Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries

  Today's blog is a follow up to the one I wrote about Jane Catherine Tost, taxidermist, way back in 2022. (If you wish to acquaint yourself with that blog before reading this follow up, please click onto the name tag of Jane Catherine Tost at the end of this blog).  In that blog I mentioned that her Jane's son Charles Goutliffe Jnr and son-in-law, James Coates were killed fighting a fire at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1872 and that is the focus of today's blog. PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE FIRE From newspaper reports at the time, it would appear that in the early hours of Saturday the 6th of January 1872, the Prince of Wales Theatre in Castlereagh Street Sydney near King Street caught fire rapidly. A full house the previous night had seen "The House that Jack Built" and all had left the theatre. The alarm was raised about 3.30am but firemen were virtually helpless against the fire's ferocity which was believed to have started in the property room were ...

 A female who was the first professional woman employed by an Australian Museum and arguably the best in her field is lying under a headstone that doesn't bear her name. Forgotten no more.. JANE CATHERINE TOST  Jane was born in 1817 (believed to be in London England) to John Ward, a bird breeder, and his wife, Catherine. Her parents not only bred birds but also stuffed them for gentlemen collectors and had been carrying out this activity since the early 1800's. Jane and her siblings learnt the trade first hand and later the siblings were working in the Gould's taxidermy shop in London.  On 1 April 1839, Jane married Charles Gottleibe Tost, a native of Prussia and a piano-forte maker; they were to go on to have six children. The workload at Gould's became so large that Jane was taken on in a greater role and during the 1840's -1850's under Gould's direction she was employed at the British Museum, preparing specimens.  Although taxidermy had been practised fro...