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’