Robert Lehane: 5 books

When Dalley, a convict's son who became the first Australian Privy Councillor, died in 1888, The Bulletin described him as 'a man of many splendours, both of intellect and heart', and 'in many respects the most notable man Sydney has given birth to'. Nine years later some 10,000 people gathered in...

One route to wealth during the 1850s and '60s gold rushes was uncovering a nugget or glittering seam. A much more certain alternative was owning inns on roads to the goldfields. Irish Gold tells the story of two enterprising Irish settlers, Jeremiah Lehane and Miles Murphy, who adopted the second course...

John Forrest DD, the exuberant scholar/priest recruited in Ireland in 1859 to set up the Catholic St John’s College at Sydney University, found life in colonial NSW much to his liking. However, it soon became clear that divisions within the Church, even more than a shortage of candidates for degrees,...

Born on a Hunter estuary, NSW, island in 1857, James Clark was orphaned at age two, arrived penniless in Brisbane ten years later, and never looked back. Starting out in Torres Strait at 23, he became the dominant figure in Australia’s pearlshelling industry, The Pearl King. Then, with a young partner,...

The implementation of the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign has been one of the most significant animal health achievements in the history of Australia and worldwide. The unprecedented technical and operational complexity of the campaign presented an enormous challenge to cattle producers,...