish McGowan is a Geographer in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland. His research interests include meteorological hazards, earth surface-atmosphere interactions, weather and climates of Alpine and mountainous regions, the role of atmospheric dust in local, regional and global climate dynamics and palaeoclimate reconstruction.

Professor McGowan has been developing a new field of research into severe weather – in particular thunderstorm and bushfire meteorology. The research is based in eastern Australia making use of the natural thunderstorm hotspot of southeast Queensland, and the bushfire prone states of NSW and Victoria. The research is supported by partners in the Bureau of Meteorology, NSW Rural Fire Service, Victoria Country Fire Authority and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

This severe weather research is distinguished internationally by the novel use of a portable dual polarised x-band radar (UQ-XPOL). Japanese Radar manufacturer Furuno is providing technical support and software upgrades to enable new radar scanning patterns to observe storm and smoke plume dynamics. Professor McGowan believes this work will have far reaching international applications as his team develops mobile radar specifically designed for real-time wildfire observation and pyro-convective plume dynamics.

Photo: Courtesy of H. McGowan

References:

McGowan, H.A., Soderholm, J.S., Callow, N.J., McGrath, G.S. and Campbell, M.L. (2018) Global warming in the context of 2000 years of Australian alpine temperature and snow cover. Scientific Reports-Nature Publications, DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-22766-z.

McCarthy, N., McGowan, H., Guyot, A. and Dowdy, A. (2018) Mobile X-Pol radar: A new tool for investigating pyroconvection and associated wildfire meteorology. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-16-0118.1.

Dear Members, it was great to see so many of you at our Welcome evening on February 5th. The overview presentations from our special interest groups gave a good idea of what is planned for this year’s Society activities, overseas tours, treks and monthly lectures. I hope you can enjoy participating in some of these events.

The re-fitting of our new home in Level 1/28 Fortescue street Spring Hill is proceeding as planned. The Gregory House committee has negotiated with tradesmen to undertake the work we require to change the layout of the space to fit our purposes. With the Christmas-New Year holidays it was not possible to commence construction until late January. It is anticipated that the work will be completed in March. At present there is limited access to the premises, so we will have the March lecture meeting at the Lavalla Centre in Rosalie. The RGSQ office in Fortescue street will be staffed throughout and can be contacted as usual.

As always with geographical interest, we have noted the extreme weather events experienced across the globe in January-February 2019. In both the northern hemisphere winter and southern hemisphere summer climatic conditions have been more severe than those experienced at the same time in 2018. The Mid-West of the USA experienced a “polar vortex” – a super cold period with temperatures plummeting to minus 40deg. in some parts and with heavy snow drifts causing road and air transport chaos.

Australia’s heatwave January 2019; source Bureau of Meteorology

Townsville flooding. Source: ABC News, 5 February 2019

References:

Steve Turton (Geographer, RGSQ Thomson Medallist) The stubborn high-pressure system behind Australia’s record heatwaves; The Conversation 25 January 2019 https://theconversation.com/the-stubborn-high-pressure-system-behind-australias-record-heatwaves-110442

Port Augusta's hot weather record broken again; Sun Herald 24 January, 2019 https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5869116/port-augustas-hot-weather-record-broken-again/

BOM says Townsville flooding far from over, as city lies trapped in weather 'convergence' zone; ABC News, 5 February 2019 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-05/what-is-causing-record-rainfall-and-floods-in-townsville/10779032

Dr. Iraphne Childs, President

Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1819-1905) was born two hundred years ago on August 1, 1819 in Nottinghamshire, England. This year marks the 200th anniversary of his birth. Council have decided to celebrate his birth, given that he was our Society’s Foundation President and his descendants left a substantial legacy to the RGSQ in 1940, allowing the organisation to purchase its own building. However, Gregory was also a noted Australian surveyor, explorer and administrator – he was Queensland’s first Surveyor-General. Gregory also served in Queensland’s Legislative Council and was Mayor of the Town of Toowong (before its incorporation into the City of Brisbane in 1924).

A small display about Gregory’s association with the RGSQ will be created for viewing by members. Occasional Bulletin articles will outline some of his noted achievements and one of the monthly lectures will be devoted to the topic of Gregory. Interested members can also visit the Toowong Cemetery and view his grave which was restored in 1993 with support from the RGSQ.

Image: Rocketrod1960 [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

Peter Griggs

Further reading:

Duncan Waterson, “Gregory, Sir Augustus Charles (1819-1905)” Australian Dictionary of Biography.

William Kitson and Judith McKay, Surveying Queensland 1839-1945 (Brisbane: Queensland Department of Natural Resources and the Queensland Museum, 2006).

Wendy Birman, Gregory of Rainworth (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1979).

“Gregory Birthday Celebration,” Queensland Geographical Journal, Vol. 18 (1903): 117-35.

On behalf of the Society’s Council and staff, I wish all RGSQ members a happy and successful New Year in good health and prosperity.

