When Andrea unearthed a leather satchel from a pile of rubbish on a Perth verge, she thought it may just be an old school bag. Little did she know then that the bag comprised a real gem of Australian history.
What started as a piece of rubbish chucked out for landfill ended up dating back to a man who ended up becoming the the 7th colonial Premier of Queensland in the 19th century – and a mysterious invitation.
Andrea, whose last name is not known to WAtoday, posted on the Perth Kerbsite Collections Facebook group that she saw a man in his 70s taking out bits of metal when she approached to look through his pile of rubbish.
"He was very nice. He didn't mind me taking [the satchel]."
She said once she had picked up the bag she notices it was monogrammed on the front.
"[It] had a tag attached with an ordinary looking scrap of paper in it. It all seems a bit daggy, at best mildly interesting, "she said.
At home, she started researching her find, using the name engraved on the buckles, the name of the person who made the bag which was also embossed on the front and the scrap of paper she had found inside the bag.
And then, she said, an amazing story started to reveal itself in front of her.
"The satchel was made sometime between 1864 and the 1880s by a well known saddler in Brisbane, by the name of Nathaniel Lade, who died in 1898," she claims.
"It was made for Sir H.M.Nelson, who was born in 1833, and was the head of the Queensland geographical society in Brisbane.
"Later from 1893 to 1898 he became the 7th colonial Premier of Queensland, after which he was appointed Governor of Queensland until his death. He died in 1906."
Andrea said the scrap of paper she had found inside the satchel was an invitation for Sir Hugh Muir Nelson and Mrs Nelson to attend a function at a military mess hall, sent by Major Colonel William Harry Percival Plomer, who was the Commandant of the military district of Queensland.
"I believe that has to be the most historically significant find on the kerb anywhere," Andrea said.
Andrea has since locked her treasure away in a glass cabinet and she said she plans to contact the historical society of Queensland and offer them her find, as she thought it needed to go back to where it came from.
"How it ended up on a Perth rubbish pile is anyone's guess. But I am lost for words, well almost. I doubt i will ever top that one"
Andrea has been contacted for comment.
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