Serena Kirby, Denmark Bulletin

The Denmark Historical Society will celebrate 40 years since it was restarted in 1983 after a long hiatus.

History buff and retired teacher Bev McGuinness has been involved with the society for all but 10 of those years.

As holder of the deputy chair position, Bev is widely-known as the local ‘keeper of records’ and the ‘go-to-person’ for anything to do with Denmark history.

“I’m probably better known and more visible than other people in the society because of all the books I’ve published,” Bev said.

“I’ve done 12, plus been a co-contributor to several others, and the books have covered various aspects of local history including the fire brigade, the cemetery, surf club, hospital and Denmark’s war memorial.

“Must be the teacher in me coming out.” Bev enjoys her time in her voluntary role as she considers it important to show today’s younger generation how life used to be and how hard it was for people when they first settled in the shire.

The society has an ‘amazing’ series of photos from the early 1900s to the late 1940s taken by Bert Saw who lived at Bow Bridge, and his photographic glass plates as well.

Bev said it was important to have a place to hold and display these photos and other relics.

Many kids who visited the society’s museum were surprised to see items such as an old phone attached to a wall as well as a collection of old cameras.

They were only familiar with a phone and camera combined in one small handheld device.

In addition to 1000 artefacts and 4000 photographs, the museum also houses a wide range of maps and records about local residents dating back to the days of the first group settlers.

“My record keeping role involves collecting any public notices that appear in the news, death notices are particularly important when it comes to tracing family histories,” Bev said.

“I also transcribe details from the Shire rate books so you know the location number for who lived there and when.

“People may think this information is available via the electoral roll but the roll only tells you the district not the exact address.

“We have rate records dating back to 1928 but not before that as the earlier rate books were held in a building that burnt down in 1927.” Bev said ‘stuff that happened yesterday is history’ and that no one knew what information would be useful in the future.

Oral histories were also valuable assets especially as nearly all of the early residents were gone now.

“They’re recorded via video so you can see the person talking and we’ve had people be totally blown away when they find out we have footage of someone in particular, especially if that person has passed away,” Bev said.

Like many other volunteer organisations in Denmark, the historical society would like some younger members to join.

They are also interested in memorabilia and other historic items that hold a relevance to the Denmark shire.

The museum is open to visitors every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from 2pm to 4pm, and every Thursday morning from 10am to noon.

This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 23 March 2023.