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 ragged 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! The
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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
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THE MATRIARCH My paternal grandmother was born Alice Maud Singleton, at rural Sassafras in northern Tasmania (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. My other three grandparents had
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On April 26 1915, the day after the dawn landing at Gallipoli, Sapper Duncan McRae (2nd Field Co. of Engineers) was shot in the shoulder by a Turkish sniper. He was evacuated to Egypt and from there to a military hospital in England. Unfortunately it was
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When Australian artist and writer Norman Lindsay first saw what was to become his home near Springwood in the lower Blue Mountains of New South Wales, the sandstone cottage was sadly neglected. The floor boards were full of white ants. Nevertheless, Lindsay reported to his wife (and
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On April 2 1905, the Brisbane Courier published an article on two young women. The girls were close friends, with a lot in common. They were both daughters of Brisbane publicans, both from Irish Catholic families, and both convent educated. They also shared a love of
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Today we romanticize the Australian bush, but a century ago the term had more negative connotations. The pioneers who had cleared the land were often perceived as dim witted yokels by their city slicker cousins. This
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Frederick Claude Vivian Lane was born in Manly on February 2 1880. He nearly drowned in Sydney Harbour when he was four years old, after falling off a punt. His older brother saved him, but Fred thought it might be wise to learn to swim (or perhaps
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