WHITE CLIFFS OPAL ROBBERY

WHITE CLIFFS OPAL ROBBERY

On January 19 1902, a buyer at the remote NSW mining town of White Cliffs received an order to supply several hundred pounds worth of opal to a jeweller in Melbourne. Being Sunday, the buyer was unable to insure or register the precious parcel. A risky decision

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LIEUT. JOHN WATTS; AIDE-DE-CAMP & ARCHITECT

LIEUT. JOHN WATTS; AIDE-DE-CAMP & ARCHITECT

Mention the term  ’colonial architect’ in New South Wales and most people would respond with the name Francis Greenway. That is quite understandable, but let’s bring another deserving character out of the shadows. Who better to speak of John Cliffe  Watts’ ability and character than Elizabeth Macquarie?

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LACHLAN MACQUARIE JNR & A MORAL COMPASS?

LACHLAN MACQUARIE JNR & A MORAL COMPASS?

I was intrigued to come across a reference to one of my articles on the internet recently. It was included in the description of a rare and beautiful item offered for sale by Hordern House Rare books, located in Sydney’s Surry Hills. This tiny object was of

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Professor Chapman….the perfect poisoner.

Professor Chapman....the  perfect poisoner.

  THE MYSTERIOUS DOWNFALL  OF PROFESSOR CHAPMAN It is 1918 and Sydney University’s  Professor of  Pharmacology  Henry Chapman has  set up  a unique test for his senior  students.  Their task is  to identify the deadly poison present in a  mixture he has prepared. He is amused and delighted when  even  the most brilliant

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TWO BRISBANE BEAUTIES, AND A MELBA CONNECTION

TWO BRISBANE BEAUTIES, AND A MELBA CONNECTION

On April 2  1905,   the Brisbane Courier  published an article on two young women. The girls were close  friends, with a lot in common.  They were both  daughters of  Brisbane publicans, both  from Irish Catholic families, and both convent educated. They  also shared a love of

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WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS…BUSH WEEK?

WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS...BUSH WEEK?

Today we romanticize the  Australian bush,  but a century ago the term had  more  negative connotations. The pioneers who had cleared the land  were often perceived as dim witted yokels by their  city slicker cousins.   This was made  very clear  in 1918, when attempts were made to

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THE WIVES OF HECTOR MACQUARIE – PART ONE

THE WIVES OF HECTOR MACQUARIE - PART ONE

Hector Macquarie was born on Scotland’s Isle of Mull in 1794.  He was the illegitimate son  of Charles Macquarie, Governor Lachlan Macquarie’s younger brother. Governor Macquarie took his nephew under his wing, famously dubbing him Hero Hector…which  was to become  an ironic nickname. The young man  grew

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MRS MACQUARIE AND THE MYSTERY OF ST JOHN’S TWIN SPIRES

MRS MACQUARIE AND THE MYSTERY OF ST JOHN'S TWIN  SPIRES

APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE, THIS STORY IS A BIT COMPLICATED! When St John’s church at Parramatta  (New South Wales)  was being remodelled circa 1817, Elizabeth Macquarie offered some advice to the project’s architect, Lieutenant John Watts (1786-1873). In 1895 Watts’ daughter, Mrs Margaret Elizabeth Bagot wrote; ‘Mrs Macquarie

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MRS MACQUARIE & DR JOHNSON

A WEDDING On November 3 1807, Elizabeth Henrietta Campbell married Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan Macquarie at Holsworthy in Devon. The ceremony was conducted by the Reverend Owen Lewis Meyrick. Elizabeth had been caring for the minister’s grand-daughters, while impatiently  waiting for Macquarie to return from army service in

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