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A Century of Service 1912-2012
Founded as the Queensland Wattle Day League
Open Minds
66 Annerley Road
Woolloongabba
Queensland 4102
07 3896 4222
[email protected]
www.openminds.org.au
ISBN: 978-0-9874344-1-8
Front cover: Queensland League founder, Mrs Josephine Papi (left), Chairman, Mr Seabrook and
Secretary, Mrs Campbell (right) pictured in 1919.
2
Contents
Contents ........................................................................................................................................................3
Messages of Support ...................................................................................................................................4
Foreword ......................................................................................................................................................6
Timeline ........................................................................................................................................................7
The emergence of the Wattle Leagues ....................................................................................................10
A Wattle Day for Queensland .................................................................................................................12
The League during the First World War ................................................................................................14
The Wattle League scholarships..............................................................................................................20
The role of women in the League............................................................................................................27
Wattle Day ..................................................................................................................................................30
Between the wars: 1918-1939 ...................................................................................................................38
League Presidents: 1912 - 1944 ................................................................................................................42
The League during World War Two ......................................................................................................44
The Wattle League revived ......................................................................................................................46
The Wattle League Workshop .................................................................................................................52
The people behind the League ................................................................................................................56
The League in the 1970s............................................................................................................................61
The 1980s – survival and growth ............................................................................................................64
Becoming Open Minds .............................................................................................................................67
One hundred years in perspective ..........................................................................................................69
Presidents/ Chairpersons ........................................................................................................................70
Patrons ........................................................................................................................................................71
Secretaries ...................................................................................................................................................72
Treasurers ...................................................................................................................................................73
Timeline ......................................................................................................................................................74
Office Locations .........................................................................................................................................80
Selected bibliography ...............................................................................................................................81
References ...................................................................................................................................................82
3
Messages of Support
4
5
A Century of Service 1912 - 2012
Foreword
Along the way, we were helped by some
prominent Brisbane people including
Governors, Ministers and Mayors. But it is
ordinary people who have ensured the
organisation is still here to celebrate this
important anniversary. The various Board
members, staff, clients, family, funders and
volunteers who shaped the Wattle League
represent a group of remarkable people.
Some of whom overcame significant
challenges to make their contribution.
As we approached our centenary, the Board
of Open Minds initiated a project to
research our history. What we discovered is
a fascinating story of the growth and
development of our organisation that
coincides with the growth and development
of our city, and our strong association with
the golden wattle which is a part of the
Australian coat of arms
Founded as the Queensland Wattle Day
League, we first funded art scholarships
then helped soldiers returning from World
War One. After funding further
scholarships the organisation reinvented
itself as a membership group to help
disabled people. A workshop was run for
twenty years before we became more
focussed on mental health services and
changed our name to Open Minds.
Our centenary is a chance to celebrate all
that we have achieved and is also a time to
reflect on the challenges that still face our
clients in establishing a life of choice,
fulfilment and participation.
We began as the Wattle League and one of
the characteristics of wattle is its capacity
for resilience and regrowth. The history
document you hold shows the resilience
and regrowth of both this organisation and
those with whom we work.
I am confident Open Minds will keep
growing as it enters its second century of
service.
Mike Gilmour
Chair of Open Minds
6
Timeline
1910s
The Queensland Wattle Day League
is formed in 1912 . Their first art
scholarship is won by Daphne Mayo
but the needs of servicemen
returning from World War One
become the main focus.
1912 – Brisbane general strike begins.
1916 – First ANZAC day parade
(pictured) is held in Brisbane.
1920s
(State Library of Queensland, Image no. 39805)
The League continues to raise money
to help former soldiers before
funding a second international
scholarship won by architect Robert
Percy Cummings.
1925 - Twenty municipalities and shires
amalgamate to form the City of Brisbane.
William Jolly (pictured) is the first
Mayor.
1930s
Wattle Day gradually becomes more
focussed on schools. Further arts
scholarships are provided for study
within Australia.
1930 - Brisbane City Hall completed.
1936 – First set of traffic lights installed
in the city.
7
1940s
Money is donated to war relief
during the Second World War. The
League transfers money to an art
group to continue the scholarships.
1940 – Story Bridge completed.
1940 - Cloudland Dance Hall opens.
1942 - The city becomes South West
Pacific headquarters for General Douglas
MacArthur.
1950s
The League is reconstituted with a
focus on the needs of disabled
people. After a difficult start,
membership grows and Lady Cilento
is appointed as patron.
1954 - Queen Elizabeth 2 visits Brisbane
(pictured).
1960s
A workshop is established to provide
work and rehabilitation for
‘handicapped’ clients. The name of
the organisation is changed to
Queensland Wattle League for the
Disabled.
1964: The Beatles play Brisbane.
1968 – Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson elected
Queensland Premier.
1969 – Tram network closes.
(Brisbane City Council: BCC-DVD5-24)
8
1970s
For the first time, subsidies are
received from Government. An
Activity Therapy Centre is set up to
work with those not able to
participate in the Workshop.
1974 – Serious flooding hits the city
1978 – Merivale Railway Bridge
completed linking South Brisbane with
Roma Street Station.
(Brisbane City Council: BCC-CD56-06)
1980s
Tough times and change as the
Workshop closes and the League
struggles to survive financially.
Determined fundraising and
promotion saves the organisation.
1982 - Commonwealth Games hosted in
Brisbane.
1988 – Expo ’88 held at South Bank.
1989 – Boggo Road jail closes
1990s
(National Archives of Australia: A8746, KN22/11/82/108)
Wattle League launches a supported
employment service andparticipates
in P300 program to help people move
out of institutional care.
1992 – South Bank Parklands opens on
the site of Expo ‘88
1996 – First City Cat begins operation.
2000s
The League changes its name to
Open Minds and moves to
Woolloongabba. Significant growth
is achieved with many new services.
9
The emergence of the Wattle Leagues
Prominent citizens looked to indicators of
nationhood in other parts of the world and
one aspect that was noted was the selection
of a flower or plant as a national symbol.
England had its rose, Scotland had the
thistle, Canada had adopted the maple leaf
and some began to suggest that Australia
required a similar representation. The
emergence of wattle as that emblem began
long before the Wattle Leagues were formed
and was initially championed by those
interested in botany and nature.
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Neg: 44385
I
n the late 1800s, moves towards
Australian Federation were underway.
Nationalism was growing amongst
Australians, the majority of whom were
now Australian born.
The very first recorded example of public
use of wattle is thought to be in Hobart in
1838 where organisers of a regatta requested
Mr Archibald James Campbell - founder of a
that participants wore silver wattle 1. In 1889,
“Wattle Club” in Victoria in 1899.
William J Sowden, President of the Adelaide
branch of the Australian Natives
Melbourne Photographers Club and
Association, proposed a ladies society to be
advocated honouring wattle day on the first
known as the Wattle Blossom League where
day of spring each year4.
members would wear wattle or a wattle
A Sydney Wattle Day
badge 2. This group was
League was created in 1909
quite short lived but
Wattle
was
first
championed
as
following a public meeting.
helped establish the
national
emblem
by
those
The following year saw the
idea of giving
formation of Wattle Day
interested in botany and nature.
prominence to wattle.
Leagues in South Australia
In 1899, a “Wattle Club” was formed in
and Victoria. The first Wattle Day
Victoria by naturalist, Mr Archibald James
celebrations were held in September 1910 in
Campbell. For several years the club
Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne. A
organised ‘bush outings’ on the first day of
Queensland League followed in 1912.
spring 3 (1 September). In 1908, Campbell
gave a talk entitled “wattle time” to the
10
An early success for the movement was
enjoyed with the addition of wattle on the
Commonwealth Coat of Arms in 1912
(pictured) 5. Wattle Day achieved near
national acceptance at the Australian Wattle
Day League Conference held in January
1913 in Melbourne 6.
Wattle gained support as national flower for
a number of reasons. Firstly, it was
recognised as being
present throughout
Australia with
particular varieties
and a prominence
only seen on this
continent. Also, the
bark was important
commercially at the
time as it was used in
tanning processes.
Perhaps most
significantly, its flowering was seen as a
sign of spring.
The Wattle Leagues ensured that Wattle
Day became an annual event in most states.
The celebration grew and wattle increased
its connection with nationhood during
World War One. School celebrations of
Wattle Day became a significant celebration
of Australian patriotism.
By World War Two though, most Leagues
had run their course. As we will see, the
Queensland Wattle Day League revived and
re-invented itself in the fifties but others
remain as historical memories. They did,
however, leave a lasting legacy. Today, the
wattle tree and its colours of green and gold
are recognised as symbols of Australia –
both officially and in popular culture and
sport.
The first official move towards recognising
wattle as a national symbol actually took
place long after the formation of the
Leagues. In 1984, the Governor-General
proclaimed Australia's
national colours to be
green and gold after the
wattle.
On 1 September 1988,
after significant
lobbying, the Federal
Government also
declared Golden Wattle
(acacia pycnantha) as
Australia's national
7
floral emblem . Finally, in 1992, the first of
September was declared Wattle Day by
Governor-General Hayden. 8
The fact that many Australians already saw
wattle as the national emblem and green
and gold as the colours, long before they
were made official was surely a result of the
work of the Wattle Leagues. Their
promotion of Wattle Day in the press and on
the streets, combined with the celebrations
in schools, ensured wattle had a place in the
hearts and minds of most Australians.
11
A Wattle Day for Queensland
A
s Wattle Leagues were formed and
began to capture the public
imagination in other parts of
Australia, a small group of individual
Queenslanders considered the best way to
replicate the emerging movement.
Mrs Josephine Papi is recognised as leading
moves to mark Wattle Day in Queensland
following a visit to “the south”. 9 Papi was a
member of the Brisbane Women’s Club and
enlisted the support of that body in
promoting Wattle Day. She also gained the
backing of the Field Naturists Club and the
Australian Natives Association.
A meeting to encourage the celebration of
Wattle Day in Queensland was held in
Brisbane Town Hall on 4 October, 1912 10.
The Mayoress of Brisbane, Mrs A J
Raymond, presided. The Mayoresses of
South Brisbane, Windsor and Hamilton
were also present. A letter was received
from Lady MacGregor, the wife of the
Governor, confirming her willingness to act
as patroness.
It was agreed that a Queensland branch of
the Wattle Day League should be formed
and money raised for the establishment of a
Wattle Day Scholarship. The scholarship
Queensland League
founder Mrs Josephine
Papi (left), Chairman
Mr Seabrook and
Secretary, Mrs
Campbell (right)
pictured in 1919. Photo
courtesy Susan Papi
12
proposal is credited to Mrs L M Bond and
was an innovation by the Queensland
League. Those present formed themselves
into a provisional committee, and it was
decided to hold a public meeting.
The meeting was held on Monday 21
October and saw the official inauguration of
the Queensland Wattle Day League. Mr
John Frederick Bailey chaired the meeting
and was elected President. The group
adopted the constitution and rules of the
New South Wales League.
“... one day in every year all
people, rich and poor, shall
proclaim themselves
Australians and Australian
Britons, and wear on that day
the golden wattle as their
emblem.”
Queensland Wattle Day League
subscriptions Appeal from 1914.
Initially it was planned to use the first £50
for an art scholarship and the rest for school
scholarships. However the school
scholarship plan was later abandoned due
to “technicalities” and it was decided to
focus on assisting “art and musical students
of limited means to further their studies.”
The first Wattle Day in Queensland was
held on Saturday 16 August 1913.
Volunteers collected and sold sprigs of
wattle. Displays were presented at Town
Hall and at some local business and stores.
Citizens were encouraged to fasten a sprig
of wattle to their lapels, a message
circulated widely through The Brisbane
Courier and other local newspapers.
Altogether, 15 000 badges were sold and
£157 was raised.
In 1913, the League invited submissions for
its inaugural scholarship to be judged at the
Royal Academy in London by artists,
Herbert Dicksee and Harold Parker. Five
entrants were considered for the prize
which was ultimately awarded in 1914 to
sculptor, Daphne Mayo. The scholarship
provided for study in London, however, the
onset of World War One intervened and
travel plans were put on hold.
Aims of the Queensland Wattle Day
League





Official recognition of Golden
Wattle as the floral emblem of
Australia
Establishing Wattle Day as
‘Australia’s Day’.
Cultivating a love of the plant
amongst school children.
Planting and caretaking of
wattle trees.
The establishment of an art
scholarship.
13
The League during the First World War
A
s the terrible impact of World War
One became apparent, it was
impossible for the League to ignore
the plight of those returning from the
conflict. From 1915, all of the League’s
fundraising efforts were devoted to helping
soldiers, sailors, and their families 11. The
decision to donate to wartime relief had a
significant and long lasting impact on the
direction and activities of the League. Wattle
Day continued though and soon became
recognised as a patriotic fundraising event.
During 1915, collection proceeds were
donated to help injured soldiers and to fund
the Red Cross Recreation Hall at Kangaroo
Point. In 1916, the League moved to raise
funds to provide artificial limbs.
Rehabilitation from loss of limbs was an alltoo-common requirement for returned
servicemen, made more difficult by the
Government’s initial failure to provide
artificial limbs. At the time, affected
servicemen paid for sets of limbs themselves
through automatic deductions from their
pension. The compounded effects of injury,
loss of income and additional medical
expenses took a heavy toll on servicemen
and their families.
Interestingly, part of the Leagues motivation
in providing the artificial limbs was as a
way of enabling returned soldiers to work
and support themselves. A similar outlook
would be taken by the League in the 1950s
when it opened a workshop for the
disabled.
War victims abroad were not forgotten and
in 1917 over £1,100 was donated over to the
“Franco-Queensland League of Help for the
destitute women and children of France”.
Lady Goold Adams commented at a public
The League funded and
equipped an
Orthopaedic Ward at
the Rosemount
repatriation hospital
for injured soldiers in
Windsor. Here,
members visit the ward
in 1919. Photo courtesy
Susan Papi
14
meeting on 4 July 1917
that “Anything we could do
to help to re-establish this
gallant race was well done”.
“Australia has become a nation,
she has had her baptism of
blood and tears, and she, too,
has her national emblem, the
golden wattle blossom.”
Building work was
underway by mid 1918
and the new hospital was
opened in October 1919.
Following advice from the
Although all fundraising
War Council that the
was dedicated to
funds raised for artificial
wartime relief, not all
limbs were now sufficient,
League objectives were
From an address by Mrs J
the League resolved to
forgotten. Schools in
Kingsbury, President of the
devote further collections
particular were
National Council of Women at
to the establishment of an
encouraged to take part
the annual meeting of the
Orthopaedic ward.
in Wattle Day during the
Wattle League, 1917.
