Episodes

  • Moses Tjalkabota – Orator and Evangelist
    Dec 19 2022

    Moses Tjalkabota was a charismatic and well-known personality in Central Australia.

    An Arrarnte man, his early years were spent on country in a traditional Aboriginal lifestyle, learning Arrarnte culture from his elders. As a child, he was schooled on the Hermannsburg Mission.

    Known affectionately as Blind Moses, he became an evangelist. Regarded as a master storyteller and public speaker, he attracted large crowds whenever he preached in public.

    Although he was blind, he travelled vast distances over Central Australia to share his message with Aboriginal people in their communities.

    Further information:
    Australian Dictionary of Biography
    Hermannsburg.com.au
    Alice Springs News
    Blind Moses, Aranda Man of High Degree and Christian Evangelist by Peter Latz, IAD Press, 2015

    You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.co

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    19 mins
  • Edith Cowan: The First Woman in Parliament
    Dec 5 2022

    Share real hope with your family, friends and community!  - Hope 103.2 (hope1032.com.au)

    Edith Cowan made it her mission to see women participating in every area of public life – education, religion, politics, health, the law and social justice.

    She founded and worked for numerous volunteer organisations that promoted the rights and welfare of women and children, including the House of Mercy for unmarried mothers, The Karrakatta Women’s Club, The Children’s Protection Society and King Edward Memorial Hospital.

    She was the first woman to ever sit in an Australian Parliament and today she has a university named after.

    She can be seen on the Australian $50 note.

    Further information:

    Australian Dictionary of Biography
    National Museum Australia
    RBA - People on the Bank Notes – Edith Cowan
    State Library of WA
    Women Australia

    You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    19 mins
  • David Unaipon: Australia's Leonardo da Vinci
    Nov 21 2022

    Share real hope with your family, friends and community!  - Hope 103.2 (hope1032.com.au)

    David Unaipon was an Aboriginal preacher, inventor, author and activist.

    Profoundly gifted in several fields, his achievements emphatically disproved the prejudiced preconceptions that existed about Aboriginal people at the time.

    He lectured publicly on science and theology and patented nine inventions, including a shear that turned circular motion into lateral motion.

    He collected the myths and legends of Aboriginal people and was the first indigenous Australian to be published, although his book was not originally published under his own name.

    By the 1920s, he was the most well-known Aboriginal person in Australia and was able to be a public voice on behalf of his people.

    He can be seen on the Australian $50 note.

    Further information:

    Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines by David Unaipon, edited by Stephen Muecke and Adam Shoemaker, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 2001

    My Life Story, by David Unaipon, Adelaide: Aborigines Friends Association, 1954

    'Aboriginals: Their Traditions and Customs' by David Unaipon, Daily Telegraph, 2 August 1924.

    Australian Dictionary of Biography

    RBA - People on the Bank Notes – David Unaipon 1872 - 1967

    The State Library of New South Wales: Significant Individuals : David Unaipon

    The State Library of New South Wales – Stories – David Unaipon

    Kids Britannica – David Unaipon

    You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    19 mins
  • Ralph Honner: The Kokoda Hero
    Nov 7 2022

    Share real hope with your family, friends and community!  - Hope 103.2 (hope1032.com.au)

    Lt. Col Ralph Honner is a World War II hero and one of Australia’s best-known officers.

    He is remembered for his inspired efforts leading the exhausted men of the 39th battalion in their heroic defence at Isurava on the arduous Kokoda Track. He also inflicted a decisive defeat on the Japanese at Gona on the Northern coast of New Guinea, where he was severely wounded.

    After his retirement, Honner went on to serve as the ambassador to Ireland.

    A man of faith and a poetic soul, he was deeply respected and admired by the men he led, and even honoured by his enemies.

