Our first event for 2026 was our Summer Research Showcase, which was held on Saturday the 28th of February.
The showcase was envisioned as a way for those of us who couldn’t make it up to Darwin for the Hot Histories conference in October last year. We heard from three of our members who presented at the conference.
[photo: Alison Wishart]
Jacqui Newling presented ‘Some like it Hot: Piquing the Australian Palate’, showing us the ways that Australians incorporated spices into their food. We may think that food in the 19th and early 20th centuries was bland, but, as Jacqui showed us, the chillies, cayenne pepper and curry powders that they used to ‘devil’ and ‘curry’ added piquancy to a wide variety of dishes. