Gunning & District Historical Society

The name of Bredalbane Plains will forever resound in my bosom: Dr John Lhotsky 1834  King Ludwig 1st of Bavaria who provided the funds which enabled Dr John Lhotsky to explore the new world – including Breadalbane and Gunning, in 1834.  I have been unable to find any portraits of Dr Lhotsky.  This circa 1830 lithograph of Dr Lhotsky’s patron scanned by Franz Hanfstaegl: From Wikimedia Commons He Could’ve Been a Contender This article is part of a series on the Oolong Oologists; Oolong being a locality in the Gunning district and oology a branch of ornithology studying mainly eggs and nests – particularly popular in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Polish polymath, naturalist and vigorous self-promoter Dr John Lhotsky passed through the Gunning district in 1834, recording details of the people, landscape and wildlife that he encountered.  Before learning more about him I thought he would have been a strong contender for the title of First Oolong Oologi...

The Rosy Hyacinth Orchid  (Dipodium roseum), long lost to view, will be flowering in Lade Vale and other places around the district over the next few weeks. If You Go Down in the Woods Today   Provided you are in the right place, you could be in for a big surprise during the next few months. You may be lucky enough to see a noteworthy and unusual native orchid flaunting its very showy  flowers. Most orchid species we see locally tend to be short, modest and unobtrusive with their full beauty not being apparent unless they are very closely examined through a magnifying glass. Not so the Hyacinth Orchid, the largest terrestrial orchid in our district, which displays its bright pink petals to the world on long purple stems up to 3/4 of a metre high. This stunning wonder has emerged on two Lade Vale properties for the last three years in a row.   Neither of the current property owners had seen it over the preceding twenty years or so. One of the pro...

A Stock Pigeon (Columba livia), the preferred target of sporting shooters, so likely kept and bred by Gunning devotees  of this popular amusement. If so, probably the unwitting carriers and victims themselves of a deadly poison. Photo Wikipedia. Perils Facing the Late Colonial Gunning Gourmet  In March 1880 there was scarcely a single pigeon to be found around Gunning. We know this because a paucity of pigeons forced leading citizen and sporting event impresario, Mr W Grovenor, to initiate the district’s historic inaugural magpie shooting sweep stake tournament then. Two earlier posts "Gunning's First Ever Magpie Shooting Contest a Banging Success"  and "Grovenor Street Gunning - A New Front in the History Wars" tells you more than enough about this. Why were pigeons in such short supply? The following piece of contemporary investigative journalism sheds new light on this question. Goulburn Herald and Chronicle 7 April 1879: Signal and Pro...

Radical, left wing historical revisionists are questioning whether we should continue to honour Gunning founding father William Grovenor as we look back at past events in these enlightened times. An earlier article on this site,  Gunning's First Ever Magpie Shooting Competition a Banging Success , reported on a live bird shooting tournament organised by Mr William Grovenor in 1880 during which nine eminent local Knights of the Trigger shot and killed 17 or more magpies. Comments and questions on Facebook soon followed. This article attempts to address the issues  people have raised in these posts as well as adding some new information and clarification. So, here follows: Should Grovenor Street be renamed in the light of Mr Grovenor's role in initiating and managing such a barbarous magpie murdering event? Gunning's Elite - the high cost of joining the Knights of the Trigger. The culinary qualities of the Australian Magpie. Retraction and a...

Nine Magpies   Etching by Joseph Austin reproduced by permission of the artist. The Gunning sportsmen put paid to more than nine such birds in 1880 In March 1880 the Goulburn Herald and Chronicle 's Gunning correspondent reported on a novel sporting event: " Magpie Shooting - Nearly all the male population of Gunning and a sprinkling of the fair sex, assembled on and about the flat on Monday afternoon to take part in and witness the sweep-shooting.  Magpies were used in place of pigeons, both as being cheaper and more easily procurable. Mr W Grovenor procured the birds;  in fact that gentleman is to be thanked for his enterprise in getting up the sport. Everything passed all very pleasantly and satisfactorily, there being an unexpectedly large number of competitors. Match Report Summary There were two events, an open competition with a 5 shilling prize and a handicap sweep for 3 shillings - both with 3 birds per competitor.  Between them 10 competito...