Although they now sit abandoned, a network of fortresses once guarded Australia’s coastline. This ring of stone, steel and concrete bunkers was primarily designed to defend our major port cities against hostile warships. Stretching from Point Nepean

• Alberta, Edmonton Burials: 97,350 records. • 1911 France Census: 18,143,989 records • 1931 France Census: 19,150,300 records. • Asia Minor Refugees, 1914–1923: 976,969 records. • Wellington City Burials: 185,902 records. • British Armed Forces Sold

When Europeans arrived in Australia, they were introduced to many species of animals that they hadn’t previously encountered. One Australian creature looked similar to the rats of Southern Asia, called ‘pandikokku’ in the Indian Telugu language, whic

Lieutenant Hugo Throssell was the first Western Australian to receive a Victoria Cross in World War I. Unknown to the current generation of the college community, his infantry sword was hiding in plain sight in a vault in the Wesley College archive.

Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes was a British army officer who emigrated to Australia in 1834 upon his appointment as Collector of Customs for the Colony of New South Wales. My research into Gibbes’s life was featured in Traces, December 2020, i

Now an award-winning professional photographer and a world-renowned authority on Art Deco design, Dr Peter Sheridan and his wife, Jan Hatch, have been collecting Art Deco items for more than 25 years. Their collection now includes 320 radios, jewelle

In 1848, one year after Melbourne was declared a city, Augustine friar James Goold was appointed the first bishop of Melbourne. Goold quickly began negotiations with the government for the right to the five acres of land on Eastern Hill, located in t

In the early 1860s, Elizabeth Morrow, like so many others, migrated to Australia in the hope of a better life. She had been a servant in her birthplace of Northern Ireland and, at first, she continued working as a domestic servant after her arrival i

On special occasions, my extended family would gather together at Gran and Pop’s to celebrate. There was always plenty of laughter and fun, and Aunty Sally was always the loudest in the room. Before she passed away at the age of 83, Sally wrote about

Working at Hill End Historic Site is like no other job I’ve ever had. There is never a dull moment, and the work is so varied. I count myself very lucky to have the opportunity to assist in the conservation of an amazing part of Australian culture. H

Topics include, but are not limited to: • Ancestor stories • Historical research and news • Research tips • Character studies • Historical building profiles • Antiques, collections and preservation • Personal heirlooms. Please note that all article s

On 16 December 1871, businessman (and former convict) Emanuel Solomon placed an advertisement in the South Australian Register announcing that he would host a banquet at the Adelaide Town Hall to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the proclamation of

As the final resting place of long-departed ancestors, cemeteries often hold plenty of historical information that can help family historians with their research. By exploring headstones, epitaphs, and the design and location of a gravesite, you can

This rotary iron was made by the Hurley Machine Company in the United States between 1910 and 1918, and was used in Terang, Victoria, by the Terang Laundry. When the laundry could no longer afford the repayments on the iron, it was given to the manag

A series of contemporarily typical events led to the stand-off that took place in the grounds of Richmond House: an insult had been given, offence had been taken, and there had been a determination by each man to assert his honour and stand on a prin

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I’ve known since I was a little kid that I have Chinese ancestry; it was never a secret. But I have no memory of being sat down at Grandma’s kitchen table with a glass of Milo and a Chips Ahoy! choc-chip bickie (one of my childhood favourites), and b

At the start of 1894, a special correspondent for the Leader newspaper noted that there was an exodus of Victorian miners, artisans and labourers moving west to take advantage of the gold discovery. They were not alone – ships arriving in Albany were

Lord Howe Island lies in the Tasman Sea, some 600 kilometres from mainland Australia. This World Heritage–listed holiday destination with approximately 380 permanent residents astounds its many visitors with dramatic landscapes, groves of Kentia palm

At a time when many Australians could not swim, the bravery required to save a drowning person was perhaps more impressive than it is today. These acts were often publicly celebrated. The Royal Shipwreck Relief and Humane Society of New South Wales (

The Hero of Waterloo Hotel is located on the south-west corner of Lower Fort and Windmill streets in Millers Point, Sydney – a small and historical suburb situated above the western shores of Sydney Cove, and home to many relics of Sydney’s founding

Digging shafts in the hot Australian interior may not have been everyone’s cup of tea in 1926, especially if the only other people around were a collection of scruffy, rough and weather-beaten men. But from the moment she drove into Coober Pedy with

Worker’s cottages have become synonymous with many of Australia’s inner-city suburbs, and the appeal they add to streetscapes today is often carefully preserved in heritage overlays. But the humble worker’s cottage hasn’t always been a cherished part