WEEKLY BULLETIN
"Lighting Up Rotary Through Literacy at Home and Away".
Meeting Date:
30th April 2015
Program:
President welcomes visiting Rotarians and guests
Rotary Grace
Apologies and announcements by the Sergeant-at-Arms
EVENTS DIARY
Today’s
Program:
Rosalie Martin - Literacy
Upcoming events
Date
Speaker
Subject
Chair of the
day
April – Magazine Month
May – Youth Service
May 7
Cheri Allanby
May 12
Board Meeting
May 14
Andrew Sypkes +
Stuart Smith
May 21
John Williamson
May 24
Stephen Porter
Pathways Tasmania
District Training Assembly – Board Members
May 28
May 29
True Trails
NO MEETING
Fellowship drinks
Maritime Museum
Thought for the Day
The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.
~ René Descartes
Acting Sergeant Paul Swifte opened the meeting at 1pm.
Introductory remarks from President Geoff
Visiting
Rotarians:
Guests:
None
Rotary Makeups:
None
Apologies:
47 apologies
Anniversary:
None
Birthdays:
John McDonald
Paul Swifte
Raffle:
Sarah Kay – guest of Kate Domeney,
Ann Cripps - guest of Peter Cripps
Robert Dick – President of the RSLA
Commander Stacey Porter – Royal Australian Navy
Wing Commander Deb Philips – Royal Australian Air Force
all guests of Peter Cripps
Sue Hickey won the scotch/wine
Don Scott won the chocolates
Grace:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
General Announcements
Kate Domeney: re Christina Henri and the Bonnets Project
Jillian Freeman: Has double passes to see ‘A Royal Night Out’ at Village Cinema
on Sunday May 3 at 10.30am
GUEST SPEAKERS
Chair of the day Peter Cripps introduced our Club’s tribute to our Charter Members and their
involvement with World War One
Geoff Squibb paid tribute to Sir Henry Jones
Graeme Costelloe paid tribute to Sir John Butters
Kate Domeney paid tribute to Sir Herbert Gepp
Heather Chong paid tribute to Matthew Wilkes Simmons and Alfred Courtney-Pratt
and Anne Cripps paid tribute to the Moore brothers (Max, Keith & Edney)
For full text of each presentation please refer to the separate PDF attachments accompanying this
bulletin.
PLEASE NOTE:
If you are making an announcement at Rotary Lunch or if you have anything of
interest you would like to include in the Bulletin could you please email the
information to the Bulletin team - [email protected]
r
I·
INTRODUCTION – Peter Cripps
This year is a significant one, not only for our Club but also our Nation
and in particular service men and women past and present and their
families.
I
..
Whilst this Rotary year we celebrate the 90th anniversary of the chartering
of our Club, our Nation this Saturday will commemorate the 100th anniversary
of the gallant actions of the ANZACs at Gallipoli.
It is remarkable to think that some of the men, less than 10 years after serving
their country at Gallipoli, signed up to serve their local community as
Charter Members of the Rotary Club of Hobart.
Today we will hear of the WWl efforts of some of those Charter
Members.
To mark Saturdays special commemoration the proceeds of the
Foundation Bowls today will be donated to Legacy and on Saturday I will
lay a wreath at the Cenotaph on the Club's behalf.
In acknowledgement of today’s theme I am very pleased to welcome some
special guests. - Mr. Robert Dick, the Tasmanian President of the
Returned Services League of Australia, Cmdr Stacey Porter, Senior
Australian Navy Officer Tas and Wing Commander Deb Philips, Senior
Australian Air Force Officer Tas.
Sir Henry Jones – presented by Geoff Squibb
Sir Henry Jones, our Charter President was born in Hobart Town on 19 July 1862.
He was 53 at the time of the Gallipoli action.
At age 12 he began his working life at George Peacock’s Jam Factory (there is another
family name with a long association with this club). The factory was located on the
Old Wharf and his first job was pasting labels on tins. Within a few years he became
an expert jam boiler and in 1885 promoted to factory foreman.
He married Alice Glover in 1883 and they had 3 sons and 9 daughters.
In 1889 on George Peacock's retirement Henry Jones took control Henry Jones & Co
in partnership with A.W. Palfreyman and Peacock's son Ernest.
During this partnership period Jones adopted the now famous trade name IXL.
Although Jones dominated the jam making industry in Australia his greatest profits
came from tin mining in Thailand.
Sir Henry became a leading Australian financier and one of the early advisers to the
Commonwealth Bank.
