A CONTINUATION OF; THE SLOPER AND THE STEEPLECHASE NEW OWNER FOR THE SLOPER By 1911, three years on from his near win at Flemington’s Grand National Steeplechase, the Tasmanian jumper Ally Sloper
Read more →THE MARSDEN SISTERS MOVE SOUTH This is an extension of The Water Doctor’s Daughters’ original literary walk around the town of Great Malvern, Worcestershire. In 1876 Dr James Marsden separated from his second wife Mary to pursue an affair with Sabina Welch, a servant girl from Malvern. Emily, the
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FROM A STUMP JUMPER TO THE STEEPLECHASE Ally Sloper was a big boned chestnut gelding with three white fetlocks. He had been named after a British cartoon character; a likeable but lazy schemer who sloped down alleys to avoid the debt collector. Although his name and his
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LET’S SPEND A WHILE WITH A WONGA Let me introduce……the Wonga pigeon. The name derives from wonga-wonga, an Aboriginal name inspired by their call. Mind you, I would describe it as a
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DEMON BOWLING OR DREADFUL BATTING? I recently came across the newspaper report of an 1893 cricket match between the rural communities of Exton and Reedy Marsh, in northern Tasmania. EXTON V REEDY MARSH A match was played on Saturday between the above clubs on the Exton Club’s
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I have read many love stories over the years, both true and fictional. However, none have affected me so powerfully as that of an English couple; the writer Sylvia Townsend Warner and the poet Valentine Ackland. Originally I came upon their story in a library copy of
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INTRODUCTION – I have always been impressed by my friend Marcia’s energy and love of the outdoors. I have known her for quite a few years, but it was only recently that she mentioned this delightful aspect of her family history. It certainly shed some light on
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METHOD IN A MOTHER’S MADNESS In December 1841 a shabby, careworn woman entered a London shoe shop, brazenly picked up several items and walked out. It was a theft that made no sense at all; she had taken a random couple of boots and a single clog!
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A DAY OUT FOR EDITOR DES (THAT’S ME) Well one day my guardian Pauline Conolly took me to Sydney as a special treat. Now she loves going to the State Library, but I don’t (boooooring!!) I was pretty p…..d off when we ended up there (sorry, I
Read more →THE MATRIARCH My paternal grandmother, Alice Maud Singleton, was born at Sassafras, in northern Tasmania on June 20 1884. She was a Victorian through and through. Just add pride, vanity and her strict Methodist faith and there we have dear old Grandma. Alice by name, Red Queen
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