Trove Tuesday - Australia Day

As Australia Day falls on a Tuesday this year we will share a few posts that report on local celebrations.

Australia Day hasn't always been celebrated in January. The first Australia Day was celebrated in 1915 on July 30. The following article describes the activities planned for Boolaroo. 

1915 'BOOLAROO.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 28 July, p. 6. , viewed 26 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137206939

A comprehensive report of the 1915 activities at Toronto can be accessed from this link http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137205886.

By 1935 January 26th was recognised as Australia Day in all States.

1940 'PREPARING FOR THE HOLIDAY', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 26 January, p. 12. , viewed 26 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140528766

 

Continue reading this very long article that mentions many local people from the following link to the article on Trove 
1932 'WALLSEND', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 8 February, p. 6. , viewed 26 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136865877

1950 'Australia Day Fete At Warner's Bay', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 27 January, p. 5. , viewed 26 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140640523

1940 'SWANSEA TO HELP AUSTRALIA DAY APPEAL', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 4 October, p. 11. , viewed 26 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132809302

1947 'Toronto Bowling Club', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 31 January, p. 12. , viewed 26 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132854223

Australia Day

 

Trove Tuesday - Storms

 As I sit at my desk collating this post I can hear the wind roaring and see the clouds gathering and whipping up waves on our Lake.

Carey Bay - 19 January 2021

Storms and the damage they cause are regular events in our area. Several articles in Trove record instances of storm damage in earlier years.

1953 'STORM DAMAGE IN NORTH', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 5 October, p. 1. , viewed 19 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140303349

Another paragraph in this long article describes further damage in the Lake Macquarie area.

Two years earlier in 1951 a child drowned during storms.

1951 'LAKE AREA AGAIN DELUGED AFTER WIDESPREAD RAIN DAMAGE ', The Newcastle Sun (NSW : 1918 - 1954), 17 January, p. 3. , viewed 19 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article157878967

1949 'Holiday Campers Pack Up After Worst Storm In 20 Years', The Newcastle Sun (NSW : 1918 - 1954), 11 January, p. 1. , viewed 19 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article158240552

1944 'STORM DAMAGE AT CARDIFF', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 22 December, p. 1. , viewed 19 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134247041

Trove Tuesday - Golden Times at Swansea

 Many of the articles we find on Trove give us information on the lives of our ancestors. This selection of Golden Wedding Anniversary stories are pure Geneagold.

1948 'Golden Wedding At Swansea', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 11 September, p. 4. , viewed 12 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140352031

1936 'GOLDEN WEDDING', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 7 January, p. 9. , viewed 12 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142408795

1949 'Golden Wedding At Swansea', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 25 June, p. 7. , viewed 12 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134456918

School on the lake

It's School Holidays - there's a sailing school in session on the lake.

A Shark Attack

141 years after this attack we remember 13 year old Theresa Bond. This event near Dora Creek was widely covered in newspapers of the time. 

1880 'Extraordinary Escape from a Shark.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 5 January, p. 2. , viewed 01 Dec 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133860346

Update: Thanks to reader, Colin, on Facebook, who has added more information to this story since I posted in on the Lake Macquarie Then and Now Facebook Group. 

Colin said "It was actually Theresa Bonnell in this attack, and a letter written by Bonnell family members in the early 1940s about them doing a tour of their old homestead identifies the spot as what we now call Bonnells Bay."

Colin kindly added a link to the post from 1880 that correctly names the victim. You can read it here: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108734225.

The lesson here is - You can't believe everything you read. We should check multiple sources!

New Year in Lake Macquarie

In years gone by a variety of activities have taken place on New Year's Day. Read about several of them in the articles below.

1875 'LAKE MACQUARIE', The Singleton Argus and Upper Hunter General Advocate (NSW : 1874 - 1880), 6 January, p. 3. , viewed 01 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article77249080

1885 'BELMONT.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 9 January, p. 3. , viewed 01 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139067346

1920 'TERALBA.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 6 January, p. 4. , viewed 01 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139432653

1920 'NEW YEAR'S DAY REGATTA.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 8 December, p. 8. , viewed 01 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140087135

1923 'SHELLSHEA ESTATE.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 29 December, p. 8. , viewed 01 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139611863

1931 'IT'S A FAIR CATCH HE TOLD POLICE', The Newcastle Sun (NSW : 1918 - 1954), 13 January, p. 6. , viewed 01 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164316446 
Read the remainder of this long article at the link above

1946 'Lake Parties to See in New Year', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 31 December, p. 5. , viewed 01 Jan 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133160122

2021