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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 51| June 2001
William Farrers Field Notebook
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In 1973 the Canberra and District Historical Society deposited one of its treasures in the National Library on long-term loan. Recently the Library was delighted to accept formal ownership of the Farrer field notebook. A small handing over ceremony was held on 26 April 2001, attended by members of the Society, the de Salis family and Library staff. The Society decided to donate the book to the Library to commemorate the Centenary of Federation and to ensure its long-term preservation. Interestingly, one of Farrers wheat strains was named Federation. William Farrer (18451906) conducted many of his experiments on wheat improvement at Lambrigg, just south of Canberra. In 1882 he married Nina Fane de Salis, whose father owned nearby Cuppacumbalong station. Farrer worked for 20 years on creating hundreds of wheat strains by crossbreeding in an attempt to produce improved wheats. He kept careful records of his work, including the field notebook, compiled during 19012, which is now preserved in the Librarys Manuscript Collection. The notebook came into the custody of the Society through the de
Salis Family. Mrs Althea de Salis was among the guests invited to the
presentation. During the time that the fragile manuscript has been in
the Library, it has been cleaned, fumigated and de-acidified. A
special leather box was made for it by the Librarys bookbinder,
Brian Hawke. An enhanced photographic copy has made it more accessible
to researchers and reduces the handling of the original. To make the
notebook even more accessible in the future, a digital copy will be
created. |
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Mrs Althea
de Salis with the Farrer field notebook |
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The Director-General Jan Fullerton
(far right) with members of the Canberra and District
Historical Society, |
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au