October 17 will mark 60 years since prime minister Robert Menzies braved particularly windy conditions at Regatta Point to "inaugurate" Lake Burley Griffin.
Over the next month there are many festivities planned to celebrate our beloved lake's diamond jubilee, including Float Your Boat, a colourful regatta on October 20, and Lake Life, a knock-out new exhibition at the National Capital Authority Visitor Centre. Heck, there's even a sunset season of "stories from the depths" cruises to be hosted by a certain akubra-clad columnist.
In his speech, Menzies poignantly stated "but it's what is around the sheet of water that helps beset the beauty of the lake".
And he's right. This includes the lake's six islands including the three named islands of Spinnaker, Queen Elizabeth II (formerly Aspen, and home to the carillon), and the biggest of all - Springbank.
While some of us have paddled around the 3.64-hectare isle and others have flown over it in a hot-air balloon, most Canberrans have never set foot on Springbank, let alone are aware of its special place in our city's history.
The island and immediate surrounds were one of the longest continually farmed parts of the ACT from the early 1830s until 1961, just prior to the removal of Springbank Homestead and its outbuildings to make way for the rising waters of Lake Burley Griffin.
The list of families who've toiled away at Springbank reads like a who's who of Canberra's pastoral families including the MacPhersons, the Sullivans and the Kayes (twice). You can also throw in the Cunninghams of Lanyon fame for good measure.
The original property, all 260 hectares, was officially selected in 1831 by John MacPherson, some believe as a reward for his role in the capture of an unnamed bushranger, possibly John Tennant (yes, of the mount fame). MacPherson had lived on the site since 1829 and with Joshua Moore, who owned adjoining Canberry Station as an absentee landlord, most historians label MacPherson as the first resident European farmer in the area.
Springbank was eventually carved up into four different parcels of land, each under control of a different family until, in 1889, William Sullivan bought all separate leases. The Commonwealth resumed Springbank shortly after Sullivan died in 1911 and leased the property to Charles Kaye in 1924 whose sons George, Joseph and Gordon operated a booming dairy business until the homestead was demolished in 1961.
Of course, before Europeans arrived, the alluvial flats and floodplains of the Molonglo were rich in resources for Indigenous people. It's location at the foothills of Black Mountain and the Molonglo River flats has long been recognised as an important meeting place. In fact, an archaeological dig conducted by ANU in 2015 uncovered a larger than expected number of artefacts which long pre-date European settlement, including a stone scraper.
Like many remote stations in 19th-century Australia, the homestead wasn't just home to pioneering families but also was used as a hub for the growing local community. In fact, as devout Catholics, and with the closest church in Queanbeyan (a long buggy ride), the Sullivans occasionally held religious services in the Springbank homestead.
A school also operated at Springbank for a couple of years in the 1880s. Although there were unique challenges for students to attend. Alastair Crombie, curator of Hall Heritage Centre Bush School Collection, reports "children from south of the Molonglo had to cross the river by fords, which the inspector had to concede were impassable even to adults on foot for about two months of the year".
But the risk of drowning wasn't all those intrepid kids of the Molonglo floodplains had to worry about. "The leaseholder of [adjoining] Acton Station, Arthur Brassey, sought sixpence per child per year for right of passage and threatened to deny it if there was misbehaviour." Gee, a toll to get to school. Who'd have thought.
Then there were bushrangers. Marylou Pooley recalls her grandmother Annastacia Walsh regaling her with stories that when travelling to school in the 1890s with her sister Pauline (granddaughters to William Sullivan) they "would duck their heads in their buggy in fear of bushrangers".
Of course, the bushranging period was well and truly over by the time the Walsh sisters were crossing the Molonglo floodplains, but it's clear from this story that the threat, at least perceived, was still at the forefront of their minds. Maybe it was a tactic imposed by parents to ensure the kids didn't stray enroute to school.
Marylou has an undated photo in her family album of Annastacia and Pauline in a buggy with their pet dog, although it's likely taken after the sisters had left school and were in their late teens. Analysis of the photo by Tony Maple of the Canberra Region Heritage Researchers indicates the photo was taken about 250 metres to the north-west of the curly end of the red Uluru Line in the National Museum of Australia carpark. "If you look closely, you can just make out the lower slopes of Black Mountain behind and to the right of the homestead," reports Tony. The hills directly behind the sisters are Dairy Farmer's Hill (now part of the National Arboretum Canberra) and the knoll is where those much-loved Himalayan cedars were planted between 1917 and 1930. "You can also see a few other buildings to the left which may be the two-storey dairy that once stood at Yarralumla," reports Tony.
