One man is central to Australia’s understanding of its protracted defeat at Gallipoli a century ago. C.E.W. (Charles) Bean, Australian War Correspondent, Official Historian and unofficial curator of the Anzac legend. Bean’s overwhelming influence over how Australians remember Gallipoli, Anzacs and the Great War is undeniable and nowhere more evident than in his first Anzac…
From royalty to poets and preachers – here are the stories behind the familiar faces that grace our banknotes. It’s a question that stumbles teams at trivia nights across the nation – we see most of them daily, but for many, the names and stories behind the faces on Australia’s banknotes remain a mystery. The…
Peter Whittaker was born in 1868 in Altrincham, Wilmslow, England. He arrived in Brisbane in March 1891, where he joined the Royal Australian Artillery the following year. In 1904 he resigned with the rank of Corporal. He married Blanche Bushell in 1898. They had four children – two sons, Eugene and Norman, and two daughters,…
There was a short time in Australia’s European history when two women wielded extraordinary power and influence behind the scenes of the fledgling colony. In early 19th Century Sydney the two women, whose husbands were sworn enemies, would cross paths. These two courageous women came from strikingly different backgrounds, with husbands who held sharply conflicting…
Last year I joined a support group of procrastinators. We haven’t met yet. The biggest lie I tell myself is “I don’t need to write that down, I’ll remember it.” I don’t have grey hair; I have “wisdom highlights”! I’m just very wise. I decided to stop calling the bathroom the “John” and renamed it…
Until 1782, English convicts were transported to America. However, in 1783 the American War of Independence ended. America refused to accept any more convicts so England had to find somewhere else to send their prisoners. Transportation to New South Wales was the solution. Life in Britain was very hard. As new machines were invented, people…
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…
It is with sadness we record the recent passing of Peter Woods. Peter was a long-time member and supporter of our society He joined Concord Council in 1977 and served for a total of 26 years, including 10 years as Mayor, remaining with the City of Canada Bay for a term following the amalgamation of…
The People on Australia’s Banknotes Australian banknotes contain portraits of Australians and others, from royalty to poets and preachers, who have played a significant role in the life of the nation. The people on the banknotes have made defining contributions to Australian society in many fields of endeavour, and their mark on our national story…
It is with much sadness we wish to inform you of the passing of Betty Stirrat on 2nd June at the age of 96. Betty was a former member of our society and one of our last direct links with Dame Eadith Walker and the Yaralla estate. Her father was the electrical engineer on the estate and…
There is substantial evidence to suggest that the very first gravestone ever dates back thousands of years to Roman and Celtic cultures. As modern technology progresses, new discoveries are still being made about the origin of famous and mysterious ruins. Historians have recently come to believe, through new evidence, that Stonehenge was actually a burial…
Just a reminder that our June speaker, Ian Burnet, will be talking about his new book, The Tasman Map. It delves into the story of the first Dutch voyages to Australia, set against the background of the struggle of the newly formed Dutch Republic to gain its independence from the Kingdom of Spain and the…