Edition 6, 2019

Traces

Uncovering the past

Traces2 min read
Letters To The Editor
Dear Editor, The article on nurses and nursing in Australia in Volume 5 reminded me so much of a photo of my wife’s great-grandmother that I felt compelled to share that photo with readers, along with a little information. Helen’s great-grandmother,
Traces1 min read
Heritage News
The National Archives of Australia is moving to Perth’s William Square in Northbridge, with a new office and research centre that opened in March 2019. The new office will incorporate a research centre, seminar facilities, an exhibition space and adm
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What’s New Online?
• Denmark Census, 1940: more than 3.9 million records, completing the collection of all 20 Denmark Census record collections from 1787–1940 • Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1883–1945: more than two million records containing passenger ma
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Flinders Street Station, Melbourne
The first station to occupy the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets in Melbourne was the 1854 Melbourne Terminus, a group of weatherboard train sheds. Melbourne Terminus was the first city railway station in Australia, and the first train journey
Traces4 min read
Cycling Through Time
Rupert, congratulations on your new book Power of the Pedal: the Story of Australian Cycling. What can you tell us about the first bicycles to be used in Australia? It was in the 1870s that the bicycle, then known as a ‘velocipede’ or ‘penny-farthing
Traces8 min read
Young Irelanders in Tasmania Part 2
Between 1849 and 1850, 15 Irish rebels were exiled to Tasmania on various charges, from sedition to treason, following a failed uprising against British rule in Tipperary on 29 July 1848. The stories of Young Irelanders William Smith O’Brien, Thomas
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The Unexpected Legacy Of MCWHIRTERS DEPARTMENT STORE
The McWhirter building occupies a whole block – more than an acre of land – but it is the building fronting Valley Corner, at the intersection of Wickham and Brunswick streets in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, that people think of when they think of Mc
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Q&A with Melissa Fagan
Traces caught up with Melissa to find out more about her book and her inspiration, and what she discovered in the process of writing. Please tell us what inspired you to write What Will Be Worn? What Will Be Worn started life as a story about my gran
Traces5 min read
How Hope Was Australia’s True Gold
By 1914, more than 300,000 people had emigrated from Ireland to Australia, with an additional 40,000 sent as convicts to her shores. My ancestors, the Clancys, were part of the exodus. In 1841, they left County Clare on the Shannon River as an extend
Traces7 min read
Spotlight On Bendigo: A Heritage Goldmine
In November 1851, Kennedy and Farrell pulled enough gold nuggets out of Bendigo Creek to fill a sock. Their discovery sparked the gold rush and was the first of nine billion dollars of gold found in Bendigo (then known as Sandhurst), making it the se
Traces2 min read
Delving Deeper Into Your Ancestry
Caroline, you completed the Diploma of Family History at the University of Tasmania. Tell us about your experience studying this course. I commenced the inaugural unit of the diploma, Introduction to Family History, in 2016. At that time, I had been
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Fiction From Genealogy
When Lynette McDermott started working on her family history several years ago, she discovered that truth is indeed often stranger than fiction. Her ancestors’ lives were full of captivating stories that were perfect for fiction, so she began writing
Traces3 min readPsychology
Finding Your German Ancestors
In the search for your German ancestry, it’s important to know some basic information about the family member who first immigrated to Australia, such as full name, town or area of origin and year of immigration. If you don’t have this information, tr
Traces3 min read
Mapping Your Family Tree
Why are maps so useful in family history research? Maps can be used to find out a number of things about a person and point you to other resources that will further your discoveries. Maps can pinpoint a place that you couldn’t otherwise find, particu
Traces3 min read
Visiting Your Ancestral Towns
I am a fifth generation descendant of gold miner and ‘man of exemplary character’ Thomas Henry North. This year marks 177 years since Thomas North arrived in Australia. When researching my own family tree, I had very little information to go on other
Traces4 min read
Cantonese Connections The Origins Of Australia’s Early Chinese Migrants
In a quiet residential street in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Glebe, on a large grassy block that stretches down towards the harbour, sits the Sze Yup Kwan Ti Temple. Built between 1898 and 1904, the Sze Yup Temple is one of two heritage-listed te
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Alice Anderson
Alice’s formative years were spent in rural Victoria, where she excelled in bush skills such as shooting and breaking in horses. Her reputation, even at an early age, was as one of the most fierce and resourceful girls in the district. Young, boyish
Traces5 min read
Finding Mary Bishop
My wife, Gail, carries the Bishop genes in our family. During our research, there was some confusion around the identity of Mary Bishop, a convict also known as Mary Davis or Davies, who arrived on the First Fleet. Mary had a daughter named Charlotte
Traces2 min read
Missed Opportunities
Maggie O’Donoghue died in 1981 aged 89. She was my maternal grandfather’s sister and I used to see her occasionally in my teenage years, mainly at family gatherings. But I never really knew her, despite the fact that when I was at Roseworthy Agricult
Traces7 min read
THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON Part 1
With their giant leering faces, the Luna Parks in Sydney and Melbourne are known across the country as entertainment institutions. But most Australians seem to have forgotten that there once stood a third Luna Park, with its own unique face and fasci
Traces4 min read
The ‘Lost White Tribes’ Of Australia
During the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous Dutch ships were wrecked on Australian coasts. Survivors from some of these shipwrecks became stranded and were forced to live their lives in the most isolated continent in the world. Two ships in particul
Traces2 min read
Dinkum
The Australian National Dictionary defines ‘dinkum’ as referring to work or ‘a due share of the work’. While the word is often thought to be Australian, it is recorded as having an English origin and can be found within the Lincolnshire dialect. ‘Fai
Traces3 min read
Shrouded house: Collection care at Rouse Hill House & Farm
Rouse Hill House & Farm was home to six generations of the Rouse and Terry families and preserves the evidence of over 150 years of their domestic life. When the house and its significant collection came to the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wale
Traces4 min read
Ghost Signs And The Stories They Tell
Ghost signs are the remains of painted advertising signs on walls and hoardings. People all over the world are photographing them and writing about them on forums, photo-sharing websites and social media pages. For many, ghost signs are a living link

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