Memory of the World - Australian Register

The Tasmanian convict records held in the Archives Office of Tasmania have been added to the Australian register of the UNESCO Memory of the World. Following is part of the media release announcing their inscription. Copies of examples of some of these records are on our site, as is an index to the more than 75,000 people who are the subjects of the records.

UNESCO AUSTRALIAN MEMORY OF THE WORLD COMMITTEE

Under the auspices of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO

ANU Centre for UNESCO, 27c Brian Lewis Crescent, Acton 0200

Media Release - 17 February 2006

MURDER, MAYHEM and MEMORY

Material relating to Australia’s seedy criminal origin has been recognised by UNESCO as being a precious and irreplaceable part of our national memory. Dr Jan Lyall, Chair of the Australian Memory of the World program commented that it is the crims – convicts and Ned Kelly – that have come up trumps in this year’s inscriptions on UNESCO’s Australian Memory of the World Register.

The Australian Memory of the World Register is part of a UNESCO international program established to recognise, protect and promote documentary material that records or reflects significant milestones and events in the history of the world. Its equivalent in the built and natural environment is the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In a ceremony at 12.30 pm on Monday 20 February at State Records NSW, former Senator Chris Puplick AM will present certificates marking the latest inscriptions on UNESCO’s Australian Memory of the World Register. The new inscriptions are:

Convict Records held by State Records NSW
Convict records held by the Archives Office of Tasmania
The Ned Kelly papers held by the Public Record Office Victoria
Yirrkala drawings held at the Berndt Museum at the University of Western Australia

As Alan Ventress, Associate Director, State Records NSW, said “Our convict past and the Ned Kelly story are part of what makes us Australians - they are a key part of our national identity”. Nowadays, if you can claim convict heritage it is not the shame it once was - many of us have convict ancestors – and are proud to mention the fact. It is an important symbol of one’s long term connection with our country.

The convict records held in New South Wales and Tasmania track the progress of each transported felon through the system, and contain detailed information that has proved invaluable for researchers investigating the origins of the Australian nation.

The colony of Victoria, as the jurisdiction where Ned Kelly was captured, tried, sentenced and executed, generated the largest body of official records relating to his case. This material is now in the custody of the Public Record Office Victoria. From criminal and outlaw to Australian icon, the story of Ned Kelly has inspired a wave of movies and books. His celebrated armour is now on display in the nationally touring National Treasures from Australia’s Great Libraries exhibition.

Professor Ronald Berndt persuaded Indigenous artists at Yirrkala in 1946-7 to render in crayons on brown paper the relationships between people and land in the Yolngu community. These had previously been illustrated on bark, which Professor Berndt felt would not survive the trip home. The artists had never used crayon before. Professor Berndt took careful note of the meanings of the works in his Field Books. The collection, which includes works by prominent Indigenous artists, is one of the first examples of the transfer of traditional Indigenous art onto European media. Both the drawings themselves and Professor Berndt’s Field Books are to be inscribed on the Register.

Dr Jan Lyall said this year’s inscriptions on the Register are further examples of material that record the evolution of Australia. “Our memories of events and experiences which have formed Australia are fragile and easily forgotten,” she said. “The documentary records which mirror these memories are equally fragile and irreplaceable. Without special measures to protect them we risk losing part of our identity”.

Professor Ken Wiltshire, Chair of the Australian National Commission for UNESCO said “I am proud to be associated with The Memory of the World Program, one of UNESCO’s most recent initiatives. The Australian Committee has been at the forefront in its development and has achieved huge progress largely on volunteer effort, some institutional support and a small amount of Australian National Commission for UNESCO funding.”

Website: www.amw.org.au