Imagine if at the time the photo was taken the two sisters were told that their family home of Springbank would one day become an island on a man-made lake - the centrepiece of the national capital.
I wonder what the next 60 years holds for Springbank Island?
Floods, a golf ball, and historic artefacts
Springbank before the lake: The original property extended over an area now bounded by University Avenue in the north, Clunies Ross Street to the west, the ANU School of Arts to the east and the Molonglo River to the south. The area also included the first Canberra racetrack, part of the original Federal Golf Course (before it moved to Red Hill) and a large part of the present ANU campus.
Digging up the past: In 2015, an ANU archaeological dig on Springbank Island uncovered 26 lithic and 266 historical artefacts. According to Dr Duncan Wright, associate Professor at the ANU School of Archaeology and Anthropology, "the lithic artefacts confirm the past use of the area by Aboriginal people and indicate that stone tool manufacture was carried out on site and along the nearby former banks of the Molonglo River". Items that could be dated to the Springbank homestead occupation included hand-wrought, cut and wire nails (1788-1893), purple glass fragments (1840s-1880s) and industrial slip-decorated ceramic fragments (1780s-1850s). A golf ball and tee reflected evidence of the use of the space as a recreational area in more modern times. Dr Wright further reveals "the thumbnail scraper was a composite tool that may have been a barb on a spear and that may have been brought from outside the district, potentially pointing to Canberra's status as either a trading or meeting point".
Not the first time an island: The devastating 1852 flood was the main reason the Kaye family first moved away from Springbank. According to historian James McDonald in Canberra II. Colonisation 1824- 1861 (Sorely Boy, 2023) "when the great flood came and they [the Kayes] lost everything and their island [homestead precinct] became an 'ark', along with hundreds of snakes and other unwelcome creatures, it all became too much".
WHERE IN CANBERRA?
Rating: Medium - Hard
Clue: Yes, that is a jetty you can see through the pine trees
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email received after 10am, Saturday September 21 wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.
Last week: Congratulations to Maureen Marshall of Nicholls who was the first reader to identify last week's photo as a heritage (and sadly not working) bubbler on the corner of Paterson and Baker streets in Ainslie. Maureen recognised the relic by the clue of "in the sunrise shadow of a well-known Canberra hill", which she correctly deduced referred to Mount Ainslie. "I then searched on Google maps for footpaths that were at intersections and at right angles," reveals Maureen, adding "It did help that I worked as a cartographer and so I really enjoy looking at maps." Does anyone know if there are other antique bubblers in Canberra's older suburbs, or it is the last one standing? Oh, and when did it last work?
ISLAND FROLIC
While these days it's rare for Springbank Island to host large events, that hasn't always been that way. Do you remember either of these following performances? If so, I'd love to hear from you. Even better if you have photos.
Fairytale Fun: In autumn 1971, six shows of Alice in Wonderland were staged on the island. The Canberra Times of February 23, 1971 reported the production was "certainly the most original, if not the most ambitious, undertaking timed for Canberra Week ... and involved audiences in a series of ferry lifts to and from the hospital jetty, Acton". Ahhh, those were the days.
Concert Crowd: In February 1983, more than 500 jazz fans were ferried to the island for five hours of continuous music. According to The Canberra Times of February 13, 1983, "the concert, organised by the Canberra Festival Committee, was attended by a foot-tapping, jigging and bouncing crowd ranging in age from babes to old-age pensioners. The island provided an ideal venue for the concert and the crowd, many wearing screenprinted T-shirts and jerseys depicting previous jazz concerts, were easily accommodated in the large tree-encircled bowl of the island." C'mon fess-up, I know some of you reading this were there. You can admit it.
SIMULACRA CORNER
Marie of Kambah snapped this photo of an unusual intruder lurking in her front yard. "This tree stump is clearly an old man wearing a funny hat," she reports. "You can even see his chin, his tongue sticking out, his nose and his eyelashes."
- CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au/ or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601
