In February 2022, my cousin Judy alerted me to a real estate advertisement that she had seen in the local Ipswich newspaper concerning the sale of “Berry House.” Berry House was built by William Berry, father of Elizabeth Berry, who … Continue reading →
In my post “Van Cooten Jail Keeper”, I talk about finding a reference to H. Van Cooten, Keeper of the County Prison in Berbice, in the application of Alexander Cameron for a position in the Public Service of Queensland. Who … Continue reading →
One of the first things on checking out Tim Sherratt’s GLAM workbench was to search for Van Cootens in the name index. I found the expected references to William John Fraser Van Cooten in the Queensland teaching archives, to Van … Continue reading →
Tim Sherratt, historian and hacker, has been devising creative ways of mining and displaying the digital collection of cultural institutions, the majority Australian, for some years. Many of these have explored the Trove collection, but a current project is a … Continue reading →
Costa, Emilia. Crowns of glory, tears of blood : the Demerara Slave Rebellion of 1823. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. As a teenager old family letters about the Van Cooten family in Australia triggered my interest in family history. … Continue reading →
Kathleen May Thomas progressed through the examination syllabus of the Trinity College London, and ultimately was awarded an Associate Diploma of the Trinity College of Music, London, in Piano, which qualified her to become a recognised piano teacher. An article … Continue reading →
My paternal grandmother (Nana Van) Kathleen May Thomas was born in 1900, and was raised by her grandparents in Maryborough, Queensland, owing to the death of her mother (and baby) following childbirth in 1902. Young Katie was supported and encouraged … Continue reading →
If you walk from Alexandra Fountain in Bendigo today, and head down Pall Mall towards the Law Courts, its a little hard to see where J. B. Edwards Jewellery shop at 3 Pall Mall was. The picture below shows the … Continue reading →
James Benjamin Edwards, jeweller of Bendigo, was a well connected and well respected citizen. He was also my wife’s great-grandfather. He was a stalwart of the Forest Street Methodist Church, including being a trustee, chairman of the Bendigo Chamber of … Continue reading →
Hendrik Van Cooten was a plantation and slave owner. In Britain, in August 1833, the Slave Emancipation Act was passed, giving all slaves in the British empire their freedom, albeit after a set period of years. Plantation owners received compensation … Continue reading →