Museum receives Armistice Centenary Grant

Hawkesbury Regional Museum has been successful in receiving a $4,416 grant from the Commonwealth Government’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs, under the Armistice Centenary Grant funding program.

The Armistice Centenary Grants Program provided funds to every electorate in Australia for communities to mark the centenary of the Armistice in a locally significant way. The funding received by Hawkesbury Regional Museum will be used for the conservation of a WWI uniform which was generously donated to the Museum by the Paine Family of Windsor. The items belonged to Brigadier General John Jackson (J.J.) Paine, grandfather of the late John Paine.

Museum Curator, Rebecca Turnbull said that preventative conservation treatment would allow the uniform and related items to be used for research, exhibitions and potentially loaned to other facilities.

“This conservation will allow the stories and experiences of Hawkesbury soldiers, who participated in the Great War, to be shared with future generations,” Ms Turnbull added.

Brigadier General J.J. Paine is a significant figure in the history of the Hawkesbury. The Paine family firm of Solicitors is the longest running law firm in Australia, commencing in Windsor 1828.

He was also Mayor of Windsor for eight years and a Trustee of the Hawkesbury Benevolent Society and Hospital, President of the Hawkesbury District Agricultural Association and a prominent Mason.

In 1914 when the Great War broke out, Brigadier General J. J. Paine volunteered for service. He was despatched to command 2,700 troops on the Ceramic, the largest troopship that left Australian shores. A further command of 2,200 troops on the Euripides brought him in touch with the ANZAC Mounted Division then operating in Egypt, Sinai and Palestine. He was awarded the rank of full Colonel, then the rank of Brigadier-General. He held the 1915 Star, the General Service and Victory Medals and the Victoria Decoration. Brigadier-General John Jackson Paine died aged 72 years at his home, Sunny Brae, in Windsor.

The conservation work will be completed early in 2019.

The Museum is located at 8 Baker Street, Windsor www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/museum Bookings www.hawkesburygallery.eventbrite.com

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