Queanbeyan & District - Land & People
Dark side of life 1860
“Mrs Soares has lately given birth to a boy but his palate is split into three and he has no roof to his mouth”. 1
“She has no milk and the child is a most pitiable object”, continued Emily Wilson Hutchison in her letter of 7 March, 1860 from her home in [...]
John Gale
Hon. Sir Austin Chapman MP declared:
“… if any man were entitled to be known as the Father of Canberra, it was veteran Queanbeyan journalist John Gale.” 1
Charles Studdy Daley OBE wrote:
“… John Gale lived to see his vision realized when he attended the opening of Parliament in Canberra in 1927, and [...]
Aboriginal Queen Nellie Hamilton
Queen Nellie Hamilton was an honoured guest at the Tharwa Bridge opening in March 1895.
The official photo of the Tharwa Bridge Opening, shows what a “grand” occasion this was and the importance of Queen Nellie Hamilton to the community and within the community, at that time:
‘ … after a photograph was taken [...]
Canberra Investigated
When expatriate and political activist and artistic satirist Caroline Ambrus dipped out of Queanbeyan and sought new pastures across the border, she thought she would get a better deal in community justice and consultation. 1
Instead of retiring on a political holiday away from the action she has spent the past six years on investigative [...]
Harp of Erin Inn
Indian Jugglers were performing at ‘The Harp of Erin Inn’ located in Macquoid Street, Queanbeyan, when one of their juggling team went missing in November 1861. 1
The missing Indian Juggler was about 40 years old and it was believed that he had been “murdered … shortly after giving a juggling performance”. 2
A [...]
Modern Masterpiece
Places of worship were and still are art works in themselves, created as edifices to deity as examples of the faith, creativity and unusual work ethic and patronage that achieved the final result.
In some of the oldest places of worship in the world, the workers and perhaps some unbelievers painted and carved and decorated [...]
Queanbeyan’s Terpischore Mayor?
Who will be the new Queanbeyan Mayor?
Anyone can have a go now that votary, Councillor and Mayor, Frank Pangallo has announced he will step down and move across the border into Canberra, ACT to further his political career
Who will have the numbers to take over and make over Queanbeyan City Council after 13 [...]
‘Clear Water‘ ‘Beautiful Woman’
The two most popular Aboriginal meanings 1 for our town Queanbeyan are ‘clear water’ and ‘beautiful woman’ 2 but the pronunciation of Queanbeyan using the recorded phonic spelling made by white people during the early contact period, make the Aboriginal pronunciation less clear.
Cu-Um-bean is the phonetic spelling used by Stewart Mowle for [...]
Mayoral family
With three Mayors in the family it is easy to understand why the ‘Land’ family are known locally as Queanbeyan’s Mayoral Family. 1
Edwin Land senior was born in 1827 at Devonshire, England and was 15 years of age when he arrived in Sydney Cove in 1842. 2
Over the following 80 years the name Edwin [...]
Great Depression 1930s
During the great depression of the 1930s four Aussie blokes met on the road and as they walked they kicked rocks and ate the dust that rose from under their feet. 1
As time passed and the long paddock stretched on and on with no opportunity of bludging 2 a bite to eat, [...]