An ornate pavilion was erected in Centennial Park for the swearing in of the first Governor General of Australia, Lord Hopetoun, the first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, and the first Cabinet at the official inauguration of the federation of the colonies in Centennial Park, Sydney, on 1 January 1901. The Sydney Morning Herald of 2nd…
This debate was a famous dispute in The Bulletin magazine from 1892–93 between two of Australia’s most iconic writers and poets: Henry Lawson and Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson. At the time, The Bulletin was a popular and influential publication, and often supported the typical national self-image held by many Australians, sometimes termed the “bush legend.” Many Australian writers and poets, such as “Banjo” Paterson,…
By 1891, with the six colonies at loggerheads and the Victorian and New South Wales economies in freefall, Australia’s great federation movement ground to a halt. The cause took another blow when its champion, Sir Henry Parkes, resigned as Premier of New South Wales later that year. The task of unifying the colonies fell to…
Dorothea Mackellar was born Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar at Point Piper in Sydney, NSW on 1 July 1885. Her parents were Sir Charles Kinnaird Mackellar, a notable Sydney physician, and Marion Mackellar (nee Buckland). She had three brothers, Keith, Eric and Malcolm. “My Country” is a poem about Australia, written by Mackellar at the age of 19 while homesick in…
This cherished timeless poem speaks to the core of the Australian heart with its line “I love a sunburnt country”. The love of field and coppice, of green and shaded lanes. Of ordered woods and gardens is running in your veins, Strong love of grey-blue distance, brown streams and soft dim skies I know but…
The borough of Five Dock, which includes Burketown, Drummoyne, and Birkenhead, was incorporated on the 25th of July, 1871. It is bounded on the north by the Parramatta River, on the east by Iron Cove Creek and Parramatta-road, on the west by Concord and Hen and Chicken Bay, and on the south by Ashfield. lt…
Few people today would remember war savings certificates, a type of promissory note, sold to hundreds of thousands of Australians during World War I and World War II. With the outbreak of WWII it was again necessary for the government to find ways to raise money for the war. A new 6d (sixpence) War Savings…
One hundred years ago Australia had the world’s attention on 10 December 1919 as the winners of the Great Air Race from England to Australia finally touched down in Fannie Bay, Northern Territory. The victorious pilots, Ross and Keith Smith in their Vickers Vimy G-EAOU twin engine plane, won the £10,000 prize when they landed…
A great start for the Christmas festivities is a visit to the Yaralla Estate, Nullawarra Avenue, Concord West on Friday, 6th December for Carols at Yaralla. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. Parking in the grounds. Bring your children. Bring your grandchildren. Just come along. It’s a relaxing and fun evening for young and old. Musical…
The announcement of World War II led to panic amongst motorists worried about the Introduction of petrel rationing. By September 1939, many car owners were stockpiling fuel – one such person reportedly stored 8,800 gallons (3331 litres) in 44.gallon drums! By October 1940 the government issued strict fuel rationing to conserve it for Defence purposes….
When Frederick Lanchester, the man who built Britain’s first all-British car, fell on hard times in 1944 he applied to the British government for a special pension on the Civil List. He was not without some justification. He had imparted so much to the world, with more than 200 inventions including power steering, four-wheel drive…
We all have some possessions, collected through the years; Some bring happy memories, others bring the tears. Not many from our childhood, we didn’t bother then, We were far too busy learning and counting up to ten. When maturity came through we started to collect. Some we threw away later, the special ones we kept….
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