The Merino – ship of treasures. In July 1949, Tasmanian Premier Robert Cosgrove travelled to Scotland to launch the freighter Merino. It had been built on Glasgow’s River Clyde on behalf of Launceston trading company L.W. Smith Pty. Ltd. A bottle of Tasmanian champagne had been sent
Read more →In September 1953 an event celebrating the history of nursing in Sydney was held at the Town Hall. It was organized by the Australian Trained Nurses Association. One of the major characters represented in the ‘cavalcade’ was Lucy Osburn, first matron of the Sydney Infirmary (later known
Read more →Eric Huxley, 19, a student of the Sydney University, living at Clanalpine Street, Mosman, was struck by a motor car as he was crossing Parramatta Road near the University yesterday. He suffered a fractured skull…..he died late last night. (Sydney Morning Herald, June 13 1930) The young
Read more →Boxes of transparencies taken by my in-laws, Jean and Alan Conolly had not been opened in nearly 60 years. They were mostly family shots taken around Hobart (Glenorchy and Sandy Bay) in the 1950s and early 60s. I might add that my own parents were still using
Read more →Martin Ryan owned a grazing property at Thalia, a few miles from Wycheproof in the region of Victoria known as the Wimmera. Ryan had originally purchased a modest holding at just 30 shillings per acre. Over the years he increased his property to 3,000 acres. By 1928
Read more →Mining for gold on Tasmania’s rugged west coast in the 1880s presented extreme challenges. However, some of the State’s largest nuggets were found at Rocky River, about 26 miles (over 40 kilometres) from the small town of Corinna, In 1906 an ex- miner calling himself Mugil
Read more →‘La Donna’ was a journalist for many years at The Advocate, a Tasmanian newspaper known affectionally as ‘The Spud Digger’. In 1935 she wrote a fascinating, lengthy article on Mary Shadbolt, widow of my relative Linden Shadbolt. I always wondered about La Donna’s real identity, and have
Read more →Sydney Town Hall; just imagine all the protests, political rallies, meetings and celebrations associated with this historic building. One thing I wasn’t aware of was its role during the 1913 smallpox epidemic, especially as the main vaccination centre. The disease had been introduced to the city by
Read more →When the Launceston epidemic of 1903 began, so too did rumours of who had introduced the dread disease of smallpox to the city. Human nature being what it is, an ‘ outsider’ was suspected. Just as with the conspiracy theories we are familiar with today (including
Read more →In late May 1903, two cases of smallpox were confirmed after the steamer Gracchus had arrived in Melbourne from India on May 2. The first victim was Mr William Walker, a horse dealer who embarked at Singapore. The other was a Mrs Dwan from Ballarat. Mrs Dwan
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