Jess

Clouds hovering over Busselton jetty. The ocean and the sky look moody.

Moody blues 💙

Sister Mercy Disappears An Anglican Sister and a one-way ticket to Parkerville.

A rainy morning is perfect for reading a story. Grab your coffee, get cosy, and tap the link to read about an Anglican nun and a one-way ticket to Parkerville. open.substack.com/pub/thedusty...

Sister Mercy Disappears An Anglican Sister and a one-way ticket to Parkerville.

“Knowing that a ticket to Parkerville was definitely purchased, they assumed that Sister Mercy must have slipped away unobserved, wandered into the bush, and become lost.”
open.substack.com/pub/thedusty...

People standing on the platform at Parkerville Train Station. A train is stationary on the tracks. Text on the image says “Sister Mercy Disappears. An Anglican Sister and a one-way ticket to Parkerville.” The story can be read at thedustybox.substack.com

“The Sister looked at them in puzzlement. She had not seen Sister Mercy at Parkerville at all during the week. No one had seen her. Awareness dawned on the Sisters. Sister Mercy was missing.”

💌 Read the story on The Dusty Box (I trust you know where to find me).

A black and white photo of Parkerville Railway Station circa 1902. Five men are standing on the platform. The station building is on the right. On the left is a stationary train.

Parkerville Railway Station circa 1902.

If you’re keen to read the upcoming story that this image relates to, be sure to subscribe to The Dusty Box -> thedustybox.substack.com

Three illustrations. A woman wearing a dress with a train, begins morphing into a kangaroo in the second drawing, and becomes a kangaroo in the third.

Three illustrations. A woman wearing a dress with an improver, begins morphing into an emu in the second drawing, and becomes an emu in the third.

Animorphs, but make it 1894. 💁🏻‍♀️

These illustrations were titled ‘National Emblems’ and were printed in Melbourne Punch in 1894. The kangaroo illustration is further described as ‘the evolution of the train’ while the emu is described as ‘the evolution of the improver.’

A Dressmaker's Tale A York scandal and a woman who never found freedom.

Premier George Leake was unsympathetic when he wrote to Mr Illingworth: “Violent lunatics must be locked up and if there is no place in a hospital I see no reason why the police station should not be used.”

open.substack.com/pub/thedusty...

Hay Street mall in Perth as the sun sets. People are walking. Shops line the mall. It is golden hour and the sun casts bright, golden light down the middle of the photo.

Wandering in Perth and admiring a golden sunset.

A black finer liner drawing of the historic whalers’ tunnel entrance at Fremantle

I started this drawing sitting on a bench opposite the Whalers’ Tunnel in Fremantle. What was a quick pencil outline, became this finished fine liner drawing. ✍🏻 #travelersnotebooks #fremantle

Lord Thornton When one man fooled the people of Perth.

“In a city like Perth, the rumours about the waiter at the Cafe de Monte Carlo spread quickly. He was not who people thought he was. He was certainly not a waiter. Oh, no. That was all a ruse.” open.substack.com/pub/thedusty...

Labor breaks vow and risks WA's water supply for Alcoa Roger Cook granting Alcoa greater access to mine near Perth's dams risks could cost taxpayers billions of dollars and result in water restrictions

WA Labor has endangered the water supply to Perth while pretending to do otherwise.
Roger Cook has allowed US miner Alcoa into high-risk areas, lowered protection standards and ordered its environmental regulator to put mining jobs before water quality.
www.boilingcold.com.au/wa-labor-put...

A man wearing trousers, shirt, jacket, and hat is sitting on a camel laden with supplies. The photo was taken on the Coolgardie goldfields in 1895.

“Wilson’s syndicate bought Larl (first known as Tallah) in 1894. Most people knew him as the “famous riding camel of the Murchison.” He set the record for travelling from Coolgardie to Menzies (110 miles) in 16 hours and was known to travel 200 miles “in a pinch.””

📷 Larl, the camel circa 1895

A Camel Named Larl A record-breaking camel on the eastern goldfields.

“Until a track is made and condensers go out, it would be the greatest folly for any one to rush to the find unless camels are employed.” [1894]

open.substack.com/pub/thedusty...

A black and white photograph from 1897. One man wearing boots, trousers, a jacket, a hat, and is smoking a pipe, is holding on to the top of a camel’s reins. A second man is also wearing boots, trousers, and a long sleeve shirt, and a hat, and stands in front of the camel. The camel is carrying supplies.

The prospectors’ friend circa 1897. 🐪

The Geraldton Express and Murchison Yalgo Goldfields Chronicler; 26 March 1897; Page 6.

Tracing the mystery 70-year-old photos of Chipping Sodbury The photos were on a roll of film discovered by chance by an antique camera enthusiast.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

A smiling woman wearing a green checked shirt with a large collar. On the right of the shirt is an embroidered red rose.

A close up photo of a green checked shirt with a large collar. On the right of the shirt is an embroidered red rose.

