As a dairy farmer’s daughter, the first holiday I ever had (apart from staying with relatives) was in the little Tasmanian town of Boat Harbour. With cows to milk every day we just never went on family vacations. My seaside holiday was thanks to Laura and Geoff
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Boxes of transparencies taken by my in-laws, Jean and Alan Conolly had not been opened in nearly 60 years. They were mostly family shots taken around Hobart (Glenorchy and Sandy Bay) in the 1950s and early 60s. I might add that my own parents were still using
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Mining for gold on Tasmania’s rugged west coast in the 1880s presented extreme challenges. However, some of the State’s largest nuggets were found at Rocky River, about 26 miles (over 40 kilometres) from the small town of Corinna, In 1906 an ex- miner calling himself Mugil
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Extensions to the Post Office in Burnie (North West Tasmania) were completed in 1901. Civic pride was reflected in the following section of a detailed newspaper article on the merits of the building. I love the mention of Tasmanian blackwood and Huon pine; Six months
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For many years the general hospital at Ulverstone , on the north west coast of Tasmania, was located on the corner of Victoria and Patrick Street. It was not far from my grandmother’s flat in Victoria Street. In the early hours of July 14 1954 Nurse
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With the arrival of winter here in the Blue Mountains I bought a packet of Golden Crumpets. My partner Rob and I both commented that it was exactly the same red and gold packet we remembered from our 1950s Tasmanian childhoods. It also had that unusually soft
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BEFORE READING THIS ARTICLE IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE READ PART ONE OF ERNEST’S STORY. In 1937 twenty year old Ernest Renault from Launceston became the world champion banana eater. Yes…strange, but true. 😎 After a difficult childhood there was a brief period when the possibilities of
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Earnest Renault did not have the best start in life. He was born illegitimate in 1917. His mother Violet successfully sued his father, Raymond (later named as Ronald) Holmes, for maintenance. Oddly enough Violet married a William Holmes in 1919, when Ernest was two years old. I
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Early settler John Liddle built the Bridge Hotel at Forth in 1871. It opened in January the following year. This is earliest photo I can find, from around 1900. The building in front already looks a bit ramshackle. I wonder if it was the stables? I must
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Sir Francis Smith(1809-1909) was Tasmania’s Chief Justice and also its fifth Premier. He lived in a grand home in prestigious Holebrook Place, which formed part of Hobart’s Davey Street. On May 24, 1870 Sir Francis and his wife Sarah hosted a party to celebrate Queen Victoria’s
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