Tramlines being laid along High Street in Fremantle, Western Australia, 1905
Bessie Rischbieth wearing her OBE medal, c. 1930
Bessie Mabel Rischbieth (née Earle), OBE (16 October 1874 – 13 March 1967) was an influential and early Australian feminist and social activist. A leading or founding member of many social reform groups, such as the Women’s Service Guilds, the Australian Federation of Women Voters and their periodical Dawn, she sought to establish international campaigns for social change and human rights.
Chris Watson, first leader of then Federal Labour Party 1901–07 (held the balance of power) and Prime Minister in 1904
John Christian Watson (9 April 1867 – 18 November 1941), commonly known as Chris Watson, Australian politician, was the third Prime Minister of Australia. He was the first prime minister from the Australian Labour Party (the spelling of ‘Labour’ was changed to ‘Labor’ in 1912), and the first Labour Party prime minister in the world. He was of Chilean descent with German ancestry.
Bottling beer in a modern facility, 1945, Australia
An illustration from the 1850s of Australian Aboriginal hunter gatherers. Children in the background are playing a football game, possibly Woggabaliri
Woggabaliri is a non-competitive game played with a ball made of Bulrush roots wrapped in possum fur where the aim is to keep the ball in the air using football (soccer) type skills of teamwork and ball control. Played by the Wiradjuri and surrounding peoples before European arrival,Woggabaliri is the Ngunnawal word for “play”. Author Ken Edwards notes that a similar game with a ball made of grass covered in beeswax was also played by the Jingili people of the Northern Territory.
Australian soldiers feeding lizards during World War II
Australian Sergeant Leonard G. Siffleet about to be beheaded with a sword by Yasuno Chikao. Sgt. Siffleet was captured behind Japanese lines while on reconnaissance. The photo was recovered from a dead Japanese soldier. New Guinea 1943
Leonard George (Len) Siffleet (14 January 1916 – 24 October 1943) was an Australian commando of World War II. Born in Gunnedah, New South Wales, he joined the Second Australian Imperial Force in 1941, and by 1943 had reached the rank of sergeant. Posted to M Special Unit of the Services Reconnaissance Department, Siffleet was on a mission in Papua New Guinea when he and two Ambonese companions were captured by partisan tribesmen and handed over to the Japanese. All three men were interrogated, tortured and later beheaded. A photograph of Siffleet’s impending execution became an enduring image of the war, and his identity was often confused with that of other servicemen who suffered a similar fate, in particular Flight Lieutenant Bill Newton VC.
Cover to Banjo Paterson’s seminal 1905 collection of bush ballads, entitled Old Bush Songs
Bush songs or bush ballads are a folk music and poetry tradition in Australia’s outback. The rhyming songs, poems and tales often relate to the itinerant and rebellious spirit of Australia, a young country. The lyrical tradition of bush songs was born of settlers and influenced by Aboriginal society in the geographical areas referred to as The Bush. The performers are sometimes referred to as bush bards.
Kolaia man wearing a headdress worn in a fire ceremony, Forrest River, Western Australia, 1916
Kolaia man wearing a headdress worn in a fire ceremony, Forrest River, Western Australia. Aboriginal Australian religious practices associated with the Dreamtime have been practised for tens of thousands of years.
