President of the Yass and District Historical Society Tanya Cullen with committee member Sheree Bamforth in front of the models of main street buildings, part of the new exhibition in the Yass Valley History Centre. Photo: Sally Hopman.
Members of the Yass and District Historical Society knew that, when it came to their collection, they had gold.
Unique items that told the story of the Yass Valley, its people and its times — but they wanted to share the riches by making the collection more accessible to all.
The treasures range from a telescope and water bottle used by explorer Hamilton Hume to a Thornton and Pickard ruby plate camera used by Alfred Shearsby, famous for not only recording the early history of the Yass Valley but for documenting, through more than 600 glass plate negatives, construction of the Burrinjuck Dam.
The collection also included early records from Murrumbateman, Bowning and Yass schools, rare nursing uniforms, even a cheque for 150 pounds for Lady Jane Franklin, written by her husband, early NSW governor Lieutenant John Franklin, which, in today’s money, would amount to about $25,000.
Like many non-profit community-based organisations, the group, which had just moved into its new Yass Valley History Centre in the main street — again through its own fundraising and community support — wanted its collection to undergo a significance assessment — a formal appraisal of the collecton to determine its historical significance.
But that would cost money. A grant of $1500 from the Bango Wind Farm Enhancement Program helped, but when the group was knocked back for a Yass Valley Council grant, members took it upon themselves to raise the money doing what they did best — bringing history to life (and death).
They started staging ghostly tours of the historic Yass Cemetery; the first were sold out in 48 hours but there are plans for more later this year.
With funds raised from the tours, they employed expert Christine Yeats to conduct a significant assessment of the Yass collection.
Her assessment confirmed the collection met national significance criteria, placing it among the most important community-held heritage collections in Australia.
Sheree Bamforth examines Hamilton Hume’s telescope and drink bottle before their display in the exhibition. Photo: Sally Hopman.
The Yass collection, Ms Yeats said, “comprises a rare and comprehensive archive of … organisations, individuals and families … official events and everyday family life … offering invaluable insight into the community’s social fabric”.
“It reflects over a century of collective experience, continuity and transformation in Australian rural life.”
A rare treasure from the Yass collection: an 1837 cheque for Lady Franklin. Photo: Yass Valley History Centre.
Yass Valley History Centre committee member Sheree Bamforth said the recognition illustrated how Yass Valley’s stories “contribute to Australia’s broader national narrative. It marks an important milestone for the whole community, strengthening Yass Valley’s place as a key regional cultural destination, and opens new opportunities for heritage-based tourism and historical research.”
To celebrate the collection’s recognition, the Yass Valley History Centre will host an exhibition, National Treasures, Local Stories, from this Sunday (9 November).
For president of the Yass and District Historical society, Tanya Cullen, there is no better reason to celebrate than to make the collection items more accessible.
She said the assessment was the culmination of many years of work by the Yass volunteers since the society was established in 1961.
Murrumbateman school records from the early 1800s, part of the Yass History Centre’s rich collection. Photo: Yass Valley History Centre.
“It confirms that the Yass collection met national significance criteria, placing it among the most important community-held heritage collections in Australia,” she said.
“It is thanks for all the great work done over the years to manage, catalogue and preserve the collection — so many people before us did such great work, which we are very grateful for.
“History is so important in a community like this one.”
National Treasures, Local Stories opens at the Yass Valley History Centre, Comur Street, Yass, on Sunday, 9 November, and then on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm. Free entry but donations welcome to support the Yass and District Historical Society.
