When European settlers were marking out parcels of land in Rockley, a Gunter’s chain just like this one would have been used by the surveyors. Measuring sixty-six feet in length and consisting of one hundred links (each 7.92 inches in length and marked off in groups of ten), the chain was attached to a stake […]
Old family Bibles sometimes contain a family tree tracing its passage through the generations. This small, more personal Bible was owned by Herbert Stanger Budden (1864–1948) and reveals an entangled and interesting family history. Herbert was the eldest son of Arthur Budden (1832–1922) and Sarah Stanger (1840–1873). The Budden and Stanger families were early white […]
Although they may not know it, the Australian Women’s Cricket team owes a debt of gratitude to those who once played with this ball, Mereah Austen (1882–1982), and to J.S. O’Hara (1853–1933). Mereah for showing a sceptical public that girls could play cricket at a high level and O’Hara for his enthusiastic support for ‘The […]
Pencil, walrus, toothbrush or handlebar? This cup protects them all. The porcelain ledge across its rim kept the moustaches of Victorian gentleman from getting wet or stained as they sipped their hot beverages. This highly specialised kind of crockery is said to have been invented in the mid-1860s by the potter Harvey Adams, who clearly […]
The lady who kept her calling cards in this delicately carved ivory case may have been one of Thomas Arkell’s daughters, from Charlton near Bathurst. She clearly looked after it. Perhaps it was only brought out on the days on which she ‘called’ on her social network. Calling, in the days before telephones, meant visiting […]
When the shingled roof of the kitchen at Bathurst hospital caught fire in 1878 and destroyed the whole building, the town lamented the fact that it ‘did not posses an efficient trained band ready for duty by day and night.’ At a time when buildings were heated by coal and lit by gas and candles, […]
When this telephone was installed at the Bathurst Post Office in 1895, the only place to make it ring was the Bathurst railway station. A single telephone line operated between the two establishments to advise the post office of any mail trains that were running late, until a switchboard of twenty-five lines was installed the […]
In the 1890s, a Chinese prisoner in Bathurst Gaol was entrusted with a carving tool and used it to create something of beauty. Applying either traditional ivory-carving skills or training received during incarceration, he created twelve delicate trinkets made of bone. Seemingly taking inspiration from Western symbols rather than Chinese motifs, some examples depict a […]
Between the covers of this album are nineteen drawings completed between March and September 1917on HMHS Takada and at the Victoria War Hospital (VWH), Bombay (Mumbai) during the First World War (WWI). The Victoria War Hospital was established in the Taj Mahal Hotel and staffed by Australian nurses including Violet Hazel Lowrey (1889–1964) of Stroud. […]
On 6 February 1952, King George VI’s (1895-1952) died after a prolonged illness and, within a day, the news broke in Australia through newspaper stands and cinemas. In the dim light of the silver screen, filmgoers would learn about the passing of the throne through newsreels, like those compiled here, and then spread the news […]
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