1

What shall we do with our girls1? A personal narrative concerning The

Amazons - The First Ladies Fire Brigade Armidale, Australia.

Version: Draft 1, 4/4/2013.

Merilyn Childs, Associate Professor of Digital Futures, Australian Institute of Digital Futures

University of Southern Queensland, Queensland.

[Recommendation for citing this article: Childs, M. (2013). What shall we do with our girls?

A personal narrative concerning ‘The Amazons - The First Ladies Fire Brigade’ 1901-1903

Armidale, Australia. Version Draft 1, pp.1-27, http://womeninfirefighting.blogspot.com.au/

(Date sourced).]

Acknowledgment

This narrative would not have been possible without the generosity of others. Neil McGrath

(formerly Archival Assistant, NSWFB) first told me that he had heard about a ladies fire

brigade in Armidale. Bill Oates (UNE Archivist) encouraged me to visit the UNE Archival

Collection2 in August 2008 – and what an amazing experience it was. Pat McGufficke,

Secretary Armidale Family History Group Inc. included my request for information in a

monthly newsletter. Three Leonies – Leonie Farrugia, Leonie Mercer and Leonie Snell –

have been generous in their help. My apologies if I have made errors or omissions in this

narrative! I welcome feedback and will produce a revised version, and do plan to do further

work3 to develop this account of the Amazons.

Background

This narrative is a summary only – much more work is yet to be done. It began as a labour of

love and intrigue in November 2004 when I invited some colleagues of mine to visit the

Museum of Fire in Penrith, New South Wales. At the time I was an academic working at the

University of Western Sydney, and at the same time, academic advisor to the NSW Fire

Brigades where I facilitated leadership and promotional programs for a decade (1996-2006).

By 2004, after eight years, I’d never worked with a female fire fighter. Yet there, on a pillar

1 The title of this paper is drawn from an article written by Captain J.T.A Webb to the Armidale Chronicle

9/11/1901, p.4, which he began by asking “What shall we do with our girls”? See Attachments. 2 I was also granted permission to reproduce images of the Amazons, so long as thumb nails were used, and

source acknowledged. 3 Context is important too- Armidale for example, provides an important context for the Amazons, as does the

prevalence of ladies brigades in England.

2

in the Museum, deep within a male history, hung one old, dusty and grainy photograph of a

group of twenty or so women who were clearly fire fighters. The caption to the photograph

told me that these were women of the “Women’s Fire Auxiliary” and that they had existed

during World War II.

That moment began for me a journey in search of a heritage that female fire fighters in the

twenty first century did not know that they possessed. Here was a photograph of women fire

fighters during the war. Yet women had not been permitted to be recruited or employed as

paid fire fighters until after anti-discrimination legislation was passed within states and

territories of Australia, largely during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was not until 1985 for

example, that the first women fire fighters were recruited into paid fire fighting in New South

Wales – forty years after the end of the war. I found the contrast remarkable. I made a

commitment at that time to explore, and share, the invisible and unknown history of female

fire fighters in Australia.

The opposition to women fire fighters during the 1980s was strong. Many obstacles were put

in aspiring women’s way. Unions argued they would lower the standards and put male fire

fighters at risk. Commentators, outraged at the idea, argued building female toilets in station

houses was a waste of money; better spent on new equipment. Cartoonists lampooned women

fire fighters as sexual objects; and wives of fire fighters bemoaned the possibility of loose

women destroying marriages. In those days there were only “firemen” and women were seen

to be physically incapable and bodily unsuited to fire fighting work. Few pluses were

identified. One was that women might serve the services by providing a civilising influence

and the development of good manners for male fire fighters. This was only twenty years ago!

I began to wonder what it had been like during World War II. What was the Women’s Fire

Auxiliary? What happened to the women who did fire fighting as part of the war effort? What

did they do, and how were they received as fire fighters? These questions lead me to

somewhere unexpected, and to forty years before World War II – to a journey to Armidale

NSW Australia, to the UNE Archives, up a set of stairs to witness an old wooden picture

frame with the original images of the Amazons – the First (1901) and Second (1903) Ladies

Fire Brigade. There began a new journey – in collaboration with costumier Gracie Matthews

to reproduce previously lost historic female fire fighters uniforms of the Amazons, based on

photographs of the originals provided by the UNE Archivist Bill Oates. As part of my key

3

note address4 to the Australasian Women in Fire Fighting Conference, Darling Harbour

Sydney NSW, 2006 descendants of Minnie Webb5 (the first known female Captain of a fire

brigade in Australia) Leonie Snell and Mrs Netta Derby, were honoured6, along with

members of the Women’s Fire Auxiliary (WWII) by Commissioner Greg Mullins, AFSM,

NSW Fire Brigades, and a standing ovation from 180 delegates (95% female operational

firefighters and support staff).

Image 1: The first female Station Officer of the NZ Fire Services, Nella Booth, meeting Netta

Derby, descendant of the first female Captain of the Amazons Ladies Fire Brigade.

The Amazons

Imagine 1901 as a period of time for women. The Victorian Era remained in its prime. Active

women had only just begun to develop acceptable fashion standards for the newly developed

bicycles. As one history of women’s fashions pointed out; the following pressing questions

was posed in The Ladies Standard Magazine, April 1894, p. 98.

"What shall we wear?" is a query rising from every channel of woman's life: for

upon each occasion we must be suitably clad to enjoy its peculiar benefits. This is

especially noticeable for such exercise as bicycling, for, in this case, it is not only

4 You can see records related to the Australasian Women in Fire Fighting Conference, the recreated uniforms,

and photographs and video related to honouring the Amazons by visiting my blog

http://womeninfirefighting.blogspot.com.au/ 5 One of the conference rooms was also named “The Minnie Webb Room”.

6 At the time I was early in my research about the Amazons, and was not aware of the descendents of the

Schmutter women.

4

a matter of appearing well, but the health, the comfort and safety demand a

carefully selected costume and equipment.

Too often the answer was “corsets” that were laced tightly over heavy undergarments,

leggings to the knees, and above the waist a camisole and long-sleeved shirt worn beneath a

coat. Imagine a woman fire fighter dressed in such garb! It sounds impossible. Yet an all

women Australian fire fighting crew was deployed in Armidale, in 1901, and the women

were dressed in uniforms that reflected the fashion of the times.

Image 2: The Amazons in operational uniform, 1903. Reprinted with permission, UNE

Archives. May not be reproduced without permission.

This all women fire fighting crew was known as “the Amazons” in honour of an all female

fire fighting crew of the same name that had existed in England earlier in the nineteenth

century. There it was not uncommon for women to be fully trained in the use of ladders, fire

engines and hoses and for it to fall upon them to defend “great country mansions, hospitals

and ladies colleges” unaided by male fire fighters. Silent black and white newsreels still exist

of the English ladies fire brigades [See News Reels].

5

The Amazons was established by Captain J.T.A Webb7 of the Armidale Fire Brigades

8.

Unlike some commentators of the 1980s9 who opposed women entering fire fighting, Captain

Webb believed in the capacity of women to be serious fire fighters.

Image 3: Captain J.T.A Webb established the Amazons.

Captain Webb wrote to the Armidale Chronicle on the 9th November 1901,

“These girls are thoroughly drilled in handling the engine, reel, fire escape and

builders ladder (sic). They jump from greater height than is usually attempted at

fire competitions. They handle the hose on top of a 50 foot ladder with a pressure

of water that makes it difficult to control even on terra firma.” In answer to his

7 J.T.A Webb’s story is itself interesting, and I have read through the many memos he sent to the central office

in Sydney at the Museum of Fire, Penrith. Descendents of the Webb family continue to live in the Armidale

area. Con Webb was also Captain of the Armidale Fire Brigade. 8 There was no fire brigade in Armidale in 1889 when the Great Fire had destroyed the Court House Hotel. As

this was the second major fire in Beardy Street in two years, further efforts were now made to establish a fire

brigade. A Fire Brigade Board was formed and it received a £1000 grant from the NSW Government for buying

a fire engine. The fire engine duly arrived and was commissioned in September 1891.

http://www.armidaleindependent.com.au/wordpress/index.php/2011/05/the-court-house-hotel-fire/ 9 In truth, I struck the same “anti” female firefighters during media interviews in the 21

st Century.

6

own question “What shall we do with our girls” he answered, “Perhaps it would

be better to ask ‘What cannot we do with them’ “.

Image 4: Captain Minnie Webb demonstrates her skill jumping into the sheet. Reprinted with

permission, UNE Archives.

J.T.A Webb originally came from England, where it was not uncommon for “ladies fire

brigades’ to be established, and trained to do the same tasks as male fire fighters. The

following images are drawn from my private collection memorializing female firefighters in

England (WWI)10

and Ireland11

(See below). Silent film footage12

can be viewed of female

fire fighters in England during WWI.

10

1917 Northern England 11

1908, Franco British Exhibition (of Irish maidens Ballymaclinton) 12

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/womens-fire-brigade-aka-firewomen/query/female+fire+fighter

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/womens-wartime-fire-brigade-aka-ladies-fire-brigad/query/ON+032+G

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/women-fire-fighters/query/ON+032+G

7

Image 5: The king inspects firewomen, 1917

8

Image 6: Ballymaclinton’s Colleen Fire Brigade

On 28th

January 1903 Captain Minnie Webb wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald that, at a

local Fire Brigades demonstration, “eight local girls aged 17 and under, gave an exhibition of

engine reel, ladder and rescue work, which evoked great enthusiasm.” Captain Webb herself

“jumped from the elevated platform 35 feet (sic) to the canvas (jumping sheet) and also

carried a comrade down a 35 foot ladder (sic).” The Amazon Fire Brigades was noted as “the

only organisation of its kind in Australia.”

Crossle, drawing on the Armidale Express (Armidale Express 1 Jan 1901, 4th

Jan 1901, 15th

Feb 1901 in Crossle, 2001, p.7) noted that the celebration of Federation (1st January 1901)

included “display by the ladies’ fire brigade team”.

“One grand feature in the procession was the display by the Armidale Fire Brigade, under

Captain Webb.”

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Image 7: The Armidale Fire Brigade, lead by Captain Webb

Crossle (ibid) continued:

There was a display by the ladies’ fire brigade team, who were “tastefully attired the

same in uniforms of dark blue with red facings, white caps, and tan boots” paid for “by a

generous gentleman of the district, who desires that his name not be mentioned”.

Image 8: The male and female firefighting display, Tattersall’s Hotel, 1900?

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Later in the day:

The team of the ladies fire brigade then gave a run and played tow streams of water on an

imaginary fire, after which a dividing breech was put on and three streams of water was

displayed. The firemen (sic) then gave another run, and this was followed by a telescope

ladder run, one of the ladies mounting the ladder, which was 40 ft. in height, and

throwing therefrom a very powerful stream of water from the hose she skillfully handled.

After this came a sensational builder’s ladder run. A high stage which had been erected

was set on fire, and a young lady who was on this burning stage, after lowering the hose,

with great presence of mind, jumped off the height into a sheet which was held below by

firemen to catch her.

Image 9: Captain Minnie Webb leaping into the sheet.

The account of the day goes on to record (Crossle 2001, p.7):

In the evening the brigade gave a rescue display on the dhow ground, in which a

young lady, again, appeared on a flaming stage, and a fireman ascended to her by

ladder and skillfully threw her into a sheet held by firemen standing below.

11

Image 10: Pulling the pump, rolling the hose.

