Here is my pictorial of the Mary Poppins Festival 2022 in Maryborough, Queensland, where Helen Lyndon Goff (better known as Pamela Lyndon Travers) grew up with no inkling of her wonderful life ahead as an author and creator of a children’s literary icon.
Here are some of the fabulous people who made the whole day magical and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Special buildings and ye olde shops were open, roads were closed, hot food stalls did a roaring trade, and there were nanny and chimney sweep races. The final parade was a sight to behold, everyone had happy smiles!
Below is the childhood home of P L Travers, formerly a bank (her father was the bank manager) which is now a beautifully preserved, interactive tribute to her writing career.
The first window below echoes the words of author P L Travels while further on is the window of the family library in the corner of the building… oh, and there’s Mary Poppins…
After a meal, live music and a quick look at Phillips Botanical Gardens, next came chalk street art, a visit to the calm atmosphere of the Art Gallery and a bit of history found under the paint and framed.
Landmark photos below give an idea of early Maryborough, finishing with a late afternoon stroll alongside the Mary River.
I have a great desire to return and explore further. These snapshots were taken over the course of a day and do not encompass the diversity of the event nor the city and colonial past of the Maryborough region.
Just loved the poster below and had to include it…
❤ Gretchen Bernet-Ward
https://www.marypoppinsfestival.com.au/Detail from Mary Poppins Festival publicity showing a drawing of the Admiral’s canon. During the festival a real canon was fired. Please note the Disney movie “Saving Mr Banks” starring Tom Hanks is fabrication and, apart from being filmed entirely in California USA, in my opinion it bears little resemblance to the true facts of author P L Travers life.
I never thought I would last this long and still be interested in blogging the miscellaneous bits and pieces which make up my literary life.
Over the last five years I have written, read, liked, followed, commented and corresponded with many other bloggers around the world. It is such informative fun, thanks everybody, and I look forward to continuing.
What have I got to show for it? To answer that question, a look through my Archive List is required. Select a category from the drop-down menu.
Meanwhile, I have just returned from a holiday in Maryborough (an historic Queensland town – actually the whole region is pretty special) and one of the highlights was attending the Mary Poppins Festival in the birthplace of her creator, author P L Travers. Many will remember the Disney version of her famous book.
Naturally I did heaps of things and took heaps of photos, so once they are curated I will be posting a travel pictorial. “Chim chiminey, chim chiminey, chim chim cher-ee” there is more to see.
Unfortunately it had been raining for several days when we left Brisbane and headed north with no sign of letting up. The journey to Maryborough, situated inland from the Fraser Coast region, is about 250km and it rained the whole way; it was still raining when we arrived.
The next day was the Mary Poppins Festival and a huge amount of outdoor activities with most people in costume. Lo and behold, the rain stopped! The whole day was fine and sunny. You guessed it, the next day it bucketed down again!
WordPress 5 Year Anniversary July 2022
If I go prepared, rain is a novelty for me. I took an old family umbrella with frills around it. But when the wind blows cold (it is winter here in Australia) it’s not much fun hanging onto a brolly unless you are Mary Poppins. Her classic silhouette, in glowing red then bright green, blinks and beeps as pedestrians cross at traffic lights.
Anyway, the itinerary held good. We achieved our goals, seeing interesting sights (the Mary River curves around the town and there were a number of yachts moored), strolled through art galleries and parks, antique shops, City Hall, the library, the historic Story Bank museum, and ate local produce including pizza in the skate park after dark. We met friendly, welcoming and relaxed people, and waved vigorously at the Mary Ann steam locomotive as it huffed and puffed down the tracks. A different way of life…
Enjoy more pictorial highlights of my Maryborough visit:
Maryborough City Hall 1908Maryborough City Hall ladies rest room
Author Overview:Helen Lyndon Goff (author P L Travers) was born and grew up in Maryborough, Queensland, before being sent to boarding school in Sydney NSW. Her writing was first published when she was a teenager. Later she worked briefly as a journalist and a professional Shakespearean actress.As author P L Travers, Goff wrote many children’s stories, non-fiction and collections, and lived a varied yet personal life. Wikipedia entry reads “In a 1977 interview on the BBC radio programme Desert Island Discs, Travers remarked about the Disney film, “I’ve seen it once or twice, and I’ve learned to live with it. It’s glamorous and it’s a good film on its own level, but I don’t think it is very like my books.”
King Anne by Ethel Turner was published in 1921 and my great aunt gifted this novel to her sister, my paternal grandmother, at Christmastime in 1922 after she had first read it. Many years passed by and when Grandma thought the time was right she passed King Anne on to me.
Unfortunately at that time I was not the least bit interested.
British-born Australian author Ethel Turner (1870-1958) was a novelist and children’s literature writer. She wrote over 30 books and collections of short stories and verse, mostly centred around girls and for girls. King Anne was Turner’s thirty-sixth published work.
Perhaps because I didn’t quite get into her first novel, the epic family saga Seven Little Australians (1894) of which NSW State Library holds the original hand-written manuscript, I therefore gave pseudo-royal King Anne’s weighty tome (as it seemed to me at the time) a wide detour.
Cazneaux’s portrait of Ethel Turner in the window of her study at her Mosman home Avenel NSW 1928 Original hardback bookcover
The bookcover faded and King Anne languished for many, many years on the family bookshelves, sandwiched between ancient copies of Kidnapped, Pilgrims Progress and Wind in the Willows, and enduring several moves until by some quirk of fate I reached for it today February 2022 when my great aunt and grandmother would have read it one hundred years ago. (Shivers)
I have no memory of the storyline. Now I WILL have to read it!