Brisbane lacked such a
war years. Members of
facility at the time, and
the League gave talks
medical professionals saw this as a major
and provided badges. Pupils were told of
gap in the effective treatment of severely
the importance of loving their country, their
maimed and shell shocked soldiers. It was
flag and the wattle.
agreed to fund the building and fitting-out
of a specialised Orthopaedic Unit at the
Wartime fundraising
Rosemount Military Hospital in Windsor.
Again, the aim of rehabilitation and
employment featured with Vice President
Dr W N Robertson arguing that improved
facilities would “house and treat maimed men
to enable them to earn a livelihood, and that
workshops be established where men could learn
an occupation offering some prospect of a living,
the education and treatment to run together.”
These were described as a “curative metal
workshop and boot-repairing workshop”
offering a direct parallel with the workshops
for the disabled that were later run by the
League. The mental well-being of amputees
was also noted as requiring attention.
A second collection day was held in
September 1917 to kick start the Rosemount
fund. This was aided by a decision by
Federal Government in 1918 to fully fund
artificial limbs, thus allowing the remaining
balance of the artificial limb fund to be
directed to the hospital.
1915: £763 for the “Courier” Wounded
Soldiers Fund and £762 for the Red
Cross Recreation Hall at Kangaroo Point.
1916: £736 to create a fund to provide
artificial limbs to soldiers.
1917: Over £1,100 to the “FrancoQueensland League of Help for the
destitute women and children of
France”.
1917 & 1918: £3993 donated to construct
and equip the Rosemount Orthopaedic
Hospital.
1919: A further £1,938 was raised for
additional equipment and ongoing
maintenance of the hospital.
The total of £9292 above represents
approximately $648,000 in today’s
money.
15
When the war ended in 1918, the League felt
it had to continue to provide money for
former soldiers and the upkeep of the
hospital. The impact of the war had a huge
impact on the young nation and the
importance of supporting the returned
troops outweighed any arguments to
support the arts.
In some ways, the League suffered from
being taken off course from its original
objectives by the war. From another point of
view though, it was the war that made the
League. Its patriotic message about wattle
and nationhood chimed with the mood of
the country at the time and moved the
League into a much more central position in
the hearts and minds of Queenslanders.
Below: The Wattle League committee
photographed on a visit to Rosemount Hospital
on 3 July 1919. Not all those present are named
but League President; Mr Seabrook is in the
front centre. Right of him is Mrs Campbell
(secretary) and immediately left of him is League
founder Mrs Papi. The two men in military
uniform are Colonel Sutton (Principal Medical
Officer for Queensland) and Major E V Meehan
(Medical Officer of Rosemount). (Photo:
courtesy Susan Papi)
16
Newspaper coverage of
League fundraising eforts
during World War One.
The top picture shows the
Recreation Hall funded
by the League. It was part
of the Immigration Depot
at Kangaroo Point which
was temporarily
converted into a
convalescent hospital.
The lower two pictures
show the Orthppaedic
Hospital built and
equipped by the League.
17
Rosemount Hospital
The photograph on this page shows some of
the Rosemount Hospital facilities. The
newspaper extract below gives a sense of
the type of rehabilitation offered by the
hospital which, at that time, was new and
innovative:
“ The visitors were shown the needle baths,
hot and cold baths, and whirlpool baths
where the water is agitated and strikes
against the limbs of the patient. Hot air and
electricity are also a part of the treatment.
There is a big room, not fully fitted up,
provided for hot air treatment.
"After massage and electrical treatment...
comes the gymnasium.... another big room
fitted with all sorts of gymnastic apparatus
for very gently developing stiff limbs.
Particularly interesting were the
ingeniously devised machines for gradually
rendering more flexible stiff knees, or ankles,
or wrists that would not work easily. In
order to demonstrate a patient sat in a chair
fitted with elaborate metal parts. His thighs
were held down fast by a portion of chain,
and his ankles were put into stocks, so to
speak, while, by turning a handle with his
aim, he was able to gently exercise a stiff
knee. Similarly a stiff ankle could be
exercised by placing it in a sort of universal
joint which could be worked by the hand or
by the leg and ankle itself. There were
various devices for giving gentle exercise to
hand, ankle, hip and wrist.”
(Australian War memorial: HO2251).
18
19
The Wattle League scholarships
T
he early history of the Queensland Wattle Day League was shaped by war. The
organisation was formed to promote wattle and fund scholarships but within two years
of their first meeting Australia was drawn into a war that required the League to rapidly
alter those priorities. From 1915, all fundraising was dedicated to helping soldiers and their
families. Even when the war itself ended in 1918, the League continued to help servicemen and
it was not until the 1920s that thoughts returned to scholarships.
Despite this, the League actually managed to make massive contributions on both fronts. Not
only did they make a major contribution to returned servicemen, they also helped launch the
careers of several prominent artists. This continued with local scholarships that were awarded
during the 1930s and early 1940s and this chapter looks at some of those scholarship recipients.
Daphne Mayo
Daphne Mayo was born in
Sydney in 1895 and raised in
Brisbane. She developed a
passion for the arts and
enrolled in Brisbane Central
Technical College, aged
sixteen.
She was tutored by Godfrey
Rivers and achieved critical
acclaim for work exhibited in
the Queensland Art Society’s
annual exhibition of 1913
and 1914. Also in 1913, Mayo entered the
competition held by the Wattle League for a
Travelling Art Scholarship.
In 1914, Mayo was declared the winner. The
scholarship initially provided three years of
study in London. However, the onset of war
halted these plans and, instead, she worked
for local stonemasons gaining valuable
experience. She later spent six months
studying at the Ashton Art School in
Collectors pictured at the stall at the
(old) Town Hall on Brisbane's second
Wattle Day, 24 July 1914.
Scholarship winner, Daphne Mayo,
dressed as a wattle maid, is at the
front.
20
Sydney. During this
time, Mayo also worked
as a volunteer with the
Red Cross.
On 13 August 1919,
Mayo finally departed
for London after being
entertained by the
Wattle League at a
farewell tea party
presided over by the
Mayoress of Brisbane,
Mrs C P Buchanan.
Mayo was presented
with an autograph
album to carry with her
on her travels.
Mayo’s success was a source of
huge pride. The Mercury (a Hobart
newspaper) summed up this
feeling on 5 February 1924:
“In England, where competition is
keen, and the population is so
huge, it is only the first-rate people
who become well known. This is
chiefly why we have a justifiable
feeling of pride when we hear of
Australians distinguishing
themselves on the other side of the
world. It is interesting, therefore, to
hear of the successful career of a
young Queensland girl, especially
since she was at one time the pupil
of Mr Godfrey Rivers, who is well
known in Hobart.”
The Daphne Mayo
collection at the
University of
Queensland Fryer Library contains
many letters between Mayo and her
family and friends that span her
career. A letter from her father at the
time of her departure gives very
fatherly advice: “be discrete on the
voyage and don’t miss the boat when
you are on shore en route.”
and went on to travel in
Italy and France in 1924.
As part of the conditions of
her scholarship, Mayo sent
work back to the League in
Brisbane. These were
displayed in the city (in the
window of Beale and Co)
amid growing pride in her
achievements. The
Governor of Queensland,
Sir Matthew Nathan,
enjoyed a private viewing
of the work at the home of
League Secretary, Mrs
Campbell. 12 The work was
subsequently handed over
to the Queensland art
Gallery.
Mayo enrolled in the Royal
Academy of Arts in London and in
1920, was admitted to the Sculpture
School where she won the Royal
Academy’s Landseer Scholarship
and Bronze Medal in 1921 and two
Silver Medals in 1922. In 1923, Mayo
won the Gold Medal and the
Edward Stott Travelling Scholarship
Right: A telegram from League President
Maurice Baldwin congratulating Mayo on
winning a Gold Medal in 1923.
(UQ Fryer Library)
21
Recognising increased costs of living in
London, the League agreed to help provide
additional funds and allocated £150 in
1921. 13 In 1922, supporters of Mayo and the
League donated additional money to extend
her scholarship from three to four years. The
Mayo family contributed £50, The Governor
himself donated £10 and the Queensland
Government agreed to match funding
pound for pound up to £75. 14
Mayo cut her European travels short and
returned to Brisbane when her brother died
from the effects of wartime gas poising in
1925. Although unfortunate, this timing
worked in Mayo’s favour as Greater
Brisbane had just been created with the
amalgamation of local shires and councils. A
new City Hall was planned and there was
nobody better qualified in Queensland to
take on the decorative Tympanum
envisaged for the building.
Work on the City Hall Tympanum involved
a studio being set up on the roof where
Mayo worked for almost a year. On
completion, Mayo continued her career with
a variety of commissioned and noncommissioned work. She also continued her
relationship with the League including an
appointment as a Vice-President in 1932.
In addition to her own artistic works, Mayo
was a tireless advocate for the arts and
received an OBE in 1959 15. She worked with
her great friend, Vida Lahey, to improve the
funding and perception of art in the State.
Mayo was also instrumental in securing the
bequest of her former teacher, Godfrey
Rivers, to provide a trust benefitting the
Significant works by Daphne Mayo
1925: Bust of Sir Mathew Nathan, former
Queensland Governor
1926: Frieze at Tattersall’s Club
1927-30: Brisbane City Hall
1929-32: Queensland Women’s War
Memorial in ANZAC Square
1934: Panels at Mt. Thompson
Crematorium
1940-42: East doors at State Library of
New South Wales
1959: Jolly swagman at Winton
1964: Sculpture of Major General Sir
Thomas William Glasgow
Pictured right: Mayo in 1914 with an early
work – Winged Victory of Samothrace.
22
Queensland Art Gallery. Mayo herself often
acted as purchaser for the trust and is
credited with acquiring many of the items in
the current gallery collection.
In later years, Mayo moved to Sydney but
her final major public work was in Brisbane
in 1964 when she completed the sculpture of
Major General Sir Thomas William
Glasgow.
Mayo effectively retired from public life in
1973, moving to a nursing home in 1979
before her death in Brisbane in 1982. Her
work and her passion for the arts are still
highly regarded and was the subject of a
major exhibition at Queensland Art Gallery
in 2011.
Below: Daphne Mayo carving the Town Hall
Tympanum and the the finished carving
pictured recently.
23
Robert Percy Cummings
By the mid 1920s, the League was in a
position to offer a second scholarship. Mr R
F Whitcombe who supervised architectural
students in the Works Department wrote to
the League advocating a travelling
scholarship for architecture. After some
discussion, the League agreed to provide
£250 for the first two years but the final £250
for a third year was
raised by a collection
within the profession.
Robert Percy Cummings
was the eventual winner.
Cummings was born in
September 1900 at Kelvin
Grove, Brisbane. His
interest in architecture
was sparked when he
worked in the timbermanufacturing firm of
Brown & Broad Ltd. He
enrolled in Brisbane’s
Central Technical College
where he took evening
classes from 1916
onwards. From 1919 to
1923, Cummings worked
as an architectural
draftsman for the
Commonwealth War
Service Homes Commission before winning
the scholarship in 1924.
The scholarship enabled Cummings to
study for three years (1925-1928) at the
Architectural Association School, London,
where he was awarded a Diploma of
Architecture. In 1927, he was awarded the
Rome Scholarship in Architecture, and
resided for two years at the British School in
Rome, prior to becoming an Associate of the
Royal Institute of British Architects in 1928.
After some time spent travelling, he
returned to London and accepted an
invitation to join the staff of the
Architectural Association.
Cummings returned to
Brisbane towards the end of
1930. He recalls that the
timing was difficult as he
had developed good
prospects in London
whereas recession was
limiting opportunities back
in Queensland. However, the
terms of the scholarship
required his return and he
also notes that his father was
unwell. 16
During the mid-1930s,
Cummings was the director
of Architecture at the Central
Technical College, the same
place where he himself had
commenced study some
fifteen years earlier. He also
worked in private practice as
a partner in Lucas and
Cummings. Their commissions included the
First Church of Christ on North Quay in
1939 and extensions to the Binna Burra
Lodge in Lamington National Park.
Much of Cummings’ later career took place
at The University of Queensland, first in the
24
Faculty of Engineering and then in the
Faculty of Architecture, established in 1948.
The Faculty of Architecture appointed
Cummings Foundation Professor in 1949.
A collection of material from Cumming’s
diaries is contained at the University of
Queensland Fryer Library. In these, he
recalls that: “the Queensland Wattle League, in
collecting funds, and awarding firstly the
scholarship for overseas study to Miss Daphne
Mayo, and later the scholarship in architecture,
were innovators”.
In fact, Mayo and Cummings worked
together in the Queensland Art Society
raising money for a gallery and served
together as Trustees of the Queensland Art
Gallery. Both also maintained their
connection with the Wattle League.
Cummings was an advisory Vice President
of the League in 1932-33 and served on the
committee with Mayo in 1935.
Governor at the time Sir
Mathew Nathan was clear in
expressing the expectations
being placed on Cummings:
“you will thus help the great
purpose – the advancement of
truly Australian art – to which
the League, after some
wanderings towards social
work, has now definitely
returned. We wish you true
success and that much
happiness may attend the hard
work that alone can lead to it”1
Cummings was also warned to
avoid “idleness or misconduct”!
Further scholarships
Following Cummings success, there was
discussion and pressure for a third
travelling scholarship but this never
materialised. Eventually it became clear that
the League would have to make do with a
scholarship for study within Australia.
In 1936, the League introduced a new arts
scholarship in conjunction with the
Queensland Technical College. The
Scholarship was based on a Queensland
wide examination of freehand drawing that
was conducted by the Education
Department. The top six scoring candidates
in that exercise were required to submit
further work for consideration by members
of the League.
The ‘prize’ would be worth £50 annually to
the winner and facilitated study at the
College. It could be extended to a second
year if the quality of work submitted was
deemed to be outstanding.
The following were awarded scholarships:
•
•
•
•
•
1937 & 38 - Mr Wyclif Huston
1939 – Miss Betty Quelhurst
1940 – Miss Barbara Abbott Cottam
1941 – Miss Marie Ethel Young
1942 – Miss Jacqueline Boxall
A number of the winners enjoyed success in
the arts. Wyclif Huston later transferred his
studies to Sydney where he won the Philip
Muskett Prize two years running. The prize
25
was awarded on the decision of the director
of the National Art Gallery in Sydney.
