Where do you expect to find a mortar and pestle? Most people would immediately recall the grinding up of fragrant spices in a familiar kitchen. However, for pharmacist John Tregurtha (d. 2009), he likely thought of hours spent grinding fine powders to make medications for his community. John began working as a pharmacist at Emmaville […]
Growing up, it might have seemed unlikely that Loo Loo Ruth Amesbury (1885-1961) could truly follow in her father’s footsteps. After all, Edward Percy Amesbury (1842-1912) was the local dentist in the town of Glen Innes, on Ngoorabul country, and becoming an apprentice dentist was not what most would consider ‘women’s work’ at the time. […]
It’s hard to imagine that we once relied on horses and bullocks to take bulky produce to market, move heavy loads, and travel long distances. Back then, saddlers were essential because they made and repaired harnesses and leatherwork. In the 1870s, John Priest (born c. 1851) was one of the first saddlers to open in […]
The Glen Innes Examiner – formerly the Glen Innes Examiner and General Advertiser – has been a source of news for the Glen Innes community of New South Wales for a hundred and fifty years. First established in 1874, the newspaper played an important role in the early days of the town. Spreading information about […]
During the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, dentistry in Australia was developing at a rapid pace. In NSW, the Dentistry Act was legislated in January 1901, which established dentistry as a profession. New regulations offered a structure to assess the legitimacy of practising dentists and stop those who were unqualified from operating questionable […]
In the late 1800s, wind-up toys emerged in Europe and captivated young hearts across the continent. This phenomenon began with simple designs, but soon evolved into the production of intricate and enchanting toys which could move seemingly of their own accord. The whir of mechanised hands and feet, the clatter of tin wheels on wooden […]
Percy Puck Sing Young must have been impressed when he walked into the Kwong Sing War store (later known as Kwong Sing & Co.) in 1894. The owner, Wong Chee, had recently erected a new building for the business in Glen Innes, northern NSW, and it stocked a huge range of items. Young soon got […]
What do wild black panthers and pretty sapphires have in common? This pelican pick! In 1872, some local miners discovered tin in the Glen Innes Highlands area, on Ngoorabul country in rural NSW. Being on top of one of the world’s richest mineral belts, other resources including arsenic and precious stones like sapphires, emeralds and […]
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