ABOUT US AND THIS WEBSITE
Hyden Pictorial History
This pictorial history follows an iron rule: if there is no picture, it did not happen, and we cannot discuss it!
It is a work-in-progress. Corrections and updates can readily be made to the Word version then loaded onto the site in PDF. Nothing is cast in stone. It belongs to the Hyden district. Hopefully, future contributions will fill gaps, correct inevitable errors, and create a better balance.
Various attempts had been made over the decades to compile a written history with limited outcomes. A Head Teacher in the 1950s collected photographs from across the district for his MA thesis, but these were lost in transit when he was transferred. This reduced the stock of pioneer photos, but fortunately, many remained tightly held.
The Kondinin Shire contracted professional history by Oxford graduate Audrey Webb, “Shire of Kondinin: Kondinin, Karlgarin, Hyden”. Published in 1988, this is a written history of the development of the district up to publication, with limited photographs. Audrey relied on interviews and accounts of the early lives of settlers prior to, and after settlement, to create a strong social picture of the Hyden community up to then. The last chapter, Quotations, is rich in detail of the early pioneers and their times.
Through the 1980s, early settler Ina Lynch collected records of the early decades. In June 1994 she unveiled a massive collection of photographs scanned by the CRC via a government regions project and local funding. This stock is the core of the COMMUNITY album. In 1997, ‘Hyden the People 1922-1997’ was published locally by the Progress Association in manuscript form with details of pioneer families and their farms, extending the Audrey Webb story of Hyden.
This pictorial history began in 2012 under the umbrella of the HPA with a plan for six key albums, event timelines, and scanning of photos of Hyden settlement and life, collected by the CRC. The CRC continues to scan and annotate donated albums and photos.
Retiree Ted Mouritz, ex- Hyden Primary School ’45- ’48, and UWA to a BSc Agric Hons, MSc offered to curate the project. A key HPA requirement was for “not another written history…we have enough, but a history of the district in pictures”. That set the challenge of WHICH pictures for WHAT story? Interviews were held and extra pictures scanned from a cross section of farmers, towns folk and members of Clubs until a story emerged. The text was kept to about 10% area per page, just enough to support the photo record.
Any ‘official histories’ in booklet form have been compiled to track the progress of district life over decades:
-Hyden Primary School 50th anniversary, edited by Joan Meeking (nee Bamber)
– Hyden Primary School, Parents & Citizens Association 1946-1996, edited by Joan Meeking
-Hyden Progress Association 60th anniversary 1946-2006
– Lions Club of Hyden 201W2, 1978-98
– Tennis Club history, 1957-1979
– Hyden Cricket Club Reunion 1991
– Hyden Cricket Club from December 32 to December 2004 by Tony Herring.
These have been scanned and included in ARCHIVE, ALBUM EXTRAS filed by Album.
Two other useful publications are:
– Only the Wind was Free, 60 years in Wave Rock Country by Mick Mouritz, a lively life story of a pioneer farmer with detail on the difficult first decades from 1924.
– Wheat, Wethers & Waterbags by Sally Nicholl, journalist/farmer, an introduction to the district for newcomers.
The HYDEN PROGRESS ASSOCIATION (HPA) has been a ‘direct voice to government’ for the district from the late 1920s, taking appeals direct to government in Perth whenever thought necessary. Routine local government issues have been dealt with via Ward representatives of the Road Board/Shire. It has been the umbrella body for local clubs and associations benefiting from official recognition for funding, insurance, and representation.
But recurrent community frustration with a feeling of neglect by far away Kondinin caused the HPA to host agitation for its own Shire, independent of Kondinin over decades. This reflects the independent, pioneer spirit of the Hyden community arising from initial isolation, since early settlement. This frustration seems to have subsided in recent years, but the independence and ‘can-do’ district spirit remains as strong as ever. The TOWN & DISTRICT album records district ‘Progress Association’ and progress since 1922.
From the 1980s on, the HPA has been particularly active in district building programs: attracting new businesses, building houses, and other initiatives that grow social capital and boost services. Photos from this period in the TOWN & DISTRICT album tracks this progress: a new Sports Pavilion in 1980, 200 new town blocks on the hill to the west, the telecentre, singles units, seniors’ accommodation, a cemetery, youth base etc.
The HPA today also holds 100Ha near the town for cropping via volunteer contributions. This generates funds for programs that grow the district. The administration of an efficient committee system and use of digital technologies enables the HPA to ‘run the district’ with the minimum of drain on the volunteer executive.
Privacy
Many present and former citizens of the district gave freely of time and photographs towards creation of this website, trusting that personal or confidential material would be protected. Family albums and interview notes are stored on this website under password protection: ADMIN.
Photos taken of Hyden Primary School activities, Community and Sporting teams and events are stored on open access under ARCHIVE, PHOTOSTOCK. There are no privacy concerns with these public images. But photos of children still at the school (recent years) are restricted by the Department of Education under privacy laws.
Terms & Conditions
Copyright of this website and associated inputs lies with the HPA into the future. Curator Ted Mouritz will remain Administrator until end 2022. Any questions or additions should be directed to him on tedenm1937@gmail.com
Any item on open access may be copied and re-published with acknowledgment, or via contact with the Administrator.
As the photos have been processed through a variety of programs over eight years, originals or the digital trail may not be available. Files in PNG may be readily opened, but those in PSD require Photoshop access.