Betty Quelhurst emerged as a particularly
prominent artist and technically won two
Wattle League prizes. Once in 1939 from
the Wattle League itself and again in
1949 from the Half Dozen Group of
Artists who took over the running of the
art scholarship after a transfer from
League funds.
In 1948-49 Quelhurst studied under
William Dargie at the National Gallery
School Melbourne. While in Melbourne
she received the 1949 Half Dozen Group
of Artists' Travelling Scholarship
allowing her an additional year's study
in Melbourne.
Having saved for years, she was able to
finance her own European study in
1951-52, where she visited galleries and
studied in Paris. After returning to
Brisbane she taught art at various
schools and colleges in the city.
In 2000 she featured in an exhibition for
International Women’s Day by the
Queensland Art Gallery. A larger
retrospective was mounted at the Gold
Coast City Art Gallery the following
year. The Betty Quelhurst Fund was
established at QUT Art Museum in 2005
to enable purchases of work by
contemporary Australian women artists.
The Art Scholarship did not exist in
isolation of the war either Jacqueline
Boxall’s 1942 entry is a poster
recruiting for the Australian Imperial
Force (AIF)
There was one last significant success for the
Wattle League scholarship programme.
Using money provided by the Wattle
League, the 1947 Half Dozen Group of
Artists Scholarship was awarded to
Margaret Cilento who also enjoyed a
successful art career.
26
The role of women in the League
A
lthough all pre-war Presidents were male, the real leadership of the League came from
a group of remarkable women. The founder of the League in Queensland, Josephine
Papi, was a fundraiser for many other groups and active in sports clubs. Secretary Mrs
Campbell organised the Wattle Day collections during the most successful years and first
scholarship winner, Daphne Mayo, blazed a trail as a sculptress at a time of limited female
involvement in art. Although not necessarily vocally promoting women’s rights in their work,
they were certainly pushing boundaries.
Josephine Papi
Mrs Josephine Papi was the first Secretary of the Queensland Wattle Day
League and remained active in the organisation until shortly before her
death in 1925. She is recognised as the driving force behind the
establishment of a Wattle League in Queensland using her connections
with the Brisbane Women’s Club and other organisations to build support
and attract committee members.
The Papi family were prominent in Brisbane at the time. Josephine was
married to Dr Fernando Cantu Papi who was a teacher and school
inspector. Dr Papi worked at schools in Goodna, Toowoomba and at
Woolloongabba Boys‘ State School (later Dutton Park Boys‘ School). He
was headmaster at Bowen Bridge school from 1910 until his retirement in
1921. Bowen Bridge moved during his tenure and was renamed Windsor State School in 1916.
Fernando was also a trustee of the Art Gallery.
Both Josephine and Fernando were strongly community minded and Mrs Papi, in particular,
was noted for her philanthropic work. Before establishing the League, she was an enthusiastic
fundraiser during the Boer War, raised money for the Brisbane Industrial home and organised
the first fancy dress ball for the Brisbane Children’s hospital.
She founded the South Brisbane Croquet Club in 1902 and the former South Brisbane croquet
headquarters on Cordelia Street was named "Josephine Papi House'. That building is now used
as a Community Hall by West End Community House. She also participated in the Brisbane
Ladies’ Cycling Club.
Fernando and Josephine had two children. Their son, Bertram Papi, became a lawyer and their
daughter Amy Papi was regularly mentioned in the newspaper social columns before her
marriage in 1914.
27
Mrs Campbell
Marie Campbell was born in Denmark and arrived in Australia at the
age of seven. She served as Wattle League Secretary for over 15 years
and was the central figure in the organisation of Wattle Day. She led
her collecting teams with gusto and her stalls were regularly the most
successful on Wattle Day.
As well as the League, Mrs Campbell worked for other good causes. In
one year alone (1916) she is noted as leading collecting teams for the
ANA flag and badge day (£176), Belgium Day (£358) Wattle Day (£284), Queensland Day (£141).
Her obituary notes that during World War Two, she made garments for British victims of the
Blitz. She received a King George V Silver Jubilee Medal for her services.
In his diaries, Robert Cummings, recalls her contribution to the League: “Her enthusiasm,
energy and dedication to the work of the League for many years was a great factor in the success
in the collecting of funds for both patriotic purposes and for the two art scholarships.” 17
Not only was Mrs Campbell central to the formation and early success of the League; she also
played a vital role in the transition to a revived League in the 1950s. She was the author of a 1949
letter to the newspaper urging a reformation of the Wattle League and we will see later that a
meeting with Doris Thain inspired Thain to re-establish the League.
She died at the age of 84 in 1954, but not before moves were underway to reinvent the League.
Mrs J Williams
A name that appears regularly on the list of Wattle League office bearers
is Mrs J Williams. She is further evidence of the central role of women in
the organisation and the boundaries that they were pushing in their
work for the League and in their own lives. She was a Vice President of
the League from the start in 1912 and remained so until 1944.
She was noted as an active temperance worker and represented the
Women’s Christian Temperance Union on the National Council of
Women. She was also President and a Vice President of the National
Council of Women. Alongside Mrs. Papi, she was a member of the
Brisbane Women’s Club.
She was one of the first women to advocate the appointment of female
Justices of the Peace so it is fitting that she herself was appointed a JP in 1931.
28
Mary and George Marchant
Mary Marchant was a Vice President of the Wattle League. She
was married to businessman and philanthropist, George
Marchant, and their story gives a further insight into the type of
people involved with the League.
The following information is reproduced with kind permission of
Chermside and Districts Historical Society.
George was born in England in 1857 and arrived alone in
Australia in 1873, sixteen years old with 30 shillings. In 1877 he
married Mary Jane Dwyer, a dressmaker, who became his life
long co-worker in all he did and in 1886 they bought a ginger beer
manufacturing business in Spring Hill. George invented and
patented a bottling machine which became widely used in
Australia and overseas. They expanded interstate with factories in
Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Newcastle. A feature of their management was their care of
the employees with whom they shared the profits.
In 1899 the Marchants bought the 100 acre paddock that is today's Marchant Park which they
used as a spelling area for their delivery wagon horses. When the Rev H M Wheller was
planning a garden settlement for elderly people at Chermside, George Marchant stepped in to
help by donating 25 acres and £12,000. His continuing interest and help was such that when the
settlement was ready to open in 1936 it was decided to name it after Marchant, but he objected
to his name being used as part of the Settlement's name - "leave my name out of it just call it 'The
Garden Settlement'" he commented.
Having made a large fortune they spent much of it helping others. As
opponents of the liquor trade the family gave the large sum of $82,000
to build the Prohibition League's Canberra hotel in inner city Brisbane.
They financially supported the Queensland Society for Crippled
Children by donating their home, Montrose in Taringa, as a training
home for crippled children. They cared for World War I ex-servicemen
and established a Kindergarten for early education of young children.
Mary Jane Marchant died unexpectedly of a brain haemorrhage on the
15th December 1925. When George Marchant died in Brisbane on 5th
September 1941 aged 84, the remainder of their fortune was
distributed among many charities.
29
Wattle Day
F
rom 1913 to the early 1940s, most of
the fundraising activity for the
League focussed on Wattle Day.
On the day, lady collectors would offer
sprigs of wattle or badges in return for a
donation. Items such as flags, badge, sweets,
souvenirs and fruit were also sold from the
stalls. Early collections were enhanced with
car processions and prizes given for the
most effectively decorated cars. Some years
included street entertainment and musical
performances.
Stalls were located across the city and the
list of collecting areas is a reminder of times
past in Brisbane. For example, Wattle Day
on 8th July 1932 included sites at the G.P.O.
opposite the Customs House; Kodak
Building, Stewart Dawson Corner,
Wattle Day 1914
30
Australian Hotel Corner, corner of
Queen and George Streets, and in
front of Lennon’s Hotel. In other
years, places like Courier corner,
Finney’s Department store, Smiths
corner and South Brisbane Town Hall
(now part of Somerville House
School) hosted stalls.
League Secretary, Mrs Campbell was
central to the organisation of the day
and often staffed the most successful
stall. The sheer logistics in arranging
collectors, badges, wattle and press
coverage must have been quite an
undertaking. In the early days, few
people had telephones and regular
meetings had to be held to organise
the event.
Wattle Day was quickly established in
the minds of Queenslanders and the
decision to support returned soldiers
during the First World War ensured a
patriotic response. The League was
undoubtedly successful in fostering
national sentiment through its
activities. A 1922 article in the
Brisbane Courier (only ten years after
the League was founded in
Queensland) gives a sense of this:
“Wattle Day, perhaps more than any
other festival, is the one which makes a
strong and direct appeal to patriotic
sentiment, not only because of the
associations which are brought to mind by
the fragrant little flower which grows in
luxuriance and variety in nearly every
part of our island continent, but also
because of the fine record of achievement
which has been established by the Wattle
31
Day League in collecting funds for commendable
purposes." 18
A later Brisbane Courier article on Wattle
Day (8 July 1932) shows the widespread
recognition of the importance and purpose
of the League and its
activities:
“To a country in which
art is not cultivated as it
should be, the recipients
of the scholarships bring
back the results of their
studies in lands where
the best possible tuition
can be obtained, and
where that tuition itself
is the result of
experience going back to
the very beginnings of
art.” 19
Later Wattle Days saw efforts focussed more
exclusively on schools and combined
fundraising and promotion of wattle to
pupils. At its peak, 120 000 Wattle badges
were ordered for the annual fundraising
efforts with 100 000+ going to schools. 20
School children tended to donate one penny
on Wattle Day and lessons were geared
toward promoting the study of nature.
A 1928 report on Wattle Day activities in
Frenchton gives a sense of the day: “From 11
o’clock till noon an excursion was made across
country to the properties of Messrs G R
Nevendoriff and A Boughen. Where wattle
grows abundantly, and the children returned
laden with the bloom, which was then used to
decorate the school within and without.” 21
Day when Upper Brookfield was still a
farming community in the 1930s. She said:
“There were special days like - Arbour Day was
tree planting day. That was a picnic day.
Everybody went up the creek looking at the birds
and the creek and that, and then you came back
and had your basket picnic
for lunch. The parents
would come. There was
always Wattle Day, when
the wattles came out. The
wattle flower and that; that
was always a special day. It
was always mentioned at
school and you always took
sprays of wattle to school to
give to one another.”
Edith was also
interviewed during the
course of this research.
She remembered Wattle
Day fondly, partly as it was a change from
the usual school routine. Black, gold and
silver wattle grew in the area and they
would collect it the day before. Some would
be brought for the teacher and a sprig
pinned to each lapel. On the day, the class
would walk up the creek next to the school
and have morning tea as a picnic.
Wattle
Day badge
from 1913
Brookfield History Society as part of their
own research work recorded lifetime
resident Edith Smith talking about Wattle
32
As early as 1930, it was reported that
members felt the poorer returns from the
street collections were not worth the
significant efforts and by 1939, it was noted
in the Courier Mail that no collections were
planned. Wattle Day in schools carried on
for a little longer though even featuring on
the front page of the Courier Mail in 1939
(pictured).
Although Wattle Day did indeed fall out of
fashion, versions of the celebration did
continue in some schools. More recently,
Wattle Day has since made a comeback of
sorts especially after the first of September
was declared Wattle Day in a proclamation
by the Governor-General In 1992.
It appears that Wattle
Day was in decline
across Australia. The
lack of a street
presence on wattle day
was the subject of
comment in The
Advertiser (SA) on
Wattle Day 1939 (14
July). In the year that
world war two began,
the writer commented:
“Wattle Day as one of
our outward institutions
has disappeared. Maybe
the big national days
born of the Great War
have overshadowed it. Or
perhaps Australians are
too prone to take their
country and its emblems
for granted. That is not a
comforting thought in
days when the swastika
and other symbols are
being venerated almost to
adoration in other parts
of the world.”
33
Wattle Day outside Brisbane
Although Wattle Day was focussed on
Brisbane, efforts were made to encourage
other Queensland towns to take part. This
met with varying degrees of success but
did see Wattle Day activities replicated in
a number of areas over the years. A long
lasting variant of the League operated in
Rockhampton and donated money to what
is now the RSPCA (pictured). That
appears to be the only area in Queensland
where a Wattle League operated for more
than a few years.
Between 1914 and 16, Wattle Day activities
were reported in many country towns
including Gatton, Toowoomba, Bundaberg,
Crow's Nest, Maryborough, Marburg,
Beenleigh, Charleville, Wynnum, Warwick,
Toogoolawah and Mount Morgan.
In 1917 Mrs Williams, Vice President of the
League, visited Cairns to encourage
participation. Another ‘tour’ in 1922 saw
Secretary Mrs Campbell travel with Mrs
Williams to establish branches at Mount
Morgan, Rockhampton, Bundaberg and
Kingaroy. The Women’s Auxiliary of the
Returned soldiers and Sailors league in
Maryborough agreed to act as a branch.
Goomeri was also visited where a branch
had already been formed.
In the end though, it was really the schools
activity that ensured a Queensland wide
reach for the League. Support from the
Education Department
meant all schools were
encouraged to participate
and lessons were devoted
to nature and
nationhood. Pupils also
gave a donation for a
badge and this became a
vital source of income for
the League.
34
Wattle League activities as seen in the
Queensland in 1914
35
The following transcript of a Brisbane
Courier article paints a vivid picture of
Wattle Day, July 1916:
WATTLE DAY.
OBSERVANCE IN BRISBANE.
LARGE AMOUNT RAISED.
Wattle Day was observed in Brisbane
yesterday in spirited fashion, and as a
practical result the funds for the Wounded
Soldiers and the Red Cross Society will be
considerably benefited.
The making up of the financial
returns could not be completed last
night, and therefore a definite
statement us to the total amount
secured could not be gained, but
a rough computation placed it
at £1000.
Unfortunately the weather,
which was dull in the
morning, turned to rain
about mid day, and
sufficient showers fell
during the afternoon to
make the streets very
sloppy,
and
the
conditions
disagreeable for the
hundreds of ladies
who both in city and
suburbs worked most devotedly
and successful on behalf of home and
Empire.
Coming right in the midst of the wattle
season, as yesterday's celebration did, there
was an abundance of the fragrant golden
blooms on hand, and this together with
wattle day badges, and the various patriotic
emblems which have become so familiar
during the past few months met with ready
sale at the numerous prettily decorated stalls
in the main streets and by ladies who,
daintily attired, plied their worthy vocation
through the streets, on railway stations, and
at tramway termini; in fact, everywhere
there was a chance of making money.
