Prickly pear (Opuntia stricta) was first planted in Australia in 1788 at the instruction of Governor Phillip as a food source for the insect used to produce red dye for the uniforms of British soldiers. However, by the mid-1920s, the invasive weed had spread far beyond its original industrial use to 24 million hectares – […]
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When the young Birmingham artist Arthur Henry Fullwood (1863-1930) arrived in Maitland in 1886, what were his first impressions? Having recently migrated to the colony, Fullwood was commissioned by the Picturesque Atlas Publishing Company in Sydney to travel to the Hunter Region and depict its principal town, Maitland. Among the various locations Fullwood visited in […]
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