Previous Find of the Month May 2022


May 2022

Australian Capital Territory Fire Brigade

Mounted photographs and certificate

We featured the Canberra Fire Brigades Daily Occurrence Registers in our March Find of the Month, the books that record the daily activities of the Canberra Fire Brigade. All these registers can now be viewed and downloaded online by visiting our recently launched ACT Memory online database. While researching the March article our staff discovered another small companion series to the daily registers which we are now presenting as our article for May. The series is made up of just five items of framed or mounted photographs and a certificate. These items will also be added to ACT Memory, described under series ACT14. As you read on you will notice that there is some uncertainty as to actual dates, names and descriptions of some of the items. This reflects the lack of detail attached to the items, so we would welcome any information that might help us add to the descriptions that we currently have for these items in ACT Memory.

1 – Hotchkiss appliance.

It is thought that this photograph was taken in 1924. The Canberra Fire Brigade received its first motor powered engine in this year, a converted Hotchkiss chassis that operated as both a fire engine and ambulance throughout the 1930’s. The Daily Occurrence Books first entry for 23 June 1924 shows the weekly roster for the brigade included Chief Fire officer P F Douglas and Firemen W Maloney, J Skelton, G May, W Boyd, D Brown and B Crowe i. It can’t be said with any certainty whether these are the men pictured above, but it is likely that at least some of these firemen are shown.

2 – Fire brigade training exercise c1920.

While there is no caption on the card that this photograph is mounted to, it is possible this training exercise took place at Government House Yarralumla. There wouldn’t have been many residences in Canberra at the time that the brigade could test out their ladder at its full extent. One can only marvel at the different skills required to be able to balance a limp body on your shoulder while descending this rather lengthy timber ladder.

3 – Archibald (Archie) Hamilton.

The daily occurrence register for 5 October 1944 noted that the ‘brigade regrets the passing of Fireman A. Hamilton. Died 6PM WED 4th.’ This is followed up with an entry on the same day that reads;

3PM – Dennis appliance with A/S/O Bailey, K. Kearney, J Prendergast, N Malone, R Watson, F Munce and G Lomax left to attend cortage of late Fireman A Hamilton at St Johns Church of England. i

Archibald Hamilton was a Senior Firefighter with the Canberra Fire Brigade from 1926 to 1944. He suffered a workplace injury that resulted in him losing part of his leg. Following further complications to the injury he passed away on 4 October 1944 ii. His portrait photograph was obviously framed sometime after his passing and presumably at some point hung on the walls of the Forrest fire station. We can’t however be sure when the actual photograph was taken.

4 – Membership certificate - National Fire Protection Association.

The National Fire Protection Association is an international organisation that was based in Boston, Massachusetts in the USA at the time this certificate was issued. Its International Operations Department still works to promote worldwide use of its technical and educational information i. Perhaps the most interesting parts of the certificate are the illustrations depicting the history and development of various firefighting methods and equipment.

5 – NSW Country Fire Brigade Demonstration.

At first glance this photograph seems out of place in this series of records and its connection to the Canberra Fire Brigade is unclear. The caption is also somewhat misleading. Prior to the second World War the Board of Fire Commissioners of New South Wales ran a series of Volunteer Fire Brigades Demonstrations. Reports of these events give the impression that the ‘demonstrations’ were approached more as competitions, with country fire brigades from throughout New South Wales participating.

Keen interest was manifested throughout the whole of the proceedings, events were well contested and record times established, Narrandera Brigade being successful for the third time in succession in winning the trophy for the highest aggregate points in all events i

On 28 February the Hon. G C Gollan MLA, who is likely the gentleman standing with the cane in the front row of this photograph, officially opened the 1939 event which ran until 4 March. The Daily Occurrence Register that covers this period shows that the normal routine of the Canberra Fire Brigade continued while the demonstration was being held, so it is unlikely that the Firemen from the ACT attended. In addition to the competitions, the programme of events included a screening at the Savoy Theatre of ‘Pygmalion’ for Commissioners and Demonstration officials ii, a ‘torchlight procession’ of competing firemen in full uniform iii and a reception for Fire Officers at the Carrington Hotel in Katoomba. Among the dignitaries welcomed to the reception by the Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, T J Smith, was Canberra Fire Brigade’s longest serving Chief Officer Percival (Percy) Douglas iv. It is therefore likely that Chief Officer Douglas is also one of the men in the front row of this photograph, which would explain why the photograph is now in the custody of the ACT Government.

Photographs used

1 – ArchivesACT - ACT14 - LF-524 - Canberra Fire Brigade - 1924 Hotchkiss fire engine with Canberra Fire Brigade
2 – ArchivesACT - ACT14 - LF-523 - Canberra Fire Brigade - Practice rescue operation
3 – ArchivesACT - ACT14 - LF-527 - A A Hamilton - Senior Fireman - Canberra Fire Brigade - Deceased 4 October 1944
4 – ArchivesACT - ACT14 - LF-526 - National Fire Protection Association international - Membership certificate for Chief Fire Officer - Canberra Fire Brigade - May 1940 
5 – ArchivesACT - ACT14 - LF-525 - NSW Country Fire Brigade Demonstration - Katoomba - February 1939

References

i ACT2-2022/272 - ACT Fire Brigade (ACTFB) - Daily Occurrence Register - Book 1 - 23/06/1924 - 09/09/1926 and ACT Fire & Rescue – 100 years of service to the ACT community - https://esa.act.gov.au/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/ACT-Fire-and-Rescue-100-year-booklet.pdf

ii ACT2-2022/134 - ACT Fire Brigade (ACTFB) - Daily Occurrence Register - Book 40 - 20/07/1944 - 17/02/1945

iii ACT Fire & Rescue – 100 years of service to the ACT community – pp15-16 - https://esa.act.gov.au/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/ACT-Fire-and-Rescue-100-year-booklet.pdf

iv Website – National Fire Protection Association - https://www.nfpa.org/About-NFPA/International - accessed 28 April 2022

v Parliament of New South Wales – Thirtieth Annual Report of the Board of Fire Commissioners of New South Wales for 1939 – https://media.opengov.nsw.gov.au/pairtree_root/72/b0/a3/08/0d/97/83/12/75/6f/cb/d9/e7/62/15/8f/obj/document.pdf - accessed 29 April 2022.

vi Blue Mountains Daily – Firemen’s Demonstration - Savoy Theatre Night – p2 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194477997

vii Katoomba Daily – Fire Brigade’s Demonstration – Arrangements Completed - p1 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190124112

viii Blue Mountains Daily – Reception at the Carrington – p2 - http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194479327

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