Rookwood Cemetery Discoveries

 The subject of today's blog was brought to my attention in early 2019 and has had a lasting effect upon me. A strong, formidable man who let no one intimidate him but with a strong sense of moral fortitude   whose story I believe is one that would suit the small screen; let me introduce... HENRY EDINBURGH BAYLIS  Henry was born in Edinburgh (hence the second name honouring his birthplace) Scotland in 1826, the second son of Thomas Henry Baylis, Lieutenant of the 17th Regiment, and his wife Julia Dorothea. In mid 1832 he arrived in Sydney where his father continued his military career. Henry was educated at The King's School, Parramatta, one of their earliest pupils and then trained in the legal office of the Fitzhardinge family of Sydney. He worked briefly on a pastoral property near Bathurst and after gold was discovered in the Mudgee District in 1851, tried his luck there like many others, but to no avail. Baylis entered the public service as a Clerk of Petty Sess...

 In Australia we are celebrating National Reconciliation Week which we assign increasingly great social importance to. I prepare this weeks blog in  Parramatta, Western Sydney, the land of the Burramattagal people of the Dharug nation. I acknowledge their traditions and culture and pay respect to their elders both past, present and emerging. This week's blog honours the life of an indigenous individual and I wish to warn those who may be culturally affected  that a photograph of this individual follows. Since the early times of the establishment of the European colony in NSW, government agencies, explorers, surveyors and members of the general public have called upon the tracking abilities of Indigenous men and women. The skills of trackers were drawn from bush and hunting knowledge held by Indigenous groups throughout NSW. A good tracker could pick up the smallest change in the landscape and quickly work out in which direction a person or animal was moving. The NSW Polic...