Pioneer Board Book Launch 24 July 2024 at 3 o’clock.
The Story of the Board, researched over decades by many to record the chequered history of this invaluable community artefact.
The benefits of this book are to increase the Pioneer Board’s information base and allow historians to flesh out their understanding of the early days.
The book will become an essential research tool and value-add to the Pioneer Board. The book has a tangible connection to the extensive WDHS collection of artefacts, photographs and original documents connected to these men and the stories told across the generations
Hanging in the meeting room of HeritageWorks, the home of the two history groups, the Pioneer Board is viewed and researched every day of the week. Over many years researchers have compiled a biography of each of the men depicted and on Lilian Foyle the artist and photographer involved, the only woman connected to the board.
The work itself is large and heavily framed with the images uniform in appearance, a task of considerable skill to maintain such consistency. The arrangement of the images and text is broken by understated images of Warrnambool that adds to its aesthetic appeal
That the work was commissioned and completed illustrates the foresight of a former generation who saw fit to record this important historical document.
Names of the 204 Pioneers and their Birth & Death details
THE BOYS ARE BACK
The arrival of the Pioneer Board at HeritageWorks was a time of great excitement but …
After our first enthusiasm we became aware of the deterioration of the board in general and the fragile state of the most crucial element – the 204 images and the water colours depicting our town in its earliest days,
With a grant from WCC Community Development Fund we had a heritage consultant prepare a report on the significance of the board and an assessment of the most urgent work to be done to hold back the ravages of time.
"The Pioneers Board of Warrnambool & District honour board and its contents are of historic, artistic, research and social significance at a local, state and national level.
It is also the only pioneer honour board to have been made by and associated with a woman photographer and artist. It is also the only honour board of its type to be on permanent display.
After ascertaining that this item was significant and was in need of urgent attention we got a quote from Grimwade Centre for Cultural Material Conservation at Melbourne University of almost $50,000.
Next came the inevitable - an appeal for funds for the conservation work.
As usual the community was very generous with the philanthropic trusts leading the way and so many local residents and numerous others from much further afield contributing.
Edward Alexander Vidler and the board
Brief History of Warrnambool's Honour Board
Interviews conducted by Jeremy Lee The Warrnambool Standard
