Paul and Maree Jamieson
For 20 years, Paul and Maree Jamieson ran one of the most popular attractions at the Royal Melbourne Show – the animal nursery.
Neither Paul nor Maree had come from a farming background, but they never looked back after making the decision to leave their teaching jobs, buy a property at Spring Hill north of Melbourne and start a mobile farm. Maree says they loved the country straight away and never wanted to go back to the city. Both still had an interest in education, so they brought their teaching skills to the work they did with the mobile farm, with the goal of educating the public about animals.
Paul and Maree’s involvement in the Show began in the early 1990s when they were asked to take over the Show’s animal nursery. Their displays featured a range of animals, from the usual farm animals like sheep, goats, pigs and working dogs, to more unconventional animals like emus, camels and llamas. Some pens were designed for people to be able to pat the animals, while other pens demonstrated aspects of farm life like sheep shearing or cow milking. The Jamiesons also made sure to employ someone to answer people’s questions.
Paul and Maree Jamieson, 2005. Image Source: Paul Jamieson.
There was also a sheep birthing centre with ewes that were ready to give birth and a midwife ready to help. Paul remembers this being quite controversial, with some visitors expressing concerns about the ewes’ welfare. However, for the Jamiesons, animal welfare was always paramount. Only certain animals were brought to the nursery based on Paul and Maree’s assessment of whether they would be comfortable with the demands of the Show. Paul explains:
they don’t have to be the prettiest and they don’t have to be the top of the range … they have to be able to cope with what we’re asking them to do which is a fair bit.
They monitored the animals across the duration of the Show and either moved them to a rest pen or sent them home if they were struggling. They also had 24-hour veterinary care available and many of their staff members were veterinary or animal science students. Maree remembers ‘we did borrow other people’s animals, so we had to make sure that they were safe and they were okay, and the rest of them were basically our babies’.
Organising all the aspects of the nursery for the Show could sometimes be a 12-month process for the Jamiesons. This was especially true of planning the ewe birthing and chick hatching, but other aspects also contributed to the logistical exercise. This included animal transport, food and bedding, liaising with different members of the RASV, organising the crew and staff, and setting up and decorating the physical space at the Showgrounds.
The Jamiesons maintained a continued focus on education throughout their time at the Show, including running the farm school program, which involved taking the education that they delivered in the nursery and delivering it to schools. Paul and Maree had already been doing school visits with their own mobile farm, but after taking over the Show’s nursery they worked with the RASV to develop a full education program.
Being able to introduce more people to farm life and their animals was one of the highlights for Paul and Maree of running both the farm school program and the Show’s animal nursery. As Maree explains,
the wonder on kids’ faces – and the adults – is just amazing … it’s just the best. It’s the interaction that makes it so educational and just fun.
Click play listen to a snippet from Paul and Maree's interview