Driving through the Canada Bay suburb of Rhodes, it is easy to conclude that anything related to heritage has long since been over-ridden by factories and apartment blocks, and what remains is a soul-less landscape and an anonymous past. Too often one reads of areas of historical interest being swept away in the haste to…
The curious history of Woolloomooloo, Potts Point, Elizabeth Bay, Rushcutters Bay and Kings-Bloody-Cross. The 2011 postcode of Sydney’s inner east offers a fascinating history of highlife, low life and, sometimes, very low life. All five precincts are alive with history and surprising stories. Ride the scenic railway over snow-capped mountains of the forgotten White City…
The melody of this song is based on traditional Irish folk music. Although it has had many iterations, the tune remains easily recognisable and has endured in popular memory. Over the centuries the lyrics and their intent have changed. It has been a drinking song, (“Johnny Fill the Cup”) a love ballad (using the words…
One of our members, Patricio Parrague, recently donated his small collection of Matchbox toys to our museum to add to our collection. One of Patricio’s hobbies is photography so he offered to photograph the collection and put them on his Flicker Site so that anyone around the world can enjoy them. As well as the…
February 5, 1991 – 1 and 2 cent pieces came off the production line for the final time at the Royal Australian MintFebruary 3, 1954 – Queen Elizabeth arrived in Australia and became the first reigning monarch to visit the country.February 4, 1965 – Don Lane made his debut as host of the Tonight Show….
In the years of the thirties and forties, going to the Saturday ‘Arvo flicks’ was the most popular event of the week. My brother and I had sixpence each for admission and threepence to spend. Sixpence gave us seat downstairs. Sometimes Dad was generous and we got a shilling each. We then spent ninepence to…
The story of the murderous Kenniff Gang. What would you do if you learned, late in life, of a dark secret the family had concealed for years – that you were related to murderers and bush rangers and that your family name had been changed to hide this secret? You’d write a book! If…
Coin Tester & Sorting Machine This is a brown metal container approximately 300mm high, 300mm wide and 300mm deep. There are two slots at the top, with different widths, which, one could assume, would take the one shilling and two shilling coins. There is another opening at the bottom just above the long tray which,…
Ever since the very earliest days of European colonisation in Australia, and likely before, swimming at the beach has been a popular Sydney pastime. Yet swimming, as we know it today, is a far cry from what those who lived in the 19th century or well into the 20th would have been familiar with. In…
I was born in 1941 at Carinya Hospital on Concord Road, about a block north of Holy Trinity Church near the then Methodist Church. The hospital is no longer there but the house still exists. My parents lived in Mackenzie Street from the time of their marriage in 1938. The property was originally purchased by…
Map of Australia and Water Features, Wilson Park, Lawson Wilson Park at Lawson is across the road from the Lawson pool. Within the Park is a large, much-loved concrete map of Australia, a small bridge and associated water features. The map was constructed in the 1930s at a precise scale of 75 miles to 1…
More to Tell The words “Je me souviens” (I remember) are boldly displayed on T-shirts, flags and even vehicle number plates throughout French-speaking Quebec. It is more than an acknowledgement of bilingualism or the mere repetition of the official state motto. It is a reaffirmation of Quebec’s French past and more particularly, an expression that…
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