A history of backing the inventors
The Fred Walsh Special Prizes for Inventions were introduced at the 1902 Show to foster home-grown inventive talent in the areas of mining, agriculture and manufacturing. The awards were an outward and visible sign of something the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (RAS) had long believed - local conditions required local solutions. In Australia's developing economy, all branches of industry were so closely allied to agriculture that the health of one was dependent on the other, therefore innovation across all sectors was extremely important and to be encouraged.
The prizes, each worth around £2, were sponsored by Fred Walsh himself. A man of many interests and a RAS Councillor (1904-1907), Fred started his working life as an apprentice mechanical engineer and went on to become Sydney's first patent attorney in 1882. He obviously knew a thing or two about inventions.
Entries to the competition included an automatic rabbit trapping fence, a sanitary extension pan, a ventilated butter cooler, and the plans and specifications of an apparatus for elevating water.
Other competitions for locally made products had been part of the Show for years. Some unusual items were entered; artificial teeth, baby carriages, ice making machines, wheel chairs and guns. But plenty of common articles were exhibited too, like furniture and building materials, as well as coaches and saddlery.
By 1910, most of these manufactured products were shown, as they are today, as non-competitive commercial exhibits. In the pavilions, practical demonstrations of gadgets and novelty goods attracted the curious, and outdoors in the machinery section advances in engineering could be compared and considered. Often people's first ever glimpse of a new technology or process was at the Show.
Fred Walsh's prizes disappeared from the books but the commitment of the RAS to innovation has never waned. Wherever special encouragement is needed the RAS steps in, as it did in the 1980s when a competition for agricultural computer software was established. The competition's aim was to stimulate the development of computer solutions to farming problems.
In the twenty-first century we are bombarded with news of new concepts and products, but we still enjoy seeing the real thing in person. With over 850,000 people coming through the gates each year to enjoy its festive atmosphere, the Sydney Royal Easter Show continues to be an ideal place for people to meet with the latest ideas.
WORDS: Vicki Hastrich
(Published March 2016)
