Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries

 When I heard Queen Camilla would be attending a library in Sydney (she is a great advocator for reading) I thought this is the perfect segue for writing about a truly great man whose obsession has benefitted us all in NSW and in fact Australia, if not the world. DAVID SCOTT MITCHELL David was born on the 19th of March 1836 in Sydney, the only son of Dr James Mitchell, a physician of Scottish origin, and his wife Augusta, nee Scott. He had two sisters. He was in the first intake of 24 undergraduates at the newly established University of Sydney in 1856 and was admitted to the Bar in 1858 but never practised the law or any other paid profession. During his twenties he led a carefree existence and a busy social life indulging in cricket, dancing, cards, debating as well as writing poetry and performed in amateur dramatics. His father was a wealthy man who had acquired large land interests in the Hunter Valley, in the Branxton and Cessnock area, where coal was found.  At the age ...

Today's blog is about the other Government Architect who calls Rookwood "home". If you are in the Sydney CBD you wander past buildings he has designed or added to frequently This man is soon to have his name shining deservedly once more. GEORGE McRAE George was born in Edinburgh in September 1857 the eldest child of  Duncan, a joiner journeyman and his wife Mary. (For clarification a joiner journeyman is a fully qualified worker who had completed an apprenticeship but worked on a daily rate for another person as opposed to a "master" who employed others).  McRae attended George Watson's College, one where children from less advantaged backgrounds could receive quality education. Once he graduated he joined George Beattie and Sons, Architects, Edinburgh where he learnt on the job about the finer aspects of building design. George McRae cicca. 1890 - courtesy of Wikipedia George arrived in Sydney in 1884, (with his parents and siblings), as a highly skilled ma...