VITA-WEAT – NOW WITHOUT ‘WORMS’

VITA-WEAT - NOW WITHOUT  'WORMS'

Vita-Weat biscuits were introduced  in Australia in 1932, by the UK company Peak Frean’s.  For many years the factory was located in the Syndey suburb of Ashfield. The cartoon style advertisements in the Women’s Weekly during the 1930s were hilarious At least women weren’t the only target,

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Rivers Paterson – what’s in a name?

Rivers Paterson - what's in a name?

Rivers Paterson (nee Staines) was born on the day her father Thomas drowned in the Bell River, between Molong and  Wellington, in the central west of New South Wales. Thomas Staines was an ex-convict; a former blacksmith and farrier from Leicestershire. He was transported for life in

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THE LETTER HOME

THE LETTER HOME

Recently I came across a wonderful letter from my late father-in-law, Alan Conolly. In the early 1960s he was travelling the world for Silk and Textiles, the Hobart based company he worked for. Silk and Textiles was founded by Claudio Alcorso in Sydney. The factory relocated to

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THE GREEN BOWL

THE GREEN BOWL

When I was a child growing up in Tasmania (1950s) there was a small green bowl sitting on the mantlepiece above our wood burning kitchen stove. It is human nature that an empty container becomes a receptacle for small objects, and our green bowl was no different.

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ARCHIBALD THOMPSON & THE POTTS POINT PROWLER

ARCHIBALD THOMPSON & THE POTTS POINT PROWLER

After making his fortune through a wine and spirit business in Sydney’s Pitt Street, Archibald Thompson J.P. bought a harbourside mansion at Potts Point called Clopee. The home had been built by John Solomon in 1858. At the time of the events in this story, Archibald and

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