Australian History: Brilliant stories from Australia's past.
When His Lordship Edward Lascelles, son of the 2nd Earl of Harewood, wrote a bouncing fifty pound promissory note to cover the purchase of some horses, the authorities in NSW took exception. In time he was brought to court to answer for his fraud, but was his deception greater than...
When the Japanese entered the Second World War at the end of 1941, the impact on Australia was almost immediate. Singapore fell and a great many Australians were taken prisoner. Darwin & later other northern centres were bombed, and at the end of May Japanese midget Submarines made their way...
In this final episode of the series we follow Flinders as he attempts his return to England in the hope of acquiring a better ship to more thoroughly complete his valuable explorations around the newly circumnavigated Australian coast. But on the way the Great Barrier Reef gives him one last...
After a quick resupply in Port Jackson Flinders again heads out to undertake the second leg of his circumnavigation. This time they began by traveling north, through the Great Barrier Reef and into the tropical north. This journey would prove to be much more challenging for Flinders and his crew....
This episode we see Bass undertake his speculative business ventures, no longer in the company of Flinders, but his timing meant his returns were not as lucrative as he’d hoped. Flinders set off on the mammoth task of circumnavigating the New Holland-New South Wales. This first leg of his mission...
George Bass and Matthew Flinders undertake an important mapping journey to confirm the existence of what will soon afterwards become known as Bass Strait, a body of water between the mainland of ‘New South Wales’ and the newly recognized island of Van Diemens Land. But afterwards their future aspirations diverge,...
George Bass and Matthew Flinders arrived in New South Wales in September of 1795, with grand plans to “explore more of the country than any of [our] predecessors in the colony”. In part 2 we look at how their plans progressed. As naval men, they had work to do when...
Naval men who arrived in NSW in September 1795, Bass & Flinders were both intent of undertaking exploration and charting sections of New Holland, still largely unknown to the British. They became well known as navigators, explorers and map makers, charting the Australian coasts, and will likely be names known...
Waltzing Matilda is described as ‘the people’s song’. More well known than the actual Australian National Anthem around the world, Banjo Paterson’s jaunty little ditty actually contains clues to some turbulent times he witnessed in Australian history. This episode shares a little background about the much loved song. (40mins) Enjoying...
In the 1950s Australia hosted a number of British nuclear weapons tests. The very first one took place on the Montebello Islands, off Australia’s north west coast. This episode we will explore ‘Operation Hurricane’ on the Montebellos. (75 mins) Enjoying the podcast? Help support the show with a one-off donation...