I have not been able to find any record of Sir Henry serving at Gallipoli, nor of any of
his sons. In view of his age I doubt that he saw active service at that time. However
he made significant contributions in other ways.
During WW1 he advised the British Authorities on their colonial investments and he
made what was probably one of the largest personal donations to the war effort. He
donated an aircraft to the British Army.
In 1919 Sir Henry was knighted.
In 1924 he was elected Charter president of our Club.
Sir Henry also supported a number of Hobart organisations as varied as the Methodist
Church, schools, nurse's homes and sporting organisations. In his youth he played
Aussie Rules football and was a lifelong supporter of the North Hobart Football Club.
(William Leitch). As well as his involvement with RCH he was also a member of the
Hobart Chamber of Commerce and the Honorary Consul for Denmark.
Sir Henry died suddenly on 29 October 1926 after suffering a heart attack in
Melbourne while negotiating the establishment of a British Tyre Manufacturing
industry for Launceston.
He is buried at Cornelian Bay Cemetery, however there are many monuments to his
vision and generosity around Hobart.'
Sir Henry Jones was a great Rotarian and excelled in his service to his country and
the Hobart community.
SIR JOHN HENRY BUTTERS
BORN 1885 DIED 1969
CHARTER MEMBER 1924
HONOURS
Member of the order of the British Empire (MBE)
1920
Companion of thr order of St. Michael & St. George (CMG) 1923
Knighted 1927
In 1909 he moved from London to Australia as chief engineer for Siemens brothers
responsible for designing power station projects.
He was involved in the Tasmanian hydro-electric scheme and became chief engineer of the
hydro-electric commission.
Described as a man of strong mental and physical qualities, self-disciplined, reserved and
modest he was delegated considerable responsibilities and authority by the Tasmanian
government to complete his projects. He was a captain in the Australian engineers and
repeatedly during World War 1 sought permission to go to active service but was required at
th
home, being headquartered at 6 military district Hobart
He was promoted to major in 1919
In 1924 he was appointed chairman of the Federal Capital Commission which was created to
oversee the building of the nations new capital Canberra. He was later knighted for this
work. Butters drive in Canberra was named after him.
He served on numerous government committees after this most of which he chaired. At the
same time he operated his own private engineering busin
During World War two he was consulting engineer at army headquarters with the rank of
lieutenant colonel. In 1931 he joined the board of General Motors Holden Ltd. and remained
a director until his death. He was on the board of the Royal Automobile Club of Australia
serving as president from 1937 until 1949.
Sir John Butters was an outstanding Australian and as a founder member of our Club adds
to our proud history.
Gepp, Sir Herbert William (Bert) (1877–1954)
by B. E. Kennedy (Presented by Kate Domeney)
This article is drawn from one which was published in Australian Dictionary
of Biography, Volume 8, (MUP), 1981
Sir Herbert William (Bert) Gepp (1877-1954 was born on 28 September 1877 in
Adelaide. He was state schools educated, but family poverty prevented him from going
university.
In 1893 he became a junior chemist in Melbourne. During this time, three evenings a
week he rode his bicycle to the University of Melbourne a total distance of 20 miles,
(32km), to attend chemistry lectures.
In 1905 he joined the Zinc Corporation Ltd and went to Broken Hill to help solve the
'sulphide problem'.
In 1907 he became manager of a treatment company and played an active part in the
development of the flotation process for the extraction of zinc.
While there, Gepp was concerned about the industry's more serious labour problems and
took steps to improve the safety and welfare of his men. He urged the companies to
increase their subsidies to the local hospital and in 1913 initiated the Broken Hill
Progress Association in order to improve living conditions.
In spite of union opposition and the apathy of company boards, his organisation built
playgrounds, spent money on gardens, and arranged a seaside holiday for miners'
children. More importantly, it laid the groundwork for the welfare schemes pursued by
the companies after World War I.
Gepp enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at the outbreak of war, however, he did
not go to war. He was sent to the US and was later accredited by the Prime Minister of
Australia, Andrew Fisher to purchase the munitions and munition-making equipment for
the Commonwealth.
In 1917 Gepp became general manager of the Electrolytic Zinc Co. of Australasia and led
that company through its early years. It was comparable in scale to the creation of the
Newcastle steel industry, and he played a major role in solving its early metallurgical
problems. At Risdon, he was responsible for the design and supervision of a series of
plants, increasing in capacity, with finally a 100 tonne plant which produced zinc of
99.95 per cent purity.
