There is an old saying….‘Life is a lottery‘ 😎 A WINDFALL FOLLOWING ON FROM WHEN THE BANK OF AUSTRALIA WENT BUST In 1848 Angus McDonald from Bolwarra (near Maitland) bought a ticket in New South Wales’ first official lottery. It was held as a means of dispersing
Read more →
At the beginning of March, 1841 there was a devastating fire at the Albion Mills, in Sydney’s Darling Harbour. The owners, Messrs Hughes and Hosking, were shipping agents and importers. Many Sydney merchants had produce stored at the mill and suffered serious losses. Hughes and Hosking took
Read more →
The New Ivanhoe Hotel is located on the Great Western Highway at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. It changed ownership recently after many years and has been renovated The following photo was taken before the update, but fortunately its art-deco interior has been
Read more →
The Bowden family was lost when the S.S. Waratah disappeared without trace in 1909. enroute to London from Australia. The full story can be read HERE. Among the 211 passengers and crew on board, six members of the Bowden family were listed, travelling third class.
Read more →
During the Christmas holidays in 1992, three primary school children in Western Australia came across a giant, fossilized egg in the sand dunes at Cervantes Beach. Jamie Andrich aged nine and his cousins Kelly (9) and Michelle Rew (7) had no idea of the importance of their
Read more →
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 wife,
Read more →
Some 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 at the time I took along my notebooks and computer. There was no restriction at all on visitors. In fact,
Read more →
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 boom was suspended across the harbour
Read more →
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 in the 12th Infantry Battalion 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
Read more →