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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Private Arthur Singleton (Service No. 301) was one of the first young Australians to volunteer in WWI. He was a farmer’s son, from South Road, Ulverstone. Aged 20, he joined the Tasmanian 12th Battalion, sailing off to Egypt aboard the troopship Geelong on October 20 1914. He
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THE MATRIARCH My paternal grandmother was born Alice Maud Singleton, at rural Sassafras in northern Tasmania (June 20 1884). She was a Victorian through and through. Just add pride, vanity and her strict Methodist faith and there we have dear old Grandma. My other three grandparents had
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THE WORST TOURIST IS A TINY ONE During the off-season, invading armies of visitors withdraw from the museums and galleries of Europe to be replaced by assault squads of schoolchildren. I find them more alarming than bag snatchers. They knock people over and make a great deal
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OH I DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEA! I grew up near Ulverstone, a seaside town on the north west coast of Tasmania. Boxing Day was traditionally beach day. During the nineteen fifties we were still without a car, and travelled the four miles (8km) from
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DAYDREAMS I was raised on a small dairy farm near Ulverstone, on the north west coast of Tasmania. Many would consider this an idyllic childhood, and in retrospect it was. However, owing to a steady diet of American comic books I eventually longed to be anywhere else
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OFF TO SCHOOL! The photo below was among my mother’s ‘treasures’ for many years. It was taken by the Tasmanian Advocate nearly 60 years ago. The children are from the Ulverstone Central State School’s kindergarten class of 1956. I am the chirpy looking kid standing up on
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My father planted his first commercial crop of beans on our farm near Ulverstone on the north-west coast of Tasmania, in 1958. Initially we grew just a couple of acres, without the benefit of irrigation. We picked the crop four or five times over, struggling to fill
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I’m almost beyond joking about the dreadful Coronavirus, but this image did make me smile, albeit a very wry smile. The following piece will explain why. MISGUIDED MUSICAL AMBITION After watching too many episodes of Australia’s Got Talent, my associate Editor Des decided he wanted to become
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