Australian Members’ Bulletin No. 2 Posted By: Richard Hakluyt Australian Members' Bulletins, Members Area, Overseas Members A Communication Bulletin between Australian Members No. 2 Hakluyt Society: Australian launch of Flinders’s Journal: report on discussions and options, April 2013 Dr Martin Woods and Robert Cook met in Melbourne on 10 April to consider interest, offers, options and opportunities for an Australian launch of Hakluyt Society’s scholarly edition of Flinders’s Journal. Their discussion on progress thus far is summarized under the following points: 1. The Society’s president, Mike Barritt, has confirmed that the date of 14 November 2014 has been set for a symposium and book launch at the National Library of Australia (NLA) in Canberra. He has written formally to the NLA and the date has been booked. 2. It is planned that Mike Barritt and the editor, Dr Kenneth Morgan, will attend and make significant presentations at the symposium and the launch. 3. Ms Maggie Patton spoke with Martin and Robert at the Australia and New Zealand Map Society Conference in Melbourne. Maggie is the manager of Original Materials at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney. She is keen to organize a presentation by Kenneth Morgan in Sydney at a time and date that can be arranged directly with Dr Morgan or Mike Barritt if such an event can be fitted into the itinerary. Maggie can be contacted at: mpatton@sl.nsw.gov.au 4. Dr Gillian Dooley of Flinders University emailed Robert in response to the first Bulletin on the Australian Section of the Hakluyt Society web site. Gillian is the Special Collections librarian and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University in Adelaide. In 2005 she co-edited Flinders’s Private Journal and thus has a professional and personal interest in Flinders and the Hakluyt Society publication. In a further email, Dr Dooley reports that she has met with the director of marketing and communications at Flinders University regarding a proposed commemoration of Flinders’s death. As a result of discussions at this meeting, Dr Dooley has indicated that the university would be keen to invite Mike Barritt and Kenneth Morgan to Adelaide to participate in an event during November 2014. The university would be prepared to cover the cost of accommodation and fares to and from Adelaide. Gillian also reports that preliminary planning is in place for Flinders University to host a scholarly website bringing together all the available electronic resources on Matthew Flinders. In addition, a garden including plants collected on the Investigator has been planted at the Bedford Park campus of the university. Gillian can be contacted by email at: gillian.dooley@flinders.edu.au 5. Hakluyt Society member, Dr Michael Pearson, of Heritage Management Consultants Canberra, has also responded to the Australian Bulletin. Michael is an archaeologist and heritage conservation planner and a former deputy director of the Australian Heritage Commission. He has worked with the National Library of Australia on a number of initiatives. Michael has offered his support for a Flinders event in Australia and is willing to participate in a working committee. Michael’s email address is: mike.p@ozemail.com.au 6. Martin Woods and Robert Cook discussed these offers of interest. They considered that it would be very appropriate to hold Flinders events in Sydney and Adelaide as well as the Canberra symposium and launch provided appropriate time and resources were available. However, any events in addition to that at Canberra would need to be initially negotiated and planned with Mike Barritt and Kenneth Morgan. 7. With reference to the Canberra NLA symposium and launch, Martin and Robert concluded that a small working group of three (or at most four) people would provide sufficient support to plan and manage issues related to the event. While the NLA will provide accommodation and basic facilities for the event, the working group will primarily consider issues related to (i) funding and sponsorship; (ii) co-ordination and possible symposium participants; (iii) promotion for members, interested parties and the public; and (iv) media coverage. It is proposed that Dr Michael Pearson be invited to join with Martin and Robert and form a working group. The group can then meet in Canberra at a date to be arranged in July or August this year. Any other HS member who perhaps lives in Canberra and wishes to work with this group should contact Robert or Martin. It is expected that most of the communication and work of the group will be able to be done through IT resources. 8. Robert Cook intends to be in London during June 2013 and plans to attend the Hakluyt Society’s AGM on 19 June. This will provide an opportunity to meet with Mike Barritt and consider initial travel options and planning for the Canberra NLA launch as well as the various considerations and arrangements that may be involved in any other proposed events. Robert Cook 24 April 2013 arcana@netspace.net.au
