I visited Eskbank House Museum in Lithgow recently. The oldest part of the colonial Georgian house was built circa 1842, from local sandstone. The original owner was Mr Thomas Brown, who established the Eskbank Colliery. There is a lot of early Lithgow history on display, but
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What a privilege it is to be part of New South Wales History Week. It’s an opportunity to speak on subjects close to my heart, and this year a chance to see a part of the state I have never visited before; Singleton in the Upper Hunter.
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Sydney born Harley Cohen was one of the first to enlist in WWI. His service number in the 4th Battalion was a very low 37. He was a slight figure, only 5′ 3″ tall and weighing in at a shade over 8 stone. He was university
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GODFATHER OF A MILLION CHILDREN These days Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt is best remembered for the mysterious circumstances of his death by drowning in 1967, at Victoria’s Portsea. However, in Robert Menzies’ government during WWII he served as Minister for Labour, and was responsible for
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One historical event I really wish I could have attended is London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. Those inventive, enthusiastic Victorians put on a display that dazzled the world. It was housed in a building so innovative it scarcely seemed real; the remarkable Crystal Palace. Of course eventually
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When Horatia Nelson Ward died at Pinner near London in March 1881, a brief notice in the local paper recorded her as ‘Widow of the late Rev. Philip Ward, Vicar of Tenterden, Kent, in her 81st year.’ However, an article in the Times several days later referred
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It is likely that the person who shot two people at Wallerawang, New South Wales in 1948 is still alive. I have referred to him here as Bennie Harvey. It’s not his real name, but one his friends used at the time of the murders. The shotgun
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In the latter years of WWII it was feared that Australia might be bombed, and because of this all kindergartens were closed. In their place a wonderful institution was born….Kindergarten of the Air. The programme was launched on the ABC in 1943 by Lady Zara Gowrie, wife
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In September 1948, within the space of a few days, two seventeen year old youths committed murder in New South Wales. Stranger still, they had been good friends before their otherwise unrelated crimes. They had played ice hockey together, and were both snappy dressers who enjoyed the
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On September 26 1948, wealthy pastoralist James Lyon Walker Barton (aged 54) and his unmarried sister Lue Loveday Barton (45) were shot dead at their grand home, Barton Park, at Wallerawang (New South Wales). The killer was a 17 year old farm worker; a petty criminal from
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