A feature of the celebration was a parade of
decorated motors through the city during
the afternoon, a score of vehicles, including
massive lorries, being pressed into the
service. The decoration of these was
marked by not a little artistic taste and some
novelty in design. A stately white swan,
driven by Mr. J. S. Badger, was the
cynosure of all eyes, and was
deservedly awarded a
special prize
for
the
originality
of design.
The
first
prize fell to
Mr. T. G.
Johnston,
whose
car
carried a wellarranged tableau
emblematic of the
Australian nation
in militant mood,
with a figure of
Victory holding a
laurel bay.
Mr. F. East secured
second prize with a car
boldly
decked
with
national
flags and embellished with
wattle and streamers and third place was
awarded to Mrs. A. H. Whittingham, whose
car was gracefully treated with wattle and
pink roses. Another striking turnout was
that of the Wattle Pierrots in Mr. T.
McKee's car.
36
The procession was led by a motor lorry
containing an orchestra of ladies playing
national airs under the direction of Mrs. T
B. Steele and Miss Bruce-Nicol, followed
by another lorry manned by members of the
Caledonian Society, who to the skirling of
pipes, danced nimbly.
The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company
of J. C. Williamson Ltd, was represented in
another car, and sang patriotic choruses,
and, like the occupants of other cars,
collected from the crowd in aid of the good
cause.
An object of interest outside the General
Post Office was a group of members of the
A.A.M.C from Enoggera, who gave
demonstrations of how to bandage a
wounded comrade.
Among the numerous stalls dotted about the
city, and prettily decorated, was one at the
Town Hall, presided over by the mayoress
(Mrs. G. Down) and Lady Rutledge;
another at His Majesty's Theatre, under the
control of Mesdames Holmes a'Court,
Stuart Leishman, and Mrs. Gilbert Wilson;
a third in the "Courier" vestibule, where
Nurse Cross's little dog, dressed in Red
Cross uniform, collected busily, was
supervised by Mrs. M Baldwin and Miss St.
Ledger.
An effective group of khaki-clad ladies,
headed by Mrs. H. G. Twamley, had charge
of a stall at Stewart Dawson's corner and the
Caledonian stall in Albert square was
attended to by Mrs. Erskine, Miss Andrews,
and assistants, while Mrs. J S Bidgel and
bevy of ladies traded with the big white
swan as their headquarters; Mesdames C.
Campbell and H. M. Russell were
responsible for a stall at the corner of Queen
and George streets; and a stall at the
General Post Office was controlled by
Mesdames Hargreaves, J Maddison, and E J
Todd.
A quantity of violets forwarded from
Toowoomba were greatly appreciated, and
met with a ready sale. At Toowong and
Auchenflower good work was done by the
Toowong branch of the Red Cross Society,
under Mrs C Patterson (mayoress), the sum
secured being £32/7/7/, while at West End
over £10 was collected through the energy
of the ladies under Mesdames F Sault and F
Hilton. Particulars of the amounts secured
at the various stalls in the city were not
made available last night.
CHARLEVILLE July 16
Wattle Day was celebrated today in aid of
the Wounded Soldiers' Fund. Gaily
decorated motors were driven round the
town, and Mrs. Carter (mayoress) and a
band of helpers canvassed the town.
BEENLEIGH, July 16
Wattle Day was celebrated in Beenleigh
today Mr Walter T Clarke (head teacher)
arranged with a number of the school
children to sell wattle blooms. The girls
plied their calling with great enthusiasm,
and nearly every house in the town was
visited.
The school children themselves purchased
penny sprays. A sum of £3/13/ was realised,
and this amount will be devoted to the funds
for the wounded Australians.
The individual sales were as follows--Mona
Nixon £1, Lilian Donald 14/6, Connie
Hammel and Elsie Simmonds 9/6, Ruby
Krobs 7/9, Esme Cramp and Winnie
Johnston 8/10, Ruby Schafer and Dorothy
Sadler 4/, school children, pennysprays, 8/5.
37
Between the wars: 1918-1939
Anzac Day, Brisbane 1919 (State Library of Queensland, Image no. APE-020-01-0012)
T
he end of the war in 1918 allowed
Daphne Mayo to begin her
scholarship in London and she left in
August 1919. While many in the League
hoped to return to providing scholarships,
the effects of the war were still being felt
and further contributions to support
servicemen were made for many years after
the fighting finished.
This dilemma between returning to the
original aims of the organisation and the
ongoing needs of former soldiers was to
characterise the operations of the League
well into the 1930s. The global depression of
the late 1920s only added to their problems
as fundraising became much more
challenging and the needs of servicemen
became more acute.
The early years of the 1920s still saw some
significant amounts raised on Wattle Day. In
1920, £270 was raised for a Bursary Fund for
the benefit of children of soldiers and
sailors. Funds totalling £283 were raised in
1921, and shared between the Brisbane
Institute of Social Services and the Mayo
Scholarship Fund. The institute of Social
38
Service was a based in the
Valley and aimed to "improve
the conditions of the industrial
classes".
The fundraising tension
was eased when the
Government increased its
support for Rosemount
Hospital. This freed funds
raised by the League in
1923 to fund the
Architectural Scholarship
awarded to Robert Percy
Cummings in 1924.
In 1922 the League raised over
£1,100 for the Distressed
Diggers Fund which was
administered by the Brisbane
Courier. The money itself was
then distributed by the
Returned Sailors and Soldiers
Association (RSSILA) –
forerunner of the RSL and an
organisation that would
become close to the League in
the following years. A Brisbane
Courier article from 1922
describes their work:
The League had also
moved in 1923 to refocus
its attention on other
objectives of the wattle
movement, including
efforts to stimulate a love of
the wattle in the minds of
school children. The League
sponsored an essay
competition which was
supported by the Minister
for Education allowing
submissions to be composed
during normal school hours.
Miss Veronica Connolly, a 13 year old pupil
of the Newmarket State School was
awarded a special prize. Her final
paragraph read:
Daphne Mayo sent two
sculptures back from London
as part of her scholarship
requirements , including this
one which was donated by the
League to Queensland Art
Gallery.
“Yesterday morning a "Courier"
representative spent half an hour
or so at the rooms of the League
<RSSILA> in Elizabeth Street,
and listened to some of the
applications for assistance. The experience was
depressing.
“To those who are not conversant with the
scheme of relief it may be stated that every
application is fully investigated, and assistance
is not given unless the circumstances fully
warrant it. Money is rarely handed over, the
usual method being to make out an order on
tradespeople for groceries, meat, vegetables,
firewood, clothes, boots, etc. Tools are also
provided where necessary. At the clothing depot
in the Q.T.C. Buildings, Petrie's Bight,' a
number of ladies distribute articles to those who
have received orders from the secretary of the
R.S.S.I.L.A. On an average 40 cases a day are
dealt with..” 22
“In the schools, one of the happiest days in the
year is Wattle Day, when the wattle, which
showers glory inside our schoolrooms, seems to
rival the sun outside. Is not this flower a fitting
emblem for a young nation, whose lands have
been won by hard honest toil, for a land flowing
with milk and honey, for a country with such
vast, industrial possibilities, for young
Australia? No other country, I am sure, has such
golden possibilities in front of her, and certainly
no other country has a more fitting emblem.” 23
39
More challenging times for the League were
heralded with a difficult year in 1925. Their
active supporter and patron, the Governor
Sir Mathew Nathan retired; and three
prominent supporters died.
Mr Godfrey Rivers, a founding member
and tutor of Daphne Mayo passed away in
February while on a visit to England. Mrs
Papi, the founder of the Queensland League,
died in November after
a period of illness. And
Mrs Marchant died in
December, just
following a farewell tea
held by the League to
wish her well on a
planned visit overseas.
Probably as a result,
Wattle Day 1926 was
reported as being “not
as successful as could have
been wished.” 24
summarised the ongoing pressures for the
League in balancing the desire to promote
the arts with the obvious needs within the
community of returning servicemen:
“Mr Richardson said the men whom they were
assisting were good men, who did not want a
dole, but were forced to accept assistance after
they had tried earnestly, and in vain, to get
work. While art was a very fine thing, they must
first think of the starving.”
At the 1923 Annual Meeting,
In response, Mrs J Williams
(Vice President of the
League at the time) said that
while it had not been
decided how to distribute
the following years funds,
she felt it would be “hardly
humane” to devote it to
anything else when there
were women and children
“practically starving in this
country”.
In June 1927, the League
Unfortunately, the following
League Patron, Governor Sir
received an appeal from
years proved to be very
Matthew Nathan commented:
the Sailors’ and
difficult for fundraising.
Soldiers’ Fathers’
“We want to be proud of
“Without exception the poorest
Association who were
Australian art as we are of
result we have experienced
critically short of funds
since 1912 when the collections
Australian nature…
and it was decided to
were instituted” was the
particularly of Australian
fundraise to help
verdict of League Secretary,
human nature.
families of returned
Mrs. Colin Campbell in 1928.
men rather than an
initial aim of funding a National Art
Further difficulties were experienced with
the death in November 1928 of Mr Maurice
Gallery.
Baldwin, the President of the Wattle League.
Speaking at the Annual Meeting of the
Mr S H Richardson emerged as President
Queensland Wattle League, the President of
bringing the Fathers Association and the
the Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Fathers’
League still closer together.
Association, Mr S H Richardson
40
Wattle League Committee pictured in 1921
In 1930, £500 was given to the Father’s
Association from funds remaining in the
Rosemount Hospital account. From Wattle
Day that year, two thirds of the proceeds
were given to the Lord Mayor’s Fund for the
Relief of Families in Distress and the
remainder kept for the scholarship fund.
Moves to fund another scholarship were
aided by the election of Mr Percy Stanhope
Hobday as President of the Wattle League in
1931. He was already President of the Royal
Queensland Art Society and stated his
intention to bring about greater co-operation
between the two organisations.
However, the highs of previous years were
not being replicated and Mrs Campbell felt
that the £70 raised in 1930 was a “most
unsatisfactory” result. Citing the depression
and lack of collectors as problems, she felt
the annual street activities should come to
an end. In fact, the collections continued for
a while longer, finally ending in 1938, when
it was decided to rely on schools income
and other donations.
The League quickly set a £600 target for
another art scholarship. However, this
target was never achieved and the
difficulties in fundraising eventually led
League members to conclude that an arts
scholarship within Australia instead of
abroad was more realistic.
Fortunately for the League, schools
participation and income from pupil
donations was on the increase and Wattle
Day remained well supported by the
Education Department.
Finally in 1936, the League introduced a
new scholarship in conjunction with the
Queensland Technical College. Set at £50,
these scholarships were awarded annually
up to and beyond the outbreak of World
War Two in 1939 and are detailed in the
scholarships chapter.
41
League Presidents: 1912 - 1944
Mr John Frederick Bailey, President 1912–1917
Bailey chaired the public meeting on October 21st 1912 that saw the
official inauguration of the Queensland Wattle Day League and where
he was elected as the first President. At the time, Bailey held a dual role
as Government Botanist and Director of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens.
He later went on to be Director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. His
family already had a long association with botany in Australia. His
grandfather was the first colonial botanist in South Australia while his
father was colonial botanist for Queensland.
Mr George Kenilworth Seabrook, President 1917–1920
Elected in 1917 to succeed first president Mr Bailey, George
Seabrook resigned due to “pressures of business” in 1920 but he
remained on the League Committee as a Lifetime Vice President
until at least 1941. He was President of the League during the time it
funded the Orthopaedic Ward at Rosemount Military Hospital.
Seabrook worked as an auditor and accountant at the Queensland
Deposit Bank and Building Society. He also served as General
Secretary of the Queensland Australian Natives Association.
Alderman Maurice Baldwin, President 1920–1928:
Maurice Baldwin was born in Brisbane in 1869 and was heavily
associated with sport for much of his life. He became secretary of St.
John's Rugby Union Club in 1888 and was also a founder of the Union
Harriers' Football Club. He played a prominent role in Rugby Union
after his appointment as general secretary of the Queensland Rugby
Union in 1901, a position which he held until 1909, when the League
game was introduced. He also served as secretary of Tattersall’s Club
and later of Queensland Turf Club.
Outside of sport, he was Secretary of the farewell and return committee
for Queensland troops in the Boer War. In 1915 he was elected to the
Hamilton Town Council, and continued as an Alderman until that
42
body was absorbed In the Greater Brisbane Council.
Mr S H Richardson OBE, President 1928-1931 & 1935-1944:
Mr S H Richardson (Samuel Henry) helped to found The Sailors’ and
Soldiers’ Fathers’ Association in 1918 and served as Honorary
Secretary (later President) for over 20 years. He addressed Wattle
League meetings regularly was President of the Wattle League on
two separate occasions – firstly from 1928-1931, following the death
of Maurice Baldwin and then following Stanhope Hobday from 1935
until 1944.
The Fathers Association was also known as the Dad’s Association
with Richardson himself affectionately referred to as “dad”. A press
report states that the desire to help servicemen began when two of
his sons went to war and he himself was rejected for service although
as a “dad”, he wanted to go.
It appears that Richardson worked in an almost full time and unpaid capacity for the Fathers
Association and an office was kept at ANZAC House where those in need could visit and
discuss their case with Richardson. As well as financial grants, the Association would pay rent,
buy clothes and purchase food. In 1936 he was awarded an OBE 25, at which time it was stated
that the Association had already helped 75 600 men 26.
Mr Percy Stanhope Hobday, President 1931–1935:
Hobday chaired the Wattle League in the early 1930s and remained active
until the League effectively shut down in 1944.
He was born in Brisbane in 1879 and was the son of J P Hobday, an early
Queensland artist. Percy himself became an artist and primarily focused on
landscapes and monotypes.
He exhibited with the Queensland Art Society for 50 years from 1901 and
served continuously on their committee from 1922 to 1947, acting as
treasurer, vice president and president in that time. Hobday was represented in the 'Exhibition
of Queensland art’ held at Queensland Art Gallery in 1951.
While President of both the League and the Royal Queensland art Society he encouraged the
Society to run a stall on Wattle Day 1932 to boost collections for a new scholarship. Daphne
Mayo herself convened the group of women running the stall.
He died in 1951 and the bequest of his wife Emily Hobday provided for the establishment of
'The Hobday and Hingston Bursary’ at the Queensland Art Gallery.
