
Seaweed scrapbooks discovered among Lucy Serventy’s personal papers provide a tantalising glimpse into Western Australia’s marine life in the early to mid 1900s.
Your generous donation of any amount will help preserve and share one of the State Library of Western Australia’s most intriguing treasures.
With your support:
- Delicate conservation work can begin to preserve these precious marine algae for future generations.
- Expert advice can be sought to unravel the mystery and significance of the seaweed scrapbooks.
- These hidden Western Australian treasures can be digitised to enable Lucy’s story to be shared with the world.
Help us reach our goal of $50,000.
Kalgoorlie in 1905, the year Lucy was born.
An unexpected romance
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.
The Rainbow, written and edited by Lucy ca. 1916.
Early childhood
Lucy grew up in the goldfields until her father became ‘dusted’ working on the mines. They then moved to small farm environments on the outskirts of Perth, “where life was quiet but memories were vivid” (Vincent Serventy, An Australian Life).
With the bush on her doorstep, Lucy became a passionate observer of the natural world. She and her brothers, Vincent and Dominic, would “run like brumbies” barefoot in the bush, gathering specimens and report their discoveries in the family newspapers – The Golden Sun and The Rainbow.
In such a large family the paper had an assured circulation. Prizes were offered to whoever found the first spider orchid of the season or heard the first trill of the pallid cuckoo, the herald of winter.
Lucy's botany book from Perth Girls School, 1910s.
A fine career
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.
Detail of Lucy leading, from a Western Australian Naturalists' Club excursion, in a caricature by Joy Lyon, ca. 1950.
The Western Australian Naturalists’ Club
Lucy was as a tireless worker for the Western Australian Naturalists’ Club for decades. A club formed by her brother Dominic to “encourage the study of natural history in all its branches and to endeavour to prevent the wanton destruction of native flora and fauna.” (WA Naturalists' Club Rules, 1924)
Passionate about educating young people in the delights of the natural world, most weekends Lucy would lead weekend excursions of club juniors to revel in the tranquil glories of the Western Australian bush and beaches.
Many of Lucy’s juniors became scientists, teachers and civil servants, carrying over into the general community a sympathy for the native fauna and flora and an awareness of the need for conservation.
Fraser Avenue, Kings Park, Western Australia, ca. 1959.
Caring for family and Kings Park
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.
Lucy Serventy (left) at the beach with a friend.
A life well lived
In her room at the Hamersley nursing home in Subiaco, Lucy had large photographs of her loving parents, as well as Dom and Vincent. On the windows were images of rosellas and parrots, a reminder of her happy childhood.
Lucy died just after her 93rd birthday in 2003.
A conservator with one of the seaweed scrapbooks.
The Seaweed Scrapbooks
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.
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