Friday 10.30am: Greenhills and Graham Lodge at the Opening of Fair
Friday 11.00am: Deaths, Burials and Headstones 1788-1810: NSW and Norfolk Island CDrom
Friday 1.30pm Orange Blossoms In The Shoalhaven 1856 -1899
Saturday 12.30pm: The Circus and other Travelling Ten Shows in Shoalhaven 1855-1955

The Greenhills Estate - Owners & Occupiers 1872-1875 by Robyn Florance, published by Shoalhaven Historical Society, 16 pages A4, $5.00

Graham's Greenhills land was located on the upper edge of the catchment of the Crookhaven River. The grant occupied a combination of levee bank, swampy ground and a ridge of firmer ground on the western edge leading to what was to become the site of Nowra. This area extended along the southern bank of the Shoalhaven River from where Bridge Road is today to the boundary of Terara village at Scotch Street (now known as Nobblers Lane)

The Greenhills Estate was mostly devoted to dairying in the early 19th century. Milk, butter and cheese were sold locally and shipped to Sydney, usually on the coastal steamer Echo. Beef was slaughtered on the property as were bullocks, and the meat was sent to market. There was also a blacksmith's forge located on the property, and many farmers from the surrounding district were customers

Some of the property was leased to tenant farmers. The first tenants were the Gardner, Crothal (Crittle) and Bartlett families, who had been 'brought out' from England in 1841 by Graham, to help clear and cultivate his land. The families were brought out by Alex Campbell on Illala Rookh' and arrived in Sydney on 26th December 1841

They were engaged by Mr Graham at £20 per annum with milk ration, and immediately sent to the Shoalhaven.Seven years later there were no fewer than thirteen tenant farmers renting parcels of land. This book records owners and occupiers on the Greenhills Estate 1872-1875 extracted from the Nowra Municipal Council Rate Books

Graham Lodge, Nowra, by Robyn Florance. Published by The Friends of Graham Lodge. 12 page A5 booklet. $7.00

Graham Lodge is a two-storey late Georgian house with a verandah, built for James Graham in the early 1860s. The bricks were made on the property, and all the doors, windows and architraves were made of local cedar. The beautiful home remained in the Graham family until 1930 when it was sold to Jack Bourne. He owned it for 35 years before selling it to Theo Mavromattes.

It was renamed "Prague Lodge" when purchased by Mrs Tess Sherlock and used as a reception centre. The home was engulfed in the Nowra Bomaderry Leagues Club project in 1972. The club ceased trading in 1992 and the building was left vacant. The Shoalhaven City Council purchased the site in 1998 and during 1999 demolished the 'Prague Lodge' section of the club and left Graham Lodge to stand alone.

The old Leagues Club building was then turned into the Visitors Information Centre. Graham Lodge has been refurbished by Shoalhaven City Council and in the near future will be open again to visitors.

Deaths, Burials and Headstones 1788-1810: NSW and Norfolk Island

Index and researched by historian Cathy Dunn
Over 3000 Deaths and executions, covering all of NSW & Norfolk Island, includes burial date, Sydney Gazette references, probate records, shipping, status, marriage and birth details.
CDROM $35.00 (includes GST) ISBN:978-0-9805255-0-2
Example: Deaths 1804 NSW & Norfolk Island

The Circus and other Travelling Tent Shows in Shoalhaven 1855-1955, by Keith Paterson. Published by Shoalhaven Historical Society. 84 pages A4. $20.00

The most entrancing, captivating, alluring and attractive of all entertainments was the circus. The lure of the sawdust ring was very real indeed, for there was something special about a circus that appealed to all, young or old, and the public derived much pleasure when the circus came to town.

Circuses and other variety shows known as Travelling Tent Shows had to travel vast distances across Australia to reach the gold rush settlements and other newly settled townships. As the gold fever of the 1850s began to decline the circuses found it lucrative to visit rural towns during 'Agricultural Shows' and during 'Race Week', often in the company of other itinerant tent shows.

Performances under the Big Top were held in the villages of Milton, Tomerong, Huskisson, Berry, Nowra, and Kangaroo Valley. The book is full of photographs and advertisements while every performance by a Circus, Rodeo, Travelling Tent Show, Variety Troupe or Wild Animal Show have been recorded chronologically, together with date of event and venue.

Orange Blossoms In The Shoalhaven 1856 -1899: Compiled and published by Marienne Faull. 90 pages, A4, $20.00. Mail orders please add $4.00 for postage & handling. Available from marienne4l@gmail.com

Births, deaths and marriages are the most important events to a family historian, but so often the written history is a list of names, dates and places. A certificate will give the detail needed to fill in blanks in research, but it won't give the gossipy, frivolous, and family details which may be found in the wedding report.

A newspaper reporter's account of a wedding in the time period 1856 -1899 could entirely depend on how important the family was in the local hierarchy, and the more important the family, the greater detail in the description.

Some early reports may only contain bare names and dates. Others give a full account of what the bride and bridal party wore, the reception, the finery worn by the wedding guests and the list of gifts, and from whom they came, the honeymoon, and everything in between, I have transcribed reports from the local Shoalhaven newspapers from 1856 to 1899. Unfortunately there were no photographs to be found, although there were reports of photos being taken at many events.

The book contains reports of 180 weddings, indexed by both bride and groom, and with hundreds of names of relatives, friends, guests, and local business people contained in the reports themselves.


Books will be available to order at line at Shoalhaven History Publications