Gepp began a new career in 1926 as a public servant when he was appointed chairman
of the Development and Migration Commission, where he could use his great energy,
inventive mind, and commitment to industrial growth.
1
In 1933 he was knighted.
He returned to private industry. From 1931 he was technical consultant to Australian
Paper Manufacturers Ltd and in 1936 became its general manager. He retired in 1950.
Gepp made significant contributions to the solution of the great metallurgical problems
of the mining industry in the 1900’s, he was a pioneer in the enlightened labour policies
in industry, he was an advocate of the role of science in industry, government and the
economy, and helped to establish the CSIRO, the Royal Australian Chemical Institute,
the Australian Institute of Management and the Institute of Public Affairs, among others.
He was a committed Rotarian, with this recorded achievement, ‘During the second year
with Sir Herbert Gepp at the helm, the Rotary Club of Hobart, besides contributing £100
to the War Memorial on the Domain, made a drive for funds to assist the Boy Scouts and
total of about £1,130 has been given to the Scouts. At the close of this second year the
membership figure was forty-eight, an increase on the first year membership of 45. An
increase of 15%?
Among other activities, there is a record of his address to the Former European
Rotarians All Australian Conference, in September 1939, and to the Rotary Club of
Montreal in March 1942.
He has been described as a man of a massive, all-round comprehension, he knew a
great deal about an awful lot. He was colourful, individualistic and in a sense,
nonconformist. He was enormously observant, full of ideas, original, creative and daring
in conception and bold in execution. His early life gave him a disciplined toughness with
a sympathy for the underdog.
One of his biographers wrote – ‘If the first fifty years of federation are surveyed, Gepp
would have as strong a claim as anybody else to be regarded as the leading figure in the
development of a still-youthful Australia’.
2
Matthew Wilkes Simmons & Alfred William Courtney-Pratt
(Presented by Heather Chong)
Matthew Wilkes Simmons
Few people in Hobart would not know Simmons Wolfhagen, a long established legal firm.
Matthew Wilkes Simmons, foundation member and President of Rotary 1926-27 was senior
partner in the days when it was Simmons, Wolfhagen, Simmons and Walch. One of the
more famous partners at the firm was Andrew Inglis Clark of Hare-Clark voting fame.
I have a special interest in Mr Simmons as he was a Clarence resident - In June 1890, the
bulk of modern day Lindisfarne was purchased for subdivision by the Beltana Land
Company. Prominent amongst the company's directors was Matthew Wilkes Simmons, who
chose the name 'Beltana' for the new suburb. Beltana is an Australian Aboriginal word for
'running water', a reference to the suburb's principle attraction, frontage on the River
Derwent.
Simmons, a solicitor, built 'Salamis' in Lincoln Street, and is very likely responsible for
choosing most of the street names. Beltana was promoted as a healthy place to live, with
fresh sea air and away from the noise and smell of the city.
Matthew travelled extensively – not easy in those days, a report he gave to Rotary on his
travels in India talked about the conditions and poor pay that people there received. In the
war he was heavily involved with the Red Cross and was a member of the Red Cross
Committee.
He was a director of many companies including Davies Bros, Hydro-electric Commission,
University Council, J Walch and Sons and was President of the Tasmanian Club.
In his later years, he lived in South Hobart in Lindfield in Holebrook Place from where he
would walk to work in Macquarie Street. On the 27th August 1930, he was doing just that,
stopped to chat with Dr Atkins outside his surgery, collapsed, fell backwards and died. He
was 68 at the time.
Matthew was described as a man of broad views, great tact and business ability, a very
sound lawyer, particularly in the area of commercial law. He was a man who in every phase
of life showed kindliness, unfailing courtesy and consideration for others.
It was said in his obituary that his career might aptly be summed up as the Rotary maxim:
Service before Self.
Alfred William Courtney-Pratt
Alfred William Courtney-Pratt was originally a New Zealander but came to Tassie when 7
years old. Another charter member the Club, he succeeded Matthew Simmons as President
in 1927-28.
Alfred was Managing Director of Brownalls, having started there at 14 years old and died
there on the 4th December 1931, falling some 20 feet over some bannisters to the ground
floor and died later from his injuries.
Alfred was very involved with the Wesley Church and was a trustee at his death, he was a
member of the Hobart Chamber of Commerce, a JP and a collector of antiques, particularly
Silver. During the war he was heavily involved in patriotic projects.
