No compensation for Australia's first police woman
Australia's first police woman had to pick up her skirts and run for her life from a cocaine-runner.
Tales from the Grave
Uncovering family history from down under
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Samantha Elley
- Sep 14, 2021
- 2 min
Teenager feeds and hides Jews from Nazis
A friendship that became deadly but righteous.
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Samantha Elley
- Sep 7, 2021
- 3 min
The mystery of Sophia Stewart, the 'Locked-up Lady'
A forgotten asylum patient, a newspaper article from the 1980s, and a callout on a Facebook page adds up to an intriguing mystery.
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Samantha Elley
- Aug 31, 2021
- 3 min
Vine-dresser gets raw end of the iron spade
A dispute between neighbours turns tragic after a night of drinking and Johann Georg Reitz is the victim.
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Samantha Elley
- Aug 24, 2021
- 5 min
Spanish flu shows how history repeats
It's not the first time Aussies have had to mask up.
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Samantha Elley
- Aug 17, 2021
- 3 min
Poem sparks Poppy Remembrance Project
A poignant poem from a grieving mother in 1923, sparked the fulfillment of a request nearly 100 years later.
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Samantha Elley
- Aug 10, 2021
- 3 min
Aboriginal woman claims and receives her own land
To be assigned to his 16-year-old Aboriginal wife, is definitely one for the books.
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Samantha Elley
- Aug 3, 2021
- 2 min
A family secret for a Prime Minister
Every family has its secrets, but the Hughes family, Australian royalty in the early 1900s, had one with permanent consequences.
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Samantha Elley
- Jul 27, 2021
- 3 min
Bridget Partridge: The Flighty Nun
It was a time where patriarchy ruled and sectarianism between the Catholic and Protestant churches was rife
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Samantha Elley
- Jul 20, 2021
- 3 min
Sole survivor of great peacetime tragedy
James Johnson miraculously survived Australia's worst peace time marine tragedy
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Samantha Elley
- Jul 13, 2021
- 3 min
Reformed drunk builds a church
The story of John Lees is one of redemption and hope.
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Samantha Elley
- Jul 6, 2021
- 3 min
An artist who practiced the occult and worshipped Pan
She was known as the 'Witch of Kings Cross' and Rosaleen Norton confessed to a deep interest in and practice of the occult
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Samantha Elley
- Jun 29, 2021
- 2 min
Chasing Arthur's final resting place
The sun, and a few storm clouds, kept us company this afternoon on our quest for the story of Arthur Beaumont Goard.
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Samantha Elley
- Jun 22, 2021
- 3 min
His death created a community place in his home town
Recently at Broken Head, near Byron Bay on the north-east coast of NSW, the little wooden church of St Oswalds held its final service
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Samantha Elley
- Jun 15, 2021
- 3 min
Dad and Dave creator brought early farming life into Australian literature
Celebrating the life of the writer behind Dad and Dave and the movie On Our Selection.
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Samantha Elley
- Jun 8, 2021
- 3 min
He established Bushman's Bible and portraiture prize
What do Australia's most famous portrait prize, the now defunct Bulletin magazine and Hyde Park fountain in the heart of Sydney all have...
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Samantha Elley
- Jun 1, 2021
- 3 min
She saved her captors from drowning
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains the name of an Indigenous Australian who has died.
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Samantha Elley
- May 24, 2021
- 3 min
Female 'vagabond' is teacher, undercover journo and marries at 72
Her articles on the health system in Victoria highlighted its shortcomings.
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Samantha Elley
- May 19, 2021
- 1 min
Somerton man exhumed to solve 70 year old mystery
Early last year Tales wrote about the mystery of Somerton man. A case where the body of a man was discovered on Somerton beach on December 1
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Samantha Elley
- May 17, 2021
- 4 min
Female bushranger wore pants alongside Captain Thunderbolt
In 1865 police had tracked the notorious bushranger Captain Thunderbolt to his camp in the Maitland area. What they found was a heavily...
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