While helping her grandaunt to move into a retirement home, the Chancery’s Sally Holmes was surprised to discover, in a dark room under a film of dust, an ornate Illuminated Address dated 1899.  Featuring gold gilded photographs and names of proud Victorian-era men, it read: -

“Presented by the Borough Council of Eaglehawk
to Councillor M.J. Curtain 
First elected Councillor August 1893
Re-elected August 1896
Elected Mayor 29 August 1898
Retired from the Mayoral Chair 29 August 1899.” 

Sally made a couple of excited phone calls, and the rest is, well — history.  

The Illuminated Address now takes pride of place in the former Council Chambers of the old Eaglehawk Town Hall where Sally’s great-granduncle, Michael John Curtain, served as a councillor and Mayor of the Borough of Eaglehawk in a bygone era when colonials were aspiring to federation¹ and prominent men were enthusiastically going about the noble business of nation building.²  

Michael John Curtain was the late Fr John Ware’s grandfather, and Sally Holmes’ great-granduncle. Sally found the Illuminated Address in the home of her grandaunt, Molly who is first cousin to Fr John Ware (aka 'cousin Jack') and the granddaughter of Michael John Curtain.

After holding this Illuminated Address in their posession for 120, the Curtain family decided to gift it to the people of Eaglehawk.  They handed the Address to the Eaglehawk Heritage Society who, realising the significance of this beautiful decorative certificate of service, resolved to use their funds to restore it (where necessary) and preserve it, so that it can help to tell the story of Eaglehawk to future generations. 

The frame features photographs linking ten families to their history in Eaglehawk, thought to be the only photographic record of its type in Victoria.  It features photographs and names of the following councillors: 

Edward McCormick, John Green, George Loudon, Henry A. Chapple, William Cook, Edward Brown, John Highmore, W. Vincent Kneebone, Frederick Clark and, of course, Michael John Curtain. 

The Illuminated Address was given to the City of Greater Bendigo in a small but official ceremony on 1 June when President of the Eaglehawk Heritage Society, Elaine Harrington, presented it to Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf who accepted it on behalf of the City of Greater Bendigo. 

In her speech, Elaine said the Eaglehawk Heritage Society was very pleased to see this decorated certificate of service hanging so resplendently on the walls of the Eaglehawk Town Hall. Restoration and preservation work had cost the Society in the vicinity of $11,000 but Elaine said it was well worth it.  Elaine sadly explained that the Illuminated Address was the Eaglehawk Heritage Society’s last contribution to Eaglehawk before closing its doors.  She thanked the remaining members of the society, Bev Hanson, Aylene Kirkwood, June McMillan and Sharon Opie, who were all present at this last official event, for their years of dedication and service. 

Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf thanked the Eaglehawk Heritage Society for its efforts to preserve this important piece of Eaglehawk history. “The restoration of the Curtain illuminated work is testimony to your commitment to keeping local stories alive and is a fitting legacy for your time as a Society,” she said. “As your final act, you are going out on a high.” 

Cr Metcalf also thanked the Curtain family for “trusting this process, despite knowing the Heritage Society was preparing to finish its service to the community.” 

Present at the handover proceedings were Michael John Curtain’s, great-grandson, Michael F. Curtain, great-grandnieces Sally Holmes and Joanne Marslen, and great-great-grandnephew, Logan Murphy (Sally's grandson).

Michael told a moving and compelling story of the life and achievements of his great-grandfather – which ultimately is represented in the Illustrated Address. Michael John Curtain was an Australian ‘native’, in the terminology of the time; it meant he was born in Australia in 1855, but only just. You’ll need to read Michael’s story to find out why and to understand how larger-than-life this man was.  

After working in the mines for twelve years, Michael John Curtain became a publican. He held official positions in many football clubs and was an active promoter of the Eaglehawk Athletics Club. At one stage he was Vice-President of the Eaglehawk Stock Exchange and was President of the Eaglehawk ANA and was a Grand Master of the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows. 

The striking thing about Michael John Curtain is that he is the son of last-wave potato famine Irish Catholic migrants, who rose to prominence and contributed to many aspects of community life at a time when Catholic Irish were negatively racialised. It seems there’s more to learn from him than meets the eye.

In her speech, Cr Metcalf relayed, “When he died, a flag was flown at half-mast in Eaglehawk and the Mayor at the time noted MJ Curtain as ‘valuable man to the Borough Council, and also as an individual citizen’.” 

Illuminated Addresses are typically certificates of service or commemoration which are elaborately embellished with beautiful calligraphy, skilled artwork  and lustrous designs. Unique and personal, illuminated addresses were designed to include illustrated and later photographic elements of the awardee’s personal history.  An Illuminated Address is distinct from an Illustrated Address because it is embellished with burnished gold or silver.  

In the late 1870s to the 1930s an illuminated address would be presented to its awardee at a formal presentation ceremony as a means of publicly and formally recognising the service or contribution of an individual to an organisation or a community. More often than not, the presentation would make the local news.

With the rise of mass printing in the 1930s Illuminated Addresses became less of a ‘thing’.  These beautiful hand-made illustrated certificates were truly a labour of love, the resources invested to create them extended a deep appreciation for the person they addressed, irrespective of the level of skill.  In the age of instant gratification, and clicktivism it might be a good time to think about bringing them back into vogue.³  

^1. In fact, the year the Illuminated Address was presented to Michael Curtain, 1899, was the year of the two referendums more or less asking people in the colonies if they should federate to form one nation — yes, or no?

². in between the odd snooker game, rifle shooting; horse-race, greyhound race, promoting the stock exchange on the blackboard or buying a pub! 

 ³. According to the Australian Library, “the artistry that went into these addresses ranged from fairly amateur production to highly sophisticated illustration techniques and calligraphy. They were, at their best, an art form in themselves.”  However, for the community commissioning the address the person creating it and the addressee, the art is not only in the certificate but, in all of the endeavour surrounding it, lived out in life.

Photograph above right: Michael F. Curtain tells the story of his Great-grandfather, Michael John Curtain.

pdf Read more about MIchael John Curtin (371 KB) .