Underground Mutton and Rabbit Fur Capes

The story of rabbits in Australia is usually related to James and Thomas Austin’s notorious success in releasing rabbits in the colony of Victoria in 1860. Earlier attempts in New South Wales had failed, but by the 1880s the rabbit population of Victoria was spreading north and starting to cause concern amongst farmers and pastoralists […]

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Seeing Herman Rosler

If it possible to ascribe personal characteristics based on a photograph this portrait of Julius Herman Rosler (1825-1914) – known as John – suggests a self-confident man determined to make his mark on the world, something he certainly did. One obituary published upon Rosler’s death was subtitled ‘A Romantic Career’ which somewhat downplays a life […]

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An ‘Afghan’ Cameleer’s Life and Times

Shamroze Khan was born in 1877 in the Punjabi town of Peshawar, in what was then British-ruled India. In 1905 he moved to Broken Hill where he first worked as a cameleer carting freight to stations in the West Darling area with Zaidullah Fazullah, a fellow Punjabi from Ghorghushti. His new life in Australia presented […]

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