Englishwoman Hannah Snell, who could neither read nor write, joined the army in 1745 under the name of James Gray. Later she joined the navy as a cook’s assistant and then became a common seaman, spending a total of nine years at sea. She fought in naval battles and was considered a courageous sailor. Snell…
Valentine’s Day, or St Valentine’s Day, is celebrated every year on 14 February. Flowers, cards, chocolates, red hearts and romance. That’s what Valentine’s day is all about, right? Well, maybe not It all goes back to a mysterious, third century saint who suffered a brutal fate The celebration appears to have its roots in a…
The now defunct horse trough on the corner of Park Road and Princes Street at Boronia Park has an interesting and intriguing history. It is one of about a dozen such watering troughs still to be found in the Sydney metropolitan area and was originally among 700 installed mainly across New South Wales and Victoria…
Soft Drinks: These days, we don’t give much thought to soft drinks. They come in metal cans or they come in plastic bottles, we open them, we drink them, we burp, we throw them away. We think of them as modern inventions. But they’re not, are they? Back in the old days, soft drinks were…
In the early days of Australia convicts provided free labour, standards of living were generally poor and the small affluent society managed to live very well with a minimum of conveniences. Gradually the lower classes came to resent being servants. There were two alternatives to the problem. One was to advertise overseas, mainly in Britain,…
Before the iPad and iPhone! Before CD and DVD players! Before gaming consoles and TV! Just how did people have fun in the early 20th century? You might think life would be so boring. It certainly wasn’t! People made their own entertainment, making do with whatever was on hand. The Great Depression was a very…
Why is the wreck of this ship being remembered in the Australian maritime history books all these years later? Because it remains one of the worst maritime disasters in Australian history resulting in the tragic loss of 89 lives, mostly due to cold and exposure. They were in sight of land but unable to reach…
Schooling: Schooling has changed a lot since our grandparents were kids. These days we have computers, detention, graphics calculators and learning software to teach us. Back in the early 20th century, teaching was done with a book, a slate, an inkwell and the cane. Schooling was simple, but effective. It concentrated on the ‘Three R’s….
Gas was first produced at Mortlake on 23rd May, 1886 – gas was supplied to the public on 28th May, 1886. The last electric train ran in Sydney on 25th February, 1961, ending 100 years of tram service. It ran from Hunter Street in the city to La Perouse. The original Palace Hotel in Mortlake…
Excerpts from an interview with Frances Coskerie (nee Ashton) who, at age 90, was living in a local nursing home. I was born in Sydney on 10 April, 1885. I don’t remember ever learning to swim, but I know it was at a very early age. My father, Samuel Ashton, owned the Public Baths at…
The original Palace Hotel was opened in 1886, the same year as the gasworks It was built on the river at the end of Tennyson Road, where the River Quays Marina now stands. The first licensee was John Stuart. The hotel, known as Mongomery’s Palace, was a distinctive building with verandas and a tower which…
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there were many tidal swimming pools along the Parramatta River providing welcome relief and recreation on hot days. Ashton’s Mortlake Baths, near Majors Bay on the Parramatta River, were established in 1886. They were the first non-tidal enclosed public baths built in metropolitan Sydney. Samuel Ashton, a…
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