My family connections to the pioneers and early properties of the Illawarra...
Speaker Joel Thompson continues his talk about Evan Roberts Evans and Catherine Thompson, the Brown family of Sherbrooke and the Thompsons of Berkeley.
View ArticleWarren Bellamy
For more than twenty years Warren has been a stalwart volunteer at the Museum. Warren was a marine engineer and sailed the seven seas before settling in Wollongong. He has now decided to leave the...
View ArticleReport on July 2013 meeting : Dr Cox's association with Helensburgh
Jenny Donohoe is the research officer of the Helensburgh and District Historical Society, and also the curator of the Old Mine Surgery museum. The subject of Jenny's talk at the Juily meeting was the...
View ArticleReport on August 2013 meeting : The history of flooding in Wollongong, and...
Chas Keys, speaker at the August meeting, examined the occurrence of floods in the Wollongong area since the 1890s. Three significant floods of living memory - March 1975, February 1984 and August...
View ArticleOverland to Wollongong 1871 (Part 1)
This is an edited version of an article in the Illustrated Sydney News, 15 May 1871, page 11,14. Places mentioned include Bottle Forest Road, George's River punt, Cook's River Dam, Tom Ugly's Point...
View ArticleA moving memorial
Wollongong has a very tangible link with the Boer War in the form of a memorial in MacCabe Park. Wollongong man, Frank Andrews, was killed at Ottoshoop in South Africa on 26 August 1900. Frank's death...
View ArticleVale : Mary Lucina George (1929-2013)
Illawarra Historical Society life member and long-time volunteer at the Museum, Mary George, died on 19 September 2013. Mary was born and lived her entire life in the same house, "Bethania" at 145...
View ArticleReport on September 2013 meeting : Centenary of ANZAC - Illawarra Remembers...
As the 100 year anniversary of the Great War approaches many organisations are expanding their online collections and digitising items that relate to 1914-1918. Wollongong Library will be collecting...
View ArticleReport on October 2013 meeting : The Gardener's gamble - the Dawson family
Helen Laidlaw presented a very enjoyable and informative talk on the history of the Dawson family. Helen's great, great, great grandfather, John Dawson, a Lincolnshire gardener, arrived in Australia...
View ArticleOverland to Wollongong 1871 (part 2)
This is an edited version of an article in the Illustrated Sydney News, 15 May 1871, page 11,14. Distance from Wollongong to Bulli is eight miles: from Bulli to the top of the mountain is three miles....
View ArticleDecember 2013 meeting report [journal article] : "Keera Vale" restoration
The speakers for the December meeting focussed on the restoration work which they are undertaing on one of Wollongong's most historic buildings, "Keera Vale", a two storey Georgian style building...
View ArticleNovember 2013 meeting report : National Boer War Memorial
The November speaker, Tony Larnach-Jones, who is the Deputy national President of the National Boer War Memorial Association, presented a very enjoyable and informative talk on the background of the...
View ArticleThe path to progress
Little is known about the Old Dapto Road south of Wollongong. Annette William's research investigates the involvement that convicts played in establishing the roads in the area between 1825-1845.
View ArticleRestoration of Wilgendene
Paul McCosker spoke at the March 2014 meeting on the restoration of "Wilgendene" which was known as "The Villa", located at Jones Place Corrimal.
View Article50 lashes for flatulence : tales from the Illawarra Bench Books
An account of convict David Keenan who was assigned to Robert Young of Dapto in 1836. Speaker Lorraine Neate documents his subsequent years as a leaseholder at Macquarie River. In the early 1870's he...
View ArticleJune 2014 meeting : WEA - An Association to promote the Higher Education of...
In his talk titled "WEA Illawarra - A Historical Overview" Barry presented some very interesting background history on the establishment of WEA in Australia and Illawarra. WEA (NSW) was established...
View ArticleMeeting reports - July 2014 meeting : God, King and Country - the local Red...
Dr Ian Willis presented a very informative talk on the history of Red Cross in Australia, with specific references to Red Cross in Illawarra. The Australian Red Cross Society was established as a...
View ArticleMeeting Reports - August 2014 meeting : Sir Humphry Davy - the Davy Lamp
Andrew Conacher gave a most engaging and enjoyable talk on Sir Humphry Davy, his background and life and the importance of the Davy Lamp. Sir Humphry invented the miner's safety lamp in 1815. He was...
View ArticleDon Kevin Reynolds (1927-2014)
Long-time member of the Illawarra Historical Society, Don Reynolds, died on 19th July 2014, aged 87. He was a keen industrial archaeologist and his work will have a continuing benefit to research into...
View ArticleMeeting reports - October 2014 meeting : Legacy - history and work
Philip McNamara from Legacy gave a very entertaining account of the history and work of Legacy. Philip spent most of his working life in the Australian Army and when he retired he moved to Thirroul...
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