DEATH BY THE RIVER THAMES Walkers along the Thames Path should take a break at the village of Cumnor, otherwise reached by car via the A420 from Oxford. In the 14th century the monks of Abingdon Abbey built Cumnor Hall, scene of a mysterious death in the
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AUSSIE HISTORY ALONG THE THAMES For Australians exploring the River Thames there are places of particular interest. When my partner Rob and I walked the Path we found lots of Aussie associations. On the upper reaches of the river is the village of Buscot, and the National Trust owned Buscot
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APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE, THIS STORY IS A BIT COMPLICATED! When St John’s church at Parramatta (New South Wales) was being remodelled circa 1817, Elizabeth Macquarie offered some advice to the project’s architect, Lieutenant John Watts (1786-1873). In 1895 Watts’ daughter, Mrs Margaret Elizabeth Bagot wrote; ‘Mrs Macquarie
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UPDATE – THURSDAY, MARCH 9 2023; THE PIEMAN’S GRAND JETE! Just imagine the Flying Pieman (William Francis King) as the ‘star’ of a ballet. This almost came to be. In 1942 artist Roderick Shaw prepared 21 watercolours for a proposed ballet to be called; ”The Flying Pieman
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Browsing through images of paintings relating to early Sydney at the city’s Mitchell Library, I came across a striking portrait of an Aborigine. His eyes seemed to reflect all the pride and sorrow of his people. He was
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Some years ago my partner Rob and I spent an enjoyable day at Sydney’s harbourside Luna Park. It was only enjoyable because I refused to venture onto any ride liable to make me sick. An unfortunate previous experience on the Rotor Ride had made me wary. For the
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THE STRANGE STORY OF THE MACQUARIE MAUSOLEUM Lachlan Macquarie was one of the early governors of colonial New South Wales, serving from 1810 until 1821. His burial site is located on the Scottish Isle of Mull, near Salen, the estate village established by Macquarie in 1808. Surrounded
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JOHN BIGGE; REGIME CHANGER Commissioner John Thomas Bigge (1780-1843) arrived in New South Wales in September 1819. He had been appointed to conduct a wide ranging inquiry into governor Lachlan Macquarie’s administration. Bigge was highly critical of the Governor’s championship of ex-convicts, and his ‘wastefully expensive’ building
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OFF TO SCHOOL! The photo below was among my mother’s ‘treasures’ for many years. It was taken by the Tasmanian Advocate nearly 60 years ago. The children are from the Ulverstone Central State School’s kindergarten class of 1956. I am the chirpy looking kid standing up on
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My father planted his first commercial crop of beans on our farm near Ulverstone on the north-west coast of Tasmania, in 1958. Initially we grew just a couple of acres, without the benefit of irrigation. We picked the crop four or five times over, struggling to fill
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