Boat Hits Fish, 90 m.p.h. Mr. Ernie Nunn of Guildford hit a big fish at 90 m.p.h. while trying to break an Australian speed boat record on the Parramatta River at Cabarita on Saturday, 29th September. He prevented the boat from capsizing – but lost the record. When the boat returned to its base a…
LYONS ROAD, DRUMMOYNE Most of us would be familiar with Lyons Road, which runs from Drummoyne, through Russell Lea, Wareemba and finishes in Five Dock West. Lyons Road is named after Samuel Lyons, who purchased the Five Dock Farm estate in 1836. He subdivided the Estate for housing and built the first roads in the…
The history of rowing in Australia began in the early 19th century. In 1818 the crews of three convict ships, the Batavia, the Guildford, the Minerva plus a crew put together by Captain John Piper raced from Bradleys s Head to Sydney Cove. They raced the 3.5 miles in 15 minutes1, 2. An interesting side…
THE SQUATTERS GRAB: where it all went wrongBy Wal WalkerSelf-published by William Wallace Walker, 2023. Wal Walker was born in Sydney. He is an economist and has lived ten years in Queensland and several years in the Northern Territory. Wal has written a detailed book on the dispossession of land and subsequent loss of culture…
We know that there was a Cabarita Power Boat Club that raced on the Parramatta River because of a couple of photographs we have been able to source, but we have nothing of the club’s history. Is there anyone out there who can help fill this gap in our records we would like to hear…
Child-size Chair Many years ago this small child-size chair was donated to our former museum situated at the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital. It has the words “My Birthday” engraved on the backrest. The only other information we were given was that it was “in memory of Olwyn Jean Gaward”. We could possibly make an educated…
Several rock historians have claimed that rock and roll was one of the first music genres to define an age group. It gave teenagers a sense of belonging, even when they were alone. Rock and roll is often identified with the emergence of teen culture among the first baby boomer generation, who had greater relative…
I LOVE A SUNBURNT COUNTRY: The Diaries of Dorothea MackellarEdited by Jyoti BrunsdonNt. Ryde, Angus & Robertson, 1990 The wonderful poem, “My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar, written in 1904, is known and loved by many Australians. The quandary is, why does almost everyone only know the 2nd verse of a 6-stanza poem, the starting line…
By the time I was 21, I was learning ballroom dancing, doing medal exams and training for competition dancing. My partner got hit with a hockey stick in the leg and ended up losing half of his leg. I was too distressed to continue and also gave ballroom dancing away. However, I was playing tennis…
The Begging Boy This is a garden statue of a boy wearing clothes reminiscent of Oliver Twist who appears to be begging for something. There is no inscription on the object, but it was probably mounted on a plinth that could have contained some information. This object only came to light when we finally moved…
My grandmother and mother spoke about Bee Miles, a name known to everybody in that era, with many people remembering seeing her on the streets in the inner city. For almost half a century, beginning in the 1920’s, Bee was celebrated and known as the best-known Sydney character. Ellis describes Bee as “Australia’s famous bohemian…
Our friend Deke Richards, who made the documentary on the Canadian Patriotes, the French and English-speaking rebels who were sent in exile to Australia aboard the Buffalo in 1840—the 91 English-speaking Canadians were sent to Tasmania while 58 French-speaking Canadians came to Concord, NSW—recently contacted us regarding a special event held in Quebec. The Patriot…