Table of contents for Edition 29, 2024 in Traces

Then Brisbane’s Customs House, located on the northern end of Brisbane River’s Town Reach near Petrie Bight, was built between 1886 and 1889. It was designed by Charles McLay of the Queensland Colonial Architect’s Office, and replaced a smaller customs building from the 1850s that had become outdated as Brisbane grew. When Moreton Bay was declared a port of entry in 1846, customs officials needed a central office to manage increasing trade and customs duties. This new location at the northern Town Reach spurred further development of nearby wharves, helping to establish the area as a commercial hub. Contracted to John Petrie & Son, construction faced challenges, with material shortages and plan changes causing delays. Finally completed in September 1889, Customs House showcased Brisbane’s economic and cultural confidence during Queensland’s…

It is commonly believed that the great navigator Matthew Flinders coined the name ‘Australia’, added it to his maps, and voilà – a nation was christened; however, the word ‘Australia’ has a much longer history, and was probably the result of an error by an English clergyman in 1625. For millennia, the idea of a substantial landmass to the south captured the imagination of people in the Northern Hemisphere. Terra Australis Incognita – ‘the unknown land’ – sparked curiosity and wonder. Around 500 BC, the Greek mathematician Pythagoras theorised that the Earth was a sphere, leading philosophers to believe that a Southern Hemisphere must exist to balance the north. In the 13th century, Venetian adventurer Marco Polo penned enticing accounts of a place he called ‘Lochac’, describing it as ‘……

From ‘daggy’ to ‘digger’, to ‘bogan’ to ‘fair go’, we all use at least some of the unique expressions that make up the distinctive Australian lexicon. Our variety of English has evolved since 1788 to include more than 16,000 words, compound words, and idioms that can be considered as ‘Australianisms’. How has this distinctive vocabulary evolved? From the arrival of Europeans, words were needed to describe the land and environment being encountered, even as English displaced many of the 300 to 700 First Nations dialects and languages spoken on the continent. Words were borrowed from Aboriginal languages before 1788: the word ‘kangaroo’, from Guuguu Yimithirr, was recorded by Joseph Banks in 1770 and it was the first ‘Australian’ word to enter the English language – excluding words for the continent…

When Betty Robinson and Mark Courtinay started renovations on their home earlier this year, they didn’t expect to make the local news. But midway into the project, they removed some wood panelling from a wall in their bedroom to uncover layers of rare wallpaper dating back to 1833. The Georgian-style rammed-earth house was built using convict-made bricks between 1826 and 1830, with the second storey added between 1850 and 1860. Only a few examples of this rammed-earth building technique survive in Tasmania. The property is National Trust–listed, as it was formerly the Prince of Wales Inn, which provided accommodation to trade travellers and their horses journeying to the Tasman Peninsula and east coast, or further north, in the 19th century. Robinson says uncovering the layers of old wallpaper was very…

High school students discover lost graves A class from St Mary’s College in Adelaide, South Australia, has uncovered the legacy of two World War I nurses, Agnes and Edith Cocks, more than a century after their service. During a research project, the students discovered the damaged graves of the sisters, who had been overlooked by history. Agnes, a Boer War veteran and World War I nurse, served in South Africa and France, while Edith nursed in Egypt and England. The sisters’ graves had been neglected, but their story of bravery is now preserved through the Headstone Project, which has uncovered 110 such stories associated with unmarked graves. Ancient mud reveals Indigenous fire practices A recent study published in Science reveals how Indigenous fire management reduced shrub cover by half in…

In the 19th century, it was said, sailors in Britain’s Royal Navy would swear by their ‘faith in God and an Admiralty chart’. Whether crossing oceans or approaching land, accurate and up-to-date nautical charts are essential to safe navigation. In a naval context, they are also critical planning tools for potential combat at sea, and for bombarding foes ashore. Charts are more than just maps with water features. They include detailed information about navigational landmarks, such as prominent hills, local deviation of the compass from true north, water depths, composition of the seabed, safe anchorages and all manner of submerged hazards – from reefs to shipwrecks. They also share currents, prevailing winds and the topography of the nearby landscape. Sometimes, the technical finesse involved in their creation elevates charts to…

My father, Helmut, was 14 years old and living in the town of Rosenberg, West Prussia, when, late in World War II, word came that the Russian Army was advancing. Helmut, his half-paralysed mother and his four-year-old sister fled their home that cold night in December 1944 or January 1945 with whatever they could carry or load on their sled. They trudged by foot through snow in the dark to the Rosenberg Railway Station. Alas, they arrived only to see the train departing. There they were, stranded at the station with many others. Fear was the overwhelming emotion. What now? Soon after, along came German Army trucks ready to evacuate them. All those milling around at the station were helped onto the trucks. Sleds, carts and any excess baggage all…

In 1863, Superintendent Charles Hope Nicolson, the man in charge of the Victorian detective branch in Melbourne, said that ‘smartness, and good apprehension, a good memory and dogged determination in the performance of his duty’ were the necessary characteristics of a good detective. One such exponent of Superintendent Nicolson’s virtues was 32-year-old detective James George Seabridge. Born in Birmingham, England, in 1831, Seabridge was named after his father, a stonemason who, despite his good character, was unable to provide decently for his family. Seabridge grew up in poor circumstances, spending his childhood in and out of the cruel London workhouses. On one of his workhouse admittance sheets, it was remarked that Seabridge had a crippled arm and was admitted due to his parents not being in a situation to support…

This pipe holder and pipe were made in France under the ‘Sarge’ brand in the early 20th century – an era when smoking was a common pastime, especially among men. Pipe smoking was the most common means of tobacco consumption in Australia in the 19th century, with imported leaf coming from Brazil and, later, North America, to supplement locally produced tobacco. By the end of World War II, almost three-quarters of Australian adult men smoked. Smoking among women was initially unacceptable. Changes in society during the 1920s, however, brought female smoking into the open, and those who chose to smoke were more likely to smoke ready-made cigarettes. This decorative pipe holder in the shape of an owl perched on a branch is made from briar wood (Erica arborea), commonly used…

TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains discussion of suicide. In June 1923, a coat and vest were found on the bank of the Rous River, near the Kynnumboon Dip in northern New South Wales. In the pocket of the coat were the soldier settlement papers of William Thorburn, whose life had ended in these waters. Thorburn’s life story is laced with the insensitivity and indifference of army and soldier settlement bureaucrats. As a World War I soldier who struggled with intellectual disability and a speech disorder, finding someone to understand him was challenging. Yet, he persisted to extract the best out of life, despite hurdles every step of the way. Thorburn’s disappearance was not reported to the police. His clothes were found by a passer-by and brought to the attention of…

The English and Australian cookery book: cookery for the many, as well as for the ‘upper ten thousand’, is regarded as Australia’s oldest surviving recipe book. It was written by Tasmanian Edward Abbot for both the masses and the wealthy (the ‘upper ten thousand’). The tome was published in 1864 in London by Sampson Low, Son & Marston. At this time, the components of many meals were prepared from scratch – the book provides instruction on how to extract gelatin from calves’ feet, how to make ice from chemicals and how to achieve fluffy cakes using ‘volatile salts’ (ammonium acetate). There is also plenty of insight (and personal opinion!) on social and dining etiquette from the author, who describes himself as an ‘aristologist’ – an expert in cooking and eating.…