Hello, this is Editor Des back from the West Country of Olde England. I’ve chosen this little piece because I liked the story Pauline told me about the nursery rhyme and the 15th century cathedral clock at Exeter. I’m sure you know you how it goes;
Read more →There is such a strong link between Christmas and bells. Images of them adorn our trees and greeting cards, and the faithful are summoned to church by them on Christmas morning. I wasn’t sure whether to post this article as history or humour, but the humour is
Read more →A DAY WITH DR JOHNSON by EDITOR DES Well I wrote this story a long time ago, but it’s Dr Johnson’s birthday tomorrow, so I’m sharing it with you again, I’m sorry the photos are so crappy, but that’s not my fault! Oh dear… where to start?!
Read more →LINDEN SHADBOLT – the child who stayed behind The following is a continuation of my convict ancestors’ story The Exoneration of Solomon Shadbolt. The first piece was prompted by what I saw as an unfair representation of my three times great-grandfather, in the late Maurice Shadbolts’s memoir
Read more →A STORY ABOUT MY G-G-G-GRANDFATHER When Australian author Kate Grenville was researching her convict ancestor for the novel Secret River, she admitted to feeling slightly anxious about the nature of his crime. Theft was one thing, but what if he had been transported for something really serious;
Read more →A DICTIONARY IS BORN IN ‘STRAYA’ In 1812 the convict James Hardy Vaux (pictured ) produced what is credited as being the first Australian dictionary: A New and Comprehensive Vocabulary of the Flash Language. It was essentially a compilation of slang used by the ‘flash’ criminal element
Read more →This brief article is a tribute to a very special Frenchman; Dr Auguste Ambroise Tardieu, who was born in Paris in 1818. Dr Tardieu headed the team of French doctors who performed a post-mortem on the disinterred body of English schoolgirl Marian Marsden in 1854.
Read more →My friends, authors and historians Cora Weaver and Bruce Osborne , recently published a well researched, richly illustrated book called Celebrated Springs of the Malvern Hills. Here is small extract; These pure springs inspired the water-cure clinics at Malvern, lining the pockets of physicians such as Dr
Read more →HELLO, I CHOSE (AND EDITED ) THIS STORY ABOUT MY DISTANT RELATIVES. IT’S A BIT SAD, BUT VERY INTERESTING……EDITOR DES. There are some touching links between the Teddy Bear, that quintessential symbol of childhood comfort and security, and the tragic loss of the passenger ship Titanic on
Read more →STEAM AND SPEED The brilliant British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born at Portsmouth in 1806, the son of a highly regarded French engineer. Many thousands of Australians have a connection with Brunel as their ancestors emigrated on his innovative steamship, the SS Great Britain. At the
Read more →