First I shall create a pictorial and some background information—
I doubt it had a dustjacketShowing its age and handlingHere you can see the author’s married nameI do love a book with chapter titles
The book has foxing and is not in good condition but you can see the etiquette of the time. Written in brackets underneath ETHEL TURNER is the abbreviation Mrs coupled with her husband’s name thus Mrs H. R. Curlewis. Herbert Raine Curlewis was a judge.
(Left) The ordeal of formal dining
The frontispiece and three illustration plates are beautifully rendered, showing family life at the time. They are miniature works of art in their own right, sometimes removed and framed by the book owner. The far right image was adapted and embossed on the front cover of King Anne.
The artist has not been acknowledged and from online booksellers information you can take your pick. Possibly Harold Copping, and it seems A.J. Johnson‘s small-format illustrations were later replaced by full page works from J. Macfarlane. Each had illustrated books for Ethel Turner.
Books written prior to King AnneIsabel’s reviews in Ethel’s book
Inside the back leaves of King Anne (you leaf through a book because the pages are called leaves) under the heading Charming Stories by Isabel M Peacocke – another author of similar genre – there is a rather ambiguous book review of My Friend Phil (1915) from a Queensland Times reviewer which reads “… without doubt the best since Ethel Turner took the reading world by storm with her ‘Seven Little Australians’…” poor Isabel M Peacocke.
Size difference 1921-2021King Anne 500g The Kingdoms 700g
The difference between the size and weight of these two books was misleading until held in my hands. Natasha Pulley’s The Kingdoms is a slimmer volume with a lighter bookcover and thinner pages compared to Ethel Turner’s bulky King Anne with its fabric-over-cardboard bookcover, cotton stitching and stiff parchment-like pages. The modern publication is 200g heavier.
Australian author Ethel Turner booklist:
Seven Little Australians (1894) The Family at Misrule (1895) Story of a Baby (1895) Little Larrikin (1896) Miss Bobbie (1897) Camp at Wandining (1898) Gum Leaves (1900) Three Little Maids (1900) Wonder Child (1901) Little Mother Meg (1902) Raft in the Bush (1902) Betty & Co (1903) Mothers Little Girl (1904) White Roofed Tree (1905) In the Mist of the Mountains (1906) Walking to School (1907) Stolen Voyage (1907) Happy Hearts (1908) That Girl (1908) Birthday Book (1909) Fugitives from Fortune (1909) Fair Ines (1910)
An Orge up to Date (1911) Apple of Happiness (1911) Fifteen & Fair (1911) Ports & Happy Havens (1911) Tiny House (1911) Secret of the Sea (1913) Flower O’ the Pine (1914) The Cub (1915) John of Daunt (1916) Captain Cub (1917) St Tom & The Dragon (1918) Brigid & the Cub (1919) Laughing Water (1920) **King Anne (1921) Jennifer, J. (1922) Sunshine Family (1923) (with Jean Curlewis her daughter) Nicola Silva (1924) Ungardeners (1925) Funny (1926) Judy & Punch (1928)
**King Anne is Number 36 on this list and according to the list in my book (photo above) this was her 21st novel.
Ethel Turner’s literary works have been largely forgotten but she, and a handful of other women writers, paved the way for Australian books for Australian children. My grandparents were educated with, and read, British books, so I admire Ethel Turner’s achievements. The following websites make interesting reading – GBW.
Tea With Ethel Turner by author blogger Rowena (link below) is exceptionally well written and researched. On my own research, so far I have found scant reference to King Anne.
Important Addendum: Australian Women Writers Challenge The Early Years is concentrating on past Australian women writers of all genres who were published then faded away. AWW have restructured their blog to highlight the writing of earlier Australian women; works published 50+ years ago. If you happen to find and read a forgotten gem, AWW would be interested in your book review.
I will be posting my King Anne review in due course. In the meantime, perhaps YOU might find another first edition little-known Ethel Turner on your bookshelf?
Classics deserve to be read again!
♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward
Ethel Turner’s first home ‘Woodlands’ NSW as it was in 1892. Ethel is pictured on the right side of the verandah, her older sister and fellow author Lillian is on the left. The gentleman on the horse is unnamed, possibly Herbert Curlewis. The residence has been added to and greatly altered over many years. Picture: Mrs Phillipa Poole
‘Woodlands’ (circa 1884) information and photographs compiled by Alison Cheung, writer and real estate reporter.
‘Avenel’ (circa 1906) compiled and posted by David CarmentLost Mosman from various sources with his photographs and others courtesy of Mosman Library.
The New York Times says ‘Hopelessly cute…’ and they are right.
Squish is just a small rabbit, but he dreams big.
Two friends read their favourite book ‘Squish Rabbit’s Pet’.
Squish dreams of many things including having a pet.
Squish Rabbit is a lively little character.
Squish makes a long list—a puppy would be perfect.
Squish Rabbit makes a list of many things.
Squish’s best friend Twitch helps him along the way.
Squish Rabbit’s best friend Twitch helps make an ‘almost’ pet.
Squish thinks important thoughts about friendship and his future pet.
Squish Rabbit has two other adventures you can read.
Squish waits and waits to meet his new pet—who is more wonderful than he ever dreamed.
REVIEW: There is an art to creating good children’s books and with her clear illustrations and succinct text, Katherine Battersby has shaped a beautiful story. ‘Squish Rabbit’s Pet’ is a picture book which combines thoughtfulness, fun and friendship with an eggciting ending.
COMMENT: I saw this third Squish Rabbit book at a UQP publishing event prior to its release and had to buy it. I am familiar with Katherine Battersby’s work and have met her professionally when she journeyed from Canada to Queensland. Happy reading! 🐨 🍁
Thoughts Become Words 
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