Category Archives: Trove

Amelia’s Story

Posted on by September 25, 2017

No review of the business and industrial activities of Wynnum and district would be complete which did not include Irvine’s, with their large emporium on the corner of Bay Terrace and Charlotte Street. They have been active in Wynnum Central for over half a century, and indeed their name has become inseparable from that of the district. Their contribution to the growth and development of this centre can be gauged in some measure from their own extraordinary expansion and steady … Continue reading

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

Posted on by December 30, 2016

Because it is Christmas time I thought I would write with a Christmas theme this time. Unfortunately, I do not have any stories, letters or photos handed down from previous generations that show how they celebrated their Christmases, so I will tell you about Christmas for me as a child growing up in the 50’s and 60’s in a small town in Northern New South Wales. There was always a tree, a big one, almost reaching to the ceiling. Dad … Continue reading

An Unlucky Police Constable

Posted on by December 30, 2016

 I would like to tell you a story about my paternal great grandfather who was a police constable in the far north eastern region of New South Wales from 1880 to 1916. In 1900 he fell victim to a slight misadventure which caused him some notoriety in the district. At the time, he was stationed in Casino, a small town about 30 or so miles inland from the coast. In September of that year he was escorting a prisoner from … Continue reading

Buried Treasures

Posted on by May 23, 2016

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

A place in the sun

Posted on by February 5, 2016

Sweltering through the heatwave that recently descended on Brisbane, made me extremely grateful for the benefits of air conditioning. I started to wonder, not for the first time, how early migrants to Australia coped with the heat and humidity. Without electricity, they didn’t even have the benefits of fans, let alone air conditioning. Their clothing was designed more for colder climates than hot ones – think how you’d survive. Rainbow over Currumbin, Qld I remember when I first arrived in … Continue reading