Tag Archives: Macquarie

Ulva, Lachlan Macquarie’s birthplace

The Hebridean island of Ulva is to be bought by a community group including its remaining inhabitants and those of nearby north-west Mull. When I heard the news yesterday, 11 May 2018, my ears perked up. Not just because it’s … Continue reading

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Posted in Macquarie | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, is 200 years old!

It’s today! Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden is 200 years old on June 13, 2016. Happy birthday! We’ve seen why this day is the bicentenary – it’s because this is when Nicholas Delaney and his convict road gang finished building Mrs … Continue reading

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Posted in A Rebel Hand, Australia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nicholas Delaney and the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney

The Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney is 200 years old on June 13, 2016. Happy Birthday! And the bicentenary’s on that day because of another birthday and the crafty planning of an Irish ex-convict – Nicholas Delaney, my great-great-great grandfather. … Continue reading

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Posted in A Rebel Hand, Australia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Australia’s oldest bridge revisited

Sometimes a friendly email brings unexpected genealogy bonuses. My Delaney (and Simpson) cousins are generous with their information about our ancestors, and one of the people who helped my mother and me with researching our book, A Rebel Hand: Nicholas … Continue reading

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The Factory above the Gaol – women convicts in 1818

When my great-great-great grandmother Sarah Marshall stumbled off the convict transport Friendship on January 14, 1818, she emerged from a traumatic journey of confinement and scurvy which became notorious for ‘indecent and licentious intercourse’ to find herself in an alien … Continue reading

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Posted in Australia, Convicts, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Wealth for Toil – Australia Day challenge for 2012

I’ve been scratching my head over this blog post. Shelley from Twigs of Yore has challenged us to write about the work one of our ancestors did and I’ve decided to stick with Nicholas Delaney because I’ve got so much … Continue reading

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Posted in Convicts, Nicholas Delaney, Roadbuilder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Family myths, cover-ups – what did Nicholas Delaney really do?

I’m researching my blog post for Twigs of Yore‘s Australia Day challenge. This year it’s about work. Shelley says: Choose someone who lived in Australia (preferably one of your ancestors) and tell us how they toiled. Your post should include: … Continue reading

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Posted in Australia, Blogging | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

2011 – what a year it’s been!

What a year – and what a lot I’ve learned in this first full year of blogging. When I started this blog in November 2010 I knew I wanted to talk about topics related to the life of my great-great-great … Continue reading

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Posted in A Rebel Hand, Nicholas Delaney | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Did Nicholas build the oldest bridge in Australia?

If you visit the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, take a few minutes to look for a small bridge over a stream near the Wollemi Pine, ‘Australia’s homegrown Christmas tree’, close to the information booth. This is the Macquarie Culvert. … Continue reading

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At the heart of Sydney

‘One of the most historically significant urban spaces in Sydney and Australia’. That’s how another of Nicholas Delaney’s building projects has been described by New South Wales’s Office of Environment and Heritage. It’s Macquarie Place. Just over a fortnight after … Continue reading

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Posted in Macquarie, Roadbuilder | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Making roads for Macquarie

Staying in New South Wales for this post, I’ll be looking at Nicholas Delaney’s road building for Governor Lachlan Macquarie. There are no records to show exactly when Nicholas began working on the roads of the new colony.  He had … Continue reading

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Posted in Macquarie, Roadbuilder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments