Annual Appeal Save Lucy Serventy’s Seaweed Scrapbooks

Victor Serventy was born on the island of Brac, a Croatian island just off the Dalmatian coast. 

It was said that in the late 1800s the young men of Brac would swim between islands looking for wives, but Victor and Annie Gabelich’s meeting was not the result of a romantic swim. 

A reluctant conscript in the Austrian army, Victor headed to the gold mines in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia for better pay. Annie found herself there unexpectedly, having thought she was heading to relatives in the United States.

They met, fell in love and were married in 1903. Lucia (Lucy) was born in 1905, the second of their eight children.

Lucy was an industrious student as evidenced by her exercise books held in the State Library’s collection. She attended Perth Girls School. Confident and polite Lucy began her working life as a typist and progressed to accountancy qualifications. In 1928 she joined the Attorney General’s Office where she became a court reporter. Honest, compassionate and professional, her colleagues spoke of her in the highest terms. On retirement after 42-years was awarded the Imperial Service Medal for services to the Commonwealth. 

Lucy cared for her mother at her house in Onslow Road, Shenton Park for over 70 years. Correspondence held by the State Library shows evidence of a close and caring family. They include letters from Vincent, who became a dedicated conservationist, documentary maker and author.

Lucy’s home became a hub for visitors of similar interests and served as a command post during the battle to safeguard Kings Park from development in the 1950s and 1960s. Proposals included cableways, casinos, an Olympic swimming pool, radio towers, revolving restaurants and even a Disneyland.

The seaweed scrapbooks found among Lucy's personal papers are thought to have been collected in the early to mid-1900s, possibly on beach sweeping excursions with the Western Australian Naturalists' Club to Cottesloe, Leighton and Point Heron. As root-like structures are present in some of the specimens it seems probable they were gathered after a storm when marine plants can be dislodged from the seafloor and washed onto the beach. 

It is also likely that the seaweed was pressed shortly after being collected to retain its colour. This would have been done in the fashion of the Victorian era (pre-1900) when collecting and pressing seaweed was popular to create elaborate albums. Seaweed was floated in water to resurrect its buoyancy, then a piece of paper skimmed underneath to capture the sample. From there the fronds were adjusted while still wet and their natural adhesive properties would adhere them to the paper when dried.