Traces Edition 28, 2024

Hello, and welcome to Edition 28 of Traces! As we head into spring, many of use here in Victoria are glad to see the end of one of the coldest winters we’ve experienced in a long time. Though the cold was uncomfortable, it provided a good reminder of the resilience of past Australians, who carried on without central heating, hot showers and, my personal favourite, electric blankets! We look at some tenacious individuals in this edition, starting with members of the suffrage movement (page 8). Paul Ham explores perceptions of women throughout history and how these ideas shaped the modern world. In our cover story (page 19), Andrew Caillard takes a look at the history of Australian wine, and the mystery surrounding the production of the first ever local wine.…

AI reveals evolutionary secrets of Australian eucalypts Scientists have leveraged advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) to explore the evolutionary history of Australian eucalypt species, shedding light on their transformation over millions of years. Using AI to analyse more than 50,000 digitised leaf images from Eucalyptus, Angophora and Corymbia specimens, researchers from the Botanic Gardens of Sydney and UNSW Sydney discovered insights into how these native trees have evolved over millions of years alongside climate changes. Published in Journal of Ecology, the study marks a significant breakthrough in plant research and preservation. New finding: Mining blast destroyed 47,000 years of heritage New findings reveal that a mining blast caused by Rio Tinto in 2020 destroyed 47,000 years of Aboriginal rock shelters and cultural heritage at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia. Despite…

Then Located in Caulfield North in Melbourne’s inner south-east, near the intersection of Orrong and Balaclava roads, Labassa has been home to a multitude of colourful characters. The land was first acquired in 1854 by William Lyall, a pastoralist and cattle breeder who specialised in shipping livestock to Tasmania. Lyall was part of Mickle, Bakewell & Lyall – a prosperous firm that specialised in pastoralist pursuits – alongside brother-in-law John Mickle and colleague John Bakewell. In 1859, Mickle, Bakewell & Lyall dissolved, and Lyall transferred the land to Mickle, who subsequently acquired the adjoining allotment. Mickle then conveyed some of the land to Richard Annesley Billing, a prominent Melbourne lawyer and judge. In 1862, construction of a home for Billing commenced on the land. The eight-roomed house was known as…

The refusal by men to recognise women as intelligent Homo sapiens with the same brainpower and creative potential as them crowds the social history of humankind. When they weren’t courting, seducing and marrying women, men, for most of recorded human time, have stifled any efforts by women to liberate themselves. English author Virginia Woolf wrote, ‘The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.’ History is the gradual liberation of a woman’s mind. That is one way of summarising ‘herstory’. The liberation of a woman’s mind meant gaining not only the rights of citizenship that men took for granted, but also respect as the intellectual equals of men. One of those rights was the right to an education. Well into…

The 2023 Victorian Community History Awards commended two unique history projects by Dr David Waldron: ‘William Bailey’s Haunted Mansion: A Live Action Roleplaying Game Performance’ in the History Interpretation Award category, and ‘Tales from Rat City: A Local Subaltern History Podcast and Performances Set in the Goldfields of Western Victoria’ in the Collaborative Community History Award category. Since then, Waldron has completed another role-playing game, ‘The Last Dance of Lola Montez’, which, together with ‘William Bailey’s Haunted Mansion’, is drawing the attention of role-playing game fans around the world. Traces: David, congratulations on your recent successes with your various heritage interpretation projects that experiment with new ways to engage people in history. Can you explain what role-playing games are for our readers who might not have heard of this before?…

Prior to the late 19th century, refrigeration options were limited, and preserving perishable foods was a daily struggle. Australians relied heavily on traditional methods, such as salting, smoking and drying, to extend the shelf life of meats and produce. These methods were effective to a certain extent, but often resulted in changes to taste and texture. Households had to carefully manage their food supplies to prevent spoilage and foodborne illnesses. The introduction of the Coolgardie Safe in the 1890s, however, provided a breakthrough in food storage. The Coolgardie Safe An Australian invention, the Coolgardie Safe consisted of a timber- or metal-framed cabinet with open sides covered in hessian fabric. On top of the cabinet, a tank was filled with water, and strips of flannel or felt hung from the tank…