Melbourneblogger

Picnics were the very epitome of innocent pastoral delight, but allow Alexander Lee to give us the history of this form of fun. Then I will add my own histories.

The French root of picnic may derive from piquer/to peck and...

The first Jews in Brisbane were convicts in Moreton Bay penal colony in 1824 - home to repeat offenders who moved from larger NSW convict colonies where c1% of Moreton Bay convicts were Jewish. When Brisbane’s penal colony closed, a free settlement opened in 1842 with no ex-convicts. Instead some families came north from Sydney, seeking new prospects with Qld’s 1859 separatio...

In High School I read and loved two of Jane Austen (1775-1817)’s most famous novels. But this was all fiction I assumed, and not Jane’s real life. Her father died suddenly in 1805 and left no property or income to his daughters. And since his wife and 2 daughters were not allowed to work, the women were left dependent on the support of family men. Luckily Jane's brothe...

After defeating the last Saxon king of England Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror/William I of England wanted to con­trol his new kingdom. He distributed the conquered...