Regular visitors to this website will know that I have a fascination for imposters. š I’m not sure why this is, except that they have a sense of daring and self confidence that I certainly don’t have myself.Ā I’m not condoning the behaviour, especially when it causes
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NOTE – THIS IS NOT A RE-EXAMINATION OF THE TRAGIC CHRISSIE VENN MURDER. IT IS ABOUTĀ THE STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH DRS. RATTEN AND FERRIS FOUND THEMSELVES GIVING EVIDENCE AT THE TRIAL. In AugustĀ 1914, the rural TasmanianĀ community of Sheffield lost both its young doctors; one
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Raymond Campbell Miller first came to public notice in 1942, when his wife Alice applied for a divorce on the grounds of his adultery. The case was aired in all its sordid detail, particularly by Truth newspaper.Ā MillerĀ denied being intimate with the young nurse he was
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Kiwi polish was first produced in 1908 by Melbourne businessĀ partnersĀ Hamilton McKellan and William Ramsay.Ā The name Kiwi was a tribute to Ramsay’s New Zealand born wife. For two reasons the product was a major improvement on the old boot blacking (remember Charles Dickens working in
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In 1933, two trained Alsatians, Tess and Harada, joined the New South Wales Police Force. Almost immediately they were earning their keep, apprehendingĀ criminals and trackingĀ people lost in the bush.Ā Tess in particular would go on to perform amazing feats of detection. SheĀ was adored by
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The saying goes that life is a lottery, andĀ in nineteenth century Sydney two men promised everyone a chance to win big. In theĀ early 189osĀ Australia experiencedĀ a severe economic depression. Many banks and other financial institutions went bust. One casualtyĀ was the Mercantile Building Land
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Draw some little legs on a wooden handled cobbler’s awl (even with my lack of skill)Ā and you would have somethingĀ resembling an Eastern Spinebill. In the old days they wereĀ often referred to as Cobbler’s Awl Birds, and I’m sure that beak could pierce boot
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In 1895, architect Alan Cameron Walker designed his own home, Huonden,Ā in his birthplace of Hobart. The property had an immediate impact; That charming coterie of accomplished ladies and gentlemen who strive to keep an interest in art alive in our midst and who form the
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As a dairy farmer’s daughter, the first holiday I ever had (apart from staying with relatives) was in the little Tasmanian town of Boat Harbour.Ā With cows to milk every day we just never went on family vacations. My seaside holiday was thanks toĀ Laura and Geoff
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In 1933 Tasmanian born artistĀ Stephen Bransgrove was being feted as a principal prize winner at the 108th annual exhibition at the National Academy of Design in New York City. Bransgrove was a complete unknown, so it was a huge but pleasant surprise.Ā Apparently he hadĀ lived
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