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  • Saxbys Soft Drinks
    “Ahh Saxbys, taste it to believe it”. Recognise this famous catch phrase? Who doesn’t love the best-selling Saxbys classic stone ginger beer trickling down your throat on a hot summer’s day? Saxbys was first established in 1864...
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  • This too shall pass...tepees and Covid19
    In March 2020, Australians joined the rest of the world in practising social distancing techniques to slow the spread of the global pandemic Covid19. It was during this time that a series of driftwood shelters appeared along Old Bar Beach...
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  • Edwin May: Gloucester’s first police constable
    Edwin Erskine May joined the mounted police force in 1877 and was stationed at Dungog as a constable. The nearby town of Copeland, then known as Back Creek…
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  • A Country Romance
    "A Country Romance", this was the newspaper headline when reporting the marriage of Phyllis Hope Lockyer and Arthur Finlay in Glenn Innes in April 1926. The event was widely reported because of the Bride’s age: she was only fourteen...
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  • A new road for Strathcedar and Mooral Creek
    During the late 1800s, access to Strathcedar and Mooral Creek was along a road carved out by early Mooral Creek settlers, the Fords…
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  • The Changing Fortunes of Algar and Cath Bunyard
    A headstone in Wingham Cemetery marks the final resting place of Algar Bunyard. He died in Taree on 22 July 1910 of cirrhosis of the liver, aged 47 years…
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  • Pietro Muscio’s diary
    In the twilight of Pietro Antonio Muscio’s life he sat down to write his ‘little story’ over a fortnight in November 1922. Using a fountain pen, exercise book and in English (his second language) he wrote his life story in 43 pages…
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  • George Cassimaty: Local hero
    George Cassimaty was a well-known business identity in Taree running a fruit exchange and refreshment rooms in Manning and Victoria Streets for many years. Born on the Greek island of Kythira…
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  • Lionel Stephen Whitbread
    Lionel Stephen Whitbread was born in 1885 and lived his early life at Sidebottom (Koorainghat). Son of Taree town clerk and school teacher mother, Lionel was known for his integrity and honesty...
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  • Mud Bishop, birth of the Australian Crawl
    You 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…
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  • The Cloud Wallaby
    The Cloud Wallaby is a fable written and illustrated by Pixie O’Harris. It was published in The School Magazine in August 1949. It goes something like this...
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  • “Coast Town” – A Prizewinning Film
    In 1939 the Society invited entries to find the best 16mm film made in Australia and which referenced Australian life or history. This was the first national…
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  • Majestic Cafe, Gloucester
    In 1926 picture show proprietor and baker, Albert Augustus Smith, built the Majestic Theatre and a year later constructed a shop (café) and five-roomed dwelling next door called the Majestic Café...
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  • Thomas Buckle
    On the corner of Little Street and Memorial Drive, Forster, is a bench which was unveiled in 1949 outside the former residence of Thomas Buckle…
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  • The Owl Store, Gloucester
    On 27 March 1929 ‘The Owl Store’ opened at 36 Church Street, Gloucester. It was a Self-Serve Grocery Store – a new method of shopping at the time…
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  • Old Taree Showgrounds
    Did you know that the Taree Showgrounds near Muldoon Street were not always there? We have discovered that they were much closer to the centre of Taree. Read on to learn more...
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  • 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…
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  • Guy Prior – A Young Boy’s Hero
    Only my parents would have a greater influence on my early life than Guy Prior…
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  • ‘Coneac George’ Gorton
    George Gorton was born at Bundabah in 1834. From the age of 28 he managed ‘Tibbuc’ Station on the Upper Manning…
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  • Taree Hospital Christmas Tree
    For over 32 years the pine tree at the Manning Base Hospital was lit up as a Christmas tree for everyone to enjoy...
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  • Dan Bros, Gloucester
    ‘Dan Bros’ was an early business in Gloucester established in 1929. The brothers who emigrated from Lebanon were...
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  • Wingham School of Arts
    The first School of Arts in Wingham began in 1875 in a single-storey building at 23-29 Isabella Street…
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  • The kindness of fishermen: Broughton Island
    Broughton Island’s pristine environment has long been popular with fishermen. In the 1880s Italian fishermen established a small settlement on the island followed later by Greek fishermen who arrived around WW1...
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  • Daralea Nursery and Florist
    In 1931 Minnie Elizabeth Lee started a nursery, confectionary, florist and seed shop at 134 Victoria Street, Taree called “Lee’s Nursery”...
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  • George De Saxe and Amy Mackay, Dentists
    George De Saxe was born in 1856 and worked most of his life as a dentist in Sydney and Parramatta. He often visited smaller towns providing dental services and in September 1900 visited Wingham for this purpose…
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  • Market Square, Cundletown
    In November 1854 an advertisement was placed in the Sydney newspaper Empire seeking the services of “a competent surveyor to lay out for sale the township of Cundle on the Manning River” The set out, and probably also the design, of this private township was subsequently awarded to Walter Clayton. Walter came from Sussex, England…
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  • Andre Majerszky and the ‘Iron Chief’
    In April 1928, while Andre Majersky was working as a photographer at the Manning Studios in Taree, an unusual opportunity presented itself…
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  • Commonwealth Bank Mural – 176 Victoria Street, Taree
    In 1956 the Commonwealth Bank commissioned Byram Mansell to design a mural for its new premises to be erected in Victoria Street, Taree. Born in Sydney in 1893, William Arthur “Byram” Mansell was trained as an engineer, but attended evening classes at Julian Ashton’s Art School. Seeking to further his experience, he travelled overseas and, whilst…
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  • The 1956 Olympic Torch
    On 17 November 1956, forty six fit, local men relayed the Olympic Torch from Kew in the North to Burrell Creek in the South of the region, a grand total of 46 miles...
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  • Paddle Steamer 'Manning'
    Click clunk clunk splash, click clunk clunk splash, imagine 140 years ago walking around town, to school, to work and you hear this noise? Well this noise was the beat of the wheels of the Paddle Steamer ‘Manning’ as it made its way up the Manning River...
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  • John Gardiner, MC
    John Gardiner was born near Glasgow, Scotland in 1894. At age 17 he enlisted in the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) as part of the Territorial Forces. With the start of WWI…
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  • Nigel Kennedy and Fotheringham’s Hotel Taree
    Nigel Kennedy is an English violinist, famous for bringing classical music to the masses when he sold over two million copies of his above album in 1989. But did you know of his connection to Taree?
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  • Coded postcard message
    This postcard was bought by a stamp collector in 2009. Can you imagine his surprise when he turned the postcard over and discovered the coded message written on the back? He thought it was a message between teenagers but this is not so...
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  • Lincoln Brick Works, Wingham
    When travelling between Wingham and Taree it is hard to miss the landmark brick chimneys of the Lincoln Brick Works...
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  • Captain Jean Benaud
    Cricket trivia question: Q: What connection does famous Australian cricketer Richie Benaud have with Taree? A: In 1963 Richie was in the NSW Sheffield Shield team which played against the Mid North Coast in Taree. And…Richie’s great grandfather lived and died in Taree. Jean Benaud arrived from France as an able seaman on the Ville…
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  • Postcards from the muddy trenches of France
    On 10 January 1916, three brothers from the Gorton family - Tom, Fred and Herbert - enlisted in WWI…
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  • Baheeg 'Bill' Saad: Manning Cafe, Taree
    Baheeg ‘Bill’ Saad was born in Douma, Lebanon in 1907. He was a well-known business man who established...
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  • The Man in the Hut
    Around the 1940s an unassuming man moved into a hut on the edge of the ocean at Crowdy Head. At times he worked in the Fishermen’s Cooperative, becoming well known to the locals. With no electricity or modern conveniences, he lived a simple, hermit-like lifestyle.
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  • Old Bar Public School
    In November 2019, Old Bar Public School celebrated the completion of their new building. As students proudly showed off their modern learning place...
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  • The Dun family of Hillside Dairy, Cape Hawke
    In 1925 Thomas bought a dairy farm situated on Minor Road which is now called Cape Hawke Road, Forster...
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  • A very old and very good ginger beer recipe
    In our family homemade ginger beer and Christmas go hand in hand. Recently I came across an old ginger beer recipe at the NSW State Library...
