Saving the 1905 Motor Trade Documents

The VCCA Library Committee, while tidying up the attic of the Club’s hall in late 2023, discovered three unique and significant documents from the earliest days of motoring in Australia.

• A signed receipt from Isaac Phizackerley to Percy Hordern for importing a Darracq;

• A Bennett & Wood receipt to Percy Hordern; and

• A Bennett & Wood invoice to Percy Hordern for a secondhand De Dion and sundries.

The names on the papers and the 1905 dates immediately attracted our group’s interest, and we realised that the documents had Australian cultural heritage significance and historical importance as they illustrated activities in the early motor trade in Sydney and were associated with persons of importance in NSW’s cultural and commercial history.

Historical notes

• Percy Grose Hordern, MLC (1864-1926), of the Sydney retailing family, was a keen bicyclist who started motoring in January 1903 with a 3¼ hp De Dion tricycle. He was an early member and senior committee person of the Automobile Club of Australia (later the Royal Automobile Club).

• Isaac Phizackerley (1861-1940), was a prominent Sydney racing cyclist on penny-farthings before starting a bicycle business in 1883. 1901-2 he built a De Dion-engined car of his own design and then began assembling and dealing in motor vehicles, importing complete vehicles from France in 1904 and on. He was a founding and active member of the Automobile Club of Australia.

• Bennett & Wood (1882-1984) was established by bicyclists Charles W. Bennett and Charles R. Wood to manufacture penny-farthings and later Speedwell safety bicycles. In 1900 Bennett arranged for the Melbourne built Thomson steam car to be demonstrated in Sydney and in 1901 the company imported De Dion engined quadricycles. From 1903 to 1906 Bennett & Wood were the sole agents for genuine De Dion cars.

Initial research revealed that Hordern’s 1905 Darracq was a:

“A NEAT LITTLE CAR. One of the prettiest little motor cars seen for some time in Sydney was landed yesterday by Mr. I. Phizackerley for Mr. Percy Hordern. It is a Darracq, 8 hp., single-cylindered vehicle, and is finished in Royal blue. It possesses three speeds and reverse, is very natty in appearance, and is fitted with two bucket seats and a torpedo back. The gearing in on the Panhard system, and the radiator are tubular. The water circulation is by a gear-driven pump, and everything on the car seems to embody the latest Continental ideas.”

(1906, January 20. The Sydney Morning Herald p.10. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14713329)

Condition of the Documents

The condition of the documents when discovered was poor. They were in a cheap picture frame, but unfortunately mounted on old acidic board that was detrimental to the organic papers longevity. Stains plus serious damage from old adhesive tape penetrating the papers, folding marks and general grime affected text clarity and the aged papers were very brittle. Inappropriate storage (heat and humidity) had degraded the paper and inks, while folding and early attempts at repairs with adhesive tape had caused further damage. The documents required urgent attention to arrest further deterioration, preserve their integrity and ensure their survival to be useful historic and heritage artefacts.

It was also clear that the skills for the correct restoration and conservation of these one hundred and twenty year old papers were beyond those of the Club’s Library volunteers. To do this skilled work we needed a professional conservator, so International Conservation Services (ICS) were asked to assess and quote on the required restoration and conservation.

Condition of the Documents

Our objectives were to:

• extend the life of the documents,

• improve their legibility,

• stabilise them, reducing further deterioration,

• remediate the damaged areas,

• conserve the documents appropriately, and

• preserve the information on them for future use.

ICS provided a quote and outlined the work necessary, and our Club Secretary Louise Yeomans set about raising the funds needed.

Funding

An appeal for donations to the restoration fund was generously responded to be a dozen Club members, some funds more came from a rally raffle.

To expedite the restoration we applied for a grant from National Trust Australia (NSW)’s Butler Bequest, which supports initiatives for veteran and vintage, i.e. pre-1931, vehicles. The Butler Bequest grant covered the bulk of the conservation costs and enabled us to commission ICS to undertake the restoration work within months of the documents being found.

Conservation 

Business receipts and invoices are ephemeral documents, so the cheapest papers were used, and usually subjected to much handling and poor storage. This was the case for the VCCA’s three documents - they were not on good quality paper but on high lignin paper, similar to newspaper, such papers are very light sensitive and effected badly by heat and humidity.

The conservation process:

1. Began with ICS ‘s Head of Paper Conservation, Katie Wood evaluating the degree of damage and the best repair and preservation actions and to formulate a treatment plan. Digital images were made throughout the restoration process.

2. Next came very careful cleaning of dust, dirt and grime off the paper surfaces.

3. Then the adhesive tapes had to be removed and the damage done by them remediated as best as possible. After some testing Kate decided to not remove the tapes mechanically, but used a solvent bath that allowed the adhesive to soften and be released, preventing further disintegration of the brittle papers.

4. The few torn areas were repaired to conservation standard.

5. The two most fragile objects (the Bennett & Wood documents) were backed with a special Japanese paper that is very thin and has long fibres, so strong and archivally ideal as a structural support for the old papers.

6. Facsimile copies were created and fixed in a bespoke protective frame, these became the accessible versions of the documents for display and for researchers.

7. Customised and archivally appropriate envelopes for each original document were made for their long term safe storage

   
   

   

   
   

Return to Club

At a VCCA (NSW) meeting on 25 July 2024 the restored documents and the facsimilies were presented to Club members. The conservation process was described by the conservator, Ms Katie Woods. Mr Neil Wykes OAM representing the National Trust Australia (NSW) and Mr Dave Stuart representing the Butler Bequest attended the meeting online. Club Secretary, Louise Yeomans, described the finding of the documents and the Club’s efforts to save them. Automotive historian and archivist, Mrs Jenny Fawbert, outlined the historical significance of the documents

The facsimiles of the documents, a list of donors and the history of the documents are on public display in the Club hall. The original documents are in secure storage, in an environment optimised for humidity and temperature control. Because of their fragility, handling and access to the papers  is strictly limited.

Significance

• The three 1905 motor trade documents are significant to NSW and Australian moveable cultural heritage. The documents have:

• Historic and Research significance.

• Social significance as there is a demonstrable contemporary relationship between the objects and the heritage vehicle community).

• Provenance (we know who initially owned and used the objects).

• They are Representative and Rare;

• They have Interpretive potential contributing to NSW Historical Themes of Commerce, Industry, Transport, Leisure and Persons.

• There are no Comparable objects discovered in any in Australian public collection.

• They satisfy all NSW Heritage assessment criteria.

Saving the 1905 Motor Trade documents was a new experience for the Veteran Car Club NSW but a valuable one, adding to our understanding and appreciation for the appropriate processes involved in saving and conserving important information from the past for the future.

Louise Yeomans and Jenny Fawbert