© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Lake Macquarie

Read more about the article Dulcie Hartley’s history of Pulbah

Dulcie Hartley’s history of Pulbah

This is an edited text of my late friend Dulcie Hartley's short history of "Pulbah Island" in Lake Macquarie. Dulcie's daughter Venessa has provided the document, the full version is available for download in PDF form. Pulbah Island, a potential jewel in the crown of Lake Macquarie, has had a most chequered history since European occupation of Australia, ranging from a monastery to a fur farm. Easily accessible by water, it is situated between the headlands of Wangi Wangi and Point Wolstonecroft and comprises 69ha of sandstone and conglomerate, supporting a thick and, in places, nearly…

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Read more about the article Which “Awabakal” called the river “Coquun”? Re-thinking what I thought I knew about some indigenous words.
Biraban, also known to the whites as "M'Gill", collaborated with Lancelot Threlkeld in compiling a record of his people's language. Portrait by Alfred Agate, 1839.

Which “Awabakal” called the river “Coquun”? Re-thinking what I thought I knew about some indigenous words.

Like a lot of people, I am fascinated by the indigenous history of the part of Australia in which I live. I'm frustrated by the paucity of teaching of this important subject in our schools, and I often wish I had better access to real knowledge about the people who lived here before us. I have tried to read and learn, using the sources of information that are available to me. And very often, embarrassingly and frustratingly, I find that things I thought were dependable facts turn out to be not so certain, or perhaps misunderstandings,…

Continue ReadingWhich “Awabakal” called the river “Coquun”? Re-thinking what I thought I knew about some indigenous words.
Read more about the article Pet emu ate the engine nuts: a guided tour of 1920s Swansea
Swansea Bridge, NSW, as it was

Pet emu ate the engine nuts: a guided tour of 1920s Swansea

Nearly every weekend and holiday from the mid-1920s to 1930, Maitland boy Neville Chant spent at Swansea with his family in their weekender on Black Neds Bay. More than 100 years old when I met him in 2019, Neville retained vivid memories of his beloved childhood haunts, and could paint an evocative word-picture of the people and places he saw. I asked him to take me on a tour of the Swansea of his distant memory. Here is what he told me: Neville Chant, sharing his memories of Swansea in the 1920s You have to understand…

Continue ReadingPet emu ate the engine nuts: a guided tour of 1920s Swansea
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