Ed Noack

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Biography

Yorketown, a country town on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, is my birthplace. In early 1948, my family moved to Swan Reach, a small town on the River Murray in South Australia. There I received an excellent start to my education at the local Primary School, experiencing a succession of dedicated and caring teachers.

I had the privilege of spending my childhood in a magnificent place, among the spectacular natural environment of the Murray River. Many hours were spent exploring the wonders of the river, its majestic cliffs with their caves and fossil beds. I am particularly grateful for the understanding that I was given of the importance of the land to my First Nation school friends. I pay particular tribute to my classmate Richard Hunter and his father Harry for the knowledge that they shared (Richard did much for his community and his work was recognized by being named the South Australian of the Year in 2006). During school holidays, my sister and brothers and school friends enjoyed working on the local fruit orchards, particularly those of the inventor and industrialist, Sir Barton Pope and his son Brenton (Brenton married one of my very good school teachers, Margaret Correll).

As there were no secondary schools in the district, I was awarded a scholarship to attend Concordia College in Adelaide from 1961 to 1965. I was also fortunate to gain a Commonwealth University Scholarship. Knowing that a good result would be needed to achieve a scholarship, in addition to the subjects offered by the College, I independently sat for an extra matriculation subject, Geology (this was not taught at the school but, often, experience is a good teacher). I was fortunate to be accepted as a founding student at the newly established Flinders University in 1966 and completed a Social Sciences degree. The University at that time was not only a unique place to learn but also offered a strong social conscience. It was the focus for the South Australian campaign to end Australian and US involvement in the unjustifiable Viet Nam war, also to end conscription. This was very important to males of my age who were caught up in the conscription mess and more so, because of the death in May 1966 of the first conscript in Viet Nam, Errol Noack (my school friend and second cousin).

My studies at Flinders increased my interest in environmental management, I gained a position at the SA State Planning Office in 1969 and completed post graduate studies in town and regional planning at the University of Adelaide leading to a Masters Degree in Town Planning.

My subsequent work took in a variety of fields as a public servant, as a consultant in a national planning and infrastructure development firm and as a town planner in private practice as well as in local government. I was involved with Projects in Melbourne, Canberra, the Albury-Wodonga Growth Centre initiative and with local area improvement projects in many parts of South Australia. Of particular interest were a series of heritage investigations and improvement schemes in places such as Coober Pedy, Morgan (6), Port Elliot and Goolwa (7). My experience in the field assisted greatly in delivering course work to students in the planning course at SAIT Adelaide (now UniSA) on a part time basis over a period of several years.

However, after some years in local government as an elected member and a town planner (District Planner, DC of Victor Harbor and Manager of City Planning, City of Noarlunga), I was drawn by the desire to return to the land. In 1997, we purchased a small farming property on the Fleurieu Peninsula near the south coast of South Australia. Here our family enjoys the picturesque setting with its beautiful views over the Lower Lakes and Southern Ocean, and the patches of bushland with abundant bird life.

Australia's population is derived from a vast diversity of cultures some from the people of the First Nation and others more recently as migrants from all parts of the world whether during the era of colonial settlement or in more recent programs. Each family has its stories both of serious heartbreak and of immense joy. WikiTree provides a good opportunity to see all of these influences at play.

Part of our family has roots in the mid 1800s migration of Wendish people from Lusatia, Brandenburg, an area now in the borderlands of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. Others originate from the Hermannsburg district in Hannover; from Western Prussia now part of Poland; from Mecklenburg-Schwerin and from Mainz in Germany as well as from Yorkshire and London in England, UK. and New Zealand. We have been fortunate to visit many of these places in recent years and through WikiTree, to establish family contacts in a number of countries.

Sources

• First-hand information, entered by Edwin Lawrence Noack at registration.

• Willoughby, Lorraine. The Noack-Hondow-Schmidt Family History from Tauer to Australia. Willaston, S.A. The author. 2001, p 582, ISBN 1 876901 02 0

• Pfeiffer, Lynette. Lindner Family History of Emmaus and Beyond 1874 - 2000. Woodside, S.A. The author. 2001. Page 67, ISBN 0 646 33494 8

• Behn, E.C and H.C. The Behn Family in Australia 1858 - 1979. Saddleworth, S.A. The Author. 1979, ISBN 0 9595452 0 4

• BOCK G (edit) The Eckermann Story 1849 - 1979, Lutheran Publishing House, 1979 ISBN 0 9595319 0 4

• New Job, Times (Victor Harbor, S.A. 1987 - 1999), Wednesday 30 August 1989, page 6.

• Noack, Edwin L., et al, "Morgan Heritage Study", prepared for the Morgan Heritage Study Sr teering Committee, 1980

• Noack, Edwin L., et al, "Port Elliot and Goolwa Heritage Study", prepared for the Port Elliot and Goolwa Heritage Steering Committee, 1981. https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/13149602?q&versionId=15593725 download at https://data.environment.sa.gov.au/Content/heritage-surveys/2-Port-Elliot-and-Goolwa-Heritage-Study-1981.pdf

• Family Search Research Wiki. Wendish Genealogy: Who are the Wends, Religions of the Wends, Wendish genealogical sources, Examples of Upper Wendish surnames, GrammarAvailability of genealogical records https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Wendish_Genealogy

• WENDISH HERITAGE SOCIETY AUSTRALIA, INC. Articles "A Detailed History Of The Wends." "‘Noacks’ in Australia" by John Noack.

https://www.wendishheritage.org.au/articles/