I have been deep in police history this month, researching and writing about my ancestor who served in the Irish Constabulary before emigrating to Victoria in the 1850s. He served in the Victoria Police Force after the Eureka Stockade and…

The areas of Fitzroy and Collingwood in the late 1800’s was a far cry from the restaurant & boutique lined streets that we know. Poverty and crime were rampant, and unwed or deserted mothers, in particular, had few resources to…

  Did you know that the tradition of Carols by Candlelight began in 1938 in Melbourne?   It’s a sentimental story which began with 3KZ radio sports announcer Norman Banks walking home along St Kilda Road from his night shift…

Introduction: Living in Melbourne, the “most locked down city in the world” during the Covid 19 pandemic, I decided to write up the stories of my “pioneer” ancestors, that is the first person of each of my family tree branches…

The beautiful Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens is currently being used as a vaccination centre in the current battle with COVID 19. Did you know that one hundred years ago the building was being used for another pandemic –…

SECRET TUNNELS What if I was to tell you that there was a 1500km underground tunnel network right under our feet in Melbourne?? Well… I’m here to tell you that this subterranean mystery exists and it’s not without some tall…

March is Women’s History Month and so I’d like to tell you the story of Mary Gilbert whose statue sits at the Conservatory in Fitzroy Gardens. Mary was the first European woman to live in the Port Phillip settlement, and…

In 1853 the “Triton” arrived in New South Wales laden with German vinedressers. Among the passengers were our Dries family Lorchhausen on the Rhine. Over the last 30 years or so, many descendants gathered information about our ancestors which we…

18th Century Religion, Literature, and Culture Explorations of Cultural Intersections S An Account of Sarah Mallett An Account of S[arah] Mallitt. Arminian Magazine XI (1788): 91-93, 130-133, 185-188, 238-242. Editor’s Introduction: Sarah Mallett (sometimes spelled Mallitt or Mallet) Boyce was born in Norfolk in…

Armorial shields are arms that had ancient and tribal significance, as opposed to arms that were later assumed by an individual as a part of a non-hereditary British knighthood. The arms of the Barrett family are based on word play,…