Since Australia’s colonial beginnings, Irish migrants have played a major role in the development of townships across the country. The Hickey family in Iluka, a small fishing town at the mouth of the Clarence River, was no exception. John Hetherington Hickey Sr. (d. 1926) and Eliza Gore Hickey (née Phillips) (1861-1894) were originally from Clonmel, […]
It was a proud and decisive moment, probably in the early 1850s, when the young William Cochrane grasped this fancy hand painted tin canister, slid open its hinged lid and carefully inserted his folded university documents inside its compartment. That day, William’s whole life was ahead of him – he had two degrees and further […]
There are ‘few better loved women’ in Glen Innes, northern NSW, than Miss Kate McCann. As the longest-serving teacher at Glencoe Public School just south of Glen Innes, McCann (also known as Biddy) had a ‘kindly heart’ and ‘sterling character.’ McCann was born in Ireland in 1865 and emigrated to Australia with her family. At […]
Margaret Prendergast was born on the 2nd of May 1854 in Clonpet, Tipperary in Ireland. Only eighteen years later and half a world away in southern New South Wales, Margaret became the school teacher at St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Holbrook, a town which at that time was known as Germanton. These silver cufflinks were […]
It is not clear how James Wilson (1834-1901) had obtained his ‘thorough knowledge of surveying.’ His family connections, his schooling, nor his early work in the English postal service can account for this skill which became so valuable to his adopted community in Broughton Creek (now known as Berry, New South Wales). Wilson was born […]
The laptop of its day, this portable writing desk allowed the writer freedom to move around. Perfect for use next to an open fire or beneath a shady tree in one’s garden, its lower compartments tidily held ink, paper and pens. This late nineteenth-century example belonged to Alexander (1837-1915) and Ann Hanlon (nee Boyd) (1839-1929). […]
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