Ruth's autograph book

Emma and Fiona Cullen-Ward have a battered album that we would call an autograph book. It is 11 x 14.5cm and contains signatures and sketches both on its pages and as loose additions. There are also loose photos tucked into the album. I have put the names of those who signed in bold for easier identification.

The best indication of its owner is the following page: It reads: 'To Ruth. I love you. Not because your face is fair/And sweet & gentle too. But because you are yourself/So good & kind and true. Jo [or Lo?] Collingridge. “St Cloud” Ryde 11th Feb. 1901.“ This declaration narrows the ownership to Ruth and almost certainly to Ruth Murray-Prior. It is also a reminder that we can be more inhibited than our forebears because our society is more sexualised. So this open and quite public declaration of love could be lesbian (at a time when homosexuality was illegal and considered deviant), but more likely referred an openly loving friendship. The little book has another contribution by Jo [Lo?] Collingridge - this drawing of a Japanese musician: The Collingridge family who lived at St Cloud were Arthur and his wife Margaret and their 12 surviving children. The identity of the person is unclear. My assumption is that a young man would not write such a declaration unless they were family or engaged/married. That leaves 4 possibilities as Arthur and Margaret only had 4 daughters: Maud b.1874; Louisa b.1875 (known in the family as Googs); Mary b. 1877 (known in the family as Bobbie); and Anne b. 1880 (known in the family as Darkie.1) The most likely of these is Louisa signing herself as 'Lo' - her nickname Googs was perhaps just for her family to use.

That there are so many sketches in this small album indicates how art was valued by Ruth, her family and friends including the Collingridge family- see Ryde Library. It is not known if Ruth herself drew or whether she concentrated her talents on writing. This album are not about masterpieces nor professional artists; rather it indicates the enjoyment amateur artists and others gained from creating and treasuring art.

These charming paintings are by Emily Susan Paterson, Ruth's first cousin who was a talented amateur artist.2)
These paintings are by Sarah Kate (Kitty) Barton, another of Ruth's first cousins, and the daughter of Henry Francis (Frank) Barton and Sarah Kate nee Macansh. They lived at Nyrangie, Linsley Street, Gladesville. The painting of a boat is done on roughly cut, uneven paper.

The next painting is of the harbourside suburb of Balmoral by Archie Broughton. Does anyone have information about him?
This painting is signed EJ Smith 1902. The 1902 date is not clear, but the autograph on the previous facing page is Dora Gordon 18 November 1901.

There are three paintings of boats as if the artist was trying out the best way to depict them - the first one in the book, the others loose. The loose ones are on roughly cut, uneven thick paper. The opposite page to the painting in the book has the autograph Mabel D Mackenzie but it is unlikely to be the artist as it is in the far corner from the painting. There is no date to the paintings or autograph. The next two are loose in the album: ; There is a photo of a similar boat on what looks to be the Parramatta River in papers keep with the album.

No image I'm capable of taking can do this leaf justice. It's damaged but still exquisite. At first glance it appears to be a pressed leaf complete with all the veins and marks of a real leaf. But pick it up and it feels like the finest silk. It's a burnished gold colour. Was it a souvenir Ruth kept to remind her of Australia during (what turned out to be) the decades she lived overseas?

Lucy A. Peele signed this drawing on 27 May 1901. She added a quote from a poem by Adelaide Procter (1825-64) called 'The Warning' (“Glorious it is to wear the Crown/ of a deserved & pure success:-/ He who knows how to fail has worn/ A Crown whose lustre is not less.”) A curious choice - was Lucy Peele referring to a particular fail by Ruth?

These are two paintings look to be by the same artist, but not signed nor dated:

An unsigned, undated sketch of a woman in Edwardian evening dress:

Painting of a girl with (selling?) flowers signed (in now very faint pencil) Warsaw[?] 1935

This partly painted-in drawing may also be by the same artist. The autograph on the facing page is S. Ruline Sydney-Jones, perhaps one of the seven children of physician/surgeon Sir Philip Sydney-Jones, a son of David Jones who founded the famous Sydney department store of that name.

