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25.01.2022 Publication now available! Uncover the stories behind 50 treasured artifacts displaying 150 years of history! This beautiful publication chronicles each object... in the exhibition, 50 TREASURES: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY, drawn from the JCU Special Collection. Pick up a copy from Perc Tucker Regional Gallery and discover hidden gems of our history. Publications $20 Gallery open Tues Fri 10am-3pm & Sun 10am-1pm JCU Library
25.01.2022 Had a very successful book launch last Friday night at Mary Who? Bookshop, with around 70 people in attendance. Here's some photos from the night. Sincere thanks to everyone at Mary Who for hosting a wonderful event, and to all those folk who travelled to attend the launch. Mary Who Bookshop has signed copies available now! https://bit.ly/37KONLP
24.01.2022 https://jculibrarynews.blogspot.com//50-treasures-townsvil
24.01.2022 This is a great piece on Jean Devanny, a prolific Australian author, who lived in North Queensland for a time. Her unpublished manuscript gives us an historical glimpse into life on Magnetic Island in the early 1950s.
22.01.2022 It's time for the V8s again in Townsville, but 65 years ago, cars in the Redex Trial were tearing through Townsville streets - and the cars were a far cry from the sleek machines we see today. Here's a story I wrote a few years back about the endurance rally that captured the hearts of Australians - a race where "the reliability of each competitor’s car is the only consideration". https://bit.ly/3jme9ER Photo: Christensen Collection, CityLibraries.
20.01.2022 Why did John Melton Black abandon Townsville - the town he built from the ground up - after just a few short years? New on North Queensland History - https://bit.ly/3oaDMdM
20.01.2022 My latest book: A University for the North has now been published! This 123-page, full-colour publication, commissioned to commemorate James Cook University's 50th anniversary in 2020, explores 50 stories that celebrate JCU's people, place, knowledge & legacy. After a delay of 12 months due to the pandemic, we finally launched the book on Monday night at The Ville Resort Casino (as part of a special JCU ceremony to honour 24 Honorary Doctorate recipients). What's in it? There... are biographical-style articles on high achieving alumni, as well as stories on the development and growth of the university; its resulting legacy of research and knowledge; and its contribution to the cultural life of North Queensland and the Tropics. JCU: James Cook University, Australia For enquiries: email the Vice Chancellor's Office, JCU https://bit.ly/2RTBi9d Photo: Trisha Fielding See more
17.01.2022 Affection, by Ian Townsend, is a great read! I can highly recommend it. And I want to give a big shout out to the team at Mary Who? Bookshop who are doing an awesome job of keeping everyone stocked up with books during isolation! #supportlocal If you haven't read my latest book yet, you can read a review here: https://northqueenslandhistory.blogspot.com//read-review-o Then buy a copy of the book from Mary Who? Bookshop Please support your local bookshop, because they also support local authors - thanks folks :)
15.01.2022 In 1933 a middle-aged woman walked into the Brisbane General Post Office to collect mail addressed to Kate O’Sullivan and was immediately arrested by police and charged with bribery. The name Kate O’Sullivan was an alias used by Clare Macintosh, a 48 year-old former hospital matron, who had written to a Brisbane doctor threatening to ruin his medical practice. As Kate, Clare demanded that Dr Windsor pay her 200, or she would expose him for having made surgical mistakes at To...owoomba hospital some 17 years earlier, when she had been the matron there. Clare was committed to stand trial the following February but as she was unable to raise bail, was sent to Boggo Road Gaol to await her trial. It soon became apparent that she was an addict, reliant on morphine. Unsurprisingly, she reacted badly when her drug supply was cut off, and was placed under observation in Ward 14 at Brisbane Hospital for a week. She was then returned to Boggo Road to await her trial. In March 1934 she was convicted and sentenced to twelve months’ hard labour. How did this woman a nurse who had served her country during the Great War, a woman who had held the respected position of matron at four hospitals throughout Queensland come to find herself in such a predicament? This is an excerpt from my new book - Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome - don't forget the launch is happening this Friday 22 November at Mary Who? Bookshop - 5.30pm.
14.01.2022 https://jculibrarynews.blogspot.com//50-treasures-celebrat
14.01.2022 https://jculibrarynews.blogspot.com//50-treasures-sketch-o
14.01.2022 #FlashbackFriday Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 1921-2021 Prince Philip arrived in Townsville for a solo visit on the 23rd October 1973 to present the Duke o...f Edinburgh award medals. Today's photograph taken by Alex Trotter shows the Prince chatting with gold medal winner, 2nd Lieutenant Anthony Griffiths of 1RAR. During the official presentation, the public address system failed. The Prince quipped One chap who won’t be getting an award today is the chap who organised this microphone. The Townsville Bulletin reported on the Prince’s good spirits and informal approach: He chatted to the crowd and laughed and joked with the children sending police and palace security men scampering in all directions. The Bulletin further reported the Prince abandoned his schedule and showed no desire to leave for the formal civic reception, preferring to mingle and talk with the assembled crowd.
