Joseph Aloysius Lyons was four years old in 1883, when his father Michael moved the family to the Tasmanian seaside town of Ulverstone. Mr Lyons Snr. opened a bakery and butcher’s shop, but unfortunately he fitted the description of ‘feckless’ rather well, and lost everything betting on
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One of the most successful Tasmanian racehorse owners of the 1940s and 50s was the controversial surgeon Dr. Victor Ratten. He was Surgeon Superintendent of the Royal Hobart Hospital for many years (1917-1936). Dr. Ratten’s success on the track was despite the fact that in 1911 he
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In 2012 a bowl featuring the ship Star of Tasmania was offered for sale by Gowans Auction House in Hobart; Other items related to this ship have appeared for sale over the years. It must have been a very special vessel. From Launceston’s Cornwall Chronicle on Saturday,
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Loongana is an Aboriginal word meaning to be swift, or to fly. There would come a time when this ship would desperately need to live up to its name. The Loongana was built in 1904 on Scotland’s River Clyde. She plied the Bass Strait for many years
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For some years British born Captain William Waterson had been involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Marion ‘Dorothy’ Jackson. Dorothy, 25 years old, lived with her wealthy, widowed mother Matilda at No. 2 Pillinger Street, Sandy Bay, an upmarket suburb of Tasmania’s Hobart. In 1922 the
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When I was growing up on a farm in north-west Tasmania our fences were mainly barbed wire, supported by blackberries. I loved seeing the English style hawthorn hedges when we ventured further south, especially driving through sheep country in the Midlands. Here is an account of hawthorn
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The Blue Mountains town of Blackheath has always attracted visitors during the festive season. The following report appeared in the Lithgow Mercury, dated January 6 1899; BLACKHEATH – According to reports from different towns the railway traffic to the Mountains this Christmas and New Year has largely
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In 1903 there was a public vote to determine whether Mr F.H. Furner’s new hotel in the seaside Tasmanian town of Ulverstone should be granted a liquor licence. Surprise, surprise….the ayes were in the majority. The old Queen had died the previous year, but the design was
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Winifred Julia Singleton (Winnie) was born near Ulverstone, Tasmania on November 29 1918, the first child of Arthur and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Singleton. Arthur Singleton was my great uncle. There is only one known photo of Winnie. It was taken in 1924, when she and her little sister
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Anyone growing up in rural Tasmania in the old days would be aware of the lunch basket, often taken out to the paddock by small children. And if a piece of cake or a biscuit disappeared on the way….well who could blame them? My farmer’s wife mother
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