43
The League during World War Two
T
he outbreak of the Second World
War in 1939 could not fail to impact
on the work of the League. Again,
the needs of Australia’s service personnel
came to the fore.
The Courier Mail reports a League meeting
in October 1941 at which it was decided to
donate the proceeds of the year to “patriotic
purposes”. The Red Cross received £25, the
same amount was given to the Australian
Comforts Fund and £10 to the Union Jack
Club. This was the total funds for the year
which suggests fundraising remained at low
ebb compared to the heights reached in the
First World War.
The League used remaining funds to
continue to provide the art scholarships as
detailed elsewhere in this document. The
sale of wattle badges to schools was
postponed early in 1941 and there is no
evidence of their distribution restarting.
Most League members were advanced in
years and those that were not were most
probably occupied with wartime service.
In order to ensure the continuation of the
scholarships, the League approached
another organisation – the recently formed
Half Dozen Group of Artists. The artists
group agreed to accept nearly £400 of
League money in order to maintain the
scholarships.
The President and Treasurer of the Wattle
League (Mr S H Richardson and Mr J V D
Coutts) became members of the Half Dozen
Group committee and went on to serve for
some years.
As we will shortly see, a revived Wattle
League emerged in the fifties and overlapped with the scholarships managed by
Following the
multiple bombings of
Darwin from
February 1942,
Brisbane City
Council began
constructing
hundreds of air raid
shelters. This photo
shows Elizabeth
Street in 1942. (State
Library of
Queensland, Image
no. 157654)
44
the Half Dozen Group. This overlap ended
in 1959 with the closure of the scholarship
fund as noted in the 1959 Half Dozen Group
Annual report:
“The funds from the former Queensland Wattle
League (approx £400) which were transferred to
us in 1944 have been disbursed satisfactorily
over the years as follows: two travelling art
scholarships of £150 each, won by Margaret
Cilento and Betty Quelhurst respectively. The
balance (£145) was used (with the addition of
£45 from the Groups own funds) as prizes in the
Centenary Art Prize competition organised by
the group. The former Wattle League fund is
now closed.”
This period could easily have been the end
of the Queensland League. In some ways, it
had run its course – wattle was firmly
established in the hearts and minds of
Australians, support for the arts was
developing and other organisations were
supporting the needs of soldiers injured in
World War Two.
The Leagues that had been established in
the other Australian states were
experiencing similar fates. The Tasmanian
League did continue operating well into the
fifties 27 and a league “limped” on into the
1960s in Victoria. 28 However, they were
smaller and less prominent than the first
two decades of the century.
Fortunately, however, the achievements of
the Queensland Wattle Day League were
not forgotten and two ladies in particular
would ensure the baton was handed to a
new generation.
45
The Wattle League revived
A
lthough the scholarship continued
to be awarded by the Half Dozen
Group of artists, the wider aims of
the League in terms of social welfare and
promotion of wattle were not continued in
any meaningful way in the immediate post
war period. A fact that
prompted retired Secretary of
the League, Mrs Campbell, to
write a letter to the Courier Mail
in 1949 (see below). Thus began
a continued campaign to
commemorate and revive the
Wattle League.
So despite a period of hiatus, the
Wattle League was not forgotten
- largely thanks to the
continuing efforts of people like
Mrs Campbell. The pressure
paid off and in 1952 a
Provisional Committee
sponsored by Miss Doris Myrtle
Thain was formed to reestablish the League.
resident of the Montrose Home for Crippled
Children.
The League was formally reconstituted at a
meeting on September 29th, 1954. Miss
Thain was elected secretary and a news
report from the time shows her
as a leading advocate of the
rights of disabled people:
“There was a segregation of
handicapped people in Queensland
as bad as the segregation of negroes
in the United States. Miss D. M.
Thain said this last night at the
inaugural meeting of the
Queensland Wattle League in the
National Fitness Council Rooms,
City. She was elected secretary of the
league, a new organisation for
physically handicapped people. Miss
Thain said parents of handicapped
children were ashamed to take their
children out because they feared
people would point them out in the
street, and talk about them. Many
handicapped children had never been
out of their homes. Handicapped
children should mix with the other
children, attend the same schools, and
travel by the same buses.” 29
This followed a meeting
between Mrs Campbell and
Miss Doris Thain which inspired
The Courier-Mail, 8
Thain to reform the League. At
July 1949
this point it was proposed that
the reconstituted League would focus on the
The League was described as a “fellowship
needs of “handicapped people”. Initially, it
for handicapped people and friends”. As
was hoped to build a “home” to plug a gap
well as children, the needs of disabled
in provision which saw very limited options
adults were also of concern and a very
for handicapped people once they reached
current one at the time. The return of
the age of 16. Thain was assisted in her
thousands of injured and disabled
efforts by Josephine Hickey who had been a
servicemen in the years immediately
following World War 2 introduced a new
46
level of need for services and support. It
was strongly felt that many of these needs
were not being adequately addressed by
existing statutory provisions. The League
sought to identify and fill gaps and firmly
believed that the flexibility of a voluntary
organisation was best suited to dealing with
such varied and changing needs. With that
view, it embodied the emerging not for
profit sector in Australia at
the time.
Thain’s plans were hugely
ambitious – the structure she
initially envisaged included a
board of management, public
relations committee,
professional committee,
research and advisory
bureau, a fellowship and a
women’s committee. The
provision of homes and even adoption
services were highlighted as potential
activities. Over time, these plans developed
and the realities of funding, premises and
staffing became the day to day to issues of
concern for the League.
During its first year, the League received
many calls for advice and assistance which
was seen as demonstrating a clear need for
the organisation. The work focussed on
supporting people as they struggled to
adapt to war injuries, and assistance was
given to the League from various
Orthopaedic Advisors.
These promising new beginnings for the
League hit a stumbling block at the 19541955 Annual General Meeting which
ultimately lapsed because a quorum of
members was not present. A second attempt
to hold a quorate meeting also failed. The
Board expressed its disappointment that the
quorum set in the League’s constitution was
unreasonably high for an organisation still
in its first year, particularly since the bulk of
its members lived with physical disabilities
that placed significant restraints on their
mobility. This brought the League to a
temporary halt in November 1955.
It was decided shortly after to form a new
association and correct the
problems in the original
constitution. This proved to
be a more robust framework
and the only further change
came in 1965 when it was
decided to change the name
of the Queensland Wattle
League to add the words “for
the disabled”. It was felt that
this better reflected the
objectives of the organisation.
Premises
The League moved into their first premises
in 1958. Previously, the organisation had
been run from the homes of Board
members. The new offices were lent by
George Thain, the brother of Doris Thain
and a man who went on to chair the League
for many years. The offices were in the
Valley on Wickham Street and the Thains
also lent office equipment to the
organisation.
The organisation moved several times in
quick succession. A workshop and
administrative offices were established in
1962 at a disused rail facility at Roma Street
yards accessed from Countess Street,
however the administrative functions were
quickly moved to Elizabeth Street. Only a
year and a half later, the leases on both were
47
terminated forcing the League to move the
whole operation to another available
Queensland Rail facility at College Road,
Normanby where the League was able to
remain well into the
1970s.
particular, there were substantial costs in
setting up and rearranging the “rather
limited workshop facilities” so that they
could cope with the demands on them.
Finance
Finance was a dominant
issue for the League. It
soon became clear that
full-time paid staff would
be necessary to secure
ongoing success and
growth and by the end of
the 1950s a full time clerk
was hired.
In 1960 a ladies auxiliary was formed and
held a monthly meeting where women,
either members or not, were invited to
attend. Their fundraising efforts raised £136
in their first year. The early 1960s also saw
the first approach to the State Government
for a subsidy. This was considered but
rejected with the government arguing that
they could not subsidise one organisation
supporting disabled people without funding
all of the others who undertook such work.
Alternative means to increase the funds
available to the League were developed.
Plans were made to use a stencil duplicator
initially bought to copy materials for the
League as a money-making scheme. This
was the beginnings of commercial
operations that would play a significant part
in both the funding and rehabilitation work
of the League for many years to come.
The financial position at the end of 1963 was
not seen as satisfactory and the Board notes
that it has had trouble controlling the
administrative and overhead costs. In
An approach was again made to the
Australian Council for Rehabilitation of
Disabled. Specifically, a capital and
equipment subsidy for the workshop was
requested as well as an increase in the
permissible earnings for ‘employees’ before
their pensions are affected. The Boards
report of 1964-65 makes clear their
frustration at the cool response from
Government at the time:
“These approaches to the Government are a
regular occurrence but no material benefits are
received from them. Your Board cannot
understand the Government’s attitude to
matters having to do with assistance for
workshops for the disabled and the people
employed in them. It is well known that
Governments save in pensions and allowances
more than the subsidies and other funds given to
these workshops”
Throughout the 1960s (and into the 1970s),
the League accounts show a loan from the
long-time chairman W G Thain that peaks at
over $6700, helping to cover a significant
48
proportion of the operating costs during this
Queensland. At this point, it was agreed
difficult time. Temporary advances of up to
that such a body would not encroach on the
$1640 are also shown as coming from the
ground work being undertaken by existing
same source. Despite
organisations, but rather, to
their best efforts, the
help foster cooperation and
In its annual Report of 1961-62,
League remains reliant,
mutual aid, and further the
the Board underlines its vision
financially and in terms
study of social conditions
for
the
future:
of personnel, on a small
and social problems. In the
group throughout the
second meeting, the
“The Board has emphasised
decision was made to
decade.
that the transformation of
proceed with the formation
disabled people from a state of
Developing
of this new association. The
dependency to a state of activity
influence
Rev. A. Preston, one of the
and productivity has a most
Quite soon after
League’s Directors at the
important effect on the
establishing itself, the
time, presided over both
economic soundness of the
League began to play a
meetings, and two Wattle
role in what can be seen
country. When disabled people
League Directors were
as more political
members of the interim
are neglected they constitute
activities.
committee during the early
both a weakness in the social
stages of Queensland
structure and a large drain on
Perhaps most
Council of Social Service
the economy. No country can
significantly, during
(QCOSS).
make true progress unless its
1958, the League
progress is shared by all its
determined that
QCOSS remains an
cooperation between
people and a sound economy is
important part of the
organisations involved
Queensland social service
not possible when the
in social service was key
landscape to this day and
productive efforts of one part of
to the provision of
Open Minds remains a
the community must be used to
effective social work
member.
maintain another portion that is
and the efficient
potentially productive.”
The League also
allocation of resources.
participated in a successful
Reference at the time
campaign for the remission of Sales Tax on
was also made to the emergence of peak
motor vehicles used in the transportation of
social service bodies interstate.
disabled people to and from employment.
The Board of the Queensland Wattle League
As we will see in the following chapter, the
convened two meetings in late 1958 and
main focus for the League became
early 1959 to gather opinions on the
establishing a workshop.
formation of such a peak body in
49
It is important to recognise that the
membership was largely made up of
handicapped people and their carers –
indeed, a number of members of the
board were disabled. Josephine Hickey
was named as President on the
provisional Committee that reestablished the League in 1952.
Courier Mail – page 9, 19 June 1953
50
51
The Wattle League Workshop
T
he work of the ‘new’ League
reconvened in 1952 came to be
dominated by the establishment and
running of a sheltered workshop.
Employment was seen as the best long term
solution to the difficulties faced by disabled
members of the League. A committee was
established in 1955 to look at employment
and this resulted in plans to set up
workshops to develop employment skills.
This took some time to achieve. The 1960s
began with the Board anticipating a move to
larger premises but being frustrated by an
inability to find suitable accommodation at
an affordable cost. Finally in 1962 the
Committee began negotiations with The
Commissioner for Railways for the use of
premises that could be made suitable for a
workshop.
A portion of a store building in the Roma
Street Railway Yard, entered from Countess
Street, was made available and the
Workshop was officially opened on the 7th
April 1962. Some small contracts obtained
by the committee got the workshops up and
running and by June the Workshop was put
into active production and a Works
Supervisor appointed.
Below: The original Brisbane markets are in the
foreground of this picture taken from City Hall
in 1956. The central area of the shot shows Roma
Street Station and the railway yards which now
form part of Roma Street parklands. The Wattle
League established their workshop in a disused
railway building in the yards. (Brisbane City
Council: BCC-S35-9311034)
52
Fortunately, the workshop was able to
relocate to another nearby Queensland Rail
facility accessed from College Road in 1964
when the lease on their first premises was
terminated.
The later years of the 1960s saw a gradual
improvement in the fortunes of the League
and they were able to increase the numbers
of Workshop attendees. In 1967, a new
scheme was introduced to take work to the
houses of disabled people. This allowed
greater numbers to be employed and also
accommodated those who could not attend
the workshop due to the nature of their
disability and the lack of facilities
(particularly ramps) at the workshop.
This period also saw the relocation of some
workshop staff to a mattress manufacturing
company (Queensland Springs at Hocking
Street, South Brisbane) to undertake work
on their premises. This was seen as a success
both in terms of expanding the work
available to clients of the League but also as
a useful step towards commercial
employment for participants.
The Director General of Social Services
agreed that the workshop be regarded as an
approved sheltered workshop and that a
rehabilitation allowance could be paid
without affecting their entitlement to a
pension on medical grounds. Average
workshop numbers for much of the 1960s
hovered between ten and twenty
participants.
Workshop orders were noted as usually
being from regular customers and involving
the manufacture of large toys and fourlegged walking aids as well as commercial
typing, collation and duplication. Some
wood and metal work was also undertaken.
Walking aids developed as a key product
line following an initial enquiry by the
Geriatric Unit of the Princess Alexandra
Hospital. Hundreds were manufactured and
sold over the years.
The successful application for government
subsidies in the 1970s are dealt with in more
detail elsewhere in this document. These
allowed much needed investment to be
made in the physical workshop set up and
in the training and wages of the workers.
The new equipment that was purchased
53
along with better wages was reported to be
delivering greater productivity and
improved morale. Incentive and bonus
schemes were also introduced at the
Hockings Street workshop as a means of
improving output and profitability. Average
numbers involved in the workshops peaked
at around 50 in the early years of the 1970s.
Activity Therapy Centre
A by-product of the receipt of the grants
from government was the re-classification of
the workshops to differentiate their
activities. Hockings Street was identified as
a Sheltered Workshop while College Road
became known as an Activity Therapy
Centre. In essence, the Sheltered Workshop
was more employment focussed with the
Activity Centre having more emphasis on
social, recreational and therapy
programmes. Productive work did still
feature though but without the bonus
schemes and targets.