While many of you will have spent Christmas relaxing by the beach or at home in air-con, my family and I enjoyed a snowy white Christmas and greeted the New Year in Invermere, British Columbia in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Most days the temperature reached a maximum of minus 9 or 10 deg. C. but our “Airbnb” chalet was super warm with 2 log fires and central heating.

The small town of Invermere, 800km east of Vancouver in the Columbia River Valley, has an interesting history. It is the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa and Shuswap First Nations people. In 1890 European settlers named it Copper City because of the rich copper deposits in the surrounding East Kootenay and Purcell spectacular mountain ranges. Adjacent to Lake Windermere, the town’s name was changed in 1909 to Invermere (Gaelic for “mouth of the lake).

The lake freezes over in winter enabling people to enjoy skating, ice-hockey and the Canadian game of curling, a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice towards a target goal. In this photo the locals are having a “BBQ” in a tin brazier on the ice on a Sunday afternoon !

The Columbia River valley is famous for its hot springs. We took a dip in Radium Hot Spring, just north of Invermere. Relaxing in the 39deg.C spring water while snow falls from the surrounding trees is an unusual and delightful experience.

Vancouver in winter is very rainy but we had a few fine days and saw the sights of this beautiful Pacific coast city. Canada’s 2nd largest port, Vancouver has an efficient and very user-friendly public transport system – buses, trolley buses, trains and subways. Highlights of our visit included the Museum of Anthropology located on the spacious grounds of the University of British Columbia, Grouse Mountain cable car and ski resort only 45 minutes by Seabus across the harbour and then local bus, and Capilano Gorge and suspension bridge, where the Christmas lights turned the Capilano forest into a magical fairyland.

Photos: Iraphne Childs

Best wishes to all, and I look forward to seeing you at the next RGSQ lecture night.

Dr. Iraphne Childs, President

Dear members, as 2018 draws to a close it is time to reflect on a momentous year for the Society. I would like to thank all those members who have continued to support and assist RGSQ through this year of change. Of necessity, we have been a “movable feast” in our lecture and meeting venues but have always been encouraged by members and non-members continuing to attend our excellent program of presentations. We also reflect with sadness on the passing, this year, of several long-standing members whom we remember with gratitude for their contributions to RGSQ. We now have a new home in Spring Hill which is currently undergoing some fit-out modifications. It is hoped that we can start the new year with an official opening and welcome in February.

Christmas around the world happens in many landscapes, climes and formats. Here are some interesting Christmas celebrations and feasting traditions from different parts of the world.

In Bethlehem, a star is set on a pole in the village square and Christmas is celebrated by the Protestant, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Egyptian Coptic, Syrian and Armenian churches. Services are conducted at the same time in different languages in different parts of the Church of the Nativity. Deep winding stairs lead to a grotto where there is a 14-point silver star marking the site of the birth of Jesus. Feasting includes turkey spiced with pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg, and stuffed with rice, pine nuts and almonds.

In Ethiopia Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January (Eastern Orthodox, Julian calendar). Christmas Mass takes place both in ancient churches carved from volcanic rock and also in modern churches designed in three concentric circles. Pilgrims receive candles as they enter the church and walk around the circles three times. Feasting includes sourdough pancakes and spicy chicken stew.

In Norway the Christmas gnome, Nisse, guards farm animals and plays tricks on children who forget to leave him a bowl of porridge and Julebukk, a goat-like being who traditionally accompanied the Viking god Thor, makes an appearance. Norwegian Christmas fare includes lye-treated codfish, boiled potatoes, rice porridge, gingerbread and punch.

In India Christians decorate banana and mango trees, fill churches with red poinsettia flowers, give presents to family and charities and place clay oil-lamps on rooftops and walls. Christmas foods include Jalebi cakes, Mathri flaky biscuits and spicy coconut sweets.

In Canada, in Nova Scotia, descendants of Scottish highlanders sing carols and belsnicklers (masked mummers) ring bells and go from house to house seeking treats such as maple cream cookies. In British Columbia Christmas turkey may be accompanied by smoked salmon, with a dessert of Christmas pudding with brandy sauce – most like an English Christmas.

Reference: http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm

Maybe you’d like to try some of those dishes – even bring some to our RGSQ Christmas gathering!☺ – on Tuesday 4th December at the Lavalla Centre, Paddington.

Meanwhile, can you identify the geographical origin of these Christmas greetings?

Feliz navidad, Selamat hari natal, Nadolig Llawen, Zalig Kerstfeest, Mele kalikimaka, Buon Natale, Craciun fericit, Joyeux Noël, Merii Kurisumasu, Nollaig shone dhuit, Wesolych Swiat Bozego, Narodzenia, Idah saidan wa sanah Jadidah, Frohliche Weihnachten, Shengdan jie kuai le, Kala Christougena, Nollaig chridheil, Schastlivogo Rozhdestva!

Find out if you are correct at the Christmas party! I hope to see you there.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas, good health and happiness, peace and prosperity in the New Year.

