Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House

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Articles from August, 2009

August 31, 2009

Passing of noted author and journalist Fred Brenchley

The museum has lost a significant contributor to its recent history. Fred Brenchley, who died Saturday 29 August, joined the Governing Council of what was then known as Old Parliament House, in 2005. He had only recently been reappointed to the new museum’s Advisory Council. Fred brought his wide knowledge and a keen sense of what made history memorable to the Council’s discussions, and built a strong relationship with museum staff and other members of its Council.

He was a strong advocate for the widening of the museum’s mission beyond the period in which Federal Parliament sat in the building, coining the phrase ‘Gallery of Australian Demo…

August 04, 2009

The Federation arches: a photographic album

We’ve recently acquired an important item for our collection. The photo album, ‘Views of Sydney’, is a handsome leather-bound volume of photographs, largely of Federation arches, taken in Sydney and Melbourne in 1901. The photographer is unknown. The album was purchased from a second hand book dealer. These unusual photographs are coloured. After seeking the advice of photographic experts at the National Gallery of Australia and the Australian National University, it appears most likely that they are photo lithographs from a negative, with the colour being printed from hand drawn tint stones.

The images from the album are on the Old Parliament…