Historical information

These two items were sent in the 1940s to Tom Terrington of Framlingham (about 28 kilometres north east of Warrnambool) from Donald Mackintosh. Tom Terrington (b.1897) worked at various jobs until he took over the Framlingham store in the 1940s. He was a scholarly person with a wide knowledge of English literature. He wrote poetry and researched and wrote extensively on Framlingham history. Donald Mackintosh (1866-1951) was Australia’s first Olympic shooting gold medallist. He competed in trapshooting events all over the world, winning 30 gold medals, making a considerable amount of money and holding the world trapshooting championship title from 1903 to 1908. He was a keen photographer and wrote poetry under the name of ‘The Rambler’.

Significance

This small folder is of great interest as it contains a poem sent to Tom Terrington by Donald Mackintosh (The Rambler). Tom Terrington is important in Framlingham’s history and his friendship with Donald Mackintosh, an Australian and world trapshooting champion and a poet is of considerable interest. The tone of the poem echoes also the despondency felt by Australians during the darkest days of World War Two.

Physical description

This is a piece of cream thickened paper folded in two with a typed copy of a poem pasted on the inside of the paper and a copy of a prose piece typed in ornate script and pasted on to a piece of cardboard and enclosed in the cream folder. Both of the typed items have handwritten messages at the bottom of the text. The cream folder is a little crumpled and stained.

Inscriptions & markings

‘The Rambler 1942-3’
‘For T. Terrington from Dld Mackintosh with best wishes 1942-3’