Ruth majored in French at Sydney University, so it is not surprising that one page is in French:. Historian Hamish Graham has identified them as three aphorisms. The first one purports to be by the great tragedian, Pierre Corneille (although we haven't been able to confirm this). Hamish's translation is: “May the just heavens, pleased with my rhyme, fill Ruth Blondine with happiness and days (i.e. a long life).” The next two aphorisms, Hamish identifies as quotations from Pierre Nicole, a prolific moralist and publicist for Jansenism. A translation by Charlie Shailer and Sarah Godden is: “Be gentle and forgiving to all; but not to yourself (Nicole)/ You have to make yourself loved because men are only fair to those they love (Nicole)”. It is signed Laura Bosker, 21 May 1901.
As mentioned above, there are also a number of loose sketches tucked into the album. This one is signed M. Huntley . The artists was probably Ruth's first cousin Mary Huntley (nee Paterson). Mary's daughter Isabel has left us well-drawn portraits of Ruth and her sister Dorothy. see Nora and TLM-P's children. Two loose sketches are initialled MH (Mary Huntley?)

This drawing of a woman's head is signed Dorothy McMaster: .
This one has on it 'Dana Gibson (F.M.J.) 1905' - a sketch of Dana Gibson by F.M.J.? .

The following unsigned sketch on cardboard slightly bigger than the album is titled (on the back of the drawing) 'After the Battle': . Lines from Adam Lindsay Gordon's poem 'Visions in the Smoke' are also written on the back: 'And if man of all the Creator planned/ His noblest work is welcomed/ Of the work of his hand by sea & by land/ The horse may at least seem second. Lindsay Gordon'.

There is also a photo of an unknown woman - perhaps Ruth who also appeared in a group photo: .

Other photos are taken during 1927-28 indicating the excitement when it snowed in London. The information on the back of each is as follows:
Tanza[?] Rd NW3, 27 December 1927 (top) On Parliament Hill, 27 December 1927 and (bottom) Parliament Hill south side, 1 January 1928 ; Nita on cycle [path?] 1 January 1928 ; and From Spaniards Rd., Hampstead, 1 January 1928 .

There are also two unidentified and very faded photos: and

A luggage tag with the name Miss Queenie Wren and New Zealand city Dunedin crossed out. Table 1 A is written on it. On the reverse side is stamped Monowai (six times). Monowai was a P&O passenger ship and presumably Ruth kept it as a souvenir. As noted in Nora and TLM-P's children Ruth, her mother and sister Dorothy attended the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science congress in New Zealand in 1904.

As well as this visual feast, a lot of people signed their names, some of whom are mentioned above.In the below lists, each * indicates a new page. When people signed autograph books they did so on random pages so it is only when they added a date that we know when they signed. Sometimes groups signed on the same page, but not always. The first list is of autographs from Ruth's large extended family, many of whom lived in her local Ryde-Gladesville-Hunters Hill area. They comprised a dominant part of Ruth's social circle.


Part of the allure of an autograph book was to collect signatures of prominent people, and this is evident in Ruth's album. As well, a number are of fellow students at the University of Sydney. Those attending university were a small, elite group so it is not surprising that some later became prominent.

1)
Winsome Collingridge, email to J. Godden,3/2/2025
2)
Judith Godden, 'The Matriarch of Rockend: Emily Mary Barton, more than Banjo Paterson's grandmother', Ryde History Series No 13, Ryde District Historical Society, 2020, pp.20-21. Emily Susan was Emily Mary Barton's daughter.
3)
https://natlib.govt.nz/records/23176235?search%5Bi%5D%5Bname_authority_id%5D=-193953&search%5Bpath%5D=items
4)
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/historictabledpapers/files/184169/1907_1_004.pdfexample.com and Goulburn Evening Penny Post, 21 July 1906, p.4.
5)
https://www.alumni.sydney.edu.au/s/965/images/editor_documents/alumni-magazine/06-autumn/2006-autumn-grapevine.pdf?sessionid=e62b35cd-ae67-4b5a-ba55-4c6eee967c5c&cc=1
6)
Sydney Morning Herald, 28 December 1905, p.3.
7)
obituary
8)
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/littlejohn-emma-linda-palmer-7208