Image 11: Fire fighting display, combined Amazons and Armidale Fire Brigades,

date unknown. Minnie Webb can be seen mid-air having jumped from the balcony

into the sheet below.13

13

Gilbert & Rose (1982, p.111) records this photo shows “an impressive demonstration at Tattersall’s Hotel,

about the turn of the century. Captain J.T.A Webb’s daughter, Minnie, of the Women’s Fire Brigade, is in

vertical flight just above the tarpaulin.

12

Women of the Amazon’s Ladies Fire Brigade

Captain Minnie Webb

Minnie Webb, Captain of the Amazons, was daughter of Captain Tom (T.J) Webb of the Fire

Brigades.

Image 12: Minnie Webb in operational uniform (Left) and recreated uniform, 2006 (we did

not reproduce the cap!)

Minnie Webb went on to become a trainer nurse at Armidale and New England Hospitals

(HRCP0660, UNE Archives) and a nurse at Kiola Private Hospital, Minnie Street Armidale

c1911 (Record HRCP0659, UNE Archives).

13

Image 12: Sister Minnie Webb, 1911.

A letter to me from her niece Murial Haynes (See attachments), indicated that Minnie Webb

later married (to Wilfred Walsh) and lived in Sydney at 30 Moonbie Street Summer Hill.

Image 13: Minnie Webb went on to live at 30 Moonbie Street Summer Hill.

14

As noted earlier in 2006 I invited Mrs Netta Darby and Ms Patricia Webb, descendants of

Minnie Webb, to be honoured during the key note address of the Australasian Women in Fire

Fighting Conference. For the conference, I had completed a project that recreated the dress

and operational uniforms of the Amazons (as well as the uniforms worn by female fire

fighters during WWII).

Image 14: Mrs Netta Darby (left) and Ms Patricia Webb, descendents

of Minnie Webb.

Figures 15 (left) and 16: Recreated dress and operational uniforms of the Amazons

14

14

Project completed by Dr Merilyn Childs 2006, in collaboration with costumier Gracie Matthews. Gracie and I

speculated on the colours of the operational uniform based on black and white photographs, and largely guessed

15

View the photostream associated with the Australasian Women in Fire Fighting

Conference.

View the video that includes the honour shown to Mrs Netta Darby and Ms Patricia

Webb, descendants of Minnie Webb.

The Schmutter women

The Schmutter women were members of The Amazons, an amazing bunch. Brothers also

worked in the paid brigades. The photos here do not belong to Merilyn Childs, but have been

kindly provided by the descendents of the Schmutter family. I have noted them as copyright

to protect these descendents.

Acknowledgement: Three “Leonies” are descendents of the Amazons: Leonie Farrugia,

Leonie Snell and Leonie Mercer – all three women helped to provide information about the

Amazon women. Leonie Mercer provided the following information concerning the names of

the women in the Amazon photograph (dress uniforms). The following images were selected

from HRCP1797, UNE Archives, by Leonie Mercer, and attempts to identify the women are

noted below.

Figures 17 to 30 (below): Leonie Mercer’s notes that attempt to identify the women if the

Amazons who were her relatives.

Leonie Mercer noted: I think this is MAY

(because it looks like my nephew, my

sister & my grandmother)

LILY (Leonie Snell – her granddaughter has

already identified her in the centre of the

1901 photo)

right – but Crossle’s (2001, p.7) reported that the uniforms were “dark blue with red facings” – our recreated

uniform lacked the red!

16

Leonie Mercer noted: I think this is

GRACE (Have attached photos of her)

Leonie Mercer noted: Could this be ADA?

(Mainly because she looks very similar to

Grace and is obviously older than the other

girls)

EDITH

Leonie Mercer noted: My grandmother – So you can see similarities

17

YOUNG EDITH

Leonie Mercer noted: I think you can see a

likeness here to the one that I think is May but

around the eyes I think look like what I have

said is Ada & Grace

Leonie Mercer noted: Not a very good photo. The 3 at the front (according to Leonie Snell)

are Lily in the middle and (I think May & Grace).

