By Lee English. This is a tale, partly in his own words of my Uncle Walter. As my husband and I walked into the room, we heard, ” Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday, dear Walter, Happy Birthday to me. I’m 91 today, I’m 91 today, hip-hip-hooray.” Uncle Walter was doing what he loves best – singing. Uncle Walter lives in a retirement village in Nerang, SE Queensland, where he has become a firm favourite with the other residents and … Continue reading
With bells clanging, the fire brigade raced down James Street in Fortitude Valley from their Brisbane Headquarters carrying the new Ajax ladder as a call had come through that premises on the corner of James and Arthur Street were on fire. By the time they arrived the building was well and truly ablaze but thankfully there was good water pressure and with the aid of the new ladder, the firemen brought the fire under control fairly quickly. This was the … Continue reading
Stephanie Ryan State Library of Queensland A researcher was intrigued to learn that her ancestors, who arrived by the Susanne Godeffroy and Melmerby in 1865, Wansfell in 1866 and Royal Dane in 1869, all made the trip from Moreton Bay to Brisbane in the Kate. What was the Kate? What was the journey from the bay to Brisbane like? The Kate, a 150-ton iron, paddle-wheel steamer especially designed for Brisbane’s bay and river trade, was built in 1864 at Newcastle-on-Tyne … Continue reading
The Australian government recently announced budget cuts that will almost certainly negatively impact further development by the National Library of the collection of books, newspapers, photographs and journals currently available free of charge to Australian researchers. On one of my forays into Trove’s newspaper collection I came across a bit of buried treasure, an article that illustrates the wealth of information in these collections and the importance of maintaining and developing them. The article appeared in a Sydney newspaper in … Continue reading
