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One hundred years ago, on 9th June, the North Strathfield railway station was officially opened. “For many years – how many cannot be definitely stated – the residents of that part of the Concord Municipality, now known as North Strathfield, had been looking forward expectantly to the establishment of a railway station midway between Strathfield…

Keeping Time. These days, almost everything has the time. Your computer, your mobile phone, the clock in your car, your blackberry, your iPhone…everything does! But back when the only timekeepers were mechanical tickers, how did you keep time? And how did you know the right time? The Pocket Watch.  A hundred years ago, men didn’t…

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 profitable. We might say that all useful objects are not gadgets and all gadgets are not necessarily useful objects. Knives for picking the stones out…

Set on a picturesque headland overlooking the harbour, Sydney’s quarantine station housed close to 16,000 people from 1835 to 1984. it served as a holding station for passengers on inbound ships to New South Wales arriving from well-known hotspots for contagious diseases.  Interned for diseases that terrified the community, people held in quarantine left their…

In December 1799 Parramatta’s log and thatch gaol burnt down and was replaced by a stone gaol under the direction of the Reverend Samuel Marsden, acting as Superintendant of Public Works. The building commenced in 1802 and sometime in 1803 it was decided to add a second storey as a linen and woollen manufactory. This…

One autumn morning in August 1919, Frederick Zahra, a storeman and first aid officer at Mortlake Gasworks, became aware of a commotion at the nearby tar stills. As he ran towards the huge tanks he could hear shouting and cries for help. Reaching the scene he became aware that there were four men trapped inside….

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand. It is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them and not deserve them. Man was made at the end of the week’s work when God…

The volunteers wondered just what they were getting into when, as they prepared to infiltrate Borneo, they were offered a cyanide pill. Some secrets take a very long time to emerge. Such is the case with a secret military operation formed as the war in the Pacific reached the halfway point in 1943. Men as…

Municipality of Concord – Population 1901 – 2,800;   1911 – 4,076;  1921 – 11,013;  1933 – 23,213;   1947 – 29,401;   1954 – 28,326;  1961 – 27,750 From 1947 there is a falling off in the population because the people are growing older, but as young people come to the district the population figures will rise….

Communications and Correspondence (cont) Typewriters.  Of course, you couldn’t always handwrite stuff. What if you were handing in the draft of a big novel or a report to your boss? You couldn’t handwrite the entire thing! What if your handwriting sucked and he couldn’t read it? Well, then you would have to type it, on…

In the days before supermarkets, housekeeping had a pleasant leisurely and personal flavour.  The Sunday joint was delivered by the butcher, who usually had time for a chat, at the back door – he used the tradesman’s entrance, of course. The Chinese market gardener went from house to house, carrying his vegetables and fruit in…