Materials from the time outline four areas of
activity with clients starting with work but
also including social development,
recreation and education. As part of the
development, an occupational therapist was
hired in 1976.
The workshop at
Queensland
Springs continued
throughout the
seventies
although, a fire a
temporarily
halted
employment in
November 1979. Although serious, no one
was hurt and workers were able to go back
in late January 1980. Wattle League workers
were temporarily transferred to the Activity
Therapy Centre while reconstruction was
undertaken.
The sheltered workshop at Queensland
Springs closed its doors at the end of 1980 as
the League redesigned its services.
Discussions about an Activity Therapy
Centre began in 1975. The move to such a
centre was partly in response to the
requirements of the prevailing legislation
but also continued recognition that not all of
the needs of clients were being met solely by
manufacturing duties.
By the start of the 1980s, the Therapy Centre
was well established and linked closely to
other support bodies such as clinics, training
and rehabilitation services. Students on
placement assisted at the Centre as do a
number of Police cadets who attended as
part of their training. At various times,
volunteers were brought
in to help or run extra
classes.
Classes are held in
swimming, painting,
sewing, dancing,
cooking, caring for pets,
creative writing and
even puppetry. Outdoor
activities include kayaking, orienteering and
nature study.
Paid work was still a feature of the Centre
and in 1982 a part time printer was
appointed to help focus on that element of
the business. As well as printing, those
attending the Centre worked on small,
repetative pieces of work for a variety of
companies.
54
A snapshot of work in March 1983 gives a
sense of what was being done:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Repco Auto Parts – mailing inserts
H J Dent – fitting of washers
Nolan and Rourke – Lounge Suite straps
South Brisbane Club – typing and
copying
Endeavour Toastmasters – printing
Robin Foods – packing Sherbet
The Centre changed and developed over the
years eventually becoming a small business
in 1991 after Government funding for
sheltered workshops ended and was
redirected to employment agencies.
Although Government funding was no
longer available, the League chose to
maintain a service for clients who could not
sustain work in mainstream employment.
It specialised in bulk mail services for
business – such as processing monthly
statements, invoices, promotional literature
etc. The workers had major input into the
operation of the business and receive
contract based wages. In 2001 the small
business adopted the name “Stuff it” and
moved to Annerley Road in late 2003 when
the former site on Stanley Street was sold.
At that time it became known as “Open
Minds Bulk Mail Service”.
The following year, the bulk mail service
was passed to another company (Work
Solutions). This allows clients to access a
wider skill set while remaining local to the
area. It also secures the financial future of
the project.
55
The people behind the League
The Cilento family
A number of members of the prominent Brisbane Cilento family
have helped the the Wattle League over the years.
The first was Margaret Cilento who won the 1947 Wattle League
Art Scholarship. This was during the time the scholarships were
being organised by the Half Dozen Group of Artists using money
provided by the League. Margaret went on to have a notable
artistic career, spending time in New York attending the
glamorous ‘Subjects of the Artists School’.
The family connection continued when her mother, Lady Phyllis
Cilento, was appointed patron of the League in 1958. Finally,
Margaret’s brother, Dr David Cilento, became a member of the Wattle League board from 1976
to 1978 serving as President in his final year.
During the course of researching our history, we also made contact with another of Lady
Cilento's daughters, Dr Ruth Cilento. She wrote:
“The League was a tower of strength to many people in the early Queensland history since there were no
social services in those days. My sister Margaret Cilento who became a well known artist, received a
bursary from the League after the war, to continue her studies.
My mother Lady Cilento who was a patron of the League for some years was also a philanthropist in the
medical and sociology fields all through her long life..... I am delighted that Open Minds is continuing the
ethos of care for those in need.”
Doris Thain and George Thain
Doris Thain was the driving force behind the re-establishment of the League in 1952 and served
as President and later as Secretary, a post she held at the time of her death in 1962.
It is noted in the 1961-62 Annual Report that she was affected by ill-health for many years “yet
her qualities did not alter; courage, sympathy, an astonishing capacity for hard work, never failing
enthusiasm and perseverance.”
Her brother, George Thain was also an important figure in the League and served as Secretary
and Treasurer before acting as Chairman between 1961 and 1975. He continued to be involved
with the organisation right up to his death in 1979. His wife (Jean) was also a Board member for
thirteen years.
56
Mr and Mrs Hawkins
The name Hawkins was a familiar one around the Wattle League for
much of the seventies and early eighties. Harold Hawkins began as
Workshop Manager in 1973 and oversaw the move from College Road
and the establishment of a printing operation. Harold had served in the
Royal Australian Navy Engineering Corp during World War Two and
managed several engineering firms after the war.
His role at the League grew and developed over time and some of his
responsibilities by the time of his retirement would be somewhat akin
to a modern day Chief Executive. By that stage, the Board were becoming less active in the day
to day running of the organisation and left more and more to the General Manager. He retired in
May 1981.
His wife Vetia Hawkins was brought in as Activity Therapy Centre supervisor in 1978 and
quickly developed a programme of activities for those attending.
Joan Blackman
Mrs Blackman’s husband Jim was an ex-serviceman who unfortunately
suffered a heart attack in 1968. During his recovery he attended the
League workshop. At the time, family members were quite involved in
the running of the League and Mrs Blackman joined the board in 1976,
becoming chairman in 1979.
At the time, the League was struggling as their President and
Chairperson had both resigned and Mr Thain was advanced in years
with poor health. In fact, the minutes note that Mrs Blackman was
made provisional chairman as she was “in good health and mobile”!
Mrs Blackman was employed as a cereal chemist with Fielder-Gillespie Ltd and was also
chairman of the Citizens Advice Bureau.
She recalled her husband enjoying the League and particularly liked the feeling of “going to
work”.
57
Madeline Cottee
As Chairman of the Wattle League for much of the 1980s, Mrs Cottee steered the organisation
through challenges that could easily have seen the League fold.
She joined the board of Queensland Wattle League in 1979 and was elected Chairman in 1982.
Mrs Blackman reported at the 24th AGM that “Mrs M Cottee as a board member of only a few years
has made a study of the business administration of the League to familiarise herself with the requirements.
She has sought interviews with politicians with an interest in our organisation, she has visited clubs to
speak on behalf of the League, she has sought and received many donations, and conducted street stalls to
increase League funds.”
As well as her role at the Wattle League, she was active in many other organisations including
Soroptimist International and Citizens’ Advice Bureau amongst many others.
Sadly, Mrs Cottee passed away during the writing of this document but speaking in a 2010
interview as part of the centenary preparations, she described some of the challenges that were
faced. Money was in short supply and there were significant challenges in working with clients
who had been turned away from other services. She recalled that the “Wattle League wasn’t an
easy place” but that it made a huge difference to clients and the family members who played a
pivotal part in the league at the time.
Madeline herself downplayed the role she played in revitalising the organisation and keeping it
on track through difficult times, merely commenting she was “Doing a necessary job that happened
sometimes to work”
Although Madeline Cottee
stepped down as Chairman in
1989, she remained involved
with the League for many
years. Here she is pictured
with former Queensland
premier, Anaa Bligh, at the
Earle Duus Awards ceremony
in 2001.
58
Three generations of
the Stewart family
The Stewart family are unique in Wattle
League history in having an involvement
that spans three generations. They are also
another example of prominent Brisbane
families who have supported the League.
The immediate past chair of Open Minds,
Ted Stewart convened the organisation
between 1989 and 2009 and served during
the time of the name change to Open Minds.
His father Sir Edward Stewart was patron of
the League for over twenty five years.
Ted Stewart meets Susan Papi – the wife of the
late Adrian Papi, the great grandson of League
founder Josephine Papi.
During the course of researching this
document, it even transpired that his great grandfather, Charles Jackson Stewart , had arranged
for meals to be supplied meals to Wattle Day collectors at the Criterion Hotel.
Charles Stewart died in 1954 and his son (Sir) Edward Stewart (pictured below) became
chairman of Stewarts Hotels and oversaw continued expansion and development of the
business. At various times the business owned or operated the Criterion, the Albion, the
Hamilton and the Highway Hotel at Rocklea, where Queensland's first drive-through bottle
shop was developed. Sir Edward also expanded their catering operations – handling catering at
Eagle Farm racecourse and the beverages at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.
He did a considerable amount of charitable work over the years and for more than 25 years
(until his death in 2006) he was also patron of the Queensland Wattle League. He received a
knighthood for services to his industry and the community at Buckingham Palace in 1980.
His period as patron overlapped with his son, Ted, becoming a
board member of the League. Ted was appointed a Director in
November 1986 and assumed the Chairmanship in 1989. During his
twenty years as Chair from 1989 to 2009, the organisation
underwent the most dramatic changes in its history with a change
in name, new headquarters and a massive growth in the range and
number of services offered.
Ted remains closely involved with the family business that still
involves hospitality and property investment and Stewarts Wine
Company.
59
Pat Keating
Pat Keating is 79 years old and as a long standing recipient
of our services, he knows more about the Wattle League
than most of the current staff!
He started coming to the Wattle League in the 1970s when
his father was sick in hospital and social workers who
became involved with the family suggested Pat would
benefit from attending the workshop run by the League. He
recalls:
“I started in 1972 at the sheltered workshop at Normanby, across
the road from the Grammar. We used to make pegs, pack screws, do bits of paperwork like folding road
safety leaflets.
“The workshop was in old railway huts at the back of Roma Street Station. The Walkers were running the
place and then we got a new Manager, Mr Hawkins. He helped get some government money for the
League.”
Talking about the other workshop attendees in the early years, he says:
“Most of them had nerve trouble and some were intellectually handicapped.”
Pat has an amazing memory for his work colleagues and some of the people who ran the
League. He remembers board member Mrs Blackman getting involved with the League:
“I worked with Jimmy, Mrs Blackmans husband. Then she went onto the Board and got her friend Mrs
Cottee involved as well.”
He also remembers some of the changes that happened over the years:
“There was another workshop for a while at Hockings Street. They did heavier work like making springs
and walking aids.”
And he recalls the changes that were made in more recent years saying:
“Later the League tried to make it into a business doing packaging and mailings.”
When asked what kept him going to the League all these years, he says he enjoyed attending
and “Met all types of people which was very interesting.”
Pat worked for nearly 30 years until his retirement and now lives in a nursing home. He still
receives support from Open Minds maintaining his involvement with us that stretches over
forty years of our history.
Pat’s story merely gives a flavour of the many, many clients and family members who have and
continue to play a vital role in the running of the organisation.
60
The League in the 1970s
T
he start of the 1970s was seen as a
positive time for the League with the
offices and workshop working at full
capacity and finances stable. The
organisation at this time was not
dramatically different to the start of the
previous decade.
The workshop was run in an honorary
capacity (by Mr E R Walker as Honorary
General Manager and Mrs Walker as
supervisor of female workshop employees)
and the paid staff amounts to two clerktypists. Fundraising was largely though
donations, workshop trading income and
rag collection. The Board continued to
support the organisation financially and the
loan from W G Thain still stood at $5000 at
the end of 1970.
The 1970s were to bring tensions and
challenges for the League as it sought to
develop its services and stay relevant in the
changing social services field. There were
also, though, new opportunities in the form
of grants from government.
Both workshops (Hockings Street and
College Road) were verified as approved
providers of sheltered employment under
the ‘Sheltered Employment (Assistance) Act
in September 1971. This opened the
possibility of applying for grants and
subsidies under the Act.
By 1974, the first grants were received and
this was seen as hugely beneficial to the
viability of the operations. For a long time,
the League
had very
little or no
money for
development
of the
services.
Initial
subsidies
covered
rental,
wages,
equipment
and training
fees.
61
The subsidies received for the workshop
activity allowed them to become almost selfsufficient and fundraising efforts focussed
on future development of the League. The
limitations of the premises were identified
as the greatest challenge to overcome and a
‘building fund’ was established.
Negotiations were held with Queensland
Rail regarding a possible sale of the existing
site so the League could rebuild but this was
hampered by a lack of clarity over whether
the site was required for future rail or road
developments.
Instead, a new warehouse building at 27
Norfolk Road, South Brisbane was
identified as an alternative and the
organisation moved the Activity Therapy
Centre to Norfolk Road in 1975. Jonelle
Heineger began employment with the
League just before the move to Norfolk
Toad and recalls College Road being dark
and small with poor flooring and a lack of
storage. Norfolk Road was much bigger and
better equipped thereby allowing more
people and therefore more jobs. The long
term target though remained a building that
was owned outright by the League.
The later years of the 1970s were not as
positive and the League found itself in a
difficult financial position. A reasonable
summary would be that a number of
changes in circumstance and costs combined
to cause cash flow problems. The poor
economic conditions did not help either.
diminishing. Around the same time, a rent
increase is received from the landlord.
Difficulties were reported in relations with
the Department of Social Security and
payments from the Department stopped for
a short period.
Temporary shortages in wages were
covered from reserves and a fundraiser (Mr
D J Willsher) was appointed in 1979. He
began a programme of bingo, lucky number
machines placed in shops, direct appeals
and the formation of a “friends” of the
League organisation. “Cash a Can”
recycling was also undertaken at events and
by local Scout groups to help fundraise for
the League.
Through these difficult times, it is
important to remember that the wider work
of the League was continuing. A client
outing to Sunny Queen Egg Farm was noted
in November 1979 followed by a cooking
demonstration by the Egg Board.
Occupational Therapy students were on
placement at the Activity Therapy Centre.
And even celebration of wattle featured in
League activities with a commemorative
Wattle Grove planting receiving television
coverage during wattle week.
In 1977, some difficulties were reported by
the General Manager in attracting sufficient
jobs for the workshop. The walking aid
market that had been a core part of the
workshop business was reported to be
62
63
The 1980s – survival and growth
T
here is no doubt that the start of the
1980s saw the League at a low point.
While much good work was being
undertaken on a day to day basis, the long
term viability of the organisation was in
serious doubt. The 1980 chairman’s address
to the AGM notes “the affairs of the
Association continue to be governed by our
inability to accumulate adequate funds.”
Early in 1980, the fundraiser appointed the
previous year resigned when it became clear
he was unable to raise enough to cover his
costs. Also in 1980, the organisation moved
to premises on Cordelia Street where it
remained for the whole of the decade. The
League effectively retrenched to survive and
the Sheltered Workshop at Queensland
Springs closed at the end of 1980. The lack
of sufficient government funding or
donations for the workshop meant that it
was simply not viable.