Leonie Mercer noted: ADA – I don’t have

younger photos

Leonie Mercer noted: LILY – I don’t have

younger photos

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Leonie Mercer noted: IS THIS GRACE?

Leonie Mercer noted: GRACE Leonie Mercer noted: GRACE

Conclusion

The women of the Amazon Ladies Fire Brigade have faded into history15

, but hopefully

through this work, and work reported in my Blog, their existence can be celebrated.

Superintendent Webb pondered; “To what extent this ‘Lady fireman’ (sic) business is going

to reach…” was answered by history “not very far”. The “clever, plucky brigade of girls” did

not start a revolution. The Amazons remained a local initiative of a handful of pioneering

women, almost forgotten by history. In 2006 I reported a study of the numbers of paid female

fire fighters in Australia16

, and the percentages remain, in most states in Australia, below 5%.

15

Although when I visited Armidale, the local MacDonald’s fast Food restaurant had a picture of the Amazons

on their wall. 16

http://www.em.gov.au/Documents/AJEM_Vol21_Issue2.pdf, page 29-34.

19

That said, female volunteer firefighters continue to make an important contribution to fire

fighting in Australia. In 2013, at the time of writing, there remain no clear statistics about the

numbers of female firefighters – paid or volunteer – in Australia. Hopefully when future

research is done, the question posed by McLennan et al (2005) to guide their study (is fire

fighting a “suitable job for a woman?”17

won’t be on the agenda. The 2010 study by the

Bushfire research CRC noted that “most male firefighters felt accepted (91%) compared with

76% of female firefighters, and conversely, while 2% of men indicated that they were not

entirely accepted, the figure was 17% for women” (Birch 2011, p.10)18

. This is an

astonishingly high figure of feeling not accepted, and confirms my own study, completed in

2005, that 25-33% of women has experienced some form of bullying, harassment, negative

comments or a sense of not belonging to the fire services within which they worked or

volunteered. Were this figure reported in any other industry it would be seen as scandalous –

but perhaps an Australian ambivalence or indifference to female firefighters allows a blind

eye to be turned to what would be unacceptable behaviour in many industries. Branch-Smith

& Pooley (2010)19

offer ideas about how to change these circumstances, and more work

needs to be done, building from an assumption of the value of female firefighters.

Normalising gender and other diversities within the fire services is what the aims should be.

Faded in to history? Almost – but not quite!

Image 31: Contemporary female firefighters model the dress and operational uniforms of the

Amazons, and the Women’s Fire Auxiliary (WWII) at the Australasian Women’s Fire Fighting

Conference, Darling Habour Sydney, as part of the key note address by Dr Merilyn Childs20

.

17

http://proceedings.com.au/tassiefire/posters_pdf/poster_jmclennan.pdf 18

http://www.bushfirecrc.com/managed/resource/volunteerism_int_rpt_synopsis_final_2.pdf 19

http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/81051565?q&sort=holdings+desc&_=1364795318942&versionId=177915750 20

See the photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/72653074@N08/sets/72157633022487774/

20

ATTACHMENTS

Correspondence from Pat McGufficke, Secretary, Armidale Family History Group

Inc.30 May 2006, forwarding information provided by Leonie Farrugia:

From: C and L Farrugia

Sent: Wednesday, 24 May 2006 6:42 PM

To: Pat & Peter Edwards

Subject: Armidale Amazon Information

Regarding Miss L.Schmutter b 1886 Page 13 NEWSLETTER May,2006

* Lilly Schmutter was the 3rd Child of Phillip Schmutter [Gas Manager in Armidale]

and Sarah Sly born 1886 in Armidale,NSW , and died 26 May 1946 Armidale,NSW .Buried

Armidale Cemetery.

