Red Triangle Day - WWI

Red Triangle Day

In an effort to raise money for Australian soldiers overseas during World War One, the Y.M.C.A (Young Men’s Christian Association) began the Red Triangle campaign in 1917.
The campaign spanned all of Australia and rolled out through South Australia over many months.

In Adelaide, the Adelaide Citizens Committee became involved in the fund-raising effort and through the dedication of 700 female volunteers, raised over two and half thousand pounds in one day on May 24th, 1917.
This was achieved by closing off sections of Rundle Street and Gawler Place and holding a market. A procession of troops, bands and decorated cars also added to the atmosphere of the day.

As the State began to embrace the Red Triangle Day appeal, it was decided that its official “day” would be August 31st across the State.

A gala day was held in Mount Barker in August 1917, which became an all-night fund-raising event held at The Mount Barker Town Hall.

Kapunda celebrated Red Triangle Day on September 1st, 1917. The Kapunda celebration featured a button unique to their celebration, which is extremely rare and collectable today.

Peterborough (then known as Petersburg) celebrated in September 1917, proudly supported by the Burra Ladies Band. This was the first time a “Lady’s Band” had ever played a concert in Peterborough. This led to large crowds gathering in the Town Hall later in the day to hear the ladies sing, while local ladies sold pins and flowers to raise money for the Y.M.C.A.

Stansbury, on the Yorke Peninsula, celebrated Red Triangle day with a fete on August 31st, 1917.

Through the cooperation of the State War Council, The Minister of Education and the Children’s Patriotic Fund a fund-raising competition in South Australian schools raised money for the Y.M.C.A. Red Triangle Day appeal. The reward for the winning school was a large banner proclaiming their effort and the honour of knowing they were supporting the Australian war effort overseas.

The Red Triangle appeal carried over into 1918, with Unley, in June 1918, being canvassed with a door to door sale of a unique Red Triangle pin created for the day. A small gathering of locals also attended a small musical show at the Unley City Hall headquarters. 

In May 1919, Red Triangle Day continued in Port Pirie with a football match between the Smelter Imperials and the Y.M.C.A.

The August 1917 appeal in Australia raised £159,037 28 (that’s around $14,198,000 in today’s money).

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2018

References

1917 'RED TRIANGLE DAY', The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser (SA: 1880 - 1954), 3 August, p. 2. , viewed 30 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article147702293
Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1889 - 1931), Saturday 21 July 1917, page 8
1917 'Y.M.C.A. WAR WORK', Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA: 1910 - 1924), 1 August, p. 8. , viewed 30 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124859553
1917 'RED TRIANGLE DAY', Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA: 1910 - 1924), 2 August, p. 3. , viewed 30 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124859820
1917 'THE COUNTRY.', The Register (Adelaide, SA: 1901 - 1929), 4 August, p. 5. , viewed 30 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60466404
1917 'RED TRIANGLE DAY APPEAL', Chronicle (Adelaide, SA: 1895 - 1954), 4 August, p. 34. , viewed 30 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87607153
1917 'Advertising', The Mail (Adelaide, SA: 1912 - 1954), 4 August, p. 3. , viewed 30 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64042545
1918 'ONLEY RED TRIANGLE DAY.', Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA: 1910 - 1924), 8 June, p. 4. , viewed 30 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124550031
1919 'RED TRIANGLE DAY.', Recorder (Port Pirie, SA: 1919 - 1954), 28 May, p. 2. , viewed 30 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article95415489
1917 'RED TRIANGLE DAY.', Petersburg Times (SA: 1887 - 1919), 5 October, p. 3. , viewed 30 Dec 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109504664

A Black Mass at North Adelaide.

A Black Mass at North Adelaide.

  This remarkable eyewitness account was published in the Evening Journal newspaper in 1904.

  A person identifying themselves as only “B.S.S.” witnessed an apparition of a funeral near the corner of Barnard Street some years prior and recounted it for the newspaper.

 The witness had walked down Molesworth Street, along Hill Street, and when at the corner of Barnard Street, near the hospital, witnessed an intensely black shape moving in the street. On this night, a very well-known lady in the area, lay dying in the Calvary Hospital just metres away from where the witness was standing.

