Skip to main content

Trove Tuesday: Christmas in New South Wales. - A visit from Santa Claus

With Christmas rapidly approaching I thought I would find something to do with the Christmas theme for this weeks Trove Tuesday post. I don't know what today's children would make of Santa Claus using a dray drawn by bullocks adorned with fragrant blossoms on Christmas Eve, instead of a flying sleigh with reindeer!  It is an interesting mental image to say the least.


Source: Santa Claus in New South Wales. (1881, December 24). Illustrated Sydney News (NSW : 1853 - 1872), p. 3. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64974829

Transcript:

Santa Claus in New South Wales.(See page 13.)

And why not?  Why should not Santa Claus be as welcome in Australia as in the old world!  Colonial children are as fond of toys and as deserving of them as are those upon whom big-hearted, good-natured, ever-loving Santa Claus bestows his welcome favours in Europe and America.  Already crowds of little ones in this land of sunshine and flowers are learning to look forward in joyous expectancy to the bright morning when they shall awake and find tiny couches bestrewn with the glittering presents and tempting Christmas offerings brough by Santa Claus when, unseen, he visits them during their peaceful slumbers.  Santa Claus is the Robin Goodfellow of Christmastide, and in some parts of the colony, where the German settlers have brought with them the dear old popular customs of their beloved fatherland, the little toddlers have been taught to believe that punctually on Christmas eve, Santa Claus makes his appearance in a large dray, filled with toys and all sorts of nice things and drawn by bullocks adorned with fragrant blossoms, for the purpose of rewarding all the good little boys and girls, whose names have been written down in his big pocket-book.  True, they never see the old man, with his long, flowing white beard, but are there not before them the toys and playthings which he has brought with him from the world of wonders in which he resides! No, it is not until they grow up into men and women that they become wiser, and then they are not always thankful for the wisdom which they have gained.

Source: [No heading]. (1881, December 24). Illustrated Sydney News (NSW : 1853 - 1872), p. 13. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page5406595
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Kendall Children.

I started this post a while ago and was going to finally finish and post it yesterday however our four grandchildren came over and I got sidetracked.  Our grandchildren range in age now from six down to one;  they are so full of life (each of them lights up a room when they enter it) and we feel extremely blessed to have them in our lives.  After spending the afternoon researching this post, their arrival made this tragedy even more poignant for me and so I appreciated their company even more than usual and hugged them a bit tighter too!  This morning I woke up to a cold, wet and windy Wagga day and the thought of three little girls out in August weather like this, in light weight dresses with no shoes or jumpers impacted on me even more. Those poor babies! One of the girls was found still clasping her doll that she had carried with her over the whole tragic journey. When my husband and I were looking around the Wagga Wagga Monumental Cemetery some time ago we came a...
9 comments
Read more

My First Fleet Connection - Mary Turner (aka Mary Wilkes/Wilks)

My 5th Great Grandmother Mary Turner (also known as Mary Wilks/Wilkes) is my earliest known and documented Australian relative.  She was tried at Worcester on  5th March 1785 and sentenced to seven years. Mary arrived on the ship Lady Penrhyn   in 1788.   It seems the 5th of March was not an auspicious trial date for Mary in 1785 or later in 1789!   On the 5th  March 1789 she was tried for stealing six cabbages from the garden of William Parr, she was found guilty and sentenced to 50 lashes.  Later in March 1789 she also was in trouble for her testimony in the trial of  Royal Marines accused of stealing from the government stores  (six of them were found guilty and executed) in which it was believed by some that she had perjured herself.  Mary was sent to Norfolk Island in 1790 on board the ship Sirius .  Apparently she stayed on Norfolk Island until 1793 when she returned to Port Jackson on board the ship Kitty .   Her de fact...
6 comments
Read more

Time for a happy dance! Well kind of .....poor Catherine!

Brickwall knocked down at last!  Catherine Rhall was murdered by her partner James Baker Worldon on the 14th February 1855 at Beechworth.  The Trove articles do involve my 4th Great Grandparents James Baker Worldon and Catherine Rhall!  I guess the family tree book will need updating now ;) I looked up the following record from the Public Record of Victoria and bingo the details match my ancestors records.  Catherine Rhall's fate is now known at last, she was murdered by her partner and he was only sentenced to two years imprisonment for it and by the look of it was released early in 1856!  I also found out he used the alias Milbank, which will give me new avenues for future research. Public Record Office of Victoria Series title: Central Register of Male Prisoners Sub-Item title: Worldon, James; (Milbank); (Jas Baker Worldon): No. 2265 Sub-Item number: Page 199 Date range: 1854 Public access: Open Format: Digital Source: Public Record ...
15 comments
Read more