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History

Read more about the article In the tracks of Tom Pritchell, bush horseman
Homestead believed to be Cooplacurripa Station in the mid-1800s.

In the tracks of Tom Pritchell, bush horseman

My mother was adopted, so our family tree is a bit complicated. On her side, the biological family branch was at a dead end for a long time, until a late-life DNA test by my mother unearthed some results. On the adoptive side, though, it's an interesting set of branches that I've recently started to follow. My main interest has been to establish the facts - if I can - about the Aboriginal heritage of my adoptive grandfather, Jack Pritchell. This has been talked about in our family for many years, but I've never been able…

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Read more about the article Newspapers, families and skeletons

Newspapers, families and skeletons

It's interesting to see how much newspapers have changed in Australia. And interesting too, to reflect on how much is lost when small papers close. From the point of view of historical or family researchers, old newspapers are a tremendous storehouse of information, from important stories to bits of trivia that help flesh out pictures of people in the receding branches of family trees. While access to many old papers is difficult, Australia's amazing Trove resource offers much more than many people might imagine, as I discovered this week. It started when it suddenly occurred to…

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Read more about the article Three ship pile-up in Newcastle Harbour
The entangled ships Ditton, Port Crawford and Peeblesshire in Newcastle Harbour, April 1902.

Three ship pile-up in Newcastle Harbour

It was just on dark, April 4, 1902; the weather was taking a turn for the worse, and among the fleet of ships that appeared off Newcastle, NSW, hoping to enter harbour, was one of the world's biggest three-masters, the 311-foot-long (95m) Ditton. The harbour, apparently, was already reasonably crowded, and there were two fully laden ships - The Port Crawford and the Peeblesshire - tied up at the so-called "farewell buoys" in the channel, ready to leave next day. It was a situation fraught with danger and, unfortunately, the danger was not avoided. The Ditton…

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