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  • Charles Edwards: Purfleet Sportsman and Entertainer
    Charles Edwards was a talented man. He lived at the Purfleet Aboriginal mission station four kilometres south of Taree. Charlie was an outstanding sportsman playing both cricket and rugby league...
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  • Early Tourism in Forster Tuncurry
    During the early years of tourism young people in station wagons loaded with surf boards arrived in Forster. They slept in their cars or on the beaches…
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  • Carlyle Hospital Wingham: Nurse Phyllis Bidner
    In 1929 Fassifern Private Hospital in William Street, Wingham became known as Carlyle Hospital; a residence transformed into a hospital. As a young woman, Phyllis Bidner joined the nursing staff in 1951 and had one week in which to make her two blue uniforms and cap. The life of a nurse in the 1950s was…
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  • Manning District Ambulance Service
    In 1934 Taree citizens approached the Newcastle Ambulance Committee to establish a district ambulance service. Newcastle agreed and donated an ambulance and £100...
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  • Eliza Stevens nee Hickey
    Eliza Hickey married George Stevens in 1889. After living their first two years of marriage on the Myall River, they moved to 'Killarney', Dyers Crossing where she lived for the next 49 years with her family.
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  • Taree Literary Institute
    Tucked away upstairs from the busyness of Victoria Street is a hidden gem that has been operating for over 150 years, the Taree Literary Institute. Also known as Schools of Arts, Literary Institutes were established to provide a combination of adult education and recreation facilities and often became the heart of small town activities...
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  • George Garlick Godwin
    George Garlick Godwin was born around 1803 in Wiltshire, England. He was given a life sentence for pig stealing and transported to Australia on the convict ship ‘Burrell’ in 1830...
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  • Waukivory School
    In 1907 The Gloucester Estate Ltd put to auction the first blocks in the so called Waukivory Subdivision. As the land was taken up the community saw the need for a school…
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  • The Dunn Family from ‘Dunnville’, Failford
    In 1902 Thomas, Eliza and their children moved into a mill workers’ cottage at Failford before acquiring a property on the bank of the Wallamba River opposite the mill which became popularly known as ‘Dunns of Dunnville’...
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  • Bombardier John Daniel Stevens
    John Stevens, known as Jack to all, was the eldest son of George and Eliza Stevens of Dyers Crossing…
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  • Gathang Guuyang (Gathang Canoe)
    On 20 May 2012 at Bungwahl, for the first time in over 150 years the guuyang builders, led by Steve Brereton, a Warrimay (Worimi) man, with strong connections to country and culture took a canoe from Gathang country…
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  • Albert George Chapman – Champion Rower
    In 1886, the Balmain Working Men’s Rowing Club established itself just a few hundred metres from the Balmain Rowing Club. In these early days a working man…
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  • Joseph De Lore
    The tattoos of this young romantic, Joseph De Lore (Dolleur), were recorded when he was arrested in Montreal, Canada in 1837 for housebreaking…
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  • 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…
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  • Graham Barclay: Water ski champion
    As a young man, Graham Barclay played professional rugby league football before a serious knee injury ended his career…
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  • The Victoria Fever Ward, Manning Base Hospital, Taree
    Located in a quadrangle, surrounded by the ‘new’ buildings of the Manning Base Hospital is the 125 year old building called the Victoria Fever Ward...
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  • Nancy-Bird Walton (1915 – 2009)
    Nancy Bird flew into the history pages in 1935 when, at the age of 19, she became the first woman to hold a commercial flying licence in Australia. She was a pioneer in aviation and used this passion to help and inspire others. Nancy was born in Kew, NSW in 1915. After attending school in…
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  • The Browns and The Big Hairs
    Each year on the third weekend in August in Montana USA, the Crow Fair begins. In 1992 during the Crow Fair, the Brown family from Taree were adopted into the Al and Ruby Big Hair family...
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  • Wingham Memorial Town Hall Clock
    The clock was made and installed by Mr Arthur Louis Franklin. Born in England, Franklin had been employed in the physics department of the University of Birmingham...
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  • Leslie Hopetoun Osmond-Dreyer (1901-1959)
    Leslie Hopetoun Osmond was born in 1901 in Marrickville. At the age of 10 years he was orphaned and, with his sister, was taken in by Mr and Mrs Dreyer at Koribar (Dyer’s Crossing)…
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  • 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...