13.01.2022 Some new writing from me on Women of the North Blog! This one's about author Jean Devanny. Please feel free to leave a comment on the blog post as well as here on Facebook. https://womenofthenorth.blog/2020/08/24/jean-devanny/
13.01.2022 In August 100 years ago 13 Vietnamese died at the old Pallarenda Quarantine Station. The only people in quarantine to die here (they were suspected to have typhoid but died of meningitis). The site is now part of a conservation park and historic centre. (This post & photos from Emeritus Professor Nick Harvey, of the University of Adelaide - has been used with permission).
12.01.2022 Here's a couple of 1940s advertisement for condensed milk. Totally unsuitable for feeding to infants (as they promoted), but very yummy when used to make caramel tart :) Source: Cummins & Campbell Monthly Magazine, 1941.
11.01.2022 Here's some new writing from me - for the JCU Library Special Collections 50 Treasures project. (Though I didn't write the intro paragraph - I'm not that creative) If you click on the link in the blog post you'll be able to browse digitised photos from this fascinating collection. https://jculibrarynews.blogspot.com//50-treasures-reverend
10.01.2022 I hope to post some new writing of my own soon, but in the meantime, here's another interesting piece from the JCU Library News blog https://jculibrarynews.blogspot.com//50-treasures-croydon-
09.01.2022 https://northqueenslandhistory.blogspot.com//art-deco-ingh
08.01.2022 Today is International Day of the Midwife! It's also Mother's Day soon, so get yourself down to Mary Who? Bookshop and buy your Mum a copy of my book - Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome: the remarkable lives of North Queensland Independent Midwives 1890-1940
07.01.2022 There are some wonderful images in this collection from Queensland State Archives There's even some architectural plans of Townsville buildings!!
07.01.2022 You know how tourists flock to North Queensland in winter because of our mild climate and stunning scenery? It's probably the result of clever promotional marke...ting that's actually been happening for more than a hundred years! Today's #50Treasures release is a selection of Queensland Government tourism publications - and historian and JCU Library Special Collections Project Officer Trisha Fielding tells us more about it in our blog post. https://jculibrarynews.blogspot.com//50-treasures-queensla See more
06.01.2022 Book pack giveaway!! I've had hundreds of new followers to my page this year - even though this year I've been so busy with other big projects that I haven't been able to post much new material here. In 2021 I'll have some new stuff ready for you to read! But as a thanks to all my followers (both new and old), I'm giving away a bundle of 3 of my books. One (or all) of these would make a great Christmas gift for the history lover in your family. To go into the draw, just post ...a comment here, telling us something you have liked, enjoyed, or been moved by, from anything I've written (either from my blogs, books, newspaper articles, etc). One of the books in the pack is a limited edition, numbered & signed hardback copy of Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome; and the whole pack has a retail value of $110! You have until midnight Sunday 20 December 2020. I'll announce the winner on Monday morning! See more
04.01.2022 Here's a few pics from a new exhibition at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery - it's the JCU Library 50 Treasures exhibition. It's a must-see if you're in Townsville! And if not, it's all online too, just google JCU NQ Heritage. I wrote nine of the entries in the exhibition catalogue, and it's a beautiful publication, jam-packed with historical information. Photos: Trisha Fielding
04.01.2022 This was a very interesting read. The full article is on the Interpreting Ingham History blog - https://bit.ly/2R9kVlS
04.01.2022 There are some fascinating photos in this latest release. Be sure to click on the live link in the blog post that takes you through to NQHeritage - so you can view all the photos! Enjoy https://jculibrarynews.blogspot.com//50-treasures-james-bi
04.01.2022 The covid-19 pandemic has made me revisit some of my past research into historical epidemics and pandemics. The debacle with the Ruby Princess cruise ship made me think of the SS Dorunda - which was quarantined off Queensland in 1885 because it had a number of cases of cholera on board. Even though I wrote this blog article a number of years back, it's worth a re-read, I think. https://northqueenslandhistory.blogspot.com//cholera-ship-
03.01.2022 New today on Women of the North blog: http://womenofthenorth.blog//amanda-mikkelsen-a-woman-of-/
02.01.2022 Architectural drawings of the former Railway Station on Flinders Street, Townsville, dating to 1910. This is really interesting for the clock tower in this design that was never built. Photo: Queensland State Archives.
02.01.2022 The launch for Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome is on 22nd November 2019 at Mary Who? Bookshop 5.30pm for a 6pm start. Here's your invitation!
01.01.2022 'A playground for the young, a sanatorium for the old' - a real estate poster from 1928 for blocks of land at Arcadia, Magnetic Island. ITM: 972188
01.01.2022 For more than three decades, Cummins & Campbell's Monthly Magazine kept North Queenslanders entertained. In fact, the magazine's motto was 'To Educate and Amuse...'. In today's blog post, historian and JCU Library Special Collections Project Officer, Trisha Fielding, delves into the identities of the people who contributed articles to the magazine - who wrote under mysterious-sounding pen names! #50Treasures https://jculibrarynews.blogspot.com//50-treasures-cummins- See more
