Archibald Family: Noorong Gazettes
Each gazette is presented by Archibald Films and contains several different segments that are all intertitled. The films are silent and run for approximately 15 minutes each.
The Noorong Gazettes provide a snapshot of one family – the Archibalds – during the 1920s and 1930s. The Archibald family created an extensive family record when they enthusiastically used a hand-cranked home movie camera to document their travels, daily life and family events. Each gazette title begins with ‘Archibald Films Presents…’, suggesting that the home movie-making process most likely involved more than one member of the Archibald family.
The gazettes had the purpose of both preserving family history and providing private enjoyment. They remain some of the most comprehensive home movie records for the time and provide a glimpse into this particular family’s life and interests. Because home movie making at this time was still a fairly expensive hobby, these films are representative of a certain section of Australian society. The Archibalds were an affluent family who had a lot of leisure time. That they were able to document so much of their family life and travels on film is rare for this era and their home movies are an important contribution to the public record of daily life in this period.
The Archibalds were a successful business family who had interests in the milling industry in Queensland and New South Wales. Footage of the White Rose Four Mill in Ultimo are included in Parts I – IV of the gazette and the White Rose Flour Mill picnic is shown in Parts XXI – XXIV. During the 1920s and 1930s, the family owned a beautiful Californian bungalow-style home in Strathfield, in Sydney’s inner-west. The gazettes contain many scenes in and around the home with family members coming and going. The property’s name Noorong gives the gazettes their title.
As well as producing the Noorong Gazette, the Archibalds also compiled a series of ‘world tour’ home movies and a compilation of family scenes. They continued making home movies well into the 1940s.
Family home movies are often deposited with the National Film and Sound Archive by relatives. In this way the public is given access to material that would otherwise only be seen by close family and friends.
Titles in this collection
Archibald Family: Noorong Gazette: Parts I - IV c1927
The Noorong Gazette is a series of seven film gazettes compiled between 1927 and 1932 by the Archibald family of Strathfield, Sydney.
Archibald Family: Noorong Gazette: Parts IX - XII c1928
These gazettes made by members of the Archibald family are some of the earliest examples of home movie making.
Archibald Family: Noorong Gazette: Parts XXI - XXIV c1930
The Archibalds were a successful business family who had interests in the milling industry in Queensland and New South Wales.