He travelled in 1927 to the International Rotary conference in Ostend, Belgium where there
were some 7000 delegates from 30 countries. During his Presidency, the fourth Conference
of Australian Clubs was held between Hobart and Launceston – a rousing success that was
so finally budgeted that there was a surplus of sixpence…..
At the Rotary meeting after his passing the Club, dedicated the meeting to his memory.
Hobart, which was then a singing club, replaced the song for the day with two of the “dear
departed friend’s” favourite hymns – “The Sands of Time are Sinking” and “Abide with me”
plus the Rotary hymns “Red Roses for the Living and Hand clasps warm and true” There
were a number of eulogies including by the Governor H H Cummins, who said that men like
Courtney-Pratt did not live in vain, friends said that they never heard him do an ungenerous
deed or make an unjust criticism. . The meeting concluded with lines from a poem:
“Life is all the sweeter that he lived,
And all he loved more sacred for his sake,
And Death is all the brighter that he died,
And heaven is all the happier that he’s there.”
There are still a number of Courtney-Pratts in Tasmania, presumably descendants of Alfred.
ROTARY ANZAC PRESENTATION 230415 – ANN CRIPPS
ANZAC PRESENTATION 23rd April 2015
Moore Brothers (Presented by Ann Cripps)
Max, Keith and Edney Moore – 3 brothers and 3 members of the Rotary Club of Hobart
When the First World War broke out Max was still a school boy and too young to go to war.
When he left school and got a job he established a sporting club for fellow employees.
This came to the attention of authorities and he was asked to join the War effort. He was to
go to the West Coast to conduct physical education classes in order to get the locals fit and
ready in case there was an invasion and Tasmania needed defending. What is more amazing
is that at the time there was no road to the West Coast, so Max took the bus to Westerway
and walked the rest of the way!
As an active swimmer he frequented the Sandy Bay baths which were a ramshackle wooden
structure exposed to all weather conditions. This made him determined that Hobart should
have a suitable heated pool in which to hold state and national championships. It was
through his hard work that the Hobart Olympic Pool was built in 1958.
He was a member of the organizing committees for the British Empire and Commonwealth
Games from 1934 and for the 1956 Olympic Games.
He was awarded an MBE in recognition of his contribution to sport and physical education.
On 4 August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany On 24th August Max’s older brother Keith Moore enlisted with the Australian Military Forces.
In October Keith embarked for overseas - his regiment the First Australian Casualty Clearing
Station - Third Field Ambulance and his rank driver. He served at Gallipoli until he was
evacuated to hospital in Malta and then England. After a long period of recovery he rejoined his regiment in France returning to Australia in October 1918.
Keith was president of this Club from 1952- 1953. A report of his term refers to Keith as ‘not
given to public speaking but essentially a ‘doer’. He organised an outstanding meeting to
celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth with the Governor Sir Ronald Cross as guest
speaker who ‘with his intimate knowledge of court affairs was able to hold the wrapt
attention of all’.
The highlight of his year was the Anzac day luncheon when the Club had three Tasmanian
Victoria Cross winners as guests together with the official representative of the Turkish Army
and several members of the New Zealand Ex-Servicemen’s Association.
The eldest of the Moore brothers was Edney – my Grandfather
Edney began his business career in 1903 with Roberts Real estate Agents and later with
Saunders and Co. where he remained until the outbreak of the war. He returned to
Saunders after the war before establishing his own business as a real estate agent and
valuer in 1922. In recognition of his service to the profession he was elected a Life Fellow of
the Commonwealth Institute of Valuers.
In 1934 Edney and other members of the Rotary Club of Hobart instigated the formation of
the Tasmanian Society for Care of Crippled Children which a few years later was at the
forefront of action during the severe polio epidemic of 1937.
With his real estate contacts he organised the purchase and fundraising for the Taroona
Camp with the purpose of providing a place for outdoor activities and recreation for children
and families during the depression.
He was also a director of the Scenic Preservation Board the forerunner of Tourism Tasmania
and the board of the Hobart Bridge Authority which oversaw the construction of the floating
bridge across the River Derwent.
However today the focus is on Edney, who went to war in 1914 as part of the Medical
Corps. He was appointed to the First Australian Clearing Hospital and served in Egypt then
Gallipoli from 25th April 1915 until the evacuation in December. He was listed in Divisional
Orders with a Special mention for gallantry in the field.
Transferred to France, he saw action from 1915 to 1917 when he was detailed for special
service in England.
Edney was club President from 1937 – 1938.
He didn’t like to talk about the war however and I quote from a comment about the address
he gave to this Club in 1936:
‘One of the finest utterances ever made before the Rotary Club of Hobart was when
he addressed the Club on an Anzac Day anniversary.’
