A remarkable visual record of Austra­lia’s maritime history is set to reach a far wider audience thanks to a recent grant awarded to the Royal Society of Tasmania. The Society has received funding through the Maritime Museums of Australia Project Support Scheme (MMAPSS) to create a high-quality inter­active digital version of the Owen Stanley Album (Volume 2), one of the treasures of its art collection.

Opera singers were the Taylor Swifts of the nineteenth century. You may remember the character of Jenny Lind from the film, The Greatest Showman. Jenny Lind was an opera singer, known as the ‘Swedish Nightingale’.

Tasmania is no stranger to weirdness, so it’s appropriate we have our very own crop circle mystery.

Did you know the Flower Room is Tasmania’s oldest co-op? Co-ops are businesses owned and run by their members, meaning everyone has a say in how things run. More than just a seller of flowers, cakes, sweet treats, and crafts, the Flower Room has a rich history dating back over 80 years.

When you’re bushwalking deep in the Tasmanian wilderness or winding your way down some lonely, half-forgotten road, you might’ve had this thought: Who actually made this track? It didn’t just appear one day, after all.

In the postwar decades, the world looked to the stars and so did its architects. Inspired by the atomic age, the space race, and the optimism of a technologically advanced future, a new aesthetic emerged called Googie architecture (not to be confused with Google). This style is identified by upswept roofs, neon signage, flying saucers, and curves. Picture The Jetsons and you’re most of the way there.

While Australia’s wildlife might seem normal to us, they really are quite unusual when compared to the rest of the world.

As Tasmanians, we take great pride in being an island set apart from mainland Australia. Well, we’re here to shatter those illusions.

Frederick Matthias Alexander is internationally known as the founder of the Alexander Technique.

It came from the depths…

Discovering SOHO: A Celebration of the South Hobart Community is a new book by Paul County, featuring a series of photographic portraits and personal stories from South Hobart locals. The book weaves together memories from long-time residents, reflecting on the early days of South Hobart, alongside stories from newer arrivals. The portraits and stories will also be showcased in a series of exhibitions at local SoHo cafes throughout the summer of 2024-25.

If you grew up in Australia, chances are you’ve tried fairy bread at some point at a birthday or Christmas party. White bread, smothered in butter or margarine and coated in Hundreds and Thousands, were likely found alongside other party classics – sausage rolls, chocolate crackles – and gobbled up by eager little hands. For many Australians, this simple, easyto- make snack brings back childhood memories. A sugary, buttery, carby dose of nostalgia. But where did this delightful party snack come from? Surprisingly, the answer could be our very own island home, Tasmania.

On execution days, prisoners were led to the gallows in shackles. The last person they saw before their demise was the hangman. A black hood was placed over their heads. All they could do was wait. As grim as this sounds, imagine the life of the hangman, who had to carry out these duties again and again.

It’s been a long time since I’ve visited the Salmon Ponds at Plenty, near New Norfolk – the oldest trout hatchery in the Southern Hemisphere. But now I’m here with a friend on a cold day, I’m reminded of the fascinating story of their origins.

The end of the 19th century heralded the beginning of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. This was an era marked by intensive scientific and geographi­cal exploration in the Antarctic region. Hobart became one of the few cities that served as a hub for Antarctic explorers, due to its geographical proximity to the frozen continent, and its deepwater estuary which enabled explorers to use its harbour.

Dive into the month ahead with practical star insights – your guide to navigating the cosmos this month.

Joshua Santospirito is a multimedia artist, musician, and comics author. He’s just released his third graphic novel, The Islands Where We Left Our Ancestors. It’s an autobiographical tale aimed at adults about his visit to the Aeolian Islands of Italy with his parents, where he sought out past connections and family roots. We chatted to him about his book and upcoming tour.

The Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2005 by the Tasmanian Government “to honour Tasmanian women who have made an outstanding contribution to the State”, and enhance community awareness of their achievements and lasting impact. Nominations for consideration for the 2025 Honour Roll are currently being sought from organisations and individuals, and will close at midnight on Monday 30 September 2024. 

Originally known as Glebe Town, Glebe is a small historic suburb of Hobart sitting below the Queen’s Domain and adjacent to the City of Hobart. It is characterised by heritage homes dating from the 1880s.

