Yearly Archives: 2020

Times were hard, but we survived, just as we will survive the current crisis. By 1931 30% of NSW unionists were unemployed.  By 1933 one in three Australian breadwinners was…

With the new Government measures and restrictions in place we have decided that our regular monthly talks will be cancelled until further notice. We know how much you have enjoyed…

Strangers in a strange land is a good title for a sci-fi novel. It also accurately reflects how Australia's founding fathers, our First Fleetconvicts, would have felt on being dumped…

Cabarita Road has been variously referred to as Cabarita Park Road or Cabarita Point Road. It has had several spellings including “Cabareta” as well as  “Cabaritta”. By whatever name it…

Murgatroyd!  Do you remember that word?  Would you believe the spell-checker did not recognise the word Murgatroyd?  Heavens to Murgatroyd!  Snagglepuss has gone as well! The other day a not…

With all the news about the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) health alert it doesn’t take much imagination to compare it with the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. The following article by…

Valentine’s Day occurs every February 14. Across Australia and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St.…

On Valentine’s Day 1966 Australians woke to a brand-new currency. The decision to change from the Australian pound (with its awkward shillings and pence) to a decimal currency — the…

At the time of European settlement the Canada Bay area was part of the traditional lands of the Wangal clan of Aboriginal people. The Wangal were a clan of the…

About the Pavilion As many who come to the Parklands may know, the Federation Pavilion sits on one of the most important historical locations in Australia - the birthplace of…

The Enfield system was a separate group of lines based around a depot in Enfield, in Sydney's inner south-west. The system began as a steam tramway opening in 1891 between Ashfield station and…

Just a reminder that our February speaker, Tim Hunter, will be speaking about two of our greatest poets, A.B. "Banjo" Paterson and Henry Lawson. Both of these poets have a…

Gertrude Moberly was born in Rockhampton, Queensland on New Year’s Day 1880 and grew up in Walcha, NSW, where her father was rector. She moved to Sydney in 1894 where…

This following book review was published in The Labor Daily (Sydney) on 24 June 1933. War Letters “Experiences of a ‘Dinki-Di’ R.R.C. Nurse” by Gertrude Moberly, R.R.C., is an instructive…

The image above is a stunning snapshot of a piece of Sydney history that many are not familiar with. Today, we are all familiar with the Harbour Bridge, and take…

An ornate pavilion was erected in Centennial Park for the swearing in of the first Governor General of Australia, Lord Hopetoun, the first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, and the first…

This debate was a famous dispute in The Bulletin magazine from 1892–93 between two of Australia’s most iconic writers and poets: Henry Lawson and Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson. At the time, The Bulletin was a popular and influential publication,…

By 1891, with the six colonies at loggerheads and the Victorian and New South Wales economies in freefall, Australia’s great federation movement ground to a halt.  The cause took another…