Ambergris is one of those rare, mystical materials that have captured the imagination of people for centuries. But what exactly is it? Well, it’s a waxy substance occasionally (very occasionally) found in the intestines of sperm whales, or washed up on beaches after being excreted by them.
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John Winterbottom, born 1789, was a solicitor, town clerk and much respected Mayor of Stockport, Cheshire. He was also a founding partner in Stockport’s first bank. However, in 1839 he faced bankruptcy after a series of failed investments. His desperation led him to defraud a client, the
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A swindler often goes by many names and when a Sydney crook with a nefarious plan turned up in Hobart in January 1870, he was calling himself Alexander Lambert. He booked in at the The Rock Hotel in Elizabeth Street. After a couple of weeks he departed,
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Around 1830 the Old Bell Hotel was built at 132 Elizabeth Street, Hobart. The Old Bell became a mecca for 19thC literary tourists. It was believed that in 1870 Marcus Clarke wrote the notes for his 1874 novel, For The Term of His Natural Life in the
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By the 1850s Tasmania (still known as Van Dieman’s Land) was in need of its own, official postage system and legislation was duly passed. It was intended that the first stamps would be printed in England, but as the deadline of a November 1 1853 issue date
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MAYDA….just one letter short of an S.O.S. THE MAYDA’S LAST PORT OF CALL WAS LAUNCESTON, TASMANIA. SHE SAILED ON APRIL 23 1846, RETURNING TO LONDON AFTER MAKING HER FIRST AND ONLY DELIVERY OF CONVICTS. EMBARKING WITH A HUMAN CARGO LONDON – On August 19 1845 the Morning
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In 1938 the Tasmanian newspaper The Mercury published the following, circa 1840s portrait of Mr John Osborne, one of the State’s pioneering horticulturalists. It’s impossible to make out from the reproduction, but he is holding….a pineapple! Osborne was born in Staffordshire England, on Christmas Day 1804. He
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The following extract on whaling is from The Mercury, July 1929, re-posted from The New York Post. Please don’t take offence at its tone my fellow Taswegians; The whaling industry is to be restored to Hobart, capital of Tasmania, the little island lying south of Australia. This
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There are many reasons to visit my birthplace, beautiful Tasmania, but perhaps the best one is to eat freshly caught scallops. Oh yes indeed. Even as far back as WWI locals complained that too many were shipped off to the mainland. However, it seems this was not
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Before Covid19 hit, my partner Rob and I were in Kakadu (Northern Territory). looking at indigenous rock art. For me, the most exciting image was of a thylacine, thought to be over 4,000 years old. How wonderful is that? 😍 A TASSIE TIGER IN PENGUIN TOWN! For
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