One of the many treasures at historic Lydham Hall, a WWI Patriotic Flag from 1915 has been packed away for safe keeping while the hall undergoes renovation.
Councillor Liz Barlow was working with members of the St George Historical Society and the Lydham Hall Committee to pack up the items held upstairs at Lydham Hall prior to the roof being replaced.
The Patriotic Flag mbroidered to raise money for the war effort.
"The flag is in quite good condition apart from a few holes," said Councillor Barlow.
"It is a wonderful part of our history and I would like to thank the Lydham Hall Committee for keeping it safe."
During World War I, in an effort to raise money for the war effort, a 'Bexley Patriotic Flag' was organised. Members of the Bexley community donated the sum of one pound to have their names name embroidered on the flag.
A total of 59 names are embroidered on this flag including:
. R. W. Churchill - Richard Churchill, Bexley Council's Town Clerk
. E. Larbalastier - the child of John Larbalestier, Mayor of Bexley 1900-1902
. T. Kenwood and Mabel Kenwood - the children of William Kenwood, the Bexley architect
who designed many heritage-listed local homes, including 'St Elmo' in Harrow Road
In his book, Cameos of Bexley, Ron Rathbone stated that the flag was kept at Lydham Hall.
Lydham Hall, a heritage-listed former residence and now museum at 18 Lydham Avenue, is owned by Bayside Council.
The Museum is managed by the St. George Historical Society and the Lydham Hall Committee.
Council is about to undertake some restoration work on Lydham Hall and the collection is being packed up for safe keeping.
The Bexley Patriotic Flag
The Bexley Patriotic Flag was created in 1915 as part of a WWI fundraising initiative.
While Australia Day is now held on nationally on 26 January, in 1915 that date was celebrated in New South Wales as Foundation Day.
During the First World War, the concept of a national 'Australia Day' became part of a wider fundraising plan where money was raised by declaring a special 'day' on which events such as auctions, stalls, performances and street collections could be held to encourage the community to contribute to the war effort.
It is believed that it was Mrs Ellen Wharton-Kirke, whose four sons had enlisted in the war, who first suggested an 'Australia Day' to the New South Wales Premier, Sir Charles Wade.
Mrs Wharton-Kirke saw an Australia Day as a way of drawing on the pride of Australians in their soldiers' recent achievements at Gallipoli. 30 July 1915 was the date agreed upon, and events were held across all of Australia. Ribbons, badges, handkerchiefs, buttons and other items were sold to raise funds, with phrases such as 'For Australia's Heroes' and 'Help Our Wounded Heroes' which appealed to people's sense of pride and patriotism. The day raised over £839,500 in New South Wales alone.
Note: the above information on Australia Day is from the Australian War Memorial:
www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/the-other-australia-day-30-july-1915
Local communities all across NSW took part in this initiative, including St George, which at the time included the municipalities of Rockdale, Bexley, Kogarah and Hurstville. The Mayor of Rockdale, William Monahan, became President of the St. George Australia Day Fund, which aimed to raise the sum of £5,000.
To raise this princely sum, a huge number of fund-raising events and activities were organised across the district. On 17 August 1915, the Mayor of Bexley, W. J. Berryman, presented a Mayoral Minute to Bexley Council, outlining Bexley's contribution to the St George Fund. His Mayoral Minute explains the origins of the flag:
"As you will remember, before the Mayor of Rockdale initiated the St. George £5,000 movement, the teachers of the Bexley Public School, under the Principal, Mr. J. S. Middenway, had commenced arrangements for the holding of a School Fair to raise funds for the wounded soldiers. When the citizens movement was brought into being, as the result of a public meeting, convened by myself, the teachers willingly agreed to throw in
their lot with the larger scheme, an action for which they are deserving of our best thanks."
Several garden fetes and entertainments at private residences gave valuable aid to the fund while a Picture Show at Rockdale will add a good sum to the total - the proceeds going wholly to the Bexley Fund.
At the latter entertainment an Australian Flag brought £42. It is to be used to drape a tablet to be erected at the Bexley School to record the names of the 'old boys' who have fought for the Empire, and the sum realised was brought about by the sale of the right to have the names of the bidders worked upon it.
The flag looks unusual in that it has a red, rather than a blue, background. In 1903, King Edward VII approved two designs for the Australian flag: the Commonwealth blue ensign and the Commonwealth red ensign. The blue ensign was designed for official and naval purposes, while the red ensign was designed for use by the merchant fleet. However, in the early decades of last century, the red ensign flag was often used by general members of the public, and it was one chosen by members of the Bexley community in 1915.
The completed flag was embroidered with the names of 59 individuals:
Boesser, Esther
Brierley, Katherine
Brooke, Maisie
Campbell, Eileen
Campbell, Nina
Churchill, R. W.
Cumming, K.
Downes, Edith
Downes, H. T.
Duesbury, Edna
Elder, T.
Farr, Bessie
Farr, W.
Fielding, Thelma
Fuller, W. R.
Gibbons, Florrie
Gibbons, Sarah
Goode, Calie
Goode, C.
Goode, Irene
Goode, T.
Hannam, G.
Hardie, Eva
Hopkins, A.
James, Edna
Kenwood, Mabel
Kenwood, T.
Lofberg, D.
Larbalastier, E.
Lawrance, W.
McDiarmd, Florrie
McKenzie, Alice
McKenzie, Ilma
McKenzie, Linda
McLeod, Flora
McLeod, Madge
McMillan, E. W. R.
McNeil, Ada
McNeil, A.
McNeil, Doris
McNeil, Glennie
McNeil, Hazel
McNeil, Norma
McNeil, R.
Middenway, A.
Middenway, J. S.
Middenway, Sarah E.
Moodie, S.
Olds, Esme
Robertson, H.
Shirley, Aenid
Smalley, Ella
Smithson, J. E.
Stephen, Dorothy
Unsworth, Florrie
Weatherstone, F.
Wilson, Edith
Wilson, H. A.
Wood, E.
