A DENTIST BECOMES A DOCTOR By 1906 Chicago had grown from its origins as a tiny, frontier trading post to a metropolis of nearly two million people. After the city was rebuilt following the Great Fire of 1871 there was a wave of immigration. People arrived from
Read more →
In 1903 the Queensland government followed the example of New South Wales by introducing compulsory registration of dental practitioners Dr Victor Ratten applied to the Dental Board on July 16 that year. Ten days later he was informed that they had considered his application but were unable
Read more →
FORWARD Just after midday on January 2 1963, a funeral cortege left a Hobart undertaker’s chapel for the Cornelian Bay Cemetery. Enroute, the procession diverted to Liverpool Street, slowing as it passed the historic Royal Hobart Hospital. The hearse was carrying the body of 83 year old
Read more →
In January 1997 my partner Rob and I were living in London. My birthday falls in January, and to celebrate I requested a tour of the centuries old Whitechapel Bell Foundry (est. 1570). It may sound an odd gift, but I adore the sound of bells. We
Read more →I was researching the Australian realist artist Herbert Badham when I came across his wonderful painting of customers in the Hasty Tasty cafe at Kings Cross, during World War II. Note the presence of soldiers and sailors, including the black GI with his white, female companion. It
Read more →
This piece on NSW Labor Premier Jack Lang was inspired by a draft article written by Miss M.E. (Joyce) Cocks, in 1932. I was researching Joyce’s life at Sydney’s Mitchell Library when I came across a diatribe she had written against Lang; ‘The present Government deliberately refuse
Read more →
Valentine Street, running off George Street in Sydney’s Haymarket, is currently more urban alleyway than street. I walk down it almost every day on my way from our apartment in Thomas Street to the Haymarket Light Rail stop. The following is an image dating from 1910, It
Read more →
ANTHONY TROLLOPE 1815 – 1882 This piece began as a review of the 1869 Anthony Trollope novel He Knew He Was Right. I so appreciated the humour throughout this great, door-stop of a book. Some may find the snail’s pace of its 900 small print
Read more →
I was intrigued to discover that two boat builders and a lorry driver from my home town of Ulverstone played important roles in promoting tourism at Cradle Mountain’s Dove Lake. FIRST AFLOAT? Although the indigenous Palawa people hunted in the area for thousands of years, there is
Read more →
In the early 1970’s a quirky song written and performed by Bernard Bolan, The Rose Bay Ferry, reached number one in the Australian top forty charts. It captures the romance and escapism associated with ferry travel on Sydney Harbour. I contacted Bernard some years ago to ask
Read more →