Edition 2

Traces

Uncovering the past

Traces1 min read
Welcome To The Second Edition Of Traces !
Hello again! Here we are with Volume 2 of Traces. Producing Volume 1 was a bit of a baptism of fire, but an enjoyable one, as I received such a warm welcome from you, our readers. For that, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks! So many of you t
Traces2 min readCrime & Violence
Heritage News
In a move that’s set to make researching family ancestors easier for genealogists, Findmypast has recently begun cross-checking its birth indexes with General Register Offices to include women’s maiden names, where available, to records dated prior t
Traces2 min read
Letters To The Editor
Winner: Ancestry DNA kit, Volume 1. Tell us, in 25 words or less, which article from Volume 1 you liked most, and why. Answer: ‘The convict and the “scarlet woman”’. It reminded me of my great-great-grandmother, a convict who, after her arrival, cont
Traces2 min read
2018 Australian Heritage Festival
The Australian Heritage Festival, presented by the National Trust of Australia, is the nation’s biggest annual community-driven heritage festival. This year’s festival explores the theme ‘My Culture, My Story’, celebrating the diversity of cultures t
Traces2 min read
Adelaide Arcade
1895 The opposite photograph, taken in 1895, shows Grenfell Street, Adelaide, looking east. On the left, the street is busy, bustling with people wearing their best clothes. Adelaide Arcade, which was built in 1885, is the stately building with the d
Traces3 min readPsychology
Ask An Expert
Question: During 1962–1963, I worked as a trainee psychiatric nurse at Gladesville Mental Hospital in Sydney. I recently went looking for information about the female wards where I worked, but there appears to be no trace of them. The area they occup
Traces7 min read
The Harmers Haven Murders
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article contains the names and images of people who are now deceased. Those fortunate enough to be in the know about this beautiful corner of Bass Coast, 142 kilomet
Traces5 min read
Jimmy Possum: The Enigmatic Artisan
The Jimmy Possum chair tradition’s eponym was a mysterious late 19th century Tasmanian. Local stories have him living and working out of a hollowed tree in summer and staying in farm sheds around the Deloraine district during winter, swapping his cha
Traces5 min read
Remembering Broome’s Indigenous Pearl Shell Divers
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article contains the names and images of people who are now deceased. In the second half of the 19th century, Europeans quickly realised the value of Broome's natura
Traces5 min read
Message In A Bottle: History Through Bottled Notes
The first message comes from 9 July 1909. The Argus reported that the following message in a bottle had washed up in Singapore: ‘June 18 – Come and help us. We are lost in one of the New Guinea islands, 30deg. 5min. Palmerston and Flenn’. The article
Traces3 min read
Going Back To School
When researching family history, the first documents sought out are often births, deaths and marriages records; but documents generated by schools are an excellent little-known resource to get a glimpse of your ancestors in their early lives. In addi
Traces5 min readCrime & Violence
Convict Tattoos
In the 19th century, Australia likely had the world’s most heavily tattooed English-speaking population. Convicts arrived in the penal colonies with tattoos that were recorded in great detail by the authorities. Between 1788 and 1868, approximately 1
Traces3 min read
Reading Old Handwriting
Gather some useful tools together before you begin: a magnifying glass, a ruler, good lighting, and a voice recorder can all make the task easier. Knowing what kind of document you are reading helps you to prepare for the type of language to expect.
Traces6 min read
I Only Know That You Are 'Somewhere’
The World War I experience of my great-great-uncle is like the story of so many others: thousands of young Australians were killed, wounded or taken prisoner between 19 and 20 July 1916, in the disastrous first Battle of Fromelles. Percy George Bonto
Traces2 min read
A Place For Remembrance
Situated 418 kilometres south-east of Perth, Albany’s sheltered King George Sound was one of the last sightings of home for thousands of our nation’s Anzacs. Between 2014 and 2018, Australia and New Zealand are commemorating the Anzac Centenary, mark
Traces4 min read
Victoria’s War Graves
When repatriated soldier Lance Corporal Arthur Ruduss left Australia for service in the Vietnam War on 14 May 1966, he was 29 years old. Born in Riga, Latvia, in 1936, Ruduss served in Malaya and Borneo before being transferred to Vietnam. He spent o
Traces4 min read
Darwin: Australia’s Pearl Harbor
In a speech given on 17 February 1942, Prime Minister Curtin described the fall of Singapore as 'Australia’s Dunkirk'. Two days later, mainland Australia was attacked for the very first time, by a Japanese strike force under the direction of Naval Co
Traces4 min read
The Girl Who Wanted To Go To War: MAUD BUTLER
Maud had an independent spirit from the beginning. As a bright-eyed, fresh-faced girl just short of her 16th birthday, she left her coalminer father’s home in Kurri Kurri in the Hunter, and made her way down to Sydney. The year was 1915. The war was
Traces4 min read
Sugar Kate
I first found Sugar Kate in old police records at the Public Record Office of Victoria. On the cover of a 1907 file was a confused statement from the Chief Commissioner of Police, who’d been visited by a woman wishing to make a claim on £30 that she’
Traces3 min read
‘On The Wallaby’
'On the wallaby’, or ‘on the wallaby track’, referred to the act of travelling in the bush with nothing but a swag on your back. According to the Macquarie Dictionary, the phrase stemmed from ‘the notion of travelling on foot through the outback as t
Traces2 min read
SUSANNAH PLACE: A Home For Almost 150 Years
Located in The Rocks, Susannah Place is a terrace of four houses built by Irish immigrants in 1844. Over nearly 150 years, these small houses, with their tiny backyards, basement kitchens and outside washhouses, have been home to more than 100 famili
Traces2 min read
Trench Art For Private Groves
Philip Walter Groves was a born in Henley Beach, South Australia, in 1892. He was a 22-year-old piano tuner when he enlisted in the 10th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 29 August 1916. Groves served in World War I from 7 September
Traces3 min read
Beleura
Beleura has been home to several distinguished Australians since it was built in 1863 by Scottish immigrant James Butchart. Once described as the finest mansion in the colony, Beleura was home to Butchart for only six years before his death in 1869,
Traces1 min read
The Historic Houses Association Of Australia: A New Movement For A Better Protection Of Historic Properties In Australia
Australia’s heritage is about our future as well as our past. It is part of an ongoing story that tells us how we have shaped our landscapes, our cities and towns, and that tells the world who we are. Some of our most precious heritage is in private

Traces

More Issues From Traces