 The witness watched on as the black shape paused in the road, and then marched onto vacant land nearby. Walking closer to get a better view, the witness realised it was a funeral procession occurring in the night in front of them. A coffin, covered in black velvet was being held by four men, while two walked in front, and four behind. All the men wore ‘hose and doublet’, small cloaks or capes, swords at their sides and feathers in their caps.

 The funeral procession stopped. They turned back towards the hospital slowly vanishing as they returned toward it, and where the dying woman lay.

 The woman would not die, and in her final hours, called desperately for her individual ancestors. Was it them, dressed in black, bearing swords and holding the coffin, or was it death coming to collect his dues?

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2019


Bibliography

1904 'GHOSTS, OR WHAT:', Evening Journal, 18 October, p. 1. , viewed 22 Apr 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article200827889

Ruby Davy : South Australian Icons

Ruby Claudia Emily Davy

Ruby Claudia Emily Davy was born on the 22^nd of November 1883, in Salisbury. Her father, William Davy was a local shoemaker, and her mother, Louisa, a singer and music teacher. Ruby grew up in a home full of music, not only was her mother an accomplished singer, but her father was an excellent brass instrument player. Their house was full of instruments, and young Ruby was encouraged to play them all.

By the age of 5, Ruby was improvising, and composing on the family piano. By the age of 13, Ruby was teaching 27 students at the Salisbury School of Music. By the age of 20, Ruby had begun studying at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, and also earned an Associate of Music.

 Ruby graduated in 1907, at the age of 24 with a Bachelor of Music, she still taught music in Salisbury, was now also teaching at Allen’s Music shop in Rundle Street, Adelaide.

•        Ruby Davy was the first Australian woman to receive a doctorate in music from The Adelaide University, one of many firsts, which also included:

•  First woman to receive a doctorate in faculty at the University of Adelaide.
•  The first person in Australia to become a Licentiate of the London College of Music (1913).
• First Australian woman to become a fellow of Trinity College of Music, London (1921), the first to be awarded outside England.

Ruby’s outstanding achievements also included earning a Diploma in Elocution from the

London College of Music, and an Honorary Fellowship of the Victorian College of Music (the first person to be awarded this honour outside of England)

Ruby’s life changed dramatically in 1929, first, her mother Louisa died in April, aged 78, and only a month later her father, William died aged 82. Ruby, an only child, fell into a deep depression, which led to a nervous breakdown, and the closing of her music school at Prospect.

 It took four years to recover from the blow of losing her parents, but with support from Pastor John Hewitt, Ruby returned to her first love in 1993, and by 1934 she had returned to performing music in public.

 Ruby soon found herself giving performances on radio, and through 1934 to 1938 found herself touring through Victoria.

In 1939, Ruby toured England and select parts of Europe, Canada and the United States giving lectures and recitals.
In 1941, she founded the Society of Women Musicians of Australia, which she presided over until 1949.

Ruby was described as a frail woman with haunting dark eyes, she usually wore long black dresses and black clothing, probably in mourning for her beloved parents. 

In 1947, Ruby suffered a tragedy she would never recover from. Diagnosed with breast cancer, she was given a full mastectomy, which negatively impacted her playing. Ruby fell into another deep depression and never recovered, she died on the 12^th of July 1949.
 Her body was returned to Adelaide, and she was buried in the West Terrace Cemetery

.

Ruby Davy collection held at the University of Adelaide:
https://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/mss/davy/

The Dr Ruby Davy Prize for Composition: https://arts.adelaide.edu.au/scholarships/prizes/ruby_davey_prize_composition.html

Memorabilia for Ruby Davy can be found in the local history room of the Len Beadell Library in Salisbury, South Australia.
 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2017

https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide/?ref=bookmarks

https://www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia/

Bibliography. 

