First, a little background. In 1931, art collector George Garnett presented prominent Hobart surgeon Dr. Victor Ratten with a gift, in thanks for saving the life of his 14 year old daughter Myra. Appropriately, the gift was a large oil painting of the British nurse Edith Cavell.
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Edith Cavell was a nurse, and WWI heroine. A portrait of her was a fitting gift for a Tasmanian surgeon. IN APPRECIATION….. In 1931, Dr Victor Ratten performed life-saving surgery on 14
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Stephen W. O’Flaherty was a worker in Scott’s sawmill at Derby, a small community in the north-east of Tasmania. In 1913 he suffered a significant injury when a lever at the mill rebounded and a lag slipped, breaking his arm in two places. It was said that
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Broadcaster Simon Marnie got into a bit of strife when advocating ’boutique’ salts on ABC morning radio. His rather cavalier dismissal of thyroid issues due to un-iodised salt resulted in dozens of protesting texts and a call from a health expert. When I was attending the Ulverstone
Read more →HAPPY TO SERVE Cyril Blakney enlisted in the 12th Infantry Battalion as soon as war was declared in 1914. He was a compositor from Hobart, and also an accomplished musician and amateur actor. Such a fine looking young man. After the Gallipoli campaign Cyril served on the Western
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TO CHICAGO – ON A MEDICAL MISSION On September 3 1906, a wealthy young dentist from Brisbane boarded the passenger ship Aorangi. He disembarked in Vancouver, then entered the United States and made his way to Chicago by train. His name was Victor Richard Ratten. Soon after he
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THE SLOPER, THE DOCTOR, AND THE ATTEMPTED ‘BIG FIX’ AT MOWBRAY. By 1911, three years on from a near win at Flemington’s Grand National Steeplechase, the Tasmanian jumper Ally Sloper was somewhat past his best. He was now owned by the Sheffield GP, and Justice of the
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On April 26 1915, the day after the dawn landing at Gallipoli, Sapper Duncan McRae (2nd Field Co. of Engineers) was shot in the shoulder by a Turkish sniper. He was evacuated to Egypt and from there to a military hospital in England. Unfortunately it was
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On April 2 1905, the Brisbane Courier published an article on two young women. The girls were close friends, with a lot in common. They were both daughters of Brisbane publicans, both from Irish Catholic families, and both convent educated. They also shared a love of
Read more →A WORK IN PROGRESS – GHOSTS OF GALLIPOLI A fellow author invited me to share some information about my current work-in-progress in an author ‘interview’ called The Next Big Thing! You may expect me to talk about The Water Doctor’s Daughters, or All Along the River; Tales
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