* Married 1905 in Armidale,NSW to Thomas Snell born 26 December 1878

Tamworth,NSW,-died 10 June 1956 Sydney,NSW

* Children of LILLY SCHMUTTER and THOMAS SNELL are:

i. ADA SNELL,

ii. THELMA SNELL,

ii. AMELIA EDITH SNELL,

iv. THOMAS STANLEY SNELL,

v. ALLEN LESLEY SNELL,

vi. JEAN ATKINS SNELL,

vii. PHILLIP SNELL,

viii. JOYCE DOREEN SNELL

* Thomas Snell was in the Fire Brigade in Armidale.

* Allan Snell was also in Armidale Fire Brigade.

* Thomas Snell Jnr was high up in the Sydney Fire Brigade.

Hope this information may be of help to Dr.Childs.

Regards

Leonie Farrugia

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Correspondence from Greg Haynes, descendant of Captain Webb.

From: Greg Haynes

Sent: Thu 6/07/2006 11:49 PM

To: Merilyn Childs

Subject: My Mothers Email Address

Hi,

Further to my earlier email I will send you my mother's email address.

I will also let her know that you are interested in Minnie and the

Amazons. I am sure she would be most willing to pass on anything she

knows.

Her address is: (supplied).

I don't know whether you also knew that John Thomas was apprenticed to

a Crimean Veteran who had lost a leg at the battle of Sevastopol in

1854 - he told John Thomas about the terrible cold as he stumped around

the forge in Armidale. (I am a History teacher and recorded my

grandfather's early experiences before he died in 1979 so I have been

interested in this period for years). Actually I only found out about

the Amazons today as my son was taking a vacation care group to the

museum of fire. I knew that my great grandfather had started the fire

brigade and have see his picture in the Armidale fire house but did not

know that he had also started a female group. This might fit into the

context of women in a relatively affluent town having the vote (or

agitating for the vote in the new Commonwealth and the temperance

movement) wanting to prove their equality and community mindedness.

Greg

Correspondence from Murial Haynes, mother of Greg Haynes (above).

22

Correspondence from Leonie Mercer

23

29th July 2009

This is another of Phillip’s children – Stanley Schmutter with his sister’s

boy Tom Snell.

There were two more sons but I am not sure yet whether they were members

too.

Leslie (Con) Schmutter was only a year younger than Stan so may have been a

fire-fighter too. Seems like everyone else in the family was…

The other son was Edward Schmutter. He was the eldest boy and he died in

1901 aged 18. He is the only sibling that I don’t have a photo of. I have

lots of information about him though because he made the headlines when he

died. He was accidentally shot by one of his mates and died the next

morning. There was an inquest and it took up almost a whole page of the

Armidale paper. I found it all at State Records and had my daughter type it

up because the print was so small. The way he was described he sounds like

the type of fellow that would have been a member of the fire brigade. He

was a very active member with the freemasons and they conducted his

funeral. I would love to find that he was and that there was a photo of him

out there somewhere.

Leonie

Date lost.

Hi Merilyn,

This is the Schmutter family:

Phillip Schmutter – Father

Edward b1883

Ada b1884

Lily b1886 – Leonie Snell’s grandmother

May b1888

Grace b1892

Stan b1894

Leslie (Con) b1895

Edith b1897 – My (Leonie Mercer) grandmother

Pearl b1900 – Leonie Farrugia’s grandmother

I cut the faces of the Fire-fighting girls out of the main photo that I got

from The UNE Heritage centre and they only look like small files so they

might not turn out very well when you attach them to your webpage. Let me

know and I will see if I can make them into a better resolution to use.

I hope I have included all of the photos. Let me know if you need anything

else.

Bye for now

Leonie

24

Stanley Russell and his Thomas Stanley

SCHMUTTER nephew SNELL

1894 – 1954 1913 – 1971

Son of Phillip SCHMUTTER Son of Lillian SCHMUTTER

Grandson of Heinrich SCHMUTTER Jnr Grandson of Phillip SCHMUTTER

Great Grandson of Heinrich SCHMUTTER Snr

25

Apologies for poor copy:

26

Establishing the NEGS School Fire Brigade, 1923.

