Category Archives: History

The Sound of Music

Now we are back in South Australia and in the depths of a damp winter, it is hard to believe that only a few weeks ago we were wandering through Rome, immersed in spring. Early in the tourist season, the … Continue reading

Posted in History, Italy, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Sound of Music

A Final Glimpse of Tasmania, Past, Present and Bucolic

‘Scrimshaw.’ My favourite new word for the week. What is scrimshaw? A character from Harry Potter perhaps? No, not quite. That was Rufus Scrimgeour, I believe. Scrimshaw is, in fact, the art of engraving images on objects made from whale … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Food & Wine, History, Local Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Final Glimpse of Tasmania, Past, Present and Bucolic

‘A Pack of Thieves’

Port Arthur. Today, it is an hour and a half’s drive from the pretty, waterside city of Hobart. Two hundred years ago, it was a day’s sailing from the decidedly seedy and often violent waterfront of Hobart Town, which had … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, History | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘A Pack of Thieves’

Post Production Ponderings

November arrived with a clash of cymbals, a tarantara of trumpets and thunderous drum rolls. I submitted my thesis on the first of the month, which was a huge weight off my shoulders. The following day, the Lyceum Club Adelaide … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, History, Local Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Post Production Ponderings

Of sheep and seaside daisies…

The first sign that the town had a connection with Scotland was its name: Glencoe. The second sign: a redheaded ‘Weasley’ walking down the main road… Glencoe is a small country town in south-eastern South Australia, to the north-west of … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, History, Local Culture, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Of sheep and seaside daisies…

Christina & Her Sisters

These eight, somewhat startled-looking women were all born during Queen Victoria’s reign, in the colony of South Australia. Meet Annie and Clara, Edith and Grace, Lily and May, Christina and Kathleen. All sisters. There was a ninth sister, Alice, but … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Biography, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Christina & Her Sisters

Not Another Brick in the Wall

While I have always loved a good chat, I used to dread the thought of speaking in public. My voice and my hands would shake. My mouth would go dry. The page before me would go blank. I would wither … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, History | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Not Another Brick in the Wall

Colonel Light’s Vision: an old chestnut or a model for the future?

Through this exceptionally long, wet winter, I have spent a lot of time immersed in the history of South Australia, researching families and individuals who played a significant part in founding our state. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, for example, was a … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, History, Local Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Colonel Light’s Vision: an old chestnut or a model for the future?

Mintaro & Martindale

Only eleven kilometres off the Horrocks Highway that sprints through the Clare Valley, Mintaro is a tiny, rural village that has been tucked into the hills since Adelaide was a toddler. In 1984 it was declared a State Heritage site, … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Food & Wine, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mintaro & Martindale

Victoriana

I love, love, love Victorian kitchens – and I don’t mean the state of Victoria, so troubled with Covid restrictions, but Queen Victoria and the era of huge basement kitchens, à la Downtown Abbey. Deep within the British stately home … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, History | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Victoriana