The Australian Commonwealth and The World in 1925

The Australian Commonwealth & The World (c.1925/1926)

The two maps above are the front and back of the same item, donated to the University of Newcastle’s Cultural Collections (now Special Collections) in 2012 from the Estate of the late Doug Brown, Mayfield resident.

Researchers may be familiar with Doug’s wonderful photographs of life in Mayfield that have been digitised and located on our Flickr and Living Histories digital platforms.

These maps were significant for the incredible detail and statistical information recorded in them.

Student Visitors

An opportunity to display came by this week with the visit of the University’s EDUC4806 student visitors studying Australia’s notions of civics and nationhood, and understanding the links between education and citizenship. They came from the Central Coast and local Newcastle regions.

“A Knowledge of the World is the Foundation of an Education.
An Education is the Foundation of Success.”

Dating the Map

Thanks to the wealth of statistical information regarding heads of state we were able to narrow the dating of the map to 1925-1926.

Features

Feature include:

• The British Empire Area and Population Census, 1921
• Alphabetical List of Australian Towns, Populations, Annual Rainfall
• Australian Mandated Territory & Papua
• Table Showing Relative Size and Commercial Position of World’s Powers
• The Federal Capital City Canberra & Environs
• Times in Capital Cities of the Commonwealth
• The Railways – with Distances and Time Traveled between Capital Cities

The Creators of the Map

The Map says that it was constructed and printed by W. & A.K. Johnston, Limited, Edinburgh.Compiled and published by United Distributers Ltd., Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Wellington, N.Z.

According to the National Library of Scotland:

“The firm of W. & A.K. Johnston was one of the major map publishing houses of the 19th century. William Johnston (1802–1888) and his brother Alexander Keith Johnston (1804–1871) originally trained as engravers, and founded the firm in 1826. Their offices were based in St Andrew Square in Edinburgh’s New Town, with their printworks based at the Edina Works, off Easter Road.”

Compiled by Gionni Di Gravio, OAM
University Archivist & Chair, Hunter Living Histories