The Establishment of the National Trust, 1940s–60s

Abstract

Both a popular movement for and a professional field of conservation emerged in postwar Australia. This was an era of rapid urban and suburban development, fuelled by an economic boom and mass migration, particularly from southern Europe. Even amid calls by modernist architects, planners, and authorities to re-plan and re-design cities, exceptional and monumental nineteenth-century national and civic sites were identified as valuable: in the mode of modern conservation. Chapter 3 considers the important role played by the state-based National Trust movement from 1945. These voluntary bodies promoted urban heritage, acquired historic properties, staged lectures and exhibitions, and waged campaigns to save colonial buildings. Another vital activity was their classification of hundreds of historic buildings from the late 1950s, involving expert committees of architects and historians.