The boat shed at the bottom of Hilly Street, looking towards Green Point, taken from the top of Montgomery’s Palace Hotel c1920s. The Mortlake-Putney Punt now crosses the Parramatta River from this spot. Nearby is a small beach, known as Fairmile Cove, where naval boats were assembled during World War II.
In the middle distance is Green Point, previously called Bachelor’s Point, which was refurbished in 2019 and renamed Wangal Reserve, in recognition of the traditional owners whose lands stretched along the southern shore of the Parramatta River (Burramattagal) from Blackwattle Bay to Silverwater.
At the northern end of the reserve was a community dance hall, a popular venue on a Saturday night. In the distance can be seen the Dutch-style gatehouse marking the entrance to “Rivendell”, formerly Thomas Walker Hospital, completed in 1893 by Dame Eadith Walker in memory of her father.
In the opposite direction, taken from the same vantage point is Tennyson Road, formerly Wharf Road and once part of Burwood Road that snaked its way across country to link with the current Burwood Road. At the top of the hill the AGL works can be made out with one of its gasholders visible on the left.
Cows can be seen grazing near the tramway about halfway up the hill. The village of Mortake is scattered about with houses and a few stores well-spaced out. Many of the workers at the gas works came to work on the tram that ran between Enfield and Mortlake via Burwood.
The Stanton Brothers When war broke out in Europe in 1914, the Stanton brothers like many of their contemporaries, were eager to enlist in defence of “God, King and Country”. Older brother, Charles signed up in July 1915, leaving his wife May and two young children, Winifred aged 3 and Francis, born just 7 months…
After the 1848 revolution, Eugène Dominique Nicolle (1823 – 1909) came to Australia to pursue his career as an engineer. Arriving in Sydney in 1853 with his first wife, Nicolle registered his initial patent for an ice-making machine jointly with Richard Dawson in 1861. Nicolle eventually secured the financial backing of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort for his experiments, which…
The following is part of a letter printed in The Western Australian, 11 February 1919. It was written by a patient telling exactly what it was like to have Spanish Influenza and survive. It really brings home the pain and suffering of so many in that troubling time. I have been ill with the horrible…
In 1918-1919, when the Spanish influenza pandemic swept the globe, Australians – with their peculiar sense of humour – devised unique ways of dealing with the apparatus and cures popular at the time. For example, hideous faces were painted onto the face mask, or kewpie dolls and huge wire spiders hung from the sides. However,…
In 1937, Professor von Brauchitsch delivered a lecture at Munich to German officer-cadets on escapology. It was the sort of lecture which did not arouse much interest except for one man, an ex-British Officer who made copious notes. At the time he did not know that what he had heard would afterwards be discussed at…
If you look at enough Great War memorials, it becomes apparent there is little uniformity in the way they are presented. Some list names in alphabetical order, others separate these by rank or in the order individuals enlisted. Before 1927 there was no national agency to collect the names of those who served or died…
Add your first comment to this post
×
Nurungi Printed Copy
Do not print this page until after the first of the new month
This window will automatically close after 10 seconds
