Daniel Wilksch...Soldier Settler Stories
Posted
on Apr 19, 2016
Chair for the day Geoff Wright introduced guest speaker Daniel Wilksch.
Daniel Wilksch is Co-ordinator, Digital Projects at the Public Record Office of Victoria. His recent focus has been to manage PROV's digitization program, i.e. to record in electronic many of those old paper records from archives. Moreover he has been heavily involved in developing PROV's online exhibitions, including the recent “Battle to Farm” website (see later for explanation).
One area of record retrieval and analysis which Daniel told of was the history of Soldier Settlements. This the thrust of his address was a fascinating account of how returned service men first in WWI were able to lease small (typical 640 acres) from the State and how they fared in establishing and maintaining an existence as farmers.
The digitized records predominantly developed from old hand written lease documents dating from just after WWI were the prime source from which his modern computer routines have setup data bases which for example now allow one to get visual and statistical overviews. His presented map of Victoria was extensively covered by icons of their presence, only national park areas were clean. Daniel complemented the statistical overview with a few individual stories of farmers. This personal material was often gained from ancestors who had contributed old photos and family history.
Sadly the stories of the farms and families told of a generally tough life, and worse a high level of long term failure arising from weather ( many farms were set up in regions where good seasons were limited 1 in 7 say), the onset of the depression and poor prices for product. Commonly the “farmer ex soldier” needed paid employment to exist.
The scope can be understood from numbers. Of 90,000 WWI participants about 60,000 returned and 12000 took out leases. By 1929 many (20%) had relinquished their lease, albeit it was effectively a time payment purchase based on a perceived value set years before. Values dropped and one can envisage it inefficient to keep paying---in 1935 a revaluation with lower figures alleviated this problem for those who persisted.
A like scheme for WWII veterans was better designed and had more enduring success.
Thanks Daniel for a great story. Most of the audience’s knowledge had been limited to childhood memories of signs stating the presence of a Soldier Settlement.