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Tales from the Grave
Uncovering family history from down under
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Samantha Elley
2 days ago2 min read
Baking business brings in the dough
He left tens of thousands of pounds, after years of baking.
107 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Jan 272 min read
Convict's wife runs inn on Bathurst road
It wasn't just convicts that were sent to the NSW penal colony.
66 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Jan 132 min read
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.
198 views1 comment


Samantha Elley
Dec 30, 20243 min read
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
157 views3 comments


Samantha Elley
Dec 16, 20242 min read
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...
192 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Nov 25, 20242 min read
Too much tragedy for one family
To lose one member of the family in an horrific accident is more than most people can bear.
366 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Nov 18, 20242 min read
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...
114 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Nov 9, 20242 min read
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...
446 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Nov 4, 20243 min read
Military cross award revealed through lonely headstone
Hugh Russel received a Military Cross for his bravery in the Great War
170 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Oct 14, 20242 min read
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.
87 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Oct 7, 20242 min read
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...
360 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Oct 1, 20242 min read
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...
206 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Sep 17, 20242 min read
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.
281 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Sep 10, 20242 min read
Female law student undeterred by prejudiced professor
In the era that Ada Emily Evans was born, it was rare for women to be in the legal profession.
96 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Sep 3, 20242 min read
He ran the 700km postal trip in a fortnight
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains the name and image of a person who has died.
257 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Aug 27, 20243 min read
Plain headstone for complex man
For the amount of acclaim and controversy that Norman Lindsay's life created, his headstone is very simple by comparison. All it says is:...
338 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Aug 20, 20242 min read
He saw the light at the end of the tunnel
When William Bassett died, he was the last pioneer of Tunnel in Tasmania and the second oldest resident of the Lilydale district. At 87...
484 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Aug 6, 20242 min read
'Nothing left in this world to mother'
When Emily Mary Elizabeth Delo wrote a letter, giving her permission for her 18-year-old son John 'Jack' Alfred Alston Delo to join the...
482 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Jul 23, 20242 min read
Night of hell for one young family
It was an oppressively hot day on the 5th April, 1887 in the small Northern Queensland gulf town of Burketown situated on the banks of...
919 views0 comments


Samantha Elley
Jul 16, 20242 min read
A hardy pioneer life for one woman
When Jane Power West died at the age of 90 years old in 1913, she took with her a lifetime of experiences only a pioneer woman in early...
674 views0 comments
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