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
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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 →In The Beginning Yes, well Pauline thinks this touristy story is not very nice because it’s mostly about ….a lavatory. But first I have to give you a bit of background information. In 1985 the very famous artist and fashion designer Jenny Kee, who lives
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Note from Editor Des’ guardian Pauline Conolly…..As you will see at the bottom of the story, fire has swept through the area he wrote about. He is very sad, as we all are. A Double Bunger Day Out, by Editor Des Hello down there! Here’s my first
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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
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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.
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Who would have thought that whale watching would be a genuine tourist draw in the Blue Mountains, two hours west of Sydney? Unlike coastal whales the species, known as hedgeritum greenius magnum is very slow moving and easy to spot. At certain times of year a prime
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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
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BRUSH WITH FAME I once worked in an office where the favourite tea break amusement was Brush with Fame. It was difficult for new members of staff to get the hang of, because it was no use simply boasting that you had slept with a Rolling Stone
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My first visit to the United States was in the 1980s, about thirty years too late. If only I could have arrived as a ten year old, when I was obsessed with Yankee comic books. For years I lusted after Hershey bars , fudge brownies, double malts
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