Table of contents for Jul-Aug 2016 in Traces

Margot Riley “Ask our experts”, page 20 I’m looking forward to Colour and Darkness: Images from the First World War at the State Library of NSW as it combine two things I love — historic photography and research. I’d also love to go on one of the nightlight tours at Susannah Place Museum at the Rocks. Kevin Molloy “The last voyage of the Shenandoah”, page 32 I’d like to attend the various Somme anniversary events beginning on 1 July as well as a tour of the battlefield. The Somme was such a horrible disaster that resonates with both sides of the conflict. Matt Smith “Following in their footsteps”, page 56 I’d like to attend the centenary commemorations happening throughout 2016 that mark 100 years since the Easter Rising in Dublin,…

Inside History magazine is partnering with the State Library of NSW to create a unique photo-dating tool — the first of its kind in Australia — to help genealogists and historians trace their ancestors. Led by the creative team behind Inside History, the project will build on the expertise of State Library staff as well as its rich collections to help users identify the date of family photographs. “Our readers commonly request help with identifying when family pictures were made,” says Inside History editor Cassie Mercer. “With funding support from Arts NSW, we’re thrilled to be working with the State Library on this pioneering online tool that will provide vital information in piecing together a family history.” The result will be a dynamic, freely accessible website showcasing up to 200…

ANCESTRY • Australia and New Zealand Obituary Index, 2004–15 (updates) • Australia World War II Military Service Records, 1939–45 • British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730–1960 • Global Gravestone Photograph Index, 1265–2014 • Ireland Calendar of Wills and Administrations, 1858–1920 • Ireland Courts Martial Files, 1916–22 • Ireland Intelligence Profiles, 1914–22 • London, England, Proceedings of the Old Bailey and Ordinary’s Accounts Index, 1674–1913 • Northern Territory Probate Index, 1911–94 • Queensland Index to Aliens, 1913 • Queensland Occupational Indexes, 1857–1922 • Queensland Prison and Reformatory Indexes, 1824–1936 • Queensland Property Indexes, 1842–95 • Sutton, Surrey, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812 • Sutton, Surrey, England, Tax Collection Rate Books, 1783–1914 • Sutton, Surrey, England, Water Rate Books, 1868–1911 • Tasmania Deeds of…

A LITTLE WHILE ago I was watching the ABC’s Restoration Man when it struck me that the problem facing a young Shropshire couple was something historians frequently confront when faced with uneven primary sources. It is also the issue at the heart of my new book, The Convict’s Daughter, and probably why my approach to writing this biography of a little-known colonial woman has provoked contradictory responses from historians even before publication. In this particular episode of Restoration Man, the couple had bought what they assumed was a 19th-century farmhouse. They were keen to do ‘the right thing’, but within a few weeks they discovered a crumbling wall at the back of the building that was 16th-century Tudor. Many of the giant wooden beams were rotten and at least half…

• Where to stay: Look out for the Accor chains of hotels such as Ibis, Mercure, Novotel and Campanile. • Car hire: Pre-book for the better deals, but two weeks in a compact car will cost you approximately A$400. Note that car hire is more expensive if you pick up and drop off in different countries. If your port of arrival is Paris, hire a car direct from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport to avoid driving on the capital’s frenetic streets. Lille Eurostar train stations in northern France also offer car hire and lie half way between Paris and Ieper in Belgium, if you are coming from London. • Driving tips: For the intrepid explorer, French backroads open up many possibilities. Tolls on motorways are frequent, but the concept of…

Other visual sources, of course, have a similar power. This issue, we look at how colonial artist ST Gill chronicled life in Australia’s 19thcentury cities, towns and goldfields through his paintings. Learn more about this underappreciated artist on page 28, and find out why his controversial paintings fell in and out of favour as times changed. Speaking of change, we have some big news here at Inside History. From this issue onwards, we will be a quarterly magazine. It’ll still be the same Inside History, just four issues per year instead of six. Subscriptions will be automatically converted to the new format, meaning our subscribers will still receive the same number of issues as before, except that their subscriptions will last longer! It is a big decision, but we’re excited…

