A beautiful World War I collection which has recently been digitised is that of Frederic James Bassett of the 52nd Battalion. Much of the collection comprises postcards which Jim, as he was known, wrote to his cousin and fiancée, Minnie Phipps, whom he met in London during the war. Jim Bassett (service no. 2621) was born in … Read more
Guest Blogger: Victoria Carless 2016 Q ANZAC 100 Fellow With the help of SLQ staff, I have been exploring the shadow side of the WWI solider, that of the deserter’s story, one that perhaps sits uneasily outside the ANZAC mythology. Yet apparently “Over 30,000 Australian soldiers were court martialled for AWL or desertion” (De Bellis, … Read more
Guest Blogger: Gwen Price, Tablelands Regional Council Libraries Ernst Oskar (Oscar) Quesitzsch was born 4 April 1894 at Burkhardtsdorf, Saxony Germany to Ernst Herman and Anna Minna Quesitzsch nee Gunther. At four days he was baptised at the local Lutheran Church. The surname Quesitzsch is the not very common. In 2014 it was the 1,423,954th most common … Read more
Guest Blogger: Dr Maria Quirk, 2016 Q ANZAC 100 Fellow Reflecting on the subject of the ‘Woman Citizen of Today’ in a speech to the Queensland branch of the National Council of Women in August 1918, community worker and women’s activist Zina Cumbrae-Stewart noted that the female patriot served her country ‘by helping in every … Read more
Private Reginald Walter Barrett. Source: John Oxley Library, “The Queenslander”, 2 June 1917, p.26. The John Oxley Library has recently digitised the World War I postcard albums of Private Reginald Walter Barrett of Brisbane. The postcards, in two albums, cover Barrett’s service during the war and were sent to family and friends in Queensland. They … Read more
When Christina Ingham’s two eldest sons enlisted in 1915, she was solely supporting her other 6 children, with one more due that year. She cherished the letters they wrote from so far away, and along with postcards, photographs and a diary, have been donated to the State Library of Queensland for us all to share. … Read more
Guest Blogger: Les McFadzen (Warrant Officer I Rtd, Royal Australian Engineers) Ernie Unwin, the son of William John Unwin, was an uncle I may have met as a child, however I do not remember doing so. Due to my enlisting in the army at an early age I never got to meet him at family … Read more
I am a fiction writer, not an historian. My background is television drama, feature film and recently a novel but everything I have written started with a true story. I am intrigued by the lives of real people; especially the lives of women. I stumbled on Annie Wheeler while searching the SLQ catalogue and found … Read more
Lieutenant Aubrey (Harold) Freeman, 6th Australian Field Company Engineers. Killed in Action, Flers, 8 November 1916, age 27. Known as Harold, his father was very proud of his eldest son who had followed in his footsteps as a civil engineer, with the Queensland Railways. Educated at St Josephs College, Gregory Terrace, Brisbane, he was appointed resident engineer … Read more
Guest blogger: Pauline O’Keeffe, Cairns Historical Society Eveline Florence MacDonnell was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland and migrated to Australia with her family. She was sister to A. J. P. and H. K. N. MacDonnell of the well-known Cairns firm of solicitors. Eveline was nursing in Brisbane in 1908 before accepting the role of … Read more