William O’BrienThe Queenslander 3 Oct 1914 p.28 A bluish haze in the far asternAnd galloping seas between,The last-long look at one’s native land,Where boyhood days we’ve seen.For our bows are dipped in smothering spray,Our course to the setting sun.We’re bound for the front, with foot and horse,And a-clanking steel and gun. The transport reels in … Continue reading A Soliloquy by Lance Corporal William O’Brien (1882-1936)
History
Commemoration of the Fallen – 1916
Australia’s first major engagement1 of the Great War was on the Gallipoli Peninsula alongside troops from New Zealand, Britain, France and India. They had spent up to four and a half months training in Egypt before they embarked for Gallipoli. The aim was to assist the British Navy in forcing the Dardanelles Strait and then … Continue reading Commemoration of the Fallen – 1916
A Day at the Beach
Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co. In the heat of summer, Australians enjoy nothing better than a day at the beach. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was little different except that beach goers did not strip down to costumes flimsier than their underwear. This delightful photograph was taken on a bright sunny day in … Continue reading A Day at the Beach
Christmas 1914
Christmas 1914 is remembered mainly as the first of World War 1, and for the Christmas Truce on the Western Front when British and German soldiers met in No Man's Land and exchanged gifts, and even played games of football. As part of the British Empire, Australia too was at war but had not yet … Continue reading Christmas 1914
Book Review – No Ordinary Convict: a Welshman called Rebecca by Janine Marshall Wood
Blurb There he was – John Hughes – a handsome young man with face blackened, clad in a white nightdress and bonnet adorned with feathers. Leading hundreds of other young farmers similarly disguised, he was on a mission. After midnight under moonlight, amid a cacophony of drums, horns, gunfire and general caterwauling, they announced their … Continue reading Book Review – No Ordinary Convict: a Welshman called Rebecca by Janine Marshall Wood
Faces in the Street – Where have I seen you before?
One thing that has struck me as I have trawled through hundreds of photographs over the past few years is the way some people look to be people of their time and others, despite the period clothing and arrangement of the hair, have thoroughly modern faces. The members of this family certainly look to be … Continue reading Faces in the Street – Where have I seen you before?
The First Anzacs
Often we think we know our country’s history, particularly if we are only one degree of separation from those who made that history. Many people of my age had grandfathers who fought in World War One. We have some of their stories, though often highly sanitized if they were told to us as children. I … Continue reading The First Anzacs
Faces in the Street – ‘A beautiful head of hair’
Unidentified young woman c1870-1900Photographer: George & George's Federal Studio The use of the term crowning glory to describe a woman’s hair has been around since the middle of the nineteenth century. As the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express put it, ’Whether the locks be golden-hued or ebony, one of the greatest gifts of the Creator … Continue reading Faces in the Street – ‘A beautiful head of hair’
Cold Blows the Wind – Streets and Lanes of Hobart Town
Hobart Town 1879 At the Australian census of 1881, Tasmania was recorded as having a population of 115,705. Of these, 21,118 people lived in Hobart. Hobart was by this time an established city, the capital of the island state, with elegant sandstone buildings and the same well functioning institutions found in Britain: Parliament, Courts and … Continue reading Cold Blows the Wind – Streets and Lanes of Hobart Town
Cold Blows the Wind – Author Talk
In September 2022, I gave a talk at my local library about the research behind my novel Cold Blows the Wind and the reason I decided to tell Ellen Thompson and Harry Woods’s story as fiction rather than non-fiction. I am sharing the PowerPoint I used for the talk with narration added so those who … Continue reading Cold Blows the Wind – Author Talk
Catherine Meyrick 