The League ran without a General Manager
following the retirement of Mr Hawkins and
the Chairman’s report of 1982 highlighted
the difficulties caused by the poor state of
the wider economy at the time::
“The events of the past twelve months have done
little to inspire confidence in the minds of the
administrators of this charitable organisation.
The very uncertain economic pattern that
prevails across the whole financial scene in
Australia is reflected in the balance sheet of
Queensland Wattle League.”
At this same meeting, Mrs Madeline
Cottee was elected as Chairman – she
proved to be a vital figure in securing the
future of the League although it is some
time before the organisation can see a
positive future with any confidence. The
League remained almost entirely
dependent on wage subsidies from the
Department of Social Security but they
did not even fully cover the wages let
alone all of the operating costs.
At its lowest point, the League was down
to Mrs Cottee, Jonelle Heineger (who was
not being paid) and around six or seven
regular clients. The clients themselves
were working for nothing but Mrs Cottee
was absolutely determined to keep the
64
organisation going as she knew those clients
had nowhere else to go.
Mrs Cottee worked tirelessly to highlight
the needs of the organisation, encourage
donations and build relations with
government. A separate finance committee
was established in 1983, a General Manager
was recruited and a personal loan from a
Committee member was repaid. At the start
of 1983 the Mayoress of Brisbane, Mrs
Harvey, visited the League at Cordelia
Street. The visit is noted in the minutes as an
“unqualified success”.
Around the same time
as Mrs Cottee took
over the chairmanship,
a new fundraiser,
Warren Tapp, was
appointed. He
organised a
fundraising dinner at
City Hall with
comedian, actor and
writer Campbell
McComas. This event
gave a significant and
much needed boost to
the finances.
The work of the Activity Therapy centre
continued throughout this time – activities
and classes were still being run and a
significant work component was
undertaken by clients. The 1981 Chairman’s
report explains the objectives of the Activity
Therapy Centre as assisting clients toward
independent living using a programme of
vocational training, education, basic living
skills and recreation.
The League can be seen as being ahead of
the curve with this work as recent years
have seen independence becoming central
to social policy. Despite the difficulties
being faced by the League at the time, it was
this type of work, and the experience
gained, that laid the foundations for much
of what Open Minds does today.
Some activities took place outside of the
centre itself. For much of 1981, the League
assisted in the development of T J Doyle
Memorial Drive. Clients of the League
helped plant trees and maintain the park.
Later, the League held a camp for clients at
Mt Crosby in June 1983.
In the later years of
the 1980s, the
Disability Services
Act had a huge
influence on the
future of the League
bringing new
funding but also
fresh challenges for
the structure and
direction of the
organisation.
Despite all of the
challenges faced throughout the decade, by
the end of the 1980s and the end of Mrs
Cottee’s Chairmanship, the finances of the
League had been transformed and it was
able to report an operating surplus of $56
320. Queensland Housing Commission had
allocated two houses for use by clients – the
start of the accommodation services still
provided by Open Minds. The Therapy
Centre was being maintained despite the
pressures but the organisation was also reshaping rapidly to take account of the new
state requirements and the funding
available.
65
Disability Services Act
Perhaps the biggest single influence on the
future of the League (and indirectly on the
future of the Activity Therapy Centre) was
the Disability Services Act which was
passed by the Federal Government in 1986.
The Act was preceded by a nationwide
survey in 1981 (International Year of
Disabled Persons) which showed a wide
variety of needs amongst the community,
only some of which were being met. This
convinced government that a national
approach was required with reform to be
influenced by changes to the funding
available to groups working with disabled
people.
Two major impacts of the Act were that
larger accommodation services were
required to downsize, and sheltered
workshops were to be replaced by
community-based employment. Core
standards were identified, including
individualisation, mainstreaming,
representation and accountability.
The Act was premised on the belief that
everyone is able to work in open
employment to some degree and state
funding was rapidly moved to programs
and services that connected people with
disabilities to mainstream employment
opportunities. This posed a challenge to the
existing workshop model run by the
League. There was a strong push on behalf
of the State for the closure of all Activity
Therapy Centres. This was naturally a huge
pressure for the League as an organisation
that had been running workshops of some
kind as ‘core business’ since the early 1960s.
The Wattle League defended their existing
workshop for those members that had no
realistic employment alternatives. And the
League perhaps had more clients for whom
this was the case than other similar
organisations. Some of the larger
organisations had to enforce more stringent
rules around client conduct than the League
in order to retain some control over their
operations, and people with a tendency
towards antisocial behaviours, for example,
would be asked not to come. It was
becoming increasingly common for such
people to be referred to the Queensland
Wattle League, either by themselves, by
other organisations, or by family members.
The League was in a strong position to
provide more intensive, flexible support for
those with complex needs and challenging
behaviours.
The solution devised was to carry on with
the Activity Centre as a mailing and
packaging business. The funding changes
meant the centre had to be made selfsufficient and it managed to achieve this
through charges for services and the fact
that the League owned the building
meaning no rent was payable.
Many saw it as a key part of their life that
provided focus as well as an important part
of their identity. For others, it was a place to
socialise while learning some new life skills.
The client group primarily experienced
what we would recognise today as mental
health issues – although often not diagnosed
or disclosed.
66
Becoming Open Minds
T
he Queensland Wattle League
started the 1990s in a far stronger
position than at the start of the
previous decade. A healthier financial
position and a clearer view of the future
allowed the League to plan how it would
develop its services.
The Disability Services Act had given the
League a taste of how the future would
look. Services had to be shaped to
available funding and the organisation
needed to work closely with funders on
the design of those services.
The move away from running a workshop
where clients gathered in one place toward
supporting individual clients to find and
maintain work was also very important. Not
only did it shape future Wattle League
services, it also gave the League experience
that would be vital when the Project 300
programme to move people out of long term
psychiatric care was created.
80th Anniversary party in 1992
Over time, the organisation identified itself
more and more as a body specialising in
mental health. This culminated in the name
change to Open Minds in 2003. The new
name was chosen to better reflect their focus
on mental health as well as summarising the
approach toward clients.
In order to deliver an employment service
that met funding requirements,
BEST Personnel (Brisbane
Employment Support and Training)
was set up in 1991 with the goal of
helping people with disabilities to
get and keep work in open
employment.
Doris Thain’s plans for the League
In 2002, property on Chester Road is
redeveloped block with the land
donated by Council and the building
costs met by the League.
67
in the 1950s included provision of housing
and support but despite some efforts to
develop this service, it was not until the late
80s that the League moved into housing.
The League partnered with Queensland
Housing Commission to provide housing or
use by Wattle League clients and a formal
“Supported Accommodation Service” began
in the early 90s. Housing provision and
support has became a central part of the
work of Open Minds today.
The housing arm of the organisation became
known as Rufaro and provided quality,
affordable furnished units for people with a
low income who could live independently.
Rufaro was named by League Manager,
Robert Williams and is an African word
meaning happy - the name being intended
to mean ‘happy home’.
A pivotal moment for the organisation
comes with the establishment of Project 300
by the Queensland Government in 1995. It
aimed to assist a target number of 300
people with a psychiatric illness from three
major Queensland psychiatric hospitals to
leave hospital and live independently
within the community.
Ten clients are supported by the League
initially but this increases over time and is
the launch pad for many of the community
based mental health services provided by
Open Minds today. In fact, Open Minds is
Earle Duus Legacy
In 1996, the Wattle League was
notified of a legacy involving
property and shares from the estate
of Mr Earle Duus.
Duus was an accountant who was
passionate about music and the Arts.
However, he also experienced
chronic depression.
An award scheme in Duus’ name
was created to recognise the
“advancement of psychiatric illness
in the community”. It is still
awarded during mental health week.
currently the largest P300 service provider
in Queensland.
The Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Support
Service was established in late 2000.
Essentially, the program draws together
different agencies to perform the various
support roles in an individual’s life.
Undoubtedly, the most significant
expansion in services in recent years came
with the Personal Helpers and Mentors
programme (PHaMs).This resulted in new
office premises in South Brisbane, Bayside,
Ipswich and Caboolture.
In 2012, Open Minds supports over 800
clients across South East Queensland and
continues to grow and expand.
68
One hundred years in perspective
T
here are not many Australian
organisations that can claim one
hundred years of service. The fact
that Open Minds thrives today is a
testament to the organisations resilience and
ability to reinvent itself as times change.
The long list of services now provided by
Open Minds would be unrecognisable to the
founders of the Wattle League. However,
many of the principles that underpin the
work would strike a chord and the current
slogan ‘people supporting people’ could be
applied to the work of the League during
the First World War just as readily as it
applies to the work of Open Minds today. In
fact, the history is really all about people
and their commitment to a better life for
fellow citizens.
In the early years, the Queensland Wattle
League responded to needs of people
affected by war. The reformed Wattle
League for the Disabled in the 1950s focused
on disability of all types and led the way in
providing meaningful work for those that
found it difficult to gain employment
elsewhere. The Activity Therapy Centre
founded in the 1970s undoubtedly provided
a sense of belonging for those who attended.
The experience gained has led Open Minds
to its clear focus on mental health and the
services it operates today.
from the later scholarships provided with
the Technical College.
Reading through the history of the Wattle
League also shows the contribution made by
some remarkable women – from founder,
Mrs Papi, and long-time secretary, Mrs
Campbell, to Mrs Cottee who turned the
organisation around in the 1980s. We also
see the dedication and determination of
Doris Thain to revive the Wattle League in
the fifties.
Many others could be mentioned and it
should not be forgotten that families and
carers have played a central role in the
activities of the organisation across its
history - as board members, as volunteers
and as funders.
This has been a fascinating project to work
on and I am proud to be able to research,
write and present this publication as a
summary of the first hundred years of an
amazing Brisbane organisation.
Tom Roberts
Centenary Project Officer
Along the way, the organisation helped
launch some very successful artistic careers
through the provision of scholarships. The
careers of both Daphne Mayo and Robert
Cummings were launched with the support
of the League and many others benefited
69
Presidents/ Chairpersons
1912 – 1917
Mr John Frederick Bailey
1917 – 1920
Mr George Kenilworth Seabrook
1920 – 1928
Alderman Maurice Baldwin
1929 – 1931
Mr Samuel Henry Richardson
1931 – 1935
Mr Percy Stanhope Hobday
1935 - 1944
Mr Samuel Henry Richardson
1952 - 1953
Miss Josephine Hickey
1954 - 1956
Miss Doris Myrtle Thain
1958 – 1959
Dr. John Alexander Shanasy
1959 - 1960
Mr Alexander Harry Borgeaud
1960 - 1961
Rev. Ivan Wells Alcorn
1961 - 1975
Mr William George Thain
1975 - 1978
Mr Adrian David Warat
1978 - 1982
Mrs Joan Blackman
1983 - 1989
Mrs Madeline Cottee
1989 - 2009
Mr Edward Alexander Stewart
2009-
Mr Mike Gilmour
70
Patrons
1912-1914
Governor Sir William MacGregor and Lady MacGregor
1916-1920
Governor Major Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams and Lady
Goold-Adams
1920-1925
Governor Lieutenant Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan*
1926-1927
Lieutenant-Governor Hon. William Lennon
1927-1932
Governor Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Herbert John
Goodwin and Lady Goodwin
1932-1944
Governor Colonel Sir Leslie Orme Wilson and
Lady Wilson
1958-1960
Lady Phyllis Cilento
1960-1975
Honourable Sir George Francis Reuben Nicklin
1977-1980
Sir Llew Edwards
1982-2006
Sir Edward Jackson Stewart
*Sir Mathew Nathan was appointed life patron in 1925 (died 1939)
71
Secretaries
1912-1914 Mrs Josephine Papi
1914-1916 Mr H Crawley
1916-1932 Mrs Marie Campbell
1932-1936 Mr Joseph Coutts
1937-1939 Mrs L Bruce
1939-1944 Mrs Learmonth
1952-1953 Mr G Harris
1954-1955 Mr W J Lightbody
1958-1961 Mr Ernest Baker
1961-1962 Mr William Thain
1962-1971 Mr Edward Walker
1971-1972 Mr Albert Davis
1972-1976 Mr Oswald Daniel
1976-1978 Mrs Nancy Burnett*
1978-1984 Mr Neil Gregg
1984-1989 Mrs Joan Blackman
1989-1990 Mrs Madeline Cottee
N.B. Following the change in 2003
to a company structure, the post of
secretary is no longer a Board
position. The role of Company
Secretary is fulfilled by the Chief
Financial Officer.
1990-1993 Mr James Wilson
1993-2003 Mr Chris McCluskey
*not a board member
72
Treasurers
1912-1915 Mrs Cliffe Mackie
1976-1978 Mrs Nancy Burnett*
1915-1916 Miss M Massie
1978-1984 Mr Neil Gregg
1916-1917 Miss Clayton
1984-1989 No record available
1917-1920 Mr E T Campbell
1989-1990 Mrs Madeline Cottee
1920-1921 Mr C A Powell
1990-1991 Mr James Wilson
1921-1922 Mr Eric L Brown
1922-1923 Mrs Josephine Papi
1993-1997 Mr Ted Stewart
1923-1925 Mr T Strachan
1926-1937 Mr Frederick Lea
1998-2003 Mr Bill Hopsick
1937-1944 Mr Joseph Coutts
2003-2005 Mr Claude Huddy
1952-1953 Mr E Cameron
2005-2007 Mr Mike Gilmour
1954-1955 Mrs M Rogers
2007-2009 Ms Louise Cox
1958-1959 Mr Richard Coulson
2009-2010 Ms Jacqueline Hardman
1959-1961 Mr William Thain
2010-2011 Ms Louise Cox
1961-1965 Mr John Johnston
2011-2012 Ms Lynn Smart
1965-1969 Mrs Evelyn Cuming
1969-1971 Mr David Storrs
1971-1972 Mr Albert Davis
1972-1976 Mr Oswald Daniel
*not a board member
73
Timeline
1912
Queensland branch of the Wattle Day League is formed to encourage the
observance of Wattle Day and establish an art Scholarship.
1913
The first Queensland Wattle Day is held on 16th August. The League invites
submissions for its inaugural scholarship which is won by sculptor, Daphne Mayo.
1914
The start of World War One delays Mayo’s scholarship.
1915
Wattle Day collections are diverted to wartime relief including a wounded soldiers
fund and the Red Cross Recreation Hall at Kangaroo Point.
1916
Wattle League raises £762 to provide artificial limbs for injured soldiers.