History and humour collided with the unveiling of what is perhaps Australia’s earliest-known free-standing full-length statue – a well-dressed colonial gentleman caught in the act of urination – at Hobart’s Maritime Museum.

What do Cadbury, Rowntree and Fry have in common? Chocolate, of course, but there’s also something more.

Once the Chrissy ham leftovers are safely in the Tupperware and the discarded wrapping paper dealt with, it’s time to turn our attention to the great race – the Sydney to Hobart.

When travelling from Hobart to Launceston and back again, one stretch of long, hilly, winding road generally comes to mind. Synonymous with roadworks and slow-moving caravans, the Midland Highway, or Midlands Highway, as it’s often referred to, never struck me as anything more than the road to the north of Tasmania – one with a compulsory coffee stop in Campbell Town, as is tradition.

When 18-year-old Mick Doleman farewelled a blossoming romance to sail out of Hobart on 12 October 1973, he didn’t know his whole world was about to change.

Whether you’re for, against or on the fence regarding Tassie’s AFL team and/ or stadium, North Hobart Football Club (NHFC) is considered the ancestral home of Aussie Rules footy in Hobart. We caught up with Rick Tipping for a glimpse back into the early days of NHFC and Tasmanian AFL.

It’s the time of year when the dark, low clouds in the evening look less ominous and looming, instead sparking hope and excitement. Will it snow? Will it be low enough? Can we go skiing?!

In late 2020 during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, when we were all living and working from home, going slightly crazy isolating from each other and the world, something exciting happened: a friend alerted me to a Tasmanian online auction that was about to take place.

Catherine Owens arrived in Van Diemen’s Land on the Lady of the Lake, after departing London on 12 June 1829. She had been convicted several times before being transported. Her convict record describes Catherine as having a violent disposition, in addition to being a single housemaid with a ‘dark complexion’ who could read and write (a rarity for lower‑class women at the time). She was sentenced to fourteen years for receiving stolen spoons.

What is the life behind a painting? This is a question I have always asked myself whenever I look upon the masterful
brushstrokes of the snowy Dutch homestead mounted on my living room wall.

The Legacy Centenary Torch Relay is a six-month campaign to pay homage to and acknowledge veterans’ families, saluting their sacrifice. Legacy has its roots in a battlefield promise, from the trenches in Pozieres, on the Western Front in World War I. A promise from a soldier to his dying mate to “look after the missus and the kids” is one that has been revered since the first Legacy Club was established.

In rain, hail and sunshine, for fifty years Salamanca Market has been an beacon for visitors and locals every Saturday.

Since 1946, a secret society of Hobart film lovers meets to watch films and chat all things movies. From humble beginnings, the society grew to a huge supporter base of almost 2000 film buffs. For a few reasons – including Covid – numbers are a little less than that now, but they’re looking to build again.

Have you ever looked up toward the mountain and noticed big white writing on the hill at South Hobart? Dating back to 1905, the sign was a new, fandangle marketing tool for Keen’s Curry, the iconic flavouring that started right here in Hobart. We spoke with researcher Freida Moran to get the fully spicy story.

As Remembrance Day approaches on 11 November a number of Tasmanians will be again reflecting on their unique service.

You may be well acquainted with stories of prisoners being shipped to Van Diemen’s Land to carry out their sentences as convicts. But what is perhaps often overlooked in our colonial history is the story of what became of the direct descendants of convicts.

Who designed Parliament House? The Theatre Royal? Richmond Bridge? Campbell Street Gaol? How about the Ordnance Stores in Salamanca? The answer all comes down to the same man: John Lee Archer. A colonial architect and civil engineer, Archer was responsible for countless Tasmanian government build­ings, penal buildings, military buildings, churches, bridges, and lighthouses.

The promise of a soldier to his dying mate in the trenches of WWI has made its way to the 21st century in the form of Legacy, an initiative that cares for the families of deceased veterans through practical, financial, and emotional support.

If you happened to have been walking along Murray Street in early 1817 you may have observed a rough sailor-looking fellow with a profusion of coarse hair sitting outside the gates of the old gaol, working with a pair of knitting needles to fashion wool into wearing apparel for sale.

