Little Ships

The Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation Company (ISNC) was established in 1858 as an amalgamation of three smaller shipping companies which transported goods between Sydney and the south coast of NSW. The fleet were well-known for carrying live pigs and so were often referred to as the ‘Pig and Whistle Boats.’ Townspeople and passengers […]

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Tackling Speed

This wooden sheave block – which houses a metal wheel (the sheave) and, together with its rope (called a strop) and hook attachment, functioned as a pulley – is a relic from the celebrated nineteenth century steamship called the SS Sophia Jane (1826-1845). English-built in 1826, the Sophia Jane sailed to Australia in May 1831. […]

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Tools of His Trade

When 22-year-old Leslie Campbell Lupton (born 1896) returned from World War I to his family home in Bondi in 1918, having been shot in the back and had the fingers of his right hand crushed, he must have wondered what sort of occupation he could take up. Before enlisting, he had worked as an insurance […]

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From White Clay Mountain

Chipped, dusty red, sandstone brick

Throwing a handful of sand around the mould, before filling it with several dollops of wet clay, the maker of this sandstock brick knew that the dusty sand would allow the brick to easily slip out. Using the edge of his wooden strike board, he scraped off the excess clay and pressed the heart-shaped ‘frog’ […]

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