In Sydney’s Botanic Gardens there is a very special Norfolk Island pine known as The Wishing Tree. It is a replacement of the original, which was planted in the early days of the colony. A sign explains its history, and its association with Governor Lachlan Macquarie’s
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Several years ago I had to spend a few weeks in a major Sydney hospital. I didn’t actually feel sick, and since I was editing a book I took along my notebooks and computer. There was no restriction at all on visitors. In fact, my husband Rob
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HOME FRONT IN THE HARBOUR CITY It’s easy to forget just how concerned ordinary Australians were for their safety during World War II. This was not without reason, given the bombing of Darwin and the arrival of Japanese midget submarines in Sydney Harbour. A giant metal
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BIRTH OF THE PUDDING The English have long been maligned for the uninspired stodginess of their cooking, particularly by their gourmet neighbours, the French. Nevertheless, it was a Frenchman, Misson de Valbourg who, upon visiting England in 1690, was moved to exclaim: What an excellent thing is
Read more →HAPPY TO SERVE Cyril Blakney enlisted as soon as war was declared in 1914. He was a compositor from Hobart, and also an accomplished musician and amateur actor. Such a fine looking young man. After the Gallipoli campaign Cyril served on the Western Front. On June 10 1917 he
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HITTING OFF One of Sydney’s first golf courses was laid out in the grounds of Grose Farm; land on which Sydney University was later built. We have proof of an official club being formed in a 1839 diary entry by the prosperous young merchant Mr Alexander Brodie
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To be honest, Mr Wall, one of the Australian Museum’s pioneer curators, does not look well or particularly happy in the above photo. Let’s hope he had been more cheerful on his wedding day. On Friday, April 30 1941 The Sydney Advertiser announced; On Thursday, the 29th instant,
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I first heard of the Wheeldon case in July 2017, on The Australian Broadcasting Commission’s Radio National. The story looked back to a day in 1986. Retired Macquarie University professor Peter Mason had gestured his daughters Diedre and Chloë to play an old video. He could only gesture because he
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In 1903 tuberculosis was rife in Australia, as it was in much of the world. The Queen Victoria Sanatorium was established at a remote area near Wentworth Falls, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. The property on Burragarong Road (now Tablelands Road) had been
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FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS STORY CLICK HERE. On May 25, 1934, Professor Henry Chapman was suddenly taken ill while at work in the Physics Building at Sydney University. He was rushed to hospital, but could not be revived. Initially it was assumed he had suffered a
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