After his sudden death in 1992, Brett Whiteley’s daughter Arkie remembered her artist father as a ‘generous, sweet intuitive man’ who would go to eternity wearing his ‘funny little turned up black hat with the frangipani brooch.’ The hat, now in the collection of the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, was his ‘good luck hat. He […]
This would become Alec Mildren’s ultimate moment of glory – one he had been tirelessly working toward. Stepping up to the podium in June 1960, he accepted this trophy for his thrilling win of the 25th Australian Grand Prix (est. 1928). It was official, he had the fastest car in Australia. Engraved with his name, […]
Discarded by a tradesman, this small cardboard electrical installation tag lay silent and forgotten for decades in the darkness of the roof of the Chifley family house in Bathurst. In the rooms below, the residents lived out their lives as the Great Depression and World War II unfolded. In 1914, Bathurst-born Ben Chifley (1885-1951) and […]
Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Chifley liked to knit. On the wall of her rendered brick cottage at 10 Busby Street, Bathurst, nearby the comfortable sage green armchair where she often sat to pursue her craft, this beautiful Chinese scroll had been hanging since about 1948. Lizzie was Prime Minister Ben Chifley’s wife, and this was their home, […]
Swords and daggers conjure up images of hand-to-hand combat; brutal, bloody and deadly. But it is likely that these examples were never wielded against an enemy. Though they were carried on the belt as part of the uniform of a Japanese military officer during World War II, this sword and dagger had a deeper purpose […]
One million years ago, the owner of this jawbone and teeth prowled the grasslands in the area now known as Wellington, in the Dubbo region of central NSW. It was the carnivorous Australian marsupial and specialised predator known as a thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), Tasmanian Tiger, or Tasmanian Wolf. A striped dog-like animal, it had a […]
In late 1929, stock markets crashed and the world fell into the Great Depression. By 1932, one in three Australian breadwinners were unemployed. Families queued at soup kitchens or relied on government payments that allowed them to buy only the bare minimum of food. For many poor families, the staple meal was bread and ‘dripping’ […]
The World Wars unfolded as both harrowing battlefields and captivating cultural stages, with one of its greatest conflicts becoming the evolving role and recognition of women as they contributed to Australia’s military effort. During WWI, women’s direct involvement in the military beyond Australian soil was limited to a few thousand nursing roles. While some women […]
Standing the test of time, these ceramic bottles have remained in a near-pristine condition for over a hundred years. They tell the story of Narrabri’s famous cordial maker, Septimus Faulkner (1859-1936). In the late 1800s, a young Faulkner arrived in Narrabri to work for Edmund Fuss, a chemist who had turned to cordial making. Under […]
Described as ‘splendid’ and ‘imposing,’ the Narrabri Town Hall was a two-story brick building erected on Doyle Street in 1892. Built at a cost of 3,500 pounds (including furniture), it was officially opened the following year by the Governor, Sir Robert Duff, who used a ceremonial golden key presented to him for the occasion. Stained […]
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