History
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The surprise encounter revealed in Governor Phillip’s newly unearthed journal
When 20 pages of Australia’s first governor’s journal turned up, it was something of a must-have for the State Library of NSW.
- by Tim Barlass
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Opinion
Opinion
A hero’s welcome home for Flinders, two centuries too late
Explorer Matthew Flinders gave Australia its name. He had too much ambition to “rest in the unnoticed middle order of mankind”, but too many of us forget.
- by Peter FitzSimons
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Visual art
Family makes shock discovery of unknown Captain Flinders portrait
The painting, worth more than $1 million, has gone on public display for the first time this week ahead of a reburial service for the explorer, the first person to circumnavigate Australia.
- by Rob Harris
Bone found at Balmoral Beach reveals origins of Australia’s apex predator
When Sally Wasef sent a bone found in an exclusive Sydney enclave off for carbon testing, she thought it would be a couple of hundred years old. She was wrong.
- by Catherine Naylor
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Heritage
Ray of hope for beach shack owners in the Royal National Park
The beach communities at Little Garie, Era and Burning Palms in Australia’s oldest national park are heritage listed. Their licences expire in March 2027, and the government is yet to decide what happens after that.
- by Caitlin Fitzsimmons
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Heritage
Mystery surrounding treasures from Sydney shipwreck may finally be solved
Items recovered from the wreck including figurines of baby birds have survived the plundering of treasure hunters.
- by Tim Barlass
I thought my husband was dead. Then 30 years later, a letter arrived in the mail
Amid the chaos of the Red Army advance in Latvia in 1944, Milda and Rudis Masens were separated. After five years in displaced persons camps hoping for news of Rudis, the young mother settled in Newcastle, NSW, and eventually remarried.
- by As told to Andra Putnis
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Healthcare
When rats ruled The Rocks and fear stalked the streets of Sydney
The year was 1900 and public enemy number one in Sydney was the plague-infected rat.
- by Tim Barlass
Stonehenge spray-painted orange in latest action by climate protesters
The incident came just a day before thousands are expected to gather at the roughly 4500-year-old stone circle to celebrate the summer solstice.
- by Brian Melley
Opinion
Opinion
Queen Victoria had a dog called Looty. What does that tell you?
Marc Fennell has attracted a global audience with his podcast and series Stuff the British Stole. Luckily for Fennell, there’s no shortage of contraband.
- by Peter FitzSimons