What inspired you to start researching the RAAF 75 Squadron for your book 44 Days? It’s a strange story, but in fact the son of one of the original pilots of the whole 44 Days story approached me first — at an RSL in Victoria where I was giving a talk — enquiring if I’d be interested in doing a book on the subject of 75’s fight at Port Moresby. This was Peter Tucker, son of Arthur Tucker, one of 75 Squadron’s earliest pilots. At the time I actually turned Peter down as I was too busy but then — totally out of the blue, Hachette approached me with exactly the same proposal. I thought that Peter must have been in touch with Hachette, but no, it was just coincidence.…

DO YOU have an ancestor who fought at the Battle of the Somme? The Imperial War Museums (IWM) is inviting you to share their stories, on the permanent digital memorial, Lives of the First World War. You can discover and remember your family connections to the Great War by uploading photos, linking to evidence and adding information.To start sharing, visit livesofthefirstworldwar.org There are many links to Australians in the IWM archives. Here, IWM highlights three examples of Antipodean records. Oswald Samuel Blows 28th Battalion, AIF Oswald Samuel Blows was born on 11 August 1893 in Cambridgeshire, England. He emigrated to Australia in 1910, and wrote a detailed diary of his journey that is now held in the archives of the IWM. When Oswald discovered that war had broken out he…

1. ‘Shooting with Intent’, Sydney Morning Herald One afternoon, I was chatting with my parents about the first generation of Europeans born in Australia, a group known as the ‘native-born’ who often expressed a strident colonial nationalism as early as the 1820s. I was curious about native-born women, of whom so little was recorded. It was at this moment that my mother jumped up. “We have one of those,” she declared before rushing away. Minutes later I was riffling through an old shoebox containing letters, memorabilia and the scroll of a family tree. And there it was; this clipping, from the Sydney Morning Herald, 5 June 1848, describing the precise moment that a 15-year-old native-born Sydney girl stood in the witness box of Sydney’s Supreme Court and was ‘too agitated’…

IN 2016, we are commemorating the 100th anniversary of some of history’s most destructive battles. For Australians and New Zealanders, the horror of the Battles of Fromelles and the Somme in France continues to resonate. Small French towns such as Fromelles, Pozières, Mouquet Farm, Flers, Albert and Bapaume are forever linked to Australia because of the service and sacrifice of the Anzacs of World War I. Recognition of the legacy of those men and women has ignited countless journeys of battlefield exploration following in the footsteps of ancestors, forebears and folk heroes. And rightly so; in the words of the official Australian war historian Charles Bean, Pozières ‘is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other spot on earth’. Bean is of course referring to the 23,000 casualties suffered…

THIS LOVELY portrait is of friends Myra Hood (left) and Marian Maude Dennis, both born in the Lithgow district in 1904. Marian, or Maude as she was known, was my grandmother. She and Myra trained at ‘Blackfriars’ as teachers and when only 17 they were both sent to Warren in western New South Wales. They travelled by train from Sydney and on their arrival in Warren they discovered there was no accommodation for them and they had to board at the local hotel. This would have been an education in itself as these girls came from very conservative families and they possibly would never have seen the inside of such a place. From Warren, Maude went to Coogee for a while then was sent to Cooerwull, near Lithgow, where she…

Clixta Free; iOS and Android compatible Clixta is a photosharing social network focused on the past. It’s like a hybrid of Instagram and Flickr, except dedicated solely to historical images. Although still growing, Clixta has already amassed a beautiful collection of images, predominantly from the UK. You can share your own photos (scanning is not necessary), search photo tags for specific topics, eras, places and names, and create public or private groups. The app’s partnership with Copyright Hub means the copyright of each image is automatically protected. Overall it’s a nifty tool for sharing photos and memories. Somme 100 Free; iOS and Android compatible Aiming to ensure that the losses of the Somme are remembered, the Royal British Legion — and historian Dan Snow — put together this impressive app…