General News
9 November, 2022
History recorded
MORTLAKE and District Historical Society (MDHS) has added the complete works of an infamous local novelist, and celebrated the unwavering commitment of one of their own.
MORTLAKE and District Historical Society (MDHS) has added the complete works of an infamous local novelist, and celebrated the unwavering commitment of one of their own.
A special event was held at the multi-purpose room at the Mortlake Community Centre over the weekend to celebrate MDHS’s addition of the complete works of Lindsay Russell, courtesy of Dr Tim Lowe.
Dr Lowe collected all 13 novels which the prolific author published between 1912and 1918.
In addition to the donation, MDHS president Craige Proctor was presented with an Award of Merit for exceptional service to history in Victoria.
Dr Peter Yule from the Royal Historical Society was among those in attendance to present Mr Proctor with the award.
“Craige Proctor has made a significant contribution to the history movement in Mortlake and the western district,” he said.
“He joined the MDHS in the early 1980s while in his early 20s.”
In the ensuing years Mr Proctor held a number of formal roles with MDHS and historical societies across the region.
“He has always been notable for his enthusiasm, energy and ability to encourage high levels of engagement,” Dr Yule said.
Mr Proctor spoke of his enthusiasm for history, and the importance of remembering the stories of forebears.
“I’m very touched, very honoured, very gratified,” he said.
MDHS secretary Jillian Clingan thanked Mr Proctor for the “immeasurable impact” hehad made.
“I’m not sure we would even have a Mortlake and District Historical Society up and running without his contributions,” she said.
“He has been the driving force for somany years.”
The highlight on the occasion was the donation of the complete works of author Lindsay Russell to MDHS.
Ms Russell lived much of her life in Mortlake, and was known as a prolific writer whose works blurred the lines between fact and fiction.
It was 17 years ago Mr Proctor first met Dr Tim Lowe, and immediately made a connection based on their shared interest and admiration of Ms Russell.
“She was an extraordinary woman ahead of her time, who had a sad and tough life,” Dr Lowe said.
“In 1905/06, there was a priest in Charlton by the name of Michael Quinn and she had a relationship with him.
“It ended badly, and we’ll never know how often it happened, but there would have been tremendous pressure on her to keep it quiet from her family and the church.
“But she didn’t; she sued him for breach of promise in 1910, which would have been an extraordinary scandal at the time.”
Dr Lowe said his research had shown the matter was settled out of court, but rather than remaining quiet Ms Russell took to writing.
“She wrote 15 novels all together, all on the theme of women in conflict with society,”he said.
“Seven were about women in some sort of relationship with a priest, all similar in nature, which looks very autobiographical.
“In these novels she described how the hierarchy of the Catholic Church managed the priests who breached their vows of chastity.
“What we learnt from the royal commission into the institutional response to childhood sexual abuse was all coming out, exactly as she described in her novels.”
Dr Lowe said Ms Russell’s novels had become somewhat forgotten, but he became “fascinated” by the works he believed held historic and literary importance for Australia.
“I spent a lot of time scouring second hand book stores for her novels, which took me 12 years to round them all up,” he said.
“There was a four year gap before finding the last one, and there it was: in a second hand book shop, a short walk away from whereI lived.
“It was a great feeling knowing I had the whole lot.”
Dr Lowe came to the decision to donate the collection to the MDHS after re-reading the novels and compiling an essay, with the support of Mr Proctor, during COVID-19 lockdowns.
The essay in part drew from historical reporting of the Mortlake Dispatch. Ms Russell herself would become a regular contributor in verse to the Dispatch after her move to Mortlake.
“I’d done what I wanted to do and was ready to hand over the novels,” Dr Lowe said.
“I thought they should come to Mortlake as this is where she lived most of her life.
“I loved to hear the novels are going to be on show at the library, and that’s because in 1913 the Mortlake Library actually banned her novels.”
Ms Clingan thanked Dr Tim Lowe for his contribution.
“Having books like this from a very notable figure that lived in Mortlake is just wonderful,” she said.
Details are being finalised but the complete works of Lindsay Russell are expected to go on display at the Mortlake Community Centre from this weekend.
