Desire La Court arrived in Australia before the outbreak of WWI as George Ohl, from Frankford. Like so many others he was interned as an enemy alien, initially in Queensland, from where he escaped, and then at the huge Holsworthy camp in New South Wales. It was
Read more →
In 1938 the bakery at Parramatta gaol was operated by ‘trusties’. These were well behaved men who had completed their initial sentence, but as habitual offenders were serving a final, indeterminate period. Freedom was not far off, conditional only on their continued adherence to prison rules. The
Read more →
Mary Stewart (nee FitzRoy) was the only daughter of Governor Charles FitzRoy. She was living in England with her husband Keith Stewart when her mother, Lady FitzRoy, was killed in a tragic carriage accident at Government House, Parramatta in December 1847. At this point the Stewarts had
Read more →
In 1878, Old Government House at Parramatta opened as a genteel boarding house. When the local bowling club was looking for a green in 1882, they approached the proprietor, Mrs Abrahams, about leasing a piece of land behind the house. To sweeten the deal they suggested her
Read more →
It’s hard to imagine Sydney having an epidemic of bubonic plague, but that’s what happened in 1900. The infection arrived on a visiting ship in January, and spread in overcrowded, unsanitary slums. THE PLAGUE – PARRAMATTA’S PRECAUTIONS I hadn’t realized there was a vaccine against plague, but
Read more →
My original story of Sydney born Mary Drummond (nee Gallagher) was a sad one (*there is a link to it at the end of this piece). The doctor she married in May 1887 turned out to be a complete charlatan. He had stolen another man’s medical diplomas
Read more →
Mention the term ’colonial architect’ in New South Wales and most people would respond with the name Francis Greenway. That is quite understandable, but let’s bring another deserving character out of the shadows. Who better to speak of John Cliffe Watts’ ability and character than Elizabeth Macquarie?
Read more →
The spectre of climate change and periods of prolonged drought have created an upsurge of interest in the growing of Australian native plants. However, we have been slow to embrace them. I suspect this would surprise and disappoint women pioneers such as Elizabeth Macarthur, who began
Read more →
Each Australia Day, commuter ferries race down Sydney Harbour, decorated with bunting and loaded to the gunnels with cheering supporters. They remind me of well dressed matrons competing in the hundred metre dash at school sports days. In 1984 the exertion proved too much for the aging
Read more →