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  • Cynthia Chapman 1921-2006
    Born in 1921, Cynthia was the first daughter of Albert and Maud Chapman of Chapman Island. She was a demure, softly spoken girl who was her father’s pride and joy...
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  • Boyle Holden: Last of the bullockies
    In 1959 Andrew “Boyle” Holden drove a team of bullocks across the newly opened Forster-Tuncurry Bridge. Not only was Boyle one of the last bullockies of the Mid North Coast…
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  • Empire Day in Taree
    Empire Day was first celebrated on 24 May 1902 after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. The day was celebrated across the British Empire with parties, festivals, and patriotic dances. But Empire Day wasn’t entirely normal...
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  • Emmeline Ann Everingham - a right to vote
    In the Port Macquarie Museum is an ‘Elector’s Right Residential Qualification’ for Emmeline Ann Everingham. In 1902 the Australian Parliament passed the Commonwealth Franchise Act giving women over the age of 21 the right to vote...
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  • The Australian Agricultural Company: Introduction
    The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) is Australia’s oldest continuous company. It was established in 1824 through an Act of British Parliament for the purpose of improving flocks of Merino sheep...
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  • Fire at the Bellevue Hotel, Tuncurry
    In the early hours of 13 July 1954, a fire started within the Bellevue Hotel at Tuncurry…
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  • Mysterious Suicide in Taree Park
    On the afternoon of Wednesday 9 May 1923, a tragedy unfolded in Taree Park. A visitor, Phillip William Osborne, committed suicide by ingesting strychnine…
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  • A sawmiller and beef farmer
    When Trevor Newell inherited 160 acres in 1974 from his parents Royden and Florence Newell, at Strathcedar on the Mooral Creek Road, it was going back to tea tree scrub and weeds...
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  • Fred Williams: Father of Australian waterskiing
    As the grandson of Captain Peter Williams and son of Frederick Williams, Forster marine engineer, it is no surprise that Fred Williams has had a lifetime’s association with water…
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  • Tales from the Bulliac Railway Tunnel
    The Bulliac Railway Tunnel, situated 20kms north of Gloucester, opened 4 February 1913 as part of the North Coast Line, the major trunk line between NSW and Brisbane...
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  • John Wylie Paton Breckenridge
    John Wylie Paton Breckenridge Senior (1818–1899) emigrated from Scotland with his wife Lilias Reid (1826–1870) and two children John Wylie Junior and Agnes on board the “Nimroud” in 1859…
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  • A Tinonee Tragedy
    On 12 January 1910, George Gollan, son of Captain Hector and Margaret Gollan married Harriett Mary Ann Polley (known as Artie). Making their home in Tinonee, they had three children...
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  • Arthur William Mackenzie Mowle – Architect and Dairy Cattle Enthusiast
    Arthur was born at Bondi on 27 October 1894, the eldest son of William Stewart Mowle and grandson of Mr A K Mackenzie of “Boonara”, Bondi...
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  • W.A.S.P.S. "Food for the Fighting Forces"
    The outbreak of WW2 led to a significant loss of rural manpower as men enlisted in the armed services. To ensure the agricultural sector could still function effectively...
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  • Walter Brunton Brownlee – a determined Scottish Lad
    Among the names inscribed on the Nabiac War Memorial, most of which have connections to local families, one may be unfamiliar – Walter Brunton Brownlee…
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  • St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Gloucester
    St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Gloucester was opened Wednesday 19 December 1906 and was celebrated by a service followed by photos, tea and a meeting...
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  • Massacre at Belbora
    In 2017, the University of Newcastle began documenting massacres of Aboriginal people at the hands of early settlers. One such massacre occurred at Belbora…
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  • Eliza and George Stevens' Sons
    Dyers Crossing pioneers, Eliza and George Stevens, had nine children. Below are brief details of three of their five sons...
