One historical event I really wish I could have attended is London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. Those inventive, enthusiastic Victorians put on a display that dazzled the world. It was housed in a building so innovative it scarcely seemed real; the remarkable Crystal Palace. Of course eventually
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I am an Aussie who voted for a republic, but despite this I have a nostalgic affection for Empire Day. It was celebrated during my 1950’s Tasmanian childhood on May 24th, Queen Victoria’s birthday. A bag of boiled lollies was distributed to each of us after we
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THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE TRAVEL SECTION OF THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN My partner and I are driving through Nice when a group of local youths begin jeering at a cavalcade of stereo blasting Ferraris. With complete disregard for following traffic, all three drivers screech
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AUSSIE HISTORY ALONG THE THAMES For Australians exploring the Thames Path there are places of particular interest. On the upper reaches of the river is the village of Buscot, and the National Trust owned Buscot Park. The house was built in the 1770’s by Edward Loveden Townsend. In 1859,
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I spend most my life buried away in the Blue Mountains…and I don’t even eat gum leaves! However, Pauline took me on a little tour of Sydney recently. She wrote a story about it, but I had to cross out lots of rubbish she wanted to put
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A ROYAL REPLICA Early last century John Norton, firebrand editor of Sydney’s Truth newspaper, described Queen Victoria rather unkindly as; ‘..the podgy figured, sulky faced little German woman whose ugly statue at the top of King Street sagaciously keeps one eye on the Mint while with the
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In my non-fiction book, The Water Doctor’s Daughters, Queen Victoria is a central figure. Early in 1842, Victoria employed a well educated young Frenchwoman as one of her wardrobe mistresses. Célestine Doudet was born in Rouen on June 15 1817, to a highly regarded French army officer
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