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Tales from the Grave
Uncovering family history from down under
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115 year old missing painting 'Found'
It had always been a mystery where the missing painting had gone.

Samantha Elley
2 days ago2 min read
48 views
0 comments


Developing career after shipwreck
Shipwrecked in India to photography in Australia

Samantha Elley
May 62 min read
85 views
0 comments


Horses and children didn't always mix
Sending a child to run errands while controlling a large horse wouldn't have been an issue in earlier days in regional areas. Many...

Samantha Elley
Apr 221 min read
277 views
0 comments


45-year-old cold case still hoping to be solved
Maria James was a mum of two boys and owned a second hand book store on High Street, Thornbury in Victoria. It was also her residence...

Samantha Elley
Apr 83 min read
508 views
0 comments


Jane Doe gains identity after 60 years
Fifty eight years ago a woman's body was found in Tiburon, California by a hunter. For the next six decades she would be known as the...

Samantha Elley
Mar 262 min read
1,443 views
0 comments


River crossing was his last action
There is nothing sadder than coming across a headstone that denotes the last burial place of a young person. This was the case for...

Samantha Elley
Mar 122 min read
203 views
0 comments


Little orphan engulfed in flames
At 11 years of age, Annie Murphy had already been dealt a cruel blow in life, finding herself living at St Aidan's Orphanage in the...

Samantha Elley
Feb 262 min read
200 views
0 comments


Baking business brings in the dough
He left tens of thousands of pounds, after years of baking.

Samantha Elley
Feb 102 min read
180 views
0 comments


Convict's wife runs inn on Bathurst road
It wasn't just convicts that were sent to the NSW penal colony.

Samantha Elley
Jan 272 min read
97 views
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First gardener buried in oldest grave
If you wanted to find one of the oldest European graves in Australia, it would surely belong to Henry Edward Dodd.

Samantha Elley
Jan 132 min read
229 views
1 comment


What ladder did they walk under?
Many of us have issues we have to deal with in life, but next time you are struggling, spare a thought for George Henry Tunsted and his fami

Samantha Elley
Dec 30, 20243 min read
195 views
3 comments


POW son released a month after Denis dies
When Denis Ahern breathed his last and passed to the other side, he left not knowing where his son, William Vincent Ahern was. His last...

Samantha Elley
Dec 16, 20242 min read
206 views
0 comments


Too much tragedy for one family
To lose one member of the family in an horrific accident is more than most people can bear.

Samantha Elley
Nov 25, 20242 min read
408 views
0 comments


He didn't mean to kill her
Sylvia Holmes' body was found in the front bedroom of her tiny cottage, Cremorne Street, Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne on the evening of...

Samantha Elley
Nov 18, 20242 min read
148 views
0 comments


95-year-old author publishes first historical fiction novel
When Graham Smith started writing ‘Red Earth Red Blood’, he was only a youngster in his 70s. Now at 95 years young, the Tuckurimba...

Samantha Elley
Nov 9, 20242 min read
494 views
0 comments


Military cross award revealed through lonely headstone
Hugh Russel received a Military Cross for his bravery in the Great War

Samantha Elley
Nov 4, 20243 min read
179 views
0 comments


Celebrating 100th birthday with a smoke and a drink
Living past 100 years was a rare feat in days gone by and even rarer for men.

Samantha Elley
Oct 14, 20242 min read
99 views
0 comments


First Australian woman killed in Vietnam
She was blonde and beautiful and at 19 years old, Cathy Wayne had the entertainment world at her feet. Her life, however, would be cut...

Samantha Elley
Oct 7, 20242 min read
390 views
0 comments


Parents die while Bill is on the world stage
Imagine you are at the peak of your career as one of Australia's elite cricketers. So much so, you have been chosen as part of the...

Samantha Elley
Oct 1, 20242 min read
225 views
0 comments


He fed the starving while his son butchered the car
It was the kindness of butcher, Daniel Walsh that stopped some from starving through the Depression.

Samantha Elley
Sep 17, 20242 min read
287 views
0 comments
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