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History

Read more about the article The sailing ship Lawhill at Newcastle in 1944
Lawhill off the coast of Newcastle, NSW, 1944

The sailing ship Lawhill at Newcastle in 1944

On September 9, 1944, when the veteran four-masted barque Lawhill arrived at Newcastle, NSW, on a trading visit, the city must have responded with excitement. With the world still at war - although by now it was clear the Allies were on the front foot in both Europe against Germany and the Pacific against Japan - the appearance of a big sailing ship would have taken the minds of old-timers back to their youth, when such vessels were regular visitors in the busy harbour. Younger people would have realised too, that this was likely to be…

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Read more about the article Around Australia with a caravan, in 1956
Broome, 1956

Around Australia with a caravan, in 1956

In 21st century Australia, when fully outfitted four-wheel-drive vehicles are common in the carparks of urban shopping centres, the idea of setting off on a long journey through the outback conjures up images of snorkels, winches, raised suspensions, solar satellite apparatus and all the rest. It might seem hard to believe how little equipment some people took with them for similar trips in years gone by when roads were infinitely worse than they are today. In 1956 Newcastle couple Bert and Hazel King decided the best thing to do with Herbert’s six months’ long service leave…

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Read more about the article Life, death and a fragment of gravestone
Newcastle's Christ Church Cathedral before the graveyard was demolished.

Life, death and a fragment of gravestone

This item was originally written for the newsletter of Newcastle Family History Society In the midst of life we are in death This haunting sentence has a long history. In its Latin form it’s an ancient Gregorian chant and it is familiar to many as part of the burial service in the book of common prayer. As a reminder that the dead are always with us, and that – as Shakespeare memorably observed, “our little life is rounded with a sleep” – the sentence is natural epitaph material. It was, for example, engraved on the tombstone…

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