    Further information:

    Ralph Honner, Kokoda Hero by Peter Brune, Allen & Unwin, 2007

    Gona’s Gone!: The Battle for the Beachhead 1942, by Peter Brune, Allen & Unwin, 1994

    Kokoda Historical

    Australian War Memorial

    Australian Dictionary of Biography

    You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    20 mins
  • Caroline Chisolm - The Immigrants Friend
    Oct 24 2022

    Share real hope with your family, friends and community!  - Hope 103.2 (hope1032.com.au)

    Caroline Chisholm was a philanthropist, social reformer and humanitarian, who 
    devoted herself to helping unemployed migrants, particularly vulnerable young 
    women. 
    She set up a safehouse and employment agency for single women, and 
    personally escorted them to their new homes in the country.
    She campaigned to bring out the families of former convicts for free, so they 
    could be reunited with their loved ones in Australia.
    In 1847, she became the first woman to address the House of Lords in 
    Westminster. She was also the first woman, other than the Queen, to feature on 
    an Australian bank note. 
    But the time she returned to England in 1846, she had helped 11,000 new 
    Australians find homes and work. 


    Further information:
    Caroline Chisholm – An Irresistible Force, by Sarah Goldman, HarperCollins, 2017
    Caroline Chisholm – The Emigrant’s Friends, by Joanna Bogle
    Caroline Chisholm – The Emigrant’s Friend by Tania McCartney (Junior Historical 
    Fiction)
    Australian Dictionary of Biography
    One Saint For Australia - Newspaper Article

    You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe 
    at katrinaroe.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    17 mins
  • Mary Reiby - The Teenage Convict
    Oct 10 2022

    A true, rags to riches story, Mary Reibey came to Australia as a teenage convict in 1792. She was just 14 years old when she was sentenced to seven years transportation. When her husband died, leaving her with seven children, she took over all his business dealings. A tough and determined businesswoman, she built a fortune as a ship-owner, trader and property developer in the early days of the colony. She erected many elegant buildings in Sydney, some of which are still standing, and was one of the founders of Westpac bank. As a philanthropist, she made a significant contribution to education, charity and church.
    Today her face can be seen on the Australian $20 note.


    Further information:
    Australian Dictionary of Biography
    Dictionary of Sydney
    Aussie Notables – Mary Reibey (Children’s book) by Allan Drummond, 2011
    Mary Reibey: From Convict to First Lady of Trade, by Kathleeen J. Pullen, 1975.
    Dear Cousin: The Reibey Letters: Twenty Two Letters of the Reibey Family, 
    includuing Letters of Mary Reiby, Her Children & Their Descendants, 1792-1901
    Minding Her Own Business; Colonial Business Women in Sydney by Catherine Bishop, 2015


    You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    17 mins
  • Stanley and Lucy Drummond – Caring for Country Kids
    Sep 26 2022

    In the 1920s, Stanley and Lucy Drummond travelled together around the remote outback areas of Far Western NSW from their base in Cobar. In their travels, they met many families who had suffered unspeakable loss due to the lack of medical services. Stanley Drummond dreamed of bringing outback kids to the beach for R&R and medical care.58 kids attended the first Far West Seaside Camp in 1924. By 1935,they opened the Drumond Far West Home in Manly, known today as Royal Far West -the only charity dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of country kids.Decades later,Stanely and Lucy Drummond were still remembered as heroes by the outback families they helped.

    Further information:

    Drummond of the Far West, by M. Maclean, 1947

    Australian Dictionary of Biography

    Royal Far West

    You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    22 mins
  • Rev Sir Alan Walker – Founder of Lifeline
    Sep 12 2022

    Content Warning: This Episode Contains The Mention Of Suicide

    Rev Sir Alan Walker is best known as the founder of the telephone counselling service, Lifeline. It was the first service of its kind and led the way for telephone counselling and telehealth services around the world.

    He ran Wesley Mission for 20 years and was quite a media personality in his day with columns in the Fairfax Press and a very popular TV show.

    His ethics were so highly regarded that the Governor-General, Bill Hayden called him ‘the conscience of the nation’.

    Lifeline 13 11 14

    Further information:

    Tireless Crusader for Peace, SMH, https://www.smh.com.au/national/tireless-crusader-for-peace-20030205-gdg7zl.html

    https://atributetoaustralianchristians.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/alan-walker/

    Alan Walker: Conscience of the Nation by Don Wright, Open Book Publishers, 1997

    You can find Dr Paul Roe online at theoutbackhistorian.com.au and Katrina Roe at katrinaroe.com

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    18 mins