Looking Back – Footsteps through Ipswich was a free information awareness session that was held at the Ipswich Central Library on Tuesday 15 October 2013. One hundred Local History enthusiasts turned up to hear the fascinating tale of the Prussian-born explorer and naturalist Ludwig Leichhardt. Helen McMonagle, President of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, spoke about Leichhardt’s early life in Europe as well as his explorations in Australia and connection to Ipswich.
Attendees also learned about the lives and achievements of Ipswich residents: Lewis Thomas, Biggingee Sorabjee Poochee, George Brockwell Gill and Ray Jones. Each of these men played a significant role in Ipswich’s past and contributed greatly to the social fabric of the community.
The session concluded with an interesting overview of the library’s online resource, Picture Ipswich. The Library’s Digital Archivist highlighted the variety of images and online books available through Picture Ipswich and noted the important part residents can play in contributing both historical and contemporary photos to this library resource. Picture Ipswich can be searched from home and amongst the gems that can be found are Helen McMonagle’s paper on ‘Rationing on the Ipswich Home-Front 1939-1950’ and an oral history of Ray Jones from an interview conducted by Robyn Buchanan.
If you missed this session and are interested in learning about the aforementioned local residents or the general history of the city, you are welcome to visit the Viva Cribb Local History Resource Room at the Ipswich Central Library. The room is open on Mondays to Fridays, 9.00am – 5.00pm.
To further celebrate the 200th anniversary of Ludwig Leichhardt’s birth, Ipswich Libraries is running a ‘Discover Leichhardt’ challenge from 23 October to 29 November. You can read more about this exciting, interactive activity and also find out about the terrific prize on offer by clicking here.
Attendees at the Looking Back – Footsteps through Ipswich session