1917
Wattle Day money is donated to help war-affected women and children of France.
Second collection held to fundraise for an orthopaedic ward at Rosemount Hospital.
1918
Further money is raised for the orthopaedic ward at Rosemount Hospital.
1919
Daphne Mayo finally sets sail for England on her overseas scholarship. Further
money is raised to complete the building and equipping of the orthopaedic ward.
1920
Returned soldiers and their families remain a central concern. £270 is raised for the
Bursary Fund for the benefit of children of deceased or disabled soldiers and sailors.
1921
Funds totalling £283 are raised to be shared equally between the Brisbane Institute
of Social Services and topping up the Daphne Mayo Scholarship Fund.
1922
The League collects over £1,100 for the Distressed Diggers Fund which helps
returned soldiers and their families.
1923
League decides to award a scholarship for architecture.
1924
A £750 scholarship is awarded to Robert Percy Cummings enabling him to study
architecture in London.
1925
Mrs Papi, founder of the League, dies.
1926
Nearly every school in Queensland is decorated with wattle on Wattle Day.
1927
£300 is given to the Fathers’ Association as soldiers continue to struggle following
the war and global depression.
74
1928
A much poorer fundraising year due to a shortage of collectors and the recession
puts pressure on the League.
1929
The League decides to fund a new arts scholarship when funds permit.
1930
Fundraising continues to be affected by the depression. Scholarship plans are put on
hold. £500 given to Fathers Association from existing funds.
1931
Mr Percy Stanhope Hobday, President of the Royal Queensland Art Society, is
elected President of the Queensland Wattle League.
1932
Continued fundraising pressure due to recession but Wattle Day observed and
public generosity despite the hardships was recognised.
1933
League plans an arts scholarship within Australia instead of abroad.
1934
Wattle Day Street Collection raises £69 with half given to the Sailors and Soldiers
Fathers Association. A further £89 is raised by schools.
1935
Long time secretary of the League, Mrs Campbell, is awarded the Kings Silver Jubilee
Medal for her work.
1936
The League introduces a new arts scholarship to the value of £50 in conjunction
with the Queensland Technical College in Brisbane.
1937
Mr E W Huston awarded bursary to enable him to study art at the Technical College.
1938
Further scholarship awarded to E W Huston.
1939
Miss Betty Quelhurst is awarded a £50 scholarship.
1940
Miss Barbara Abbott Cottam is the recipient of the scholarship.
1941
Due to the war, all proceeds for the year (£60) are donated to "patriotic" purposes.
1942
Jacqueline Boxall wins the £50 Art scholarship.
1943-44
£400 is transferred to the “Half Dozen Group of Artists” in order to maintain the
Wattle League annual art scholarship.
1945-48
The welfare related activities of the league cease although the scholarship is
awarded for much of this time.
1949
Articles begin to appear in the press calling for the League to be re-started including
a letter from former League Secretary, Mrs Campbell.
75
1950-53
A provisional Committee is formed (1952) to promote a revival of the League.
Josephine Hickey and Doris Thain build support.
1954
The League is formally reconstituted on September 29th at the National Fitness
Council Rooms. It is established with the aim of assisting “the handicapped”.
1955
League initially reports satisfactory growth with many calls for advice and
assistance. However, the Annual Meeting lapses due to lack of a quorum.
1956-57
It is decided to form a new association and register under the Companies Act as a
company limited by guarantee.
1958
The League is registered under the Companies Act with a new constitution. The
organisation moves to premises in Fortitude Valley.
1959
The Board convenes two meetings that result in the formation of the Council of
Social Services of Queensland. Lady Cilento appointed as patron.
1960
“A year of continued progress” with 63 new members. A full time clerk is hired and
Ladies Auxiliary formed.
1961
State Government is approached to provide a subsidy to help the organisation but
request is turned down.
1962
The first sheltered workshop opens on 7th April – this provides employment and
rehabilitation for disabled people.
1963
Paid staff of the League now comprises a secretary and acting workshop manager, a
secretary of the Appeals Committee and two clerk-typists.
1964
New workshop and offices premises opened at College Road.
1965
Name changed to Queensland Wattle League for the Disabled to better
communicate the aims of the organisation.
1966
League visited by Dr P J Trevethan, the retired Executive Vice-President of Goodwill
Industries, America inc.
1967
Board introduces a new scheme to take work to houses of disabled people.
1968
Some of the workshop staff are transferred to a manufacturing company
(Queensland Springs at Hockings Street) to undertake work on their premises.
76
1969
Returns from the “Physically Handicapped Appeal” are better than previous years.
1970
League reports a successful year with the workshop operating at full capacity – an
average of 40 people attend.
1971
Workshops are approved as providing sheltered employment under the “Sheltered
Employment (Assistance) Act”. This opens access to grants and subsidies.
1972
Workshop attendance reaches an average of 50.
1973
League begins to receive government financial help under the “Handicapped
Persons Assistance Act”
1974
League focuses on saving to create a building fund with a view to buying more
suitable premises.
1975
Mr Hawkins moves to become Manager of the League (formerly he was Workshop
Manager).
1976
Printing equipment bought to allow the workshop to expand its operations. Mr
Thain resigns after 20 years on the Board. An Occupational Therapist is recruited.
1977
Dr Llew Edwards, then Minister for Health, appointed as Patron.
1978
Lease of space at Queensland Springs is extended. The company donates back rent
received from the League.
1979
Fundraiser is appointed and begins a programme of activities. Sheltered workshop
at Queensland Springs is destroyed by fire and does not re-open until January 1980.
1980
Sheltered workshop ceased operations as it is no longer financially viable. The
League moves to Cordelia Street premises to run the Activity Therapy Centre.
1981
Mr Hawkins retires as General Manager after 9 years with the League.
1982
Mrs Cottee elected as Chairman of the League.
1983
Fundraising and publicity efforts continue with a number of meetings held for
parents of clients. The Lady Mayoress, Mrs Harvey, visits Cordelia Street offices.
1984
Paid work at the Therapy Centre increases in the first half of the year and there is a
steady increase in donations from companies and individuals.
1985
Sir William Knox, Parliamentary Leader of the Liberal Party raises money for
charities including the League in a swim-a-thon
77
1986
The Disability Services Act sees the Government taking a far more active role in the
design and delivery of services.
1987
Supported accommodation service is established to assist people to live in group
housing.
1988
Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) was officially proclaimed as Australia’s National
Floral Emblem.
1989
Mrs Cottee steps down as Chairman and Ted Stewart is elected. Queensland
Housing Commission allocates two houses for use by clients.
1990
League begins work on a ‘new directions’ project to re-shape and redesign its
services to fit the changed funding availability.
1991
BEST (Brisbane Employment Support and Training) Personnel established as a
supported employment service.
1992
80th Anniversary luncheon is held.
1993
League is moving toward providing more services in the community and a service
level agreement is agreed with the Department of Family Services.
1994
The Activity Therapy Centre becomes a bulk mail and packaging small business with
vocational options for clients unable to access jobs within the community.
1995
BEST personnel receives increased funding to take on more clients.
1996
Wattle League begins working with Project 300 clients – a government scheme to
help individuals move from institutional care to independent living in the
community.
1997
It is decided to honour Mr Duus with an annual award funded through his legacy
received the previous year.
1998
New premises are opened at 98 Stephens Road in South Brisbane.
1999
Plans made to redevelop Chester Road property into a number of self contained
units. The Earle Duus award is made for the first time to Denise Ryan.
2000
The Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Support Service is established.
2001
The first Queensland Wattle League web pages are under development and Chester
Road housing redevelopment begins.
78
2002
Chester Road is opened by Queensland Housing Minister, Robert Schwarten. The
success of the development encourages the League to look at further housing.
2003
The League changes its name to Open Minds and moves to its current Annerley
Road premises.
2004
The Open Minds Bulk Mail service and employees are transferred to Work Solutions
to allow it to grow and develop separately.
2005
Accommodation grows to at total of 21 properties. Open Minds is accredited to
deliver mental Health First Aid to encourage early intervention.
2006
12 housing units are secured at Yeerongpilly through Brisbane Housing Company.
2007
Successful bid to deliver the Personal Helpers and Mentors Program (PHaMs) in five
areas – Inner Brisbane, South Brisbane, Ipswich, Bayside and Caboolture.
2008
Acquired Brain Injury Support Service wins a Disability Action Week Award.
2009
Open Minds successfully tenders with Ostara for the Disability Management Service
(DMS) program.
2010
Additional funding to expand PHaMs to increase services at Brisbane and Ipswich
sites for homeless and Indigenous support specialisation respectively.
2011
Open Minds clients features in two television programmes – ‘Australian Story’
interviews Sam, an ABI client. Earlier in the year, ‘60 Minutes’ featured Nicole Caird
and the effects of encephalitis.
2012
Open Minds celebrates its centenary year.
79
Office Locations
The first permanent offices for the Wattle League were not opened until the 1950s. Prior to this,
League members met in a variety of locations including the Town Hall.
1958-1961
No. 3 Myers House, 253-263 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley
1962-1964
Countess Street, Normanby (workshop only)
1962-1964
CTA Building, 283 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane (administrative offices)
1965-1975
61-77 College Road, Normanby
1975-1980
27 Norfolk Road, South Brisbane
1980-1991
13 Cordelia Street, South Brisbane
1991-1994
75-77 Russell Street, West End
1994-1998
53 Annerley Road, Woolloongabba
1998-2003
98 Stephens Road, South Brisbane
2003-
66 Annerley Road, Woolloongabba
•
1968-1980: A sheltered workshop was also run on the site of Queensland Springs Pty Ltd
at Hockings Street
•
The small business was based at Reid Place, 727 Stanley Street before move to Annerley
Road in 2003
Former Wattle league Offices at Stephens
Road pictured in early 2000s
80
Selected bibliography
•
“Wattle”, Maria Hitchcock, AGPS Press, 1991
•
“Daphne Mayo, Let there be sculpture”, Judith Mckay, Queensland Art Gallery, 2011
•
“A brief history of wattle day”, www.worldwidewattle.com
•
“Nationalising nature: Wattle Days in Australia”, Libby Robin, in `The Dog of War'
special issue of Journal of Australian Studies, 2002 (Vol 73. pp 13-26)
•
“The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation”, Helen Irving, Cambridge
University Press, 1999
•
“Wattle and Empire”, R Mammimo, The Educational Historian, vol1, no1, 1988
•
A historical perspective on mental health services in Australia” 1883-84 to 2003-04,
Darrel Phillip Doessel, Australian Economic History Review, Vol49, no2
•
Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland, April 1924
•
Robert Cummings autobiography “Mostly from the diaries of R P
Cummings”(unpublished) contained in UQ Fryer Library
•
Archives of the Half Dozen Group of Artists at Fryer and Oxley libraries
•
HUMAN RIGHTS AND MENTAL ILLNESS, Report Of The National Inquiry Into The
Human Rights Of People With Mental Illness, Human Rights And Equal Opportunity
Commission, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1993
•
Wolston Park Hospital, 1865-2001: A retrospective, Mark Finnane, Queensland Review.
Vol 15, no2, 2008
Wattle League and Open Minds Annual reports and Minute books were also used extensively.
81
References
“About National Wattle Day” retrieved 3 August 2012 from Wattle Day Association
http://www.wattleday.asn.au/about-wattle-day-1/
2 History of the Wattle Day Movement. (1913, August 30). The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 1929), p. 11. Retrieved August 3, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page4483590
3 Maria Hitchcock (1991), Wattle, AGPS Press
4 THE WATTLE SENTIMENT. (1910, September 8). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), p.
6. Retrieved August 3, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10459044
5 “Commonwealth Coat of Arms” retrieved 3 August 2012 from Australian Government
Honours website http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/coat-arms/#1912_coa
6 History of the Wattle Day Movement. (1913, August 30). The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 1929), p. 11. Retrieved August 3, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page4483590
7 “About National Wattle Day” retrieved 3 August 2012 from Wattle Day Association
http://www.wattleday.asn.au/about-wattle-day-1/
8 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No. S 240, Monday, 24 August 1992
9 WATTLE DAY. (1912, September 4). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 11. Retrieved
August 3, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19857221
10 "WATTLE DAY.". (1912, October 5). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 11. Retrieved
11 WATTLE DAY. (1915, June 10). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 3. Retrieved August
6, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20010781
12 Society. (1923, September 27). Queensland Figaro (Brisbane, QLD : 1901 - 1936), p. 4. Retrieved
13 WATTLE DAY LEAGUE. (1921, March 3). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 7.
Retrieved August 7, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20487686
14 A QUEENSLAND SCULPTOR. (1922, September 16). The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 1939), p. 9. Retrieved August 7, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27435673
15 Australian Government Honours website, accessed 30 July 2012,
<http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1084646&
search_type=simple&showInd=true>
16 From Robert Cummings autobiography “Mostly from the diaries of R P
Cummings”(unpublished) accessed at Fryer Library, University of Queensland.
17 From Robert Cummings autobiography “Mostly from the diaries of R P
Cummings”(unpublished) accessed at Fryer Library, University of Queensland.
18 WATTLE DAY. (1922, July 13). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 15. Retrieved
19 WATTLE DAY. (1932, July 8). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 10. Retrieved August
20 WHAT ABOUT WATTLE DAY?. (1949, July 5). The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954),
p. 2. Retrieved August 8, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49680580
21 FRENCHTON. (1928, July 19). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 9. Retrieved August
22 WATTLE DAY. DISTRESSED DIGGERS JO BENEFIT. (1922, July 14). The Brisbane Courier
(Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 4. Retrieved August 13, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.newsarticle20558858
1
82
AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL FLOWER. (1923, August 2). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 1933), p. 16. Retrieved August 13, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20655291
24 WATTLE LEAGUE. (1926, September 24). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 21.
25 Australian Government Honours website, accessed 30 July 2012,
<http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1109711&
search_type=advanced&showInd=true>
26 NEW YEAR HONOUR RECIPIENTS. (1936, January 1). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1954),
p. 2. Retrieved July 31, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2404233
27 PREPARING FOR APPEAL. (1954, September 3). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 8.
28 Nationalising nature: Wattle Days in Australia, Libby Robin, in `The Dog of War' special issue
of Journal of Australian Studies, 2002 (Vol 73. pp 13-26)
29 SEEK TO HELP HANDICAPPED. (1954, September 30). The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933
- 1954), p. 7. Retrieved August 28, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50616104
23
83

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