Yearly Archives: 2021

With the potential for a further extension of the lockdown due to Covid we do not know when the museum will re-open. As a result, we have cancelled our advertised…

According to conventional wisdom, you aren't really supposed to remember things from your early childhood. Well, I must be an odd bod, because I do remember. I was a happy…

The fear and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic may feel new to many of us. But it is strangely familiar to those who lived through the polio epidemic of the…

The Blue Bird Sewing Machine Bebarfalds, a retailer of home furnishings and manufacturer of furniture, traded for many years from its landmark location opposite the Sydney Town Hall on the…

Members of the City of Canada Bay Heritage Society would be aware that No. 1 Bent Street is the address of the Heritage Society’s Museum, located in the former Concord…

In December 1916 William Graham Eyles, a former alderman of Drummoyne, was sentenced to death in Sydney’s Central Criminal Court for the murder of his wife, Ellen, who was found…

Torch The design of the torch reflected three famed areas of Australian culture: the boomerang, the Sydney Opera House, and the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The concept also reflected the elements of…

The Stores Memoranda In contrast to the paper scrawlings of today, this reusable metal grocery list dates back to at least the early 1900s,  It is inscribed with kitchen staples…

Following last month’s articles on Farleigh Nettheim, Peter Bryant has sent another snippet of Concord History. One thing that I didn’t mention before is that the small factory producing Watsons…

The subdivision of land for housing at the end of the nineteenth century fundamentally changed Concord and its surrounding districts, transforming what was essentially a rural district of orchards, small…

Did you see the gypsies on the road to Mlttagong, or Hordern’s tree on Razorback, when it was growing strong?Did you go in search of old Bea Miles when exams…

A single man decided life would be more fun if he had a pet. So he went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy…

The Hordern business was originally established by a free immigrant from England, Anthony Hordern, in 1823, as a drapery shop. A further large menswear store was later opened in upper…

The image, from a postcard dating to the first 10 years of the 20th century, is an evocative glimpse into a business that has long been linked to Martin Place…

Our member and dedicated guide for the Walker Open Days, Hazel King, was recently awarded an OAM for her service to horticulture and to community history. Over 90 years ago…

Australians can be an ingenious bunch. Here are some of the best inventions to have come out of the nation. Black box flight recorder:  This has helped make commercial air…

Arnott's always had a good eye for advertising.  There were colourful posters that shops could put in their window, but it was for its tins that Arnott’s was always justly…

Extract from my autobiography (an unfinished project) by Peter Bryant In the 1920s, some of Concord's large estates like “Yaralla” on the Parramatta River, were subdivided and made available for…

Industrialisation in Europe and North America in the late nineteenth century engendered a wave of populist nationalism across the world. People who had once regarded themselves as having an affinity…

I knew the Farleigh Nettheim tannery at Concord during my childhood days. I was born in 1935 and lived with my family at No. 6 Finch Avenue. Our back gate…

As a tribute to the 20th Anniversary of the Sydney Olympic Games our museum had planned a special display. Unfortunately, COVID-19 intervened and we had to postpone it. However, with…

1896: Edwin Flack becomes Australia’s first Olympian. Panathenaic Stadium, 1896 Olympics The first Olympic Games of the modern era were held in Athens from 5 to 10 April 1896. Edwin…

In August 1916, Private Douglas Grant departed Australia on a troop carrier bound for the United Kingdom. Like thousands of other young Australian men, Grant had signed up for the…

THIS SAMPLER was embroidered by Maria Darling in 1834.  It demonstrates her skill with embroidering letters and numbers as well as various designs within a border.  The verse reads: What…

What, you ask, is 'Butt dust'? What do you do or say, when an innocent child asks you something so innocent and they are so serious? Read on and you'll…

A century ago, many houses and public buildings were built with stone foundations. Corner stones (quoins) were used on larger buildings to provide additional support for brick walls as well…

Portion of a diary kept by a French-Canadian exile, François Maurice Lepailleur, whose group had been landed at the original wharf at what is now called Bayview . . .…

We recently received a copy of a home movie of the Official Opening of the New Council Chambers & Offices in Wellbank Street, Concord in 1962.  It was made by…

Although not heard as much these days the saying, shoot through like a Bondi tram, was very common in the early 1900s. There was a time when Sydney was one…

While chatting recently about possible displays for our City of Canada Bay Museum, it was mentioned that there are many commemorative coins out there in circulation,  The question was asked…

There was an age, not a generation ago, when local news was circulated by suburban and regional newspapers. The lifeblood of such publications were the “classifieds”, commonly referred to as…

"Said Hanrahan" is a poem written by the Australian bush poet John O'Brien, the pen name of Roman Catholic priest Patrick Joseph Hartigan. The poem's earliest known publication was in July 1919 in The Catholic Press, appearing in 1921…

I've grown up Aussie style, a sun-kissed Weet Bix kid;I've played street cricket, broken windows then hid.I've choked on a fly and still been a happy little Vegemite;I've smiled even…

Pie Birds, the Whimsical Victorian-Era Baking Tool While you’ve likely heard the nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence,” with its “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie,” it would…

Hen and Chicken Bay is a bay on the Parramatta River, in the inner-west of Sydney.  It lies approximately 8 kilometres due west of Sydney’s central business district.  It is…

The REAL story of the man in your wallet. How many of you have ever looked at the Aboriginal man depicted on our $2 coin and just thought to yourselves,…

Make it idiot proof, and someone will make a better idiot.He who laughs last thinks slowest!Consciousness: that annoying time between naps.When there’s a will, I want to be in it.Change…

Illuminated Address When Concord postmaster H. G. Kulmar was transferred to Emmaville his fellow citizens presented him with an illumination lauding his faithful service to the community over almost two…

Despite what people tend to think, an Illuminated Address is not something you switch on and off like a light bulb. These were once important components of a celebration of…

When I’m an old lady, I’ll live with each kidAnd bring so much happiness – just as they did.I want to pay back all the joy they’ve provided,Returning each deed!  …

The Legend of Bill Fisher Bill Fisher earned the sobriquet “Ol’ Man” as a mark of respect for his years of service to Drummoyne Sailing Club as well as his…

By far the biggest change in transport occurred with the arrival of the motor car, though it was slow to make its impact initially as its was only affordable by…

Concord's New Light - Electricity for Gas - Memorial Gates to Mr. Zoeller To celebrate the installation of electric street lighting and the opening of the Zoeller memorial gates at…

In the 2021 New Year Honour List, our secretary received the Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division. She was recognised for her more than 50…

Back in the 50's what were the local shops we most relied upon - and indeed - were all that we needed? The grocer, the green grocer, the butcher, the…

We remain a society fascinated by gadgetry.  The industrial revolution ensured that our ancestors were similarly attracted to wondrous objects which promised to make life easier, and, at times, more…

The "first" Sydney Harbour tunnel built about a century ago has been largely forgotten. The tunnel, dug under Sydney's harbour at its narrowest point between Greenwich in the north and…

All Absolutely Wrong!!! 25. “There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable.  It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will.”  …