ACT Heritage Library Manuscript Collections

HMSS  0415 Brackenreg Family Photographs

Scope and Content Notes 

James Carrington and Helen Jane Brackenreg came to Canberra in 1913; Jim worked in the Lands and Survey Branch as a stock inspector, although his first job was to eradicate the rabbits that were in plague proportions in the area. He took over as Lands Officer in 1925 on Colonel Goodwin’s retirement. They lived first with the Sullivans at Springbank, then variously in the Old Rectory at Glebe, the groom’s quarters in the stables at Yarralumla, 8 Liversidge Street, Acton, then in Red Hill and finally at 59 Dominion Circuit, Forrest.

Their daughter Ruth was born in Sydney in October 1917, as there were no medical facilities in Canberra. Ruth and her brother Dick attended Telopea Park School, then Dick went on to Canberra Boys Grammar and Ruth to St Gabriel’s, later renamed Canberra Church of England Girls Grammar.

The family were friendly with the Mildenhalls, and the children often appeared in James Mildenhall’s photographs. Mildenhall was an official photographer of early Canberra development, and these photographs by him were held by the Brackenreg family. Ruth’s daughter Pat Hughes donated them to the ACT Heritage Library.

J R Brackenreg’s article on the family, ‘Brackenreg lives and times - A history of the Brackenreg family and of their involvement in Canberra's development since March 1913’, was published in the Canberra Historical Journal, March 1985 (ACT Heritage Library H SER 994.7 CANB).

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