Colonial Adventures & Wild Stories

George Edwards Peacock: The Convict Artist Who Painted Barham House

Sydney in the late 1860s was rapidly shedding its “convict settlement” past, blossoming into a thriving city poised to rival some of Europe’s finest. Internationally acclaimed author Anthony Trollope even visited in 1871, describing Sydney as a city to rival the great capitals of Europe. But in this shifting landscape, one convict’s story stands out…

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Seeing The Elephant

“I think I may without vanity affirm I have “seen the elephant” – Louisa Clappe (author of the famous Dame Shirley letters from Gold Rush California) Quoted in They Saw The Elephant  – Women in the California Gold Rush by Jo Ann Levy A Heroic Quest It was a saying of the gold rush days – if you’d been…

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