Your monthly Jerrems Journal
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Jerrems Journal subscribers
Ray closes out a long-running series of our family tree: Elizabeth Jerrems and her husband William Small.
In addition, to my recollection this is the first Jerrems Journal edition featuring images of a koala bear. I wonder if holding a koala bear is as enjoyable as holding my cat.
Donald Jerrems
Ray Jerrems
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To state the obvious, the above photo (probably taken in the 1970s) shows a cute and cuddly koala climbing over the fence of a house at Avalon Beach.
This is the third article about Arthur Jabez Small, a great grandson of Big Bill (William Jerrems).
Arthur had an outstanding career which places him in a unique position in the history of the Jerrems family.
Two previous articles trace Arthur’s childhood and his later venture of opening up the Avalon Beach area, on the northern beaches of Sydney.
This article continues this theme by describing his interest in conservation and town planning, commencing with his eulogy and moving on to projects with which he was involved. But first we need to see his family.
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Here is a photo of Arthur’s family taken at Christmas in Avalon in 1948, provided by local historian Geoff Searl who I referred to in my previous articles.
Top row (left to right), daughter Finetta (Winifred) Small, Arthur, daughter Muriel Hunt (nee Small).
Bottom row, Alison Hunt (child, daughter of Muriel), daughter May Small, Jessie Small (Arthur’s wife), son Geoff Small and John Hunt (child, son of Muriel).
I understand that there is only one surviving member of Arthur’s descendants.
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Arthur died in Sydney in 1953. In a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald his longstanding friend, the famous First World War Official War Historian Charles Bean, summarised Arthur’s career as follows:
“Sir,-By a sad coincidence the death of Mr. John Downes, a pillar of the movement for playgrounds and recreation, has been followed within a fortnight by that of Mr. Arthur Jabez Small, another leader in the same cause.
Mr. Small will probably be remembered by Sydney historians chiefly for his almost single handed organisation of the movement by which, despite rebuffs, the Government was eventually induced to extend Martin Place from Castlereagh Street to Macquarie Street.
But Sydney and New South Wales owe to the late Mr. Small’s energy many other advantages. In order to fit himself for his work as estate agent he attended university lectures on town planning, public administration, and. half a dozen similar subjects. The Town Planning Association was never more vigorous than under his presidency. He was a pioneer of the Parks and Playgrounds Movement and its first president, and on his own property at Avalon the best and most beautiful sites were given as public parks or viewpoints.
His vision and boundless ingenuity were always sighting some opportunity for a recreation ground here or a main road there, and were constant spurs to a temperament which led him into many fights with authority. The community is the richer for many fights that he won, and the poorer for his failure in some that he lost.”
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Here is a better photo of the service station described in my previous article. The figures appear to be Arthur and
Jessie.
Parks and Playgrounds Movement
In the early 1900s public parks in Sydney continued to fall behind the demands of activists such as the Parks Preservation Society (founded in 1914). Several inner-city suburbs in fact had no parks at all. The Society’s successor, the Parks and Playgrounds Movement, was founded in 1930 by Arthur Small and Charles Bean and two years later published the Basic Report, which declared that ten per cent of a city’s area should be devoted to recreational space, then determined that most suburbs in Sydney fell far short.
Arthur applied this philosophy to the Avalon Beach area, which explains why land was set apart for a golf course (described in a previous article) and, amongst other things, he assisted with the reservation of land for a Nature Reserve (see later).
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In 1938 about seven acres of land were set apart for a Nature Reserve on steep land about 500 metres from the centre of the village. The centrepiece (and reason for creation of the reserve) was a huge angophora (Sydney Red Gum) tree shown in the this photo of the opening ceremony. The tree is not especially tall (estimated 30 to 35 metres) but has a very thick trunk (10 metres circumference at the base). It was thought to be the largest and oldest known representative of its species, however this was a big claim for a tree which had quite a large range of habitat in the Sydney region.
Arthur sold the land to the Wildlife Preservation Society at the half price of 364 pounds, 19 shillings and seven pence (the seven pence was no doubt essential to the transaction), and in due course the Reserve was opened with great pomp and circumstance by the State Governor, Sir Phillip Street. About 150 people attended the ceremony and then, at Arthur’s invitation, adjourned to the recently reconstructed Golf Course Club House (described in my previous article) for afternoon tea.
The reserve was added to later to bring it up to about 40 acres (18.5 hectares).
The excitement must have been too much for the tree because it died later. Actually it died about 50 years later, possibly as the result of drought. However the mortal remains are still in place.
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Angophoras, one of my favourite trees, are unique to the Sydney region and, as shown in the this photograph, are distinctive due to their smooth pinkish red bark.
When they are mature they have twisted branches. They are a hardy tree, often growing in poor sandy or rocky soils.
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Geoff Searl’s maternal grandparents lived at 64 Avalon Parade in a house built by his grandfather, William George Pryor on land they bought in 1944. George was a very gentle man and this koala looks very content and secure in his arms in their backyard. George worked originally as a coach builder, later branching out into carpentry. He ‘fitted out’ the retail shops on the ground floor of the heritage-listed 2-storey building on the corner of Avalon Parade and Old Barrenjoey Road for Arthur.
At the time the reserve was dedicated there was a large koala colony in the reserved area and surrounding bushland. After the adjacent lands were settled for housing in the 1950s and 1960s the koalas’ habitat was gradually reduced and, combined with attacks by dogs, they finally died out.
The Avalon colony had declined from an estimated 123+ koalas in 1970 to an estimate of only some eight koalas in 1989 and between four and six in 1993.
Prior to this, koalas, who tended to roam at night, could often be found in nearby areas.
I remember visiting friends at nearby Newport in the early 1970s. They told us where to find koalas in neighbouring properties.
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The effects of encroaching civilisation
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Koalas were very selective in their diet, eating leaves from only three types of trees in the Angophora Reserve (Grey Gums, their favourite, and Scribbly Gums and Swamp Mahoganies) of which there are only 42 mature specimens. So it is possible that the koalas shown in the photos were searching amongst the nearby houses for more trees.
Koalas are not very intelligent (to put it mildly) so it would not register with them that wandering around suburban gardens was not a good idea.
Release of a koala (pictured above)
However the plight of the koalas had not gone unnoticed! In 1989 members of the Avalon Preservation Trust were present to witness the release of an 8 years old female koala back into Angophora Reserve. She had been rescued from the continual bombardment of 2 very parental magpies who had bailed her up in a nearby Wandeen Road grevillea tree.
Taronga Zoo helped her recover from the stress and nursed her back to good health.
Aboriginal rock shelter
Remarkably, there is an aboriginal rock shelter in good condition in the Reserve.
The rock formations in the Sydney region are primarily sandstone, a sedimentary rock which occurs in horizontal layers. Where the sandstone is eroded rock shelves are exposed, sometimes in the form of outcrops or cliffs.
Caves or overhangs may be formed in the outcrops or cliffs. Although there are literally thousands of these, only a small number have been used by aboriginals, mostly for shelter but occasionally for ceremonial purposes, or for both.
The Angophora Reserve rock shelter is an example of both, with several drawings on the wall, and myriads of animal bones which show that it had been inhabited for at least a thousand years. However what made it unique was the fact that it had also been used as a burial site, containing human skeletal remains which have been proved to be of Aboriginal origin. As a result this shelter has been described as one of the most significant discoveries on the eastern seaboard of Australia!
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Places named after Arthur
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Perhaps surprisingly in the light of Arthur’s enterprise and enthusiasm, there is only one place named after him, a reserve (see side photo) with a magnificent view of the ocean at nearby Bungan.
Geoff Searl is shown in the photo.
Avalon Beach Change Rooms
In my previous article I said that rudimentary timber change sheds were initially constructed at the beach in 1920, however these were replaced in 1934 by a pavilion, largely at Arthur’s instigation. In fact Arthur contributed a whopping 200 pounds towards the estimated cost of 750 pounds for a brick pavilion, the balance to be made up by the Council and government grants.
Curiously, Arthur wanted the building to be constructed in the middle of the beach, which could have caused damage to the adjacent sand dunes. Fortunately the Council’s views prevailed and it was built towards the southern end where there was existing road access.
Conclusion
This article concludes my research on the various descendants of Elizabeth Jerrems and her husband William Small. I hope you have enjoyed my articles.
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