1929 'MUSICIAN AND ATHLETE', News (Adelaide, SA: 1923 - 1954), 17 May, p. 15. (HOME EDITION), viewed 26 Sep 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129141051

Joyce Gibberd and Silvia O'Toole, 'Davy, Ruby Claudia (1883–1949)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/davy-ruby-claudia-5918/text10081, published first in hardcopy 1981, accessed online 26 September 2017

1934 'Dr. Ruby Davy's Concert', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1931 - 1954), 14 March, p. 18. , viewed 26 Sep 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74082657

1949 'DR. RUBY DAVY DEAD', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 - 1954), 13 July, p. 3. , viewed 26 Sep 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18122279

1940 'DR. RUBY DAVY', News (Adelaide, SA: 1923 - 1954), 25 July, p. 9. , viewed 26 Sep 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131420359

Barton Vale House

Barton Vale House

Built between 1850 and 1852 by Edmund Bowman, Barton Vale house, an early Victorian, Gothic styles mansion is now owned by the Smith Family Group.
Bowman tried to build the house as cheaply as he could, but still maintain excellence in construction and style. He sourced local materials and builders and constructed one of Adelaide's most impressive buildings.
Unfortunately for Edmund, he didn’t get to enjoy his new home for too long as he passed away in 1866. His wife remarried and with her new husband refurbished the house in 1880.
On Tuesday, August 23rd 1881 the “South Australian Advertiser” published a detailed description of the house on page 5, after allowing architects and builders in to let them inspect the fine work of the house. The article is very descriptive of the interior at the time and describes such things as room size and décor, it is a most interesting read for history buffs.

In 1922 the Bowman family house and the estate was sold by order of the Supreme Court after the death of Hubert Bowman. The sale lasted a few days because of the sheer amount of goods inside the home.
The house itself was sold to The Salvation Army, who installed within its walls a “home for wayward girls”. During this era the house was known as “Barton Vale home” and many girls saw the insides of its walls for their misdemeanour’s.
 It was not uncommon for the home to make the news in this era as the wayward girls would often try and liberate themselves, once such incident involved a lot of violence and the police were called in, the story made page 4 of the “Register News” newspaper in Adelaide on July 17th 1930.

In 1947 the house was again sold, this time to the State Remand System, who renamed it, “Vaughan House” causing a little controversy as the Enfield council were not happy with the new choice of name.
Renaming the house did not exclude it from the mischief of its residents, there were breakouts, with two girls absconding for five days, dressed as boys before they were caught. On Tuesday, December 15th 1953 the police were called to Vaughan House after the girls had become disruptive, just before the police arrived they climbed onto the roof and began hurling abuse at the officers and locals who had come out of their houses to see what the ruckus was about, they managed to stay on the rooftop until almost sunrise the next day.

By the 1980s the house was no longer used and remained empty, it was a shell of its former self, with windows broken, vines growing uncontrolled over it, and graffiti sprayed through its rooms, the house was in an awful state. The State very nearly demolished the building, but it was fortunately saved after the Enfield Historical Society campaigned for a National trust listing and for its restoration.

The Advertiser  Tuesday 11 November 1947,

The South Australian Government allocated funding for the restoration with the view of using it as government offices. Work got underway in 1991, the tower, which had been removed in 1944 due to its extreme weight cracking the floors was replaced with a new tower made of fibreglass and lightweight steel, allowing the building to be seen as it once was. Halfway through the year, the majority of the work had been completed in the restoration, except the interior, the Government then decided they would not need offices and put the house and land up for sale.

The land was sold to a developer, Collaroy Developments, who subdivided the 5 acres included with the house and sold it off as a new housing estate, leaving the house standing on one acre of land.
In 1995, Peter and Marilyn Smith purchased the house and began restoring its interior unto its former glory, a lovingly painstaking task that has seen the home return to the splendour and grandeur of its past.

The Smith family use Barton Vale house, partly as their private home and partly as the headquarters for their various business enterprises, it is well kept and in loving hands.

The Advertiser Wednesday 5 October 1949,

The ghost stories that grew around this magnificent structure can mostly be attributed to the time when it was vacant and in a state of disrepair, as with most grand mansions that acquire a status of haunted, it would seem that past usage of the house was not forgotten by locals and urban legends amongst the youth about goings-on grew, as did the reputation of the old empty rotting mansion, spawning tales of ghost girls walking its staircase and a nasty matron telling boys to leave.

As far as I am aware, from the beginning of the restoration period in 1991 to now, no ghosts or other paranormal phenomena have been reported from builders over the years or the current owners. It would seem that the ghost stories associated with Barton Vale house are just that, stories, made to scare younger kids from going inside the old mansion, that have been passed down from older brothers and sisters through the years and grown into legends.

© 2014 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au