Dr Iraphne Childs

The Australian Geography Strategic Plan, launched November 22, says "Australia should enhance & capitalise on existing skills/expertise in geographic information systems (GIS)/big data to address the challenges of our region & the emergence of the ‘China Century’”.

RGSQ is a sponsor of the plan, with Dr. Iraphne Childs, RGSQ President, who represents the Society on the Australian Academy of Science National Committee, attending the launch of the strategic plan in Sydney on 22 November.

The plan presents the state of play of geography as a discipline in Australia, provides a unified vision for Australian geography over the next decade and offers a framework for engaging research, teaching and industry that aligns strategically with contemporary social, economic and environmental challenges of our region.

Addressing twenty-first century problems of sustainable development, climate change, regional development, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss necessitates an increasingly whole-of-government, industry and academia approach. The breadth and depth afforded by geographical understandings to these problems strongly positions Australian geographers to provide evidence-based research—informing and advancing innovative policy and practice. Given the need for an integrated approach, it is recommended that Australian governments at all levels better understand how Geography as a discipline enhances complex, multi-sectoral policy decisions by integrating knowledge across natural and built environments, society and the humanities through its unique perspectives of space, place and the environment.

Key recommendations in the plan are:

• That the significant role that Geography plays in schools, universities, research organizations, government and industry, and the contribution of the discipline to Australia’s society and economy, is enhanced;
• That the work of Australian geographers is increasingly cited and referenced in policy and strategic documents;

• That there are a greater number of scholarships for graduate geography students to pursue research in government priority areas;

• That the National Committee for Geographical Sciences works with the Australian Academy of Science and other stakeholders to enhance school geography education (for example, by encouraging or making compulsory geography study to Year 10);

• That the Australian Bureau of Statistics recognises Geography as a discipline in both the Fields of Research Codes and the Field of Education Codes. Not doing so places Geography at a disadvantage compared to other disciplines, weakening its identity both within and outside universities.

Reference: National Committee for Geographical Sciences (NCGS),Australian Academy of Science, Canberra

Dysfunctional path dependence in mid-century dairy farming on eastern Australia’s subtropical coastlands: case studies at Moruya and Copmanhurst - a perspective on some historical fieldwork

Emeritus Professor John Holmes, UQ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and RGSQ past-President 1995-97, has long researched aspects of Australia’s rural land use. His dedication to the field Geography was triggered by his BA Honours degree at the University of Sydney in 1950, when travelling by Jeep to the Gulf and Peninsula regions with Australia's first Ph.D. awardee (David Simonett). David undertook a pioneering land systems classification and mapping while John enquired into the challenges of isolation confronting the cattle stations.

The key concept of path dependence seeks to explain how choices made on assets, labour skills and organisational habits shape and “lock-in” patterns of economic action. The fieldwork reported here on the demise of dairy farming in the Moruya and Copmanhurst districts of coastal NSW, was conducted in 1952-54 while John was teaching at Maitland Boys High School. This work was towards an Honours Masters thesis from Sydney University. Some of the challenges of doing geographical work back then included: no funding for fieldwork or higher degrees, lack of technical support for drawing complex maps and diagrams and hand copying large amounts of field data onto foolscap sheets which then had to be analysed without the aid of computers! 

After a gap of almost 50 years, Professor Holmes has been prompted to revisit and publish this work (recently submitted to the journal Geographical Research) by noting that some of his thoughts on path dependence have currently become fashionable among evolutionary economists and economic geographers who have adapted it to explore patterns of regional growth and decline.

The entrenchment and prolonged dysfunctional survival of low-cost, low-income, labour-intensive dairy farming on the subtropical coastlands of eastern Australia was a potent case of path dependence. At both Moruya and Copmanhurst, the dairy industry comprised a core of long-term stable producers, located mainly on the more accessible and productive alluvial soils, together with a fluctuating number of marginal producers. The dairy farmers’ “locked-in” economic activities were founded on: the initial rural settlement imprint; the structure of farm enterprises; lack of alternative income sources; the culture and capabilities of farm families; environmental and locational disadvantages; integration within transport, processing and marketing infrastructure; proactive policy support by state and federal governments and preferential trade to an overseas market. The demise of dairying was delayed in part by the industry’s exceptional survival capabilities and the lack of any viable alternative farming staple. Its exceptionally rapid collapse in the 1960s and 1970s was triggered by its inability to undertake the needed reinvestment in response to on-farm and off-farm technological change which occurred on the more productive dairy lands in cool temperate zones in New Zealand and southern Australia. The two case studies here revealed insights into the dynamics of rural change and evolutionary economic geography.

Fieldwork equipment in 1950s comprised a 1938 Chevrolet coupe sedan, basic gear for camping and sustenance, camera, reporter’s notebooks and biros. Source J.H. Holmes

1952 photo of Bergalia cheese factory (a production-oriented land use) which closed in 1951. Source: J.H. Holmes

2010 John Holmes, with Moruya’s last dairy farmer one year prior to the closure of his dairy. Source: J.H. Holmes

by Professor John Holmes