Thirty years later he wrote an article for the Rotary International magazine The Rotarian.
I would like to read from this in part:
“We who went to Gallipoli did not expect to be well received by those whose
shores we visited; but, measured by the circumstances and happenings of the
time, at least we can realize now that we were not unfairly treated. We can
admire the enemy's refusal to act in any but fair and often chivalrous manner.
“It was a bizarre anomaly that it was directly on account of the vileness and
horrors caused by man's antagonism that a truce was called at Anzac on
Gallipoli. We had to bury the dead; we were, one day, without any precaution,
to meet the Turk on a small plateau for a few hours”.
“Somehow we were not surprised to find that we did not need to understand
his muttered words to know that he was full of goodwill and good wishes.
These decent, swarthy-complexioned men were feeling, just as I am sure every
one of us felt, that instead of resentment one to the other, we had a strong
desire for common fellowship.”
“We still remember vividly their anxiety for us to accept some token.
They hurriedly collected handfuls of scrub sticks lying about (the only kind of
firewood there), which undoubtedly they hoped might help later on give us some
comfort. These and other genuine expressions of the feelings are something
which we who were there can never forget; it is part of the impression that
remains.”
“How utterly futile everything seemed when, standing there enjoying the
goodwill of these men, we realized that at a certain tick of the clock toward
evening of this same day, all this had to end, and war in all its man-created
inhumanity must be resumed before evening fell!”
“Now surely there is something to ponder over, something to be learned from
this experience. It is not an isolated one; on the Western Front on a Christmas
Day in World War I troops forgot their guns and openly fraternized across no
man's land.”
“I believe that predominating over all else there is the lesson of man's natural
desire for fellowship and goodwill. Never mind whether one is an Englishman or
German, Australian or Turk; nationality does not matter. Deep down this is true.
In many instances I think that this feeling of fellowship and goodwill finds
greater expression when nationalities are far apart.”
“On that May 24, 1915, when the armistice was called at Anzac to bury the dead,
the nature of the occasion, the sight of comrades who had been killed, might
well have fanned feelings of resentment to a dangerous heat. But did it? No,
despite precautions taken to keep the men on their own sides of a flag-marked
line. Here they were, deadly opponents as they were said to be, simply taking
no heed at all of orders, desiring only to come over to the other fellow, and to
show one another the greatest possible feelings of goodwill and fellowship.”
“Neither was able to understand literally the spoken words, yet each
appreciated this wonderful spirit and were glad of the opportunity to express
it. Men of different nations, creed, and almost of color. Until an hour before
and for weeks past, each had been doing every possible thing to destroy one
another. Now, almost without any warning, certainly without any propaganda
or instruction, each tried to outdo the other in mutual fellowship.”
“Then again, within a few hours these same splendid fellows had once more
to set themselves at one another's throat, planning and re-planning to
destroy, none of them really knowing the reason. Compare these things with
other aspects of civilization. Is there no power that can prevent such
madness?”
“How can anything so upset the natural inclinations of perhaps millions
upon millions of men, none knowing the reason why? How can men be led to
use all their knowledge and skill, and all their resources, not to help but to
destroy each other?”
“SURELY there is a way whereby, if we put all our knowledge and skill and
resources to the proper use, we can eradicate the tragedy of war.”
“From this distance of time, the experience on Gallipoli proclaims above all else
a great desire, a great longing, for goodwill and fellow-ship among men
throughout the length and breadth of the universe.”
Our Club
Meetings:
Thursdays at 12:50 for 1:00 pm start
(Please arrive approximately 10 minutes early where possible)
Hotel Grand Chancellor, 1 Davey St, Hobart Waterfront
President:
Renzo D’Orazio – mobile 0413 334 333
Email: [email protected]
Secretary:
Jillian Freeman
Email: [email protected]
Apologies and Guests:
[email protected] or phone 6235 4751 (Hotel Grand Chancellor)
Mail to:
GPO Box 1833, HOBART TAS 7001
Website:
www.rotaryhobart.org
The Four Way Test
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and better FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Rotary Grace
For good food, good fellowship and the privilege to serve others
through Rotary, we thank thee O Lord
Advance Australia Fair
Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil, our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts, of beauty rich and rare;
In history’s page, let every stage, advance Australia fair;
In joyful strains then let us sing, advance Australia fair.
Acknowledgements
The Rotary Club of Hobart would like to thank the following companies for their support: