From the Archives - BMC at 6th Australian Folk Music and Dance Gathering, Albion Park, 2001

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Photos © Sandra Nixon

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Dave Johnson leading the session

Beth Cambridge standing, unknown, Bob Bolton, John Poleson, Chris Poleson, Dave Johnson

Bob Bolton, John Poleson, Chris Poleson, Dave Johnson, Dot Dawson

From the Archives - Miscellaneous documents - Part 1, 1978 - 1980

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One of the treasures of the Archives is a  4" foolscap lever arch file containing leaflets from 1979 to 1991, however 1991 only contains 2 ball leaflets.

Each year has 4 sets of leaflets - Balls, Calendars, Festivals and Misc.  

Ball & Festival leaflets have been blogged under appropriate years. 

Not all leaflets were saved every year, but they give us a broad overview of Club activities. 

From the Archives - Miscellaneous documents - Part 2, 1981 - 1983
From the Archives - Miscellaneous documents - Part 3, 1984 to 1985
From the Archives - Miscellaneous documents - Part 4, 1986 to 1988
From the Archives - Miscellaneous documents - Part 5, 1989 to 1990

1. Bush Music Club Theme Night 7th March 1978, "The Romantics" - page 1 (double sided leaflet)

2. Bush Music Club Theme Night 7th March 1978, "The Romantics" -page 2 (double sided leaflet)

3. Bush Music Club 1954 to 1979 Silver Jubilee. What is Bush Dancing? (double sided leaflet)

4.Beecroft Bush Dance, 13th October, 3rd November, 1st December 1979 (double sided leaflet)

5. Bush Music Club 1954 to 1979 Silver Jubilee. What is Bush Dancing? (double sided leaflet)

6. Caringbah Bush Dance, August 18th, September 15th, October 20th, November 17th, December 15th 1979 (double sided leaflet)

7. Bush Music Club 1954 to 1979 Silver Jubilee. What is Bush Dancing? (double sided leaflet)

8. Caringbah Bush Dance, September 15th, October 20th, November 17th, December 15th 1979 (double sided leaflet)

9. Bush Music Club 1954 to 1979 Silver Jubilee. Theme nights, Workshops, Dance workshops. Performers available. (double sided leaflet)

10. ... To celebrate the Silver Jubilee ... Bush dances, "Back to the Bush" weekend camping trips and picnics, Australian Folk History Series lecture/discussion ...Theme nights, Singabouts, Workshops, Annual Subscription Ball, Silver Jubilee Festival October long weekend. (double sided leaflet)

11. Holroyd Family Bush Dance, Friday 8th May, 1980, Selectors Bush Band. Back to the Bush Weekend, 25-26 April, Dhurag National Park

12. Beecroft Bush Dance - 5 July, 2 August, 6 September, 4 October, 1 November, 6 December 1980

13. Bush Music Club, 1980 (4 page leaflet)

14. Bush Music Club,1980. The Bush Music Club is a group of people who informally perform and enjoy our Australian heritage of songs, dances, yarns and poetry. (4 page leaflet)

15. Bush Music Club,1980 - Bush Ball, Singabouts, Theme Nights, Dance Practice Group, workshops (4 page leaflet)

16. Bush Music Club,1980 - Maps (4 page leaflet)

17. Membership form, 1980 (double sided leaflet)

18. Membership form, 1980 (double sided leaflet)

19. Old Bush School (double sided leaflet)

20. Bush Music Theme Nights, 1980. A spirited evening of song, poetry, music and dancing ... (double sided leaflet)

21. Bush Music Club, 1980 (double sided leaflet, 6 pages)

22. Bush Music Club, 1980. Background (double sided leaflet, 6 pages)

23. Bush Music Club, 1980 Club Activities - Bush dances, Workshops, Dance Workshops, Kids Workshops (double sided leaflet, 6 pages)

24.Bush Music Club, 1980 Booking Agency, Annual Subscription Ball, Folkus, Bush Music Festival, Other activities (double sided leaflet, 6 pages)

25. Bush Music Club, 1980 Membership (double sided leaflet, 6 pages)

26. Bush Music Club, 1980. Maps (double sided leaflet, 6 pages)

From the Archives - Minutes of General Meetings, from 26th June 1957 to August 1970 - Part 1, 1957-1959.

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In our Archives we have two minutes books, the first starts with the minutes of the initial meeting held on the 14th October 1954 & ends with minutes of the meeting held 11th March 1955.

The second (the red book) is missing pages from the front, with the first dated page from the minutes of the 26th April 1957 General meeting, & the final minutes in the book are from the 1978 Annual General Meeting.

Minutes of the Bush Music Club, 14th October 1954 to 11th March, 1955 The minutes of the first 5 months of the Club are in a cheap school exercise book, written in pencil and pen and ink (ballpoint pens were new & expensive!) Alan Scott was elected as Secretary/Treasurer so probably wrote them up. They finish with the minutes for 11th March, then the date of the next meeting, & the following pages have been torn out.

Red covered Minutes books have been used for a long time to keep Minutes safe & accessible, so our Red book probably continued on from the first Minutes book (a logical reason for not filling up the exercise book), but as the earliest pages are missing we'll never know. As some of the loose pages were out of order, I numbered every page.

The Red book includes General meetings from April 1957 to August 1970, and Annual General meetings from 1958 to 1978. Annual General Meetings were normally held in February or March.

The incomplete Minutes of the Conference held on the 9th of February (1957), at the Esperanto Hall, Milson's Pt., Sydney were included in front of the Red Minutes book, although they had never been pasted in. Perhaps the last page had been pasted in & the weight of these minutes tore them from the page????? (another supposition, not a fact.)

Neither the missing page/s from the Conference Minutes, nor the missing pages from the Red Minutes book have been found in Archives, so we have no record of meetings between 11th March 1955 and the incomplete minutes of the General Meeting on 26th April 1957.

Note -  Minutes of meetings between 11 March 1955 & June 1957 might not have been taken - see From the Archives - Minutes of General Meeting from 26th June 1957 to august 1970 - Part 1, 1957-1959   Minutes of the General Meeting of The Bush Music Club Friday 26th June, 1957.p. 003. General Business  Mr Harry Kay moved that minutes be taken at General Meetings. Seconded Mr Alex Hood, Carried.   (more research is needed - unfortunately Alex Hood does not remember this motion - phone call Jan 2021)

Thanks to Ralph Pride for making scans of the Red Minutes book. 

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First surviving page of the Red minutes book.
page 00A The Three Bushwhackers - our aims and constitution (which was discussed at 26th June 1957 General Meeting.
note written by Secretary Lorna Lovell - The group have since taken the name of "The Ramble-eers"  16/10/58  L.Lovell 

page 000B - Motion passed General Meeting 26th April 1957 -  reorganisation of Concert Party into different groups and individual performers. 

page 001. Minutes of the General Meeting of The Bush Music Club Friday 26th June, 1957 - 1. Correspondence ... letter from Pete Seeger ...  2. Business arising from Correspondence  3. Constitution of Ramble-eers  (discussion - as Ramble-eers have their own constitution they can't be part of Concert Party 

page 002. Minutes of the General Meeting of The Bush Music Club Friday 26th June, 1957 - 3.  Constitution of Ramble-eers  (cont)  ...The chairman stated he would give his ruling at the General meeting of 26th July, 1957   4. Motion ... to add a clause to the Constitution   5. Election of Three Trustees - Duke Tritton, John Meredith & Alan Scott elected  6. Notice of Motion given by Mr Graham Ascott 

page 003.  Minutes of the General Meeting of The Bush Music Club Friday 26th June, 1957 - 7. General Business  a. Mr Harry Kay moved that minutes be taken at General Meetings. Seconded Mr Alex Hood, Carried. (could this explain the missing minutes between March 1955 & June 1957?)  b. Mr Alan Scott ...suggestions for improving the running of club nights ...

page 004 was blank 

page 005  Minutes of the General Meeting of The Bush Music Club Friday 3rd July (1957) - 1. Correspondence - 2. Business arising.  3. Report from Executive following discussion on terms of office of Trustees.  4. Ruling of President re position of Ramble-eers in the Concert Party. Ruling read to meeting. Moved by Graham Ascott, seconded by Chris Kempster that the ruling be accepted by the meeting.  5. Suggestions from Executive a way of raising funds for Pete Seeger   6. Motion to be passed re addition to constitution 

page 006. Minutes of the General Meeting of The Bush Music Club Friday 3rd July (1957)  6. Motion to be passed re addition to constitution (cont)   7. Recommendations from the executive that the meeting elect an Assistant Master of Ceremonies and an assistant to help handle sale of publications - John Meredith & Fran Shaw   8. Recommendation from Executive that the organising committee for the Waratah Festival.  9. General Business - 

 

page 007  Minutes of the General Meeting of The Bush Music Club Friday 3rd July (1957)   9. General Business (cont) 

RULING ON CONSTRUCTION OF COMMITTEE CONTROLLING THE BUSH MUSIC CLUB CONCERT PARTY ... the representatives of the Rambl-eers cannot now have any legal standing on the committee ...  Brian Loughlin President 26/7/57

page 008- undated 1959 leaflet, another copy is on page 020 with 1959 minutes

page 009 - Minutes of General Meeting of Bush Music Club, Friday 30th August, 1957.  1. Correspondence ... East Woonona Bush Band (Illawarra) no longer affiliated with BMC ... 2. Business Arising ... Decided sec. should write & explain matters to East Woonona Bush Band  ... 3. Talk by John Meredith  re Waratah Festival arrangements   4. Notice of Motion arising out of Discussion on Constitution

page 010  - Minutes of General Meeting of Bush Music Club, Friday 30th August, 1957.   4. Notice of Motion arising out of Discussion on Constitution (cont)   5. Report on offer from Wattle Recordings  ... they have offered to pay half postage on sending "Singabout" out in return for Wattle distribution sheet being enclosed with each copy ...donate 3 records ... moved to accept ... 6. General Business -  visit to Mudgee ... Ramble-eers, G. Ascott, P. Burns & D. Tritton volunteered to go ... 7. Announcements Singabout arrangements at YWCA. Pete Seeger Kick up -  Joan Lisyak Hon. Sec. 

page 011 - Minutes of General Meeting of Bush Music Club,  27th September, 1957

Duke Tritton in the Chair. Correspondence was read & received. Notice of Motion ... August 30th ... accepted. Secretary ... recommendation from Executive that constitution only be printed after AGM ...   carried.   Chairman ...  recent issue of Singabout ... excellent ...  John Meredith  ... preparation for Waratah Festival ... completed.  Alex Hood ... visit to Mudgee ... actual performance went off very well & well received ... Father Maher did not have things properly organised ...

page 012  - Minutes of General Meeting of Bush Music Club,  27th September, 1957 Alan Scott ... talk on recent visit to Bush Music Club and the Brisbane Singers while he was on holiday ... not losing sight of our goal ... popularising Australian folk songs.  meeting closed 

page 013  - Minutes of General Meeting of Bush Music Club,  Friday 25th October, '57    Meeting was opened by Mr Duke Tritton, Vice President. Correspondence.  Singabout night to be held on Saturday November 30th ... conference prior to Annual General Meeting ... Saturday 1st February ... AGM Friday February 7th... next picnic at Neilson Park ... Lorna Lovell Hon. Secretary

page 014  -  poster for May Singabout night, 17/5/58

page 015   - Minutes of General Meeting of Bush Music Club,  29th November, 1957   Meeting opened by President Brian Loughlin.  Correspondence.   ... election of 3 delegates to Australian Book Fair ... John Meredith and Duke Tritton ... Gil Small be approached ... running of an organised picnic be deferred until next year ... Conference ... date be altered to 8th February ... AGM be held on 14th February ... carried. 

NOTE - there are no minutes for any  1958 meetings in this book, and we do not have any 1958 newsletters, either.   Singabout 2(4) May 1958    Singabout 3(1), Summer 1958

page 016 -  1958 AGM  minutes - 3 pages, 016, 016f & 017

pages 016a-016e - Conference notes

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page 016f - 1958 AGM  minutes -

page 017 - 1958 AGM  minutes ... Conference ...  recommendation that a precis of reports and discussion ... be sent to all members and interested bodies ...

page 018 was blank

page 019 - 1959 AGM 

page 020 - Monday 6th April (1959) Shifting Camp to Irish National Association 64 Devonshire St, City

page 021  - Minutes of General Meeting of Bush Music Club,  25th August 1959 and 25th September 1959 

August - Chairman Peter Francis.   Present S Wakefield, J Carlin, F Maher, P Francis,  M Davies  Apologies J Meredith.   Correspondence - Letter from Victorian Bush Music Club requesting 10% of the space in Singabout - accepted. An offer on the same terms was to be made to the Queensland Bush Music Club.  General Business - Report on lecture given by Roland Robinson ... £3.4.0. was amount taken at the door.  Concert Party had 3 engagements in the month. 20th September ...picnic at Henry Lawson memorial park, Como ... Folklore Festival 10th October  Meeting closed. Frank Maher, Asst Secretary
September - Chairman - F  Maher   Executive Present  - J Meredith, M Davies, S Wakefield, F Maher, A Scott, J Carlin.  Apologies - P Francis.  Correspondence was read out.  General Business  - Folklore Festival - publicity  ... moved that free copies of Singabout would be sent to any libraries who requested same.  F Maher Asst Secretary

page 022  Folklore Festival flyer Saturday 10th October

page 023  - Minutes of General Meeting of Bush Music Club,  23rd October 1959 -  Chairman Stan Wakefield.  Executive present - John Meredith, Jamie Carlin, Margot Davies, Frank Maher, Stan Wakefield.   Correspondence - 1. ... mainly requests from Queensland for Singabouts and other song books ... direct result of advertising ... in the "Northern Queensland Monthly Magazine" which was done at the request of Stan Wakefield who is a regular subscriber ...  2. The Amalgamated Engineers Union & The Federated Engine Drivers and Fireman's Association  ... allowing them to send members to our Executive meeting   3. Letter from West Country Association ... invitations to their Xmas Social ...  Business arising  ... stock up on song books ... A.E.U. & F.E.D.F.A. invited to general meeting.  General Business  - Folklore conference very successful ... admission 5/- ... profit approximately £37 ...very successful advertising campaign ...  A long playing record "Songs from the Shearing Sheds" featuring the Concert Party was released yesterday. This was a result of "Wool Week" exhibition at David Jones at which the Concert Party performed for a whole week.  John Meredith called for a design for a club badge ... judging next meeting  ...  Frank Maher Asst Secretary

Original club badge used in lagerphone John Meredith made for Molly Collins of Araluen Pub, c1964-5

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