Forgotten Australia

Arthur Stace is an Australian legend. But for decades the identity of ‘Mr Eternity’ was a Sydney mystery. Who was this man? Why was he writing this message over and over? How did one word chalked by an eccentric fellow of faith reach billions of people all over the world? Forgotten Australia live! "Crashes, Chases and Crooks in Melton History" More info and free tickets: https://libraryevents.melt...

‘Boots on the ground’: it rolls off the tongue all too easily. But America – and Australia – learned that in Vietnam they didn’t have boots on the ground. They had them in a quagmire. The first Australian soldier killed in action was Kevin Conway, who in 1964 fought beside US Green Berets in a pivotal battle that provided a glimpse of the military debacle that was to last a decade, kill millions o...

I'm adopted and – while I come from colourful characters who roamed from Ireland and England to Western Australia, Lord Howe Island and Sydney, via South Africa and the Western Front – I didn't know *any* of this family history before tracking down my birth mother in 2018! How much are we the product of nature and how much of nurture? How much of our lives is choice and chance? My family reunion s...

After tragedy strikes, Emma Murtough begins the colourful third act of her life – as "Mrs Rumtough", fearless travelling housekeeper of the Western Australian wheatbelt and goldfields! Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, on even more remote Lord Howe Island, as chance and choice would have it, Norah Murtough meets the man who’ll be my grandfather. See Forgotten Australia live! "Crashes, C...

Having made her unthinkable decision, my great-grandmother Emma Murtough takes her children for a new life in Australia. But getting to the Land of Better Chance is to require a scandalous sea voyage, while life in remote Western Australia will come with plenty of hardships – and they'll only get harder during the Great Depression. Despite these tough times, Norah proves she's the daughter of two...

Beyond the propaganda about glory, duty and sacrifice, the aftermath of the Great War ushers in a grave new world for my great-grandmother Emma Murtough and her three children. To escape and have a new life, she’ll have to make a shocking choice. *All episodes will be available early & ad-free to Patreon and Apple supporters* It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access. Follow thes...

My great-grandfather Peter Murtough arrives on the Western Front in August 1915. He is soon plunged into some of the most horrific battles of the Great War. Casualty rates soar in his battalion. Some months, more men are killed or wounded than come through unscathed. With bullets flying, shells falling and deadly poison gas drifting across the battlefield, how long will it be until Peter's luck ru...

Celebrated high diver Peter Murtough takes the plunge when he marries Emma Hanbury – my colourful great-grandmother. But being a husband and father to three young children doesn't stop him from taking the greatest risk of his life – enlisting at age 40 to fight in the Great War. As Emma cheers him on with her special version of 'It's A Long Way To Tipperary', she can't know that the horrors of the...

After the patriotic fervour that sends Peter Murtough to South Africa, he and hundreds of thousands of soldiers discover the reality of the Boer War is hunger, thirst, filth and sudden bursts of deadly violence. But the most dangerous enemy? Typhoid. Fortunately, a vaccine has been developed – but most soldiers won't take it. *All episodes will be available early & ad-free to Patreon and Apple...

In July 1898, my great-grandfather Peter Murtough competes for the title of best diver in the world. But seeking more than the thrills of the life aquatic, he ratchets up the risks to himself – and future me – by enlisting to fight the Boer in South Africa. *All episodes will be available early & ad-free to Patreon and Apple supporters* It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you acc...

Having fought the French and beaten the odds, Bernard Murtough’s family goes on to prominence in peacetime, establishing themselves and their mineral water business in Portsea. While raised a child of privilege, restless youngster Peter Murtough strikes out for London, set on high adventure as a high diver. *All episodes will be available early & ad-free to Patreon and Apple supporters* It’s e...

I recently discovered that my great-grandfather was a champion diver who was active in the very same London scene as the doomed stuntmen who featured in my recent miniseries Death-Defying Death Divers! With this as my, um, jumping off point, I’m taking a plunge into my family history, tracing the men and women of the Murtough family, from the Battle of Waterloo, the Boer War and the Western Front,...

From a run-in with the future Nazi villain, to working with the master of movie suspense, Aussie musical genius Arthur Benjamin lived a big life, even if he’s these days overshadowed in our cultural history by the scandalous Percy Grainger and Eugene Goosens. It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links: Patreon: patreon.co...

