Historical information

This fork is believed to belong to the household of Chiltern writer and historian, W.C. Busse. It displays a level of tarnish indicating it may be comprised of silver or silver plate. It has no evident hallmark to determine its maker or date of manufacture, but may pre-date World War Two as mass production methods and the growing popularity of stainless steel in cutlery and other tablewares saw a reduced reliance on silver in such goods after this period. The handle of the fork appears to display the initials 'WB', potentially indicating it was made to order.

Wilfred Clarence Busse was born in Chiltern in 1898. He went to school at Wesley College in Melbourne, studied law at the University of Melbourne and became a barrister. Additionally, after spending time on a Victorian station in his early twenties, he wrote two historical novels about bush life. His first novel was 'The Blue Beyond: a Romance of the Early Days in South Eastern Australia', written in 1928 and published in 1930.

Busse's second novel was titled 'The Golden Plague: A Romance of the Early Fifties'. The judges of the Henry Lawson Society's T.E. Rofe competition to advance Australian literature unanimously awarded it the Gold Medal in 1931 for the best historical novel of 1930. Newspaper articles about the award mention the writer's meticulous documentary and oral history research regarding life on the Gold Fields in the 1850s. It became a best-seller.

Busse also wrote a series of articles about local history for "The Federal Standard" newspaper in Chiltern. He was a member of the Chiltern Athenaeum. He died in 1960.

Significance

This fork is significant for the detail it conveys of ordinary domestic life in the household of a significant Victorian writer with special reference to Chiltern and the surrounding region.

Physical description

Fork with decorative pattern on handle and tarnished patina, design may include owner's or maker's initials.

Inscriptions & markings

WB