Captain Webb went on to establish a Schoolgirl’s Brigade at NEGS in 1923. In my mind, this

confirms the speculation I have made that the establishment of the Amazons, and then the

girls brigade at NEGS, fit within the English tradition of ladies fire brigades.

Jean Newall (date to be confirmed, p.133-134) wrote a wonderful account of the

establishment of the Brigade, drawing on accounts reported in the NEGS school magazine,

The Chronicle, of April 1924, “in which the events of the previous year were reported, the

girls gave their own account of the establishment of the school Brigade:

After the fire at Cunningham it was decided to form a School Fire Brigade. As

Sports’ Day was not very far away we thought it would vary the programme to

give a display during the afternoon. To make our display as perfect as possible

Captain Webb came out to drill us, and before very long we were able to handle

the hose and ‘elevate the ladder’.

The display on Sports Day (5th October) was a great success. The girls, who had

to be saved by jumping into the sheet, landed quite safely and no one fell off the

ladders or was burnt, so I think I am quite safe in saying everyone went away

with the impression that we knew a great deal about handling fire brigade

implements. During the afternoon we heard that Mr Frank White (of ‘Saumarez’)

was supplying the Brigade with uniforms, and the thought that the NEGS Fire

Brigade was not be a name only, thrilled us all.

Having uniforms raised the discussion as to who was to be in the Brigade. It was

finally decided that the girls to whom the uniforms would be of most use would

be the Captains of the School. The next discussion was the type of uniform we

should have. All agreed that a felt hat, top boots, a belt and a big coat reaching to

the knees was essential. Later a brass F.B. was added to the hats, giving them

quite a professional air.

The uniforms, however, were not complete for us to wear in the procession at the

Diamond Jubilee, but despite the fact that we possessed only regulation boots,

belt and F.B. we manned the fire engine and drove with great glee in the

procession. We certainly caused great consternation, and in fact, without

knowing it, we won the prize for the most original competition.

When the full uniforms arrived we were immediately taken out and

photographed. All of us, I think, felt very elated by the red bands on the top, and

two rows of brass buttons down the front of our coats. This year there is a

general fire practice every three weeks, and the school is now well trained in the

intricacies of fire drill.”

Captain Webb died in May 1924, and the UNE Archives hold photographs of his funeral

procession21

.

21

HRCP3676, HRCP3677, HRCP3678, HRCP3679.

27

References

Birch, A. (2011). Recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters in Australia: an integrative

summary of research (synopsis), La Trobe University , Melbourne, Australia

http://www.bushfirecrc.com/managed/resource/volunteerism_int_rpt_synopsis_final_2.pdf

Branch-Smith, C. A., & Pooley, J. (2010). Women firefighters' experiences in the

Western Australian volunteer bush fire service. Australian Journal of Emergency

Management, 25(3), 12-18.

Gilbert, L.A. & Rose, D (1982). An Armidale Album: Glimpses of Armidale’s history and

development in word, sketch and photograph (Ist Ed)/ New Wngland Regional Art Museum

Association, Armidale, NSW.

McLennan, J. Birch, A., Beatson, R. And Cowlishaw S. (2007). Volunteer firefighting: A

suitable job for a woman? Proceddings of the 7th

Inndustrial/Organisational Psychology

Conference, June, Adelaide.

http://proceedings.com.au/tassiefire/posters_pdf/poster_jmclennan.pdf

Newall, J. (Date to be confirmed). Early morning sensation: fire at NEGS, Armidale and

District Historical Society Journal and Proceedings, No. 48, pp. 127-140.

Webb, J.T.A. (1901). Ladies’ Fire Brigade, Armidale Chronicle, 9/11/1901, p.4.