Traces Edition 29, 2024

Hello, and welcome to Edition 29 of Traces! When the weather starts to warm, I am always inspired to cook. This year, I’ve been cooking with a historical twist, finding old recipe books, and hunting for unique and forgotten dishes to try. This experimentation has inspired a new feature in Traces that I hope will reappear in future editions – Recipe Revival! You’ll find the story on page 43 of this edition. It includes some insight into Australia’s first recognised cookbook, followed by my own experimentation with its ‘Comfit Buns’ recipe. Readers might recognise the author of our Genealogy article this edition – Cassie Gilmartin, who was the editor of the now-ceased Inside History. She has recently published her first book, which is all about getting started in family history…

High school students discover lost graves A class from St Mary’s College in Adelaide, South Australia, has uncovered the legacy of two World War I nurses, Agnes and Edith Cocks, more than a century after their service. During a research project, the students discovered the damaged graves of the sisters, who had been overlooked by history. Agnes, a Boer War veteran and World War I nurse, served in South Africa and France, while Edith nursed in Egypt and England. The sisters’ graves had been neglected, but their story of bravery is now preserved through the Headstone Project, which has uncovered 110 such stories associated with unmarked graves. Ancient mud reveals Indigenous fire practices A recent study published in Science reveals how Indigenous fire management reduced shrub cover by half in…

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Then Brisbane’s Customs House, located on the northern end of Brisbane River’s Town Reach near Petrie Bight, was built between 1886 and 1889. It was designed by Charles McLay of the Queensland Colonial Architect’s Office, and replaced a smaller customs building from the 1850s that had become outdated as Brisbane grew. When Moreton Bay was declared a port of entry in 1846, customs officials needed a central office to manage increasing trade and customs duties. This new location at the northern Town Reach spurred further development of nearby wharves, helping to establish the area as a commercial hub. Contracted to John Petrie & Son, construction faced challenges, with material shortages and plan changes causing delays. Finally completed in September 1889, Customs House showcased Brisbane’s economic and cultural confidence during Queensland’s…

Bushranger James Hill was ugly, and not in a subjective ‘one woman’s Ross Geller is another woman’s Joey Tribbiani’ kind of way. No, Hill was physiognomically ugly, which meant that learned men of science with big brains in befittingly high foreheads had cast a discerning eye over his noggin, paying careful attention to his ‘overhanging brows’, ‘small grey eyes’ and ‘gorilla’-like features. A ‘repulsive specimen of humanity’, Hill’s visage was clear evidence of ‘the criminal class’ to which he belonged. He and his ‘retreating forehead’ were guilty as charged. Physiognomy was not an exact science, but to ardent devotees, it was considered an objective one, allowing only for a modicum of personal opinion. Its main tenets were that people could be categorised into ‘types’ based on physical features, which were…

Round face ‘Vitality, a love of ease and luxury’, and a ‘disinclination for more physical activity than is absolutely necessary’. Round faces apparently denote a ‘jolly, jovial, sociable kind of person, making friends freely’. Square face ‘Strength of purpose and tenacity of will’, as well as courage, but ‘very little sympathy or gentleness with those who fail’. Such people, he added, were generally more feared and respected than loved. Long face A ‘melancholy, brooding and serious disposition’. They are apparently always religious, often on the lookout for trouble, and are also ‘generally very unfortunate in their undertakings’. Pyriform (or pear-shaped) face ‘Sensitivity and a great intensity of feeling’, as well as thoughtfulness and an ‘inclination towards study and meditation’. Ellis added that people with this face shape have brains that…