ARCHIVES UPDATE

About Feature Image

The feature image in this issue was photographed in the 5s 1973 and compared to now in 2016.  As you can see over the years the tan bark has raised the ground level somewhat and the climbing frame is perhaps not as tall.

Archives Update

The Preshil archives work is ongoing. In the last eighteen months we have sorted and indexed over 50 boxes of documents, notebooks and objects. These include school registers, lists of staff, students and parents; notes to staff and families over the years for the life of the school; school council and Preshil Association records, curriculum information, many papers on the foundation and principles of the school, and many writings of Margaret E. Lyttle. We have also established separate family files for papers relating to individual people. A great deal of work remains to complete document filing and to identify and store many photographs.

Commemoration Plaque

Last year we warmly welcomed Michael Mészáros, an ex-pupil and son of Andor Mészáros, a distinguished Melbourne sculptor. Michael, carrying on his father's tradition, kindly returned to Preshil recently to clean and rewax the commemoration plaque. He also spoke at length to the children about his work, his local studio where he still casts today and his time at Preshil as a child.

The history of the plaque, at present attached to the middle level classrooms at Arlington, is as follows, as far as can be ascertained. The plaque was taken off the original prefab when it was demolished and is now attached to the building that replaced it. 

Due to a shortage of building materials after WWII, the original prefab building was purchased from England, having been built in an ex-aircraft factory in Bristol. A building fund was set up within the school community and many fundraising activities took place before the building could be purchased. After many months of planning, the building arrived by ship and was erected in the school grounds exactly where the current building is placed.

On 7 October 1950 the building was opened, with some fanfare, and dedicated as a memorial to the Children of Britain. It is probable that the fundraising had the focus of children due to it being for a school room, and Britain was seen as the mother country which had suffered terribly.

Andor Mészáros designed the plaque with the heads of two children and the wording "IN MEMORY OF THE CHILDREN OF BRITAIN VICTIMS OF WAR 1939 - 1945". According to Michael, the names of the children were Flora McDonald, cast about 1940, and Bill Bottomley, cast about 1950. The children probably had no Preshil connection but were chosen to represent all children.

The work was created by casting the background plate with the lettering, casting the medallions separately and then bolting the medallions to the backing plate. The whole work is bronze. It was installed about 1951 or 1952.

Preshil families who were closely involved in this activity included the Turnbull, Wilson and Grierson families, all of whom are still active in the Preshil community today.

For further details about Andor Mészáros (1900 - 1972), the Australian Dictionary of Biography has an extensive entry. 

A Mammoth Hair

One curious item that we have found in the archives is an envelope containing a hair (in several pieces) of a 30,000 year old mammoth. The envelope states that it was presented to Alan Marshall in 1964 by a Professor of Palaeontology from the USSR. Alan Marshall will be remembered as the author of "I Can Jump Puddles" and was a regular visitor and friend of the school. We have a high level of confidence in the accuracy of this story based on professional advice. We will update you further on this find in future editions.