Traces

This magazine is for people passionate about Australia and New Zealand's genealogy, history and heritage. Whether you want to explore convict history, find your Anzac, identify photographs or trace your family tree, our trusted expert advice will help you discover your past.

Welcome to the 16th edition of Traces!

Traces

Heritage News

History Reflected • From important colonial-era documents and curious collectables, to records of events that reshaped society, you’ll be surprised by what you can find in the archives.

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PARRAMATTA TOWN HALL • The Parramatta Town Hall, in the centre of Parramatta’s business district, is a salmon-coloured building on the edge of Centenary Square. This edition, we take a look at the building’s past and its exciting not-too-distant future.

The modernist touch on tuberculosis • A look at the 20th century’s leading cause of death, the dreaded ‘white plague’, and its impact on architecture.

What’s that thingamajig? • Answer: a ‘weet weet’ (throwing toy)

Safely delivered Naming babes born at sea • According to maritime tradition, infants born at sea were named after the ship they were travelling on. Discovering the stories of ships’ namesakes might help explain some of the unusual names in your family tree.

Navigating namesakes

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In lutruwita • This land has had many names, some known and others lost. Europeans first called it Van Diemen’s Land, and later Tasmania. In palawa kani, the language of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people that has been meticulously reconstructed from the wreckage of colonial impact, it is known as lutruwita.

Piers, ports and paddles • 100 years of port history

Uncovering my mother’s past • After the death of her mother, Elizabeth Cutler discovered a part of her life that was rarely spoken about.

The life of a PLC schoolgirl • In her latest book, We Survived, Dr Christine Perrott shares a collection of tales by the girls who attended Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC) in Armidale, New South Wales, between 1936 and 1964. This edition, Gerlinde Spencer (nee Braunschweig), who attended from 1951–1952, tells us about her school days in her own words.

The death of Isabella McPhee • How Isabella McPhee’s ‘murder’ gives us insight into what the 19th century was like for women, and the attitudes towards abortion.

Opening the archives of White Australia • The administration of the Immigration Restriction Act was a huge bureaucratic exercise, creating tens of thousands of records that today reveal personal histories of life under the White Australia policy. Two recent online projects are opening up the archives of White Australia and uncovering new stories along the way.

Get involved – explore, transcribe, research

What’s new online? • The latest updates and additions to historical collections available online.

From razor wire to roses: Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison • For many years after its construction in 1850, Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Prison Pentridge was a place of dread. Today, though it has a grim and violent history, Pentridge is an entirely different place.