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 Fleet convicts, would have felt on being dumped in an alien landscape on the other side of the world back in 1788. Also springing to mind are the 34 Irish convict rebels…
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 has remained one of the districts most significant thoroughfares and been witness to the changing character of the locality and more broadly of the city…
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 so elderly (I’d say 75) lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy and he looked at her quizzically and said, “What the…
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 historian Troy Lennon in the Daily Telegraph (27/2/20) points this out. “In 1918 reports of a deadly flu virus began filtering from overseas into Australia. …
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. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and where did these traditions come from? The history of Valentine’s Day – and the story of its…
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 Australian dollar — had been a pragmatic, economic one. Yet decimalisation became an opportunity for Australia to assert itself as an increasingly self-assured and forward-thinking…
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 larger Darug language group or Aboriginal nation. Their lives were strongly focussed on the harbour and its foreshores, especially in food gathering. Aboriginal people also…
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 our nation! What visitors may not know however, is that the Pavilion contains many clues to the site’s glorious past that can help you understand…
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 Enfield. In 1901, this line was extended north to Mortlake, and in 1909 a branch to Cabarita Park was opened. The system was electrified in 1912. Services operated…
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 her sister, Nora Moberly, was matron of Dulce Domum Private Hospital in Hardie Street, Neutral Bay. Moberly trained as a nurse at Royal Prince Alfred…
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 and interesting publication of letters written by Matron Moberly during the Great War. She rendered very considerable services during that War, with the result that…
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 for granted the fact that we can easily cross the harbour by car, train, bike or bus. Many of us are familiar too with the…
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