Ken Brooks - a local historian with diverse interests

Ken Brooks is a well known and respected historian

Ken Brooks is a well-known and active Maryborough historian.  His interest in Brennan &Geraghty’s store started after he moved into the cottage next door in the mid-1980s. “I became further involved with the store when conservation works began in about 1988/89. At that time I was only involved in a small way but as the years went on, I became more involved with every aspect of the place”, Ken reflects.

 Ken became involved with Australian history in general as a small boy visiting historic properties in Sydney and then Melbourne.  He became involved with the National Trust in Victoria after they purchased the historic property Labassa.  He worked on this property with the Young Trust in some initial clean-ups, removing debris and old roofing material from the ceiling cavity. Ken said “I had a passion for grand structures but as time went on I got to enjoy working class buildings and the social history that went with them.”

His current organisation started when the National Trust purchased, what was then known as Geraghty's Store, in 1975. The store opened as a museum about itself and its place in the community of Maryborough in November, 1990.

 Ken has used this store as a basis for a lot of history research on local families which led to historical research on a wider scale. Ken explained, “I research a lot about people, the things they did and the history of their lives. I am currently researching for an exhibition titled War Time Shopping.”

Ken works together with a number of volunteers on different projects.  The War Time Shopping Exhibition has the volunteers and Ken sourcing material from the original Brennan & Geraghty ledgers as well as from trade magazines and newspaper articles. They are researching to see if people during the First World War were buying fewer products than they were prior to the war. The exhibition will stretch through to the Second World War. This will provide some understanding of the imposed rationing and product shortages that affected what people had to eat.

 Ken claims “With digital technologies, we will be able to add our research to the web in attempts to draw people to visit the region and see the store where their ancestors may have shopped, this next twelve months will hopefully see us have some gains in this area.”

 Ken recently did a talk on the Historic Interiors Resource Centre. The National Trust established the Interiors Resource Centre in 1996 to document the moveable heritage culture associated with Queensland Interiors. In 2004, the National Trust relocated its Brisbane Head Office and subsequently needed a new home for the collection so it was moved to Maryborough. “I became more involved with Queensland Interiors when the National Trust moved its Interiors Resource Centre to be managed in conjunction with Brennan & Geraghty's Store Museum,” he remembered.

He started working on the interiors resource centre about eighteen years ago when he digitally photographed the objects and started the transfer of the information onto the National Trusts digital collections register. The collection holds examples of linoleums, wallpapers, textiles, craftworks, hardware and other items that went into furnishing and decorating homes.

 “I have a particular passion for stencilled finishes, there were a number of timber homes in Maryborough which had stencil decorated surfaces - these are slowly being lost as new trends in painting and decorating cover up old fashioned finishes. We hope to record some of them before it is too late.”

 Ken continued “We were donated a collection of ledgers that had belonged to the Popp family who had a furniture making factory where 4MB now stands. These ledgers help us to identify what kinds of furniture people were buying for their homes. We have started to index the ledgers so that they can eventually be used for public research.”

Volunteers are currently involved in various capacities. Some have specific interest in textiles, some work to digitally photograph the objects and others are involved with cataloguing the collection.

The Historic Interiors Resource Centre opens by appointment only by ringing (07) 4121 2250. It is also open as part of Maryborough Open House in September. “We are always seeking to add to the collection, we are particularly interested in acquiring tools used for wood grain and marbled finish effects,” Ken enthused.

Published with consent from Ken Brooks.

 Tags: #Maryboroughlibrary #Maryborough  #Qldheritagetourism #Frasercoastlibraries