“Mimosa” 25 Edinburgh Drive, Taree
“Mimosa” is a beautiful brick home built in 1920 and brings together two of Taree’s most industrious people from the turn of the 20th century…
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2 Commerce Street, TareeBetween 1903 and 1906, William Wrigley bought 5 lots of land on the corner of River and Commerce Streets, Taree. William was a builder and carpenter and after completing his apprenticeship in Sydney he went to South Africa where the building trade was flourishing. He returned to Australia in 1898 and spent the next 44 years… -
Black Head Surf Club or is it River Club?Calls for a lifesaving club at Black Head started as early as 1915 after the near drowning of four people. Ten years later in 1925, the surf club officially opened. While rescues have been a part of regular duty, a special rescue happened in Taree in 1929. Black Head and Taree-Old Bar Surf Clubs have… -
Westcrag Lodge of the Grand United Order of Odd FellowsThe Grand United Order of Odd Fellows was conceived as a friendly society which provided financial support to its members in need and promoted their moral, social and intellectual development. It was established in Australia in the 1840s. Lodges proliferated in Australia and even small communities were able to generate sufficient numbers to form local Lodges… -
Tinonee Broom FactoriesTinonee was once home to no less than four broom factories. Joseph Edward Chapman established the industry when he distributed free seeds to farmers to encourage them to grow millet crops. The experiment was so successful that he opened a broom factory in 1894 which employed 5 people and provided work to local sawmills making broom handles... -
Those rascally rabbits: Broughton Island rabbit experimentAudiences tend to love fictional rabbits such as Thumper or Bugs Bunny, but in Australia rabbits have caused widespread environmental and economic devastation since their introduction in the 1850s. Governments have spent millions of dollars fighting these pests. In 1906, Broughton Island became the scene of one such attempt. Microbiologist Dr Danysz from the… -
Castor, a man from MadagascarOn 12 April 1856, an African man died in the vicinity of Tarree Estate. His name was Castor, a labourer aged 50 years, who died from heart disease. Witnesses to the burial were Henry Flett, William Wynter Jnr. and Thomas Dyball. His death certificate states he was born in Madagascar but this story begins in Mauritius… -
Manning Steam LaundryIn the mid 1960s whilst undertaking work on the Chapman Place parking area, traces of brickwork were uncovered which were believed to be part of an underground well used by the Manning Steam Laundry. Henry W Alcorn was a local builder who, in 1915, saw the potential in developing a commercial laundry to service Taree… -
Toki Simon: The smiling assassinToki William Simon was a Biripi man born in Forster, NSW in 1915. When he was young, Toki worked with his family to craft cabbage tree furniture at Forster. He also played rugby league for Cape Hawke being regularly identified as one of the team’s best players. In 1939 Toki married Joyce Dungay from Taree. World… -
The Walter Plummer Hall‘The Walter Plummer Hall’ is a two-storey brick building situated in the heart of the Taree Showgrounds. It was built in 1910 as an exhibition hall for the new showgrounds. Some declaring it ‘the best hall outside the great cities of the state’. Walter Plummer was an auctioneer and one of the most popular men in the district. -
Shipwrecks at Sugarloaf Point LighthouseSugarloaf Point Lighthouse is one of the shortest lighthouses in Australia yet it towers above the wild, dramatic coastline. Built in 1875 to warn of the perils of Seal Rocks, it was Colonial Architect James Barnet’s first lighthouse design. Shipwrecks were an unfortunate part of life. In 1876 three vessels stranded simultaneously during a storm.… -
The wrecking of the Empress of IndiaThe schooner, Empress of India, was travelling from Port Macquarie to Sydney loaded with sawn hardwood when she encountered fierce weather. Captain Peter Williams sheltered in Cape Hawke Bay but during the night the winds were so violent that the ship started leaking and was in danger of being driven ashore... -
Trooper Percy Lyon – 7th Light Horse RegimentGenerally speaking, the names inscribed on war memorials indicate that the individual has experienced the horrors of the battlefield, but this is not always the case. For these exceptions, their stories are, nevertheless, poignant. Percival Ernest Lyon was born on 22 November 1891, the fourth son of James and Alice Lyon. His father was a… -
Hannah WebsterOn 12 November 1913, Hannah, daughter of Mr and Mrs John Wallis, was married at her father’s homestead “Ellerslie”, Bulga. The bridegroom was Benjamin Webster, a timber worker many years her senior. Hannah and Benjamin settled into life on the Plateau. However, over the years relations between them soured and, notwithstanding their large family, they… -
Anne Baxter – Hollywood ActressOn 12 December 1985 the Los Angeles Times reported the death of Anne Baxter aged 62. This followed a stroke suffered some eight days earlier. Anne Baxter was a grand-daughter of the influential architect Frank Lloyd Wright. More importantly she was a very successful American actress with a career spanning her Broadway debut aged 13… -
Tuncurry Reafforestation Prison CampIn November 1913, twenty prisoners were sent to the Tuncurry Reafforestation Prison Camp in an experiment which was the first of its kind in NSW. The prison camp was not so much a gaol as the prisoners were serving out the last months of their sentence. Their job was to plant out acres of pine trees for which the area was once famed. Each prisoner had their own little hut with a bunk and sleeping net... -
Sad tales of Glenthorne Public School’s teachersGlenthorne Public School operated for 63 years with nine teachers serving the small community. Of these teachers, four suffered tragic events while serving in their roles. William Percy was a popular teacher who loved playing cricket. He passed his pupil teacher’s examination at 13 and worked his way to full teacher. He taught at Glenthorne… -
Mud Bishop, birth of the Australian CrawlYou may have heard stories of the recluse and retired policeman, Mud Bishop, who made his home at the entrance of the Manning River at Old Bar from 1923 until his death in 1944. But have you heard of his amazing place in Australian Sporting History? Wallace James ‘Mud’ Bishop was born in 1878 in…
