The time Carl Rackemann’s talents were ignored

Schoolboy snub Warren Nunn Over the Christmas holiday period in 1972, about 100 primary school boys from eight regions gathered in Rockhampton for an intra-state cricket carnival. As an 18-year-old journalist who attended every day of the carnival and reported on it...

John and Gisele Horne set out to take on the world

An improbable adventure First published Saturday 20 Jan 1973 Warren Nunn A family of five will leave on today’s high tide from the Fitzroy River to travel to Thursday Island in North Queensland in an inflatable dinghy. Mr and Mrs John Horne will set out with...

Hans Tholstrup

Back after hectic 10-day journey First published Saturday, December 2, 1972 Warren Nunn Hans Tholstrup, the Danish-born adventurer, was in Rockhampton yesterday after a hectic 10-day motor-cycle journey across Australia. Tholstrup left Rockhampton on November 6 and...

Tungamull train off the rails

Reporting then and now … Warren Nunn A railway accident at Tungamull more than a century ago and the matter-of-fact way in which it was reported highlight how both the media and society have dramatically changed. The historical image tells more of the story than...

The wisdom of William Lewin

Be careful not to label others Warren Nunn Appearances can be deceptive; that’s not in doubt. Assuming someone’s intelligence by their level of education or station in life is also something to be very careful about. All people have worth and intelligence. Some people...

Adam Sedgwick v Charles Darwin

A considered and needed response Warren Nunn Charles Darwin first learnt about geology from Adam Sedgwick, professor of geology at the University of Cambridge. But it was Sedgwick who first expressed grave misgivings about Darwin’s Origin of Species saying he read it...

Racetrack photo-finish operations

At the winning post ©Warren Nunn For several years from the early 1980s, I worked on a casual basis as a photo-finish operator on various racecourses in Central Queensland and South-East Queensland. Nowadays digital technology means there is a quick and efficient...

She wasn’t kidding

Not rushing into things – Derby Mercury 12 March 1795: At Chesterfield, on Monday last, Mr. John Bulman, a lusty, hale, and vigorous Bridegroom, aged only 86, to the lovely, blooming, and adorable Widow of the late Mr. Morris Nadin, now in her 79th year; both...

Hobbling down the aisle

The ceremony took ages – Derby Mercury 26 October 1786: Bristol, October 21. Tuesday was married at Stapleton Church in the County of Gloucester, Mr. John Harford, aged 79, to Mrs Elizabeth Neal, aged 98, both of the same Parish. There was a vast Concourse of...

Humanity unmasked

Astute observation – Derby Mercury  26 June 1794: ANECDOTE. Mr. NEWTON, when formerly captain of a Guinea trader, charging one of his negroes with a theft, the latter denied it. The master doubting the veracity of his slave; this poor, dark, untutored,...

Market fluctuation

Shameful price to pay – The Suffolk Chronicle; or Weekly General Advertiser & County Express, 28 February 1835, page 2: SALE OF A WIFE. – On Monday se’nnight*, one those disgraceful proceedings, the sale of a wife, took place in Clare market....

Curl your lips

This should bring a smile – South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail, 15 August 1868: An American photographer says that ladies, when having their portraits taken, may observe the following rules with some advantage as to their appearance. “When a...

Shattering bolt

Struck by the electric fluid – Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser, 23 February 1859: On Wednesday last, Achill was visited by one of the most violent thunderstorms which has occurred within memory. A house in Curraun, on the mainland,...

Warmly received

Woolly first-fleecers – Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser, 23 February 1859: After six years of indomitable perseverance, Mr. Charles Ledger, an English merchant, established in Peru, has succeeded in landing safely at Sydney a flock...

Taking it in his stride

Boots made for walking – Aberdeen Journal, 23 May 1827: Pedestrianism. – James Baxter, foot-messenger, residing in Fochabers, has been employed in that capacity, by different members of the Noble Family of Gordon, since the year 1785, a period of...