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  • “Invermay”, 70 Wynter Street, Taree
    The story of “Invermay” is connected to the story of Catherine Thomson. Catherine was a commercial institution in Taree…
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  • A Life on the Ocean Waves: Hugh McColl McCrindle
    In the 19th century, the Scottish city of Glasgow was a centre of shipbuilding. It was here, in 1880, that Hugh McColl McCrindle was born…
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  • Matthew Hopwood – Convict and Sydney Duck
    One of the convicts assigned to the Port Stephens estate of the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) was Matthew Hopwood. Matthew, a 21 year old, illiterate...
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  • 1 Manning Street, Taree
    This building is a rare survivor. A purpose-built dental surgery, constructed for Cuth Haddan in 1938…
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  • Whitbread's Corner
    The corner of Victoria and Manning Streets, Taree where the Exchange Hotel now stands (2020) was once known as ‘Whitbread’s Corner’. Samuel and Mary Whitbread arrived from England as assisted immigrants on the ship ‘Equestrian’ in 1848…
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  • Alfred Cavalchini: Baker, Confectioner and Photographer
    Italian born Alfred Cavalchini arrived in Sydney at the age of 16 in 1900. During World War I, Cavalchini took photographic portraits of young men as they headed to war in their uniforms...
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  • “Mr Hockey”: Allan Taylor
    Allan Taylor had many titles over his life “King of the respirator kids”, “Mr Hockey” and “Tate”. No matter what he put his talents to he led and inspired…
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  • Nicholas Boyaze
    Nicholas Boyaze (Voyatzis) was born in Crete and settled in Bohnock, a small township on the Manning River, where he managed oyster leases for the Comino Brothers…
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  • Message in a bottle
    On Monday afternoon, 18 November 1946, while the old residence of the Manning Ambulance Superintendent was being demolished to make way for a more modern building, a letter in a bottle was found...
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  • Karuah River Mystery
    In 1917 a young man was found at Karuah River unable to hear, speak or move his legs. Stories began circulating that he had encountered a ghost…
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  • The Star Theatre, Gloucester
    George O’Gorman Boustead was a Gloucester mechanic who had a passion for moving pictures. He is credited with bringing the ‘talkies’ to Gloucester...
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  • Henry Woodward, Oyster Merchant
    Henry Woodward has been called ‘Father of Australia’s oyster industry’ after he was granted the first ever oyster lease in 1884. The lease was No. 41 in Breckenridge Channel, Wallis Lake – just off Little Street, Forster...
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  • 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…
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  • Married in a Military Hospital
    A corporal on the ‘seriously ill’ list married his fiancé Sister Elsie ‘Billie’ Heyne in the Yaralla Military Hospital, Sydney on 30 June 1942...
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  • Premonition at the Australian Hotel
    Mr Cregg, a well-known tea traveller, spent the night at Wingham’s Australian Hotel on Friday the 8 November 1901 where he had a vivid dream…
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  • Alfred Basham and Jane Middlemiss
    In the Angel Close Historic Cemetery at Forster lies the remains of Alfred Basham and Jane Middlemiss. While these two youths were not related nor did they die together they were nevertheless connected...
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  • Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills
    These little amber bottles, discovered in the mudbanks of the Wallamba River, were once found in most Australian households particularly from the late 1890s to 1940s…
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  • Young boy mauled by shark at Forster
    A real case of jaws in our very own small town? One Friday afternoon in January 1944, a 14 year old boy named Keith Weir was out with his friends surfing at Main Beach, Forster…
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  • James Hickey Stevens
    James Hickey Stevens, known as ‘Jim’ to all, was the second son of George and Eliza Stevens of ‘Killarney’, Dyers Crossing...
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  • St Luke’s Anglican Church, West Street, Coopernook
    St Luke’s Anglican Church at Coopernook is built on land donated by William Newton of “Coopernook House”...
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  • Dr Joan Margaret Redshaw, AM (1921-1994)
    Joan Margaret Redshaw was born in Sydney in 1921 and studied medicine at the University of Sydney where she graduated with honours…
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  • 12 Alban Street, Taree
    12 Alban Street, Taree sits on traditional Birrbay land which later became part of the 2560 acres granted to William Wynter in 1839...
