The accidental death of John Nicholson, shipbuilder
The day Nicholson died he was travelling from Raymond Terrace to Port Stephens in a horse and cart (having moved to Karuah). The morning was wet as…
101 Bungay Road, Wingham
In the back shed of 101 Bungay Road Wingham is a child’s handprint pressed into the concrete slab with the date 17-7-54. After watching episodes of Restoration Home during Covid19 social distancing measures, the hunt was on to work out whose print…
The establishment of Purfleet Mission
By 1900 the NSW Aborigines Protection Board had decided that it was better for Aboriginal people to live separately from Europeans. It was to ‘protect them from the worst excesses and corrupting influences of European society’…
Breckenridge Scandal
This painful scandal played out across NSW newspapers in 1899. Thomas Breckenridge was a storekeeper at Forster who worked with his sister Mary. When Thomas’ fiancée Jane Ann Benson became pregnant…
Young Ping
Although Young Ping was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1860, his family were likely of Chinese origin. Ping came to Australia in 1879 aboard an American mail boat…
Breach of Promise of Marriage…
“I could kiss you to death.” “I am going to fill this letter with kisses…” The letters from James Campbell Summerville to his fiancée Margaret Charlotte Challinor were filled with these endearing statements…
The Davey holiday home, Hawks Nest
Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest were sleepy little villages when Joyce Davey first ventured there in the 1930s. Hawks Nest was the main area but not much more than a few bush tracks…
Badgers to Boogie Woogie, 31 David Street, Old Bar
For over a century, tourists have frequented the seaside village of Old Bar. The building on the corner of David and Clerke Streets was, and still is, central to the ‘vibe’ of the town…
Daphne Cross (nee Trotter) – A caring mother and outstanding teacher
Daphne Trotter was born at Pampoolah to Clarence and Victoria Trotter, a descendant of Manning River pioneers Thomas and Mary Trotter…
Kerewong Estate
In 1906 the NSW Government passed legislation to enable the construction of a railway connection from Maitland to South Grafton. Many owners of large land holdings along the route saw this as an incentive to subdivide their property…