A century and a half ago, the age of the typewriter dawned in Australia. Who was the first to import these new American gizmos? Would they cause the extinction of handwriting?  Would typewriters increase efficiency or simply empower people to churn out rubbish? How many parallels are there to the modern push for AI? To read Robert Messenger’s typewriter histories, check out: https://oztypewri...

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Australian flag being raised for the first time – the winning design selected from a competition that attracted over 32,000 entries.  Who sponsored the contest and why? How many winning designers were there? How did one chap so successfully claim sole credit over the next half century that two Australian prime ministers felt it necessary to officia...

Having just retired from the NSW police, infamously bent Sydney detective Ray Kelly injects himself into the Beaumont case in what is one of Australia’s most cynical newspaper stunts. At the same time, the disappearance of two teens in Victoria marks the sad start to another haunting murder mystery. Plus: Aussie dollars and cents finally drop, Gough Whitlam vs Arthur Calwell, and the Rolling Stone...

In Spain, a B-52 accident has left a nuke lost at sea – while on land a fallout cover-up is in full swing. In Australia, even as more Diggers than ever are dying on the battlefield, and our Americans allies are freezing us out of planning, new Prime Minister Harold Hold doubles down on our commitment to the war in Vietnam. Plus: the BBC bans an unsparing atomic war documentary because it’s too rea...

In the second week of February 1966, Australians are preparing for ‘Changeover Day’, when we’ll say 'G’bye' to pounds, shillings and pence and say 'G’day' to dollars and cents. But would we have been better off with a currency called the ‘Roo’, the ‘Dinkum’ or the… ‘Nostril’? Plus: Sir Robert Menzies retires in the dark, Harold Holt is immortalised in wax, and the Russians land on the moon. *Hear...

Australia is shocked by three Sydney murders – even as a spate of brutal attacks on sex workers goes ignored by the police and tabloid media. Plus: Lindy Chamberlain freed as the newspapers dodge accountability, and David Brett’s strange tale gets lost; DNA set to revolutionise crime fighting, while science explains how you don’t get AIDS; Paul Hogan's peak year gathers pace; and cult leaders...

In the Philippines, authoritarian ‘strongman’ President Ferdinand Marcos – having once survived a sex tape scandal that should've sunk him, and having siphoned billions from the people he's impoverished, oppressed, tortured and murdered – unleashes his police and military goons to assassinate and terrorise the opposition during ‘free’ elections. Plus: Rupert Murdoch smashes the print unions;...

After an Englishman fell to his death at Uluru on Australia Day 1986, a search of the area would find the crucial evidence that proved Lindy Chamberlain was innocent of the murder of her baby daughter Azaria. But who was the tortured soul whose fate set her free? Also: the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster; Star Wars can't live up to the hype; President Reagan guns for Colonel Gadaffi; and Donald...

Welcome to the first episode of Forgotten Australia Spotlight, which is to showcase the work of other history storytellers. First up, History Daily, with their episode about the Rum Rebellion, which took place on the 20th anniversary of what would later be called Australia Day.  It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these l...

Having left his mark on Australia, Professor Charles Peart’s legend is to fade with the years, even as others step up to even greater heights for even more dangerous plunges – intentional and accidental. To support Forgotten Australia: www.patreon.com/forgottenaustralia www.apple.co/forgottenaustralia Lifeline 13 11 14  0477 13 11 14  https://www.lifeline.org.au/  Want more original...

Arriving in Australia, Professor Charles Peart lives up the hype and wows crowds in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, before showing New Zealand audiences what he can do. But the daredevil has even wilder stunts planned for his return season in 1896. Hear the final instalment now early and ad-free by becoming a Forgotten Australia supporter. Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: a...

After a diving tragedy shocks London, Professor Charles Peart rises to fame with his daring and dizzying head-first pool stunts. When Australian circus owners come looking for acts to take Down Under, they believe they’ve found a star performer. Hear Death-Defying Death Divers parts 3 and 4 now early and ad-free as a Forgotten Australia supporter. You can use a free trial that's easy to cancel. If...