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…
Preserving Food: Have you ever heard your grandparents call a refrigerator an ‘icebox’? Have you ever wondered what an ‘icebox’ was? How did people keep food fresh back in the old days without modern preservatives and refrigerators and all that fancy stuff? You probably thought they were talking about the little box you take on…
On Tuesday, 17th April, 1900, the Daily Telegraph published the following article: Through the courtesy of the trustees of the Walker Estate, the 5th Regiment (Scottish Rifles) camped for the principal part of their Easter training at Rhodes. The position taken up is a splendid one overlooking the Parramatta River and closely situated to the…
The first NSW Military Unit with a Scottish Association was The Duke of Edinburgh’s Highlanders formed in 1868. The Unit wore a kilt of Black Watch tartan and became known as the Highland Brigade before it was disbanded in 1878, following a decline in numbers caused by curtailment of new enrolment by Sir Henry Parkes, then the Premier of…
If you cut too many corners you’ll just keep going around in circles Your problems are only as big as you make them The trouble with living alone is that it is always your turn to do the dishes. The problem with trouble is it always starts out as fun. Experience is the name everyone…
Australian theatre has a long and distinguished history. It is a history which was influenced by both the United States and Britain. British born entrepreneurs were the fathers of Australian theatre. Despite the shadow of the two great powers, Australian theatre had it’s own peculiar characteristics. It grew to be a unique institution for a…
Fox Shot – Concord Raid A fox was shot at Concord this morning. It had a weather-worn collar around its neck and apparently had once been a pet. For several weeks Mr. J.B. Purcell of Cabarita Road and other residents of Concord have been worried by raids on their poultry. Chickens and at least a…
Christmas is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus although there is no evidence he was born on that day. It was declared his birthday in 440 AD. In England Christmas was originally called Yule. The old Saxon word Yule meant mid-winter. However when the Saxons were converted to Christianity the word Yule came to mean…
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