Sending Dots and Dashes

This machine is a Siemens Telegraph Register. It dates from around the 1850s, no later than 1860. The reason for this date is that this machine records the message onto a paper tape, storing a permanent record of the Morse code message. This was the earliest version of how the messages were received before Alfred […]

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Those Were the Days

In 1878, when her mother Margaret passed away, Phoebe Day (1855-1930) was just 23 years old. Unlike her nine older siblings, Phoebe was probably still living with her mother and caring for her since the death of her father, Edward, two years earlier. As the eldest sibling at home, Phoebe may have taken responsibility for […]

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A Tribute with a Twist

This decorated certificate, along with a silver table-centerpiece known as an epergne, was presented to Carcoar’s Bank Manager, Mr John Phillips, at a farewell organised by the village’s residents in August 1893. Printed tributes like this example were commonly gifted in this era, they acknowledged the community esteem felt for those who received them. The […]

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