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  • Ladies’ Old Bar Surf Club
    In September 1930, a proposal to form a Ladies’ Surf Bathing Club at Old Bar in conjunction with the Old Bar Surf Club was eagerly adopted and five weeks later the club house was complete…
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  • Formation of the QUOTA Club of Taree
    On Friday night the 20th August 1947 a meeting was called in the CWA rooms to form a Quota Club of Taree…
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  • A Film Star visits Taree!
    The Boomerang Theatre in Taree had the honour of hosting the first official NSW screening of the much publicised Australian film “Tall Timbers”…
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  • “Uncle Lou” Waterman
    Louis Augustus Waterman was born in Balmain in 1877. He came to the Manning with his brother Harry where they became farmers at Tinonee...
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  • 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...
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  • The trials of getting to school
    Boats, horses, bicycles and a big red bus just to get to school...
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  • Pampoolah Church
    When Harriett Susan McCartney passed away in 1934 she was the last of her family to live at the old Pampoolah homestead...
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  • Purfleet Butter Factory
    Most days I drive past the site where a magnificent butter factory once stood tall. The Purfleet Butter Factory was opened on 14 December 1897 by the Australian Dairying Company...
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  • Alfred Baker: Baker of Taree
    While Alfred Baker was born into a shipbuilding family, his taste and skills for baking was stronger...
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  • 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…
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  • Dan Bros of Taree
    ‘Dan Bros’ was the first Lebanese family to set up business in Taree in 1932. Nicholas Dan arrived in Australia in 1927 with his brother Toufic ‘George’...
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  • Duel to the death: Copeland Tops
    For a week in 1929, three camps of timber getters and gold diggers near Copeland Tops lived in a state of fear. Then at dusk on 9 October their fears came true when James Herbert Curran, 47, came seeking Alfred Lawrence Edwards, 23...
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  • Prickly Pear Cough Syrup – a local speciality?
    Until the mid nineteenth century cochineal was highly sought after as the pre-eminent agent to produce a rich, vibrant red dye. It was the substance used to colour the British army ‘Red Coat’ uniforms…
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  • Taree Photographer: Robert Crombie
    This iconic photo of the first train arriving in Taree in 1913 was taken by photographer Robert Edward Crombie...
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  • Food Fair
    Bill Nelson purchased the Blue Flag grocery store in Manning Street, Taree in 1937. It put me in mind of Ronnie Barker’s ‘Open All Hours’...
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  • 'Joker' the cattle dog
    'Horrie the War Dog’ is a well-known Australian novel documenting the true story of Private Moody and his dog during World War II. But did you know that Old Bar had its own war dog? His name was Joker...
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  • Fotheringham’s Hotel, Taree
    Fotheringham’s Hotel (affectionately called Fog’s) in Victoria Street, Taree started out as the Commercial Hotel and was owned by John Keats, then Alfred McCartney…
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  • Taree’s First Eisteddfod
    In the early years of the 20th century, musical festivals were very much in vogue. One such festival had been successfully held in Taree in 1912...
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  • The Great White Train
    The Great White Train steamed into Taree in the early hours of Thursday 2 September 1926...
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  • The Mustard Gas Men: Ross Ashley Bryan
    A photograph of a carved rock inscription outside a disused railway tunnel reveals a Taree man’s involvement in a top secret operation in WWII…
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  • Manning Steam Laundry
    In 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…
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  • Castor, a man from Madagascar
    On 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…
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  • Zulu – the dark horse
    The 1881 Melbourne Cup remains famous for one of the most genuine surprises in the race’s history. Zulu, who was listed in the betting at 100/1...
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  • Camphor Laurel Trees, Albert Street, Taree
    In the early twentieth century, the planting of street trees for town beautification was strongly advocated...
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  • Christmas Bells at Crowdy Head
    Between Crowdy Head and Diamond Head is a great plain that has long been home to Australian wildflowers, particularly Christmas bells, Christmas bush and flannel flowers…
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  • 32 Eric Street, Taree
    32 Eric Street, Taree is a modest, yet eminently practical residential development, which has stood the test of time...
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  • The Northern Champion Newspaper: the first edition
    In 1912, Taree was served by one local newspaper, the Manning River Times. But things were about to change …
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  • Hobson’s Store - 135 Victoria Street, Taree
    Late in 1922 an imposing two storied commercial building was under construction in Victoria Street, near the intersection with Manning Street...