Behind the gates of Hobart’s Anglesea Barracks, a World War II exhibition displays the stories of Tasmanians during the war years from 1939 to 1945. The display, hosted at the Army Museum on the barracks, includes images of Tasmania’s two main local infantry battal­ions and the myriad of defence industries, and is open to the public.

Fern Tree On Fire is a new book that looks at the impact of the 1967 bushfire on the bushy mountain suburb. It had a very timely release, with a recent fire threatening homes in Dynnyrne and Mt Nelson shortly after the anniversary of the 1967 fire that took 62 lives and made 7000 people homeless. Former Fern Tree resident Robin Hurburgh left the area after the fire, returning for the 50th anniversary and to compile the book.

Tongerlongeter was an impressive Australian war hero. Leader of the Oyster Bay nation of south-east Tasmania in the 1820s and ’30s, he and his allies led one of the most effective frontier resistance mounted on Australian soil.

Pirates Bay, the great sweep of ocean east of teralina/Eaglehawk Neck, received its first European name, Monge Bay, during Baudin’s expedition, in 1802.

The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery’s Thylacine Gallery is currently closed as the precious exhibits undergo some gentle maintenance and move into some new, state-of-the-art display cases. We caught up with Nikki King Smith, TMAG’s Senior Objects Conservator, to find out more.

On 17 March 1906 Tasmania played Vic­toria in the very first interstate women’s cricket match held in Australia at Victoria Park in Abbotsford in Melbourne.

Have you noticed how many houses in Hobart have a name? After realising just how many there were, I decided to write a book about them called 4 Winds to Zannee. My previous four books dealt with the naming of things in the Blue Mountains of NSW.

A morning tea was held at Government House earlier this year to acknowledge a significant collection of artefacts belonging to Major General Sir John Gellibrand KCB, DSO & Bar. Hosted by Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner, AC, (now ex) Governor of Tasmania, the collection was donated to Hobart Legacy by Margaret U Brown OAM. Mrs Brown, the widow of John Gellibrand, grandson of Sir John Gelli­brand, expressed her delight at being host­ed by the Governor and on the collection coming to Hobart Legacy.

With close to 1000 visitors of all ages, the public enthusiasm was encouraging when the Tasmanian Transport Museum (TTMS) hosted two special gala days to celebrate 150 years of main­line rail transport in Tasmania at their Glenorchy museum in September.

There was a time when apple trucks lined the streets of Hobart, waiting to unload the wooden boxes with their brightly coloured labels at Constitution Dock.

Ouse (pronounced Ooze, for the newcomers) in Tasmania’s central highlands might, to some, seem a sleepy hamlet, but it still boasts one of two schools in the municipality and a very well serviced health centre.

“Seventeen men were at work in the blacksmiths’ shop… furnished with all necessary implements. The furnace is capable of casting five tons weight of iron in one piece…Forty-nine men were employed at shoemaking in a shop 80 feet long by 30 feet broad. Shoes are made for the officers, military and men… Twenty-six carpenters were at work in a large shop, making various articles, and house-work for the station.”

A Holyman flagged ship hasn’t steamed up the River Derwent since 1984 but the company’s name still proudly adorns its former offices at 5 Morrison Street, Hobart.

A simple cave provided the perfect hideout for one of Tasmania’s most brutal bushrangers – and you can easily walk to it from Fern Tree. Sarah Aitken went in search of the story of Rocky Whelan.

If you’re exploring the Mallee region in Northern Victoria, Lake Boga is worthy of a visit. It’s a 9.4 square kilometre fresh water endorheic lake, adjacent to a town of the same name, 325 kilo­metres north west of Melbourne or 142 kilometres from Echuca via the Murray Valley Highway, and a popular recreational locale for all things water sport.

If you took a stroll through Salamanca at the turn of the 19th century, you would have been greeted with the putrid smell of chunks of whale blubber, rendered down in cast-iron pots called try-pots; a far cry from the modern cocktail scene today.

But it was those gruesome sights that shaped the city – because Hobart was built on a whale’s back. While Hobart’s whaling history may go back to the time of the first European settlement, it was around the 1840s to 1880s that the industry entered what historians say was a golden age. And a warning, gruesome tales ahead.