General

  • The Golden Rule

                BRAHMINISM:   This is the sum of duty.   Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.  (Mahabharata, 5, 1517)             BUDDHISM:   Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.   (Undana-Barga, 5, 18)             CONFUCIANISM:   Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness:   Do not unto others what you…

  • Trish Skehan’s New Book

    Frontline of the Pandemic: Australia 1919 The book provides a dark account of the impact of Spanish Flu on Australia, a dramatic and alarming revelation of tragic mortality, but with numerous descriptions of heroism across the country.  It should come with a warning of graphic content.  It will distress most readers, but will captivate them…

  • From our Collection

    OUR MAGIC LANTERN This projector, together with a box of slides, was donated to our museum by the family of Rev. Harmon Denning, who moved to Sydney in 1929 and became a missionary with the Sydney City Mission, first at Glebe for 2 or 3 years, then at Redfern for about 20 years, until his…

  • He or She – the Computer

    Two view points. A businessmen, who was also a sailor and being quite aware that ships are addressed as “she”, wondered whether computers should be referred to as “he” or “she”. To answer the question, he decided to form two tasks groups to study the issue and report back to him. The first task group…

  • Garden Island

    One of the prettiest islands in Port Jackson has the distinction of having given us our first bushranger, Black Caesar, whose story was in the August newsletter. The principal and almost the only policy of the Government of New South Wales during its earliest years consisted mainly of finding something to eat for the thousand…

  • Centenary of Spanish flu pandemic in Australia

    Why don’t we commemorate its victims and heroes? ‘Spanish flu’, the pandemic that killed between 50-100 million people worldwide, made landfall in Australia by 1919. About a third of all Australians were infected and nearly 15,000 people were dead in under a year, yet little is known of its generational impact. Dr Peter Hobbins investigates….

  • Russell Lea Manor

    Russell Lea Manor, also known as Russell Lea House, was the home of Russell Barton (1830-1916), and was situated north of Lyons Road between Sibbick Street and Lyons Road.  The suburb of Russell Lea takes its name from this grand home. Russell Barton rose from humble beginnings to become a pastoralist, mine-owner and politician. In the late 1870s…

  • The Colour Cure

    Under the heading “Occupying “canary” room.  Nerve Cases are Soothed” the following article was published on 24 March 1919. In the new Red Cross convalescent Docks, Sydney, NSW, the colour cure idea has been introduced by Miss Eadith Walker. This is an experiment in such treatment in Australia, and R. R. de Mestre, a young…

  • Olympic Trivia

    We are missing out on the Olympic Games for 2020, so we thought we’d bring you some trivia to think about while we wait for next year. In 1896 the American Olympic Team almost missed the Athens games because Greece was still on the Julian calendar. (The modern Gregorian calendar is 13 days ahead) Some…