Earlier this year I learnt thread painting (relaxed embroidery) and I finally finished this rose! I’m so happy with it, and I can’t wait to try embroidering something else! 🌹

Varley’s Christmas Goose A Geraldton Christmas dinner that flew away.

It was a scene of holiday bliss until a scream cut through the festivities.”

Read the story of Varley’s Christmas Goose -> thedustybox.substack.com/p/varleys-ch...

📷 Marine Terrace in Geraldton circa 1893.

Marine Terrace in Geraldton circa 1893. On one side of the street, are some old buildings with verandas. A carriage travels away from us on the left hand side. People are strolling about wearing the fashion of the day.

“On Christmas Eve, there was music in the air. The Temperance Brass Band was still practicing and had chosen to give a rendition of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” outside a home at the west end of Marine Terrace. Children played on the grass near the lockup.”

A map showing Cue, Day Dawn, Lake Austin and Mount Magnet in Western Australia.

Looking at this map again. ❤️

Australia's largest mass exhumation reveals almost 2,000 bodies underneath school After workers dug up two skeletons at a Hobart school's hockey field it was believed there'd likely be more, with the location being an old graveyard. But the scale of what the archaeological team fou...

Archaeologists complete largest mass exhumation in Australian history from old cemetery under The Hutchins School
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...

Varley’s Christmas Goose A Geraldton Christmas dinner that flew away.

“It was a scene of holiday bliss until a scream cut through the festivities.” thedustybox.substack.com/p/varleys-ch...

Varley’s Christmas Goose A Geraldton Christmas dinner that flew away.

“So judge our horror, our despair
Our anguish, our dismay
When we heard our hopes were blasted,
That the goose had got away.”

A Geraldton Christmas story from 1895 -> thedustybox.substack.com/p/varleys-ch...

Varley’s Christmas Goose A Geraldton Christmas dinner that flew away. Available December 13th, 2024 thedustybox.substack.com In the background, a man wearing a Robin Hood type outfit holds a white goose.

I love stories like these. Forgotten tiny moments of life in Geraldton at Christmas time in 1895. I’m publishing this story (which includes me reading a poem!) at 5pm. Please subscribe to read/listen first.

The Dusty Box: thedustybox.substack.com

A woman wearing red rimmed glasses smiles at the camera. She’s wearing a dark green dress with a pattern of red flowers and purple flowers. She’s dressed up for Christmas lunch.

Ready for the fancy Christmas lunch 🎄

A man wearing an outfit like Robin Hood and holding a goose under his arm.

It had gone we thought for ever,
It was out upon the loose,
It was on the razzle-dazzle,
Was Varley’s Christmas goose.

A Geraldton Christmas dinner that flew away. Story coming soon…

A newspaper article with the following poem: Awake, young men of Geraldton, Awake from out thy sleep; In dear old merry England They go courting on the deep. Think, slow youth of Geraldton, How novel it would be To ask your girl to marry you, Whilst bathing in the sea. To talk to her about the dance That Mrs. Grundy gave: And spin her pretty fairy-tales Whilst sporting on the wave ; Ye, bachelors of Geraldton, Charley, John, and Jem, Wouldn't it be nice to take Your sweethearts for a swin. Arouse, ye sluggards! Put in vogue This pleasing, novel notion, And henceforth do your spooning In the briny Indian ocean.

In the 1890s, mixed bathing (men and women both swimming at the same time) was the topic of the day. The Geraldton Murchison Telegraph had a resident poet named ‘Ubique’ who quickly got to work writing this poem.

A newspaper article with the words: THE YALGOO COURT HOUSE. Yalgoo, December 23. A Magisterial canvas Court House has been lifted bodily by a whirl-wind and landed against the Registrars' office. The position now resembles an underlay dipping eastward. The building is an unsuitable one, and as it is like an oven the Government may consider the necessity of erecting a more suitable structure.

On 23 December 1895, the Yalgoo Court House tent was blown away by a willy-willy and landed against the Registrars’ office.

Geraldton Express & Murchison Goldfields News; 24 Dec 1895; Pg 7

The showpiece in the room was a huge Christmas tree with prizes hanging from the branches. A reporter from the Geraldton Murchison Telegraph expected that it would be a “great attraction” in the town.

📷 Views of Geraldton, West Australia, 1893. Courtesy of the State Library of Western Australia.

A coloured drawing of Wainwright & Co located on Marine Terrace in Geraldton circa 1893. Signs state that they were wool warehousemen and general merchants and importers. On the street, there are people driving horses and buggies, and people walking.

In 1895, Mr Boyes of Wainwright & Co. created a toy room on the first floor of their premises on Marine Terrace in Geraldton. He filled it with toys, knickknacks, and Christmas wares and ensured that it was “brilliantly lighted and decorated for the occasion.”

The facade of the old Theatre Royal in Perth. At the top of the photo are interesting, colourful lights set up for the Perth Christmas lights trail.

Always looking up… #cityofperth