Grandma Shadbolt was born Jane Whitton. She was from Lichfield in Staffordshire. In 1848, when she was 19, she was transported to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) for seven years. In a first offence she had stolen the sum of three pounds. Unfortunately we don’t have a photo
Read more →
BIRTH OF THE PUDDING The English have long been maligned for the uninspired stodginess of their cooking, particularly by their gourmet neighbours, the French. Nevertheless, it was a Frenchman, Misson de Valbourg who, upon visiting England in 1690, was moved to exclaim: ‘What an excellent thing is
Read more →
CHRISTMAS DOWN-UNDER John O’Grady once wrote a best selling book called, They’re a Weird Mob. It was about Australians and yes….we are a bit strange. What do you expect when we live in an upside down world? Alice in Wonderland described our fair country as; WHERE
Read more →
‘Oh! All that steam! The pudding had just been taken out of the cauldron. Oh! That smell! The same as the one which prevailed on washing day. It is that of the cloth which wraps the pudding. Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ Christmas in Australia is a
Read more →