Dec 5

Mrs Ashton

FOR THE BENEFIT OF MRS. ASHTON ——- Mrs. Ashton begs most respectfully to apprise the Ladies and Gentlemen of Launceston and its environs, that she will take a Benefit at the above place of amusement on Monday evening next, April 11th, on which occasion she solicits your kind patronage and support ; and she pledges…

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Dec 1

Nurse Cash

This plaque is currently in the Beds, Books and Bandages exhibition at the Queen Victoria Museum, usually hanging in the Launceston General Hospital. DEATH OF A NURSE. An outbreak of scarlet fever at the Launceston General Hospital, resulted in the death of Nurse Cash. This lady, who only joined the nursing staff a few months…

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Nov 20

Louisa

From the Justice & Police Museum in Sydney… This one is Louisa Collins who was the last women executed in NSW, for killing her two husbands The text on the panel says: In 1869 Louisa Collins (1849-1889) was arrested on suspicion of poisoning two husbands. Details of the case were widely reported in the newspapers, with her…

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Nov 13

Dolly

Sherwood Hall at Latrobe, home to “Thomas Johnson, a pioneer and settler who began life in Van Dieman’s Land as a convict and his wife Dolly Dalrymple Briggs, the first part aboriginal”. Australian Dictionary of Biography Bridging the cultural divide with Dolly Dalrymple

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Nov 13

Mary

So let’s go back to a time when bushranger meant bolter, bandit, runaway convict; and those that made the news were described with words like murderous, atrocious, vicious — no outlaw heroes here — and Mick Howe was the king of them all. Or should that be the governor of them all? Back to 1817,…

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Nov 13

Harriett

Probably I shouldn’t include Mrs Davis, because she doesn’t play an important part in the story, but you can’t expect me to pass on Brady & Co, and she is interesting — for something it’s claimed she didn’t do. This little notice appeared in the Hobart Town Gazette on the 8th July 1825: Brady and…

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Nov 13

Eliza, part III

Part I: Meeting Part II: On The Run Part III: Conclusion “I informed my mates [Jones & Kavanagh] that I should have the pleasure of introducing them to an old acquaintance of mine who lived on the Dromedary, named Mrs B—-n, and that in all probability they might shortly, while there, see Mrs Cash. Jones…

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Nov 13

Eliza, part II

Part I: Meeting Part II: On The Run [A few months of wandering about, working in various places] [Being arrested over a stolen watch, but as it was apparently planted “I and my companion were therefore acquitted”.] [Punching out the traps and getting compensated for it.] [Then things turn a bit more serious…] “One evening…

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Nov 13

Eliza, bushranger’s companion. Part I

Let’s a take a dip into Australian folk history for the tale of Eliza, also known at Betsy Clifford, also known as Mrs Cash. In 1870, a little book appeared The adventures of Martin Cash : comprising a faithful account of his exploits, while a bushranger under arms in Tasmania, in company with Kavanagh and…

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