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  • A few of my favourite things
    As a little girl growing up at Shalimar my grandmother gave me a cane chair…
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  • Tales from Old Bar Airstrip “Mystery Island”
    In September 1936, Australian film star Brian Abbott, leading lady Jean Laidley and a crew of 30 set off for Lord Howe Island on the SS Morinda to film the movie ‘Mystery Island’…
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  • Brinawa School
    The Bulga Plateau in the rugged Wingham hinterland has always been somewhat inaccessible and sparsely populated: however a school was established in the Bulgong (now Elands) village in 1916. In the mid 1920s, the scattered settlers to the west of the village petitioned the government to provide another facility in the locality of Brinawa to…
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  • Those rascally rabbits: Broughton Island rabbit experiment
    Audiences 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…
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  • "Merton", 3 Macquarie Street, Taree
    In November 1903 George Ford, a Taree butcher, paid £50 for land in Macquarie Street, being Lot 17 in Section 15…
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  • The New Manning Valley Pioneers
    Around about 2003, we three couples were on the cusp of retiring from Sydney. We knew that as retirees we might have difficulty adjusting to a major move. So we thought, let’s move together...
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  • Francis McNamara aka “Frank the Poet”
    A poem entitled “A Convict’s Tour to Hell” was composed by Frank McNamara in 1839. It has been said that it draws inspiration from Dante’s “Purgatory”...
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  • Captain John Gogerly
    In 1898 Gogerly’s name became legend when he ran into one of the fiercest storms to hit the east coast while sailing to Sydney in the “Venture”. He strapped himself to the tiller…
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  • Then and Now: MRCDS
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  • The Brown Family at the Bight Cemetery
    Towards the back of the Bight Cemetery is a headstone that recognises the deaths of four members of the Brown family. What is the story that lies behind this stone?
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  • Robert Clyde Smith and the Dalfram Strike
    No. 4 Jetty at Port Kembla was the scene of a shocking fatality on 7 November 1938. A young man from Tea Gardens, Robert Clyde Smith, was crushed to death while unloading pig-iron (wrought iron) on to a ship bound for Japan…
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  • Rushby Casino
    Vic Rushby had a secret. During the week he was the ‘mild-mannered’ manager of Rushby Shoes, while on the weekend he unleashed his superhero powers on Old Bar…
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  • 41 Florence Street, Taree
    I have always admired the lovely house that sits on the corner of Florence and Wynter Streets, Taree. The property was part of the original Taree estate granted to William Wynter in 1834…
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  • Shipwrecks at Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse
    Sugarloaf 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.…
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  • William 'George' Sawyer and his 1934 Dodge Tourer
    After the Dodge was sold a letter arrived at Connie’s home together with a photograph of the restored vehicle...
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  • Bohnock Literary Institute Hall
    Before 1925 the people of Bohnock had to travel long distances to attend dances and other night-time functions. After many years of discussing building a community hall, the dream finally came to fruition in 1925. Local identities, Vic and Ettie Carle, generously donated a corner section of their property on Bohnock Road for the purpose…
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  • Mrs Maude Scharkie
    In April 1906, Maude Hall married John Edward Scharkie in Newcastle, NSW. The early years of their marriage were marred by the death of their three year old son…
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  • “Malvern” 120 Manning Street, Taree
    Ray Hurst has been a long time resident of 120 Manning Street, Taree and was interested in the history of this old house. Here is what we found…
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  • The Bungay Ghost
    In December 1887, Mr R Cameron, a highly respected resident of Bungay, was riding home from Wingham one evening when a ghost in black rode up to him...
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  • David Stirling Sharpe: Surveyor
    David Stirling Sharpe was a land surveyor who worked for many years in the Manning region...
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Recent Posts
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  • Charley Dumas: Australia’s First International Cricket Team
  • William Augustus Fay: journalist
  • Picture Perfect: Taree’s Civic Theatre
  • The Northern Champion Newspaper: the first edition

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We acknowledge the traditional owners, the Biripi and Worimi people, on whose lands these stories are told. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised this website contains images and voices of deceased people. The stories of the MidCoast could not be told without recognising their stories. Do you wish to proceed?