For many years the general hospital at Ulverstone , on the north west coast of Tasmania, was located on the corner of Victoria and Patrick Street. It was not far from my grandmother’s flat in Victoria Street. In the early hours of July 14 1954 Nurse
Read more →Early settler John Liddle built the Bridge Hotel at Forth in 1871. It opened in January the following year. This is earliest photo I can find, from around 1900. The building in front already looks a bit ramshackle. I wonder if it was the stables? I must
Read more →Sir Francis Smith(1809-1909) was Tasmania’s Chief Justice and also its fifth Premier. He lived in a grand home in prestigious Holebrook Place, which formed part of Hobart’s Davey Street. On May 24, 1870 Sir Francis and his wife Sarah hosted a party to celebrate Queen Victoria’s
Read more →Amy Alfreda Vickery inherited two warehouses in Sydney’s Goulburn Street when her wealthy father Ebenezer Vickery died in 1906. Two years later the warehouses would fund a mansion Amy built on The Boulevarde in Strathfield, called Lauriston. Miss Vickery’s other indulgence was philately and she built up
Read more →This interesting piece has been contributed by a long term associate of mine, Robin Walsh. Robin is acknowledged as Australia’s foremost expert on the Macquarie era. For many years he was Librarian at Macquarie University. He edited and compiled the book, In Her Own Words; the Writings
Read more →Like most people born and bred in Tasmania, I have a number of treasured Huon pine items in my home (now in the NSW Blue Mountains). I have just finished reading a book by Brenden Ward about a fabulous grand piano made a few years ago from
Read more →FOR THE FIRST PART OF THE SIRIUS COVE STORY, CLICK HERE. In 1913, above Sirius Cove on Sydney Harbour, a new zoo was under construction….Taronga Park Zoo. One of the many labourers was Herman Thiel. Thiel was German born, but had been in Australia since 1877, when
Read more →In 1941 The Advocate published an artist’s impression of a new Ovaltine factory at Quoiba (near Devonport) in Tasmania. Ovaltine was essentially made from barley, eggs and milk, which Tasmania could produce in the necessary quantities despite wartime restrictions. Most people used it as a comforting hot
Read more →It’s hard to believe that when the Duchess of Cornwall and York visited Tasmania in 1901, debate raged over whether she should be presented with a rug of platypus fur or, alternatively, that of the black brush tail possum. 😨 The level of excitement in Australia over
Read more →Don’t you wish someone still made biscuits such as raspberry filled Huon Hearts ❤️❤️😍and Tassie Creams? The latter featured chocolate filling and were stamped with a little map of Tasmania. I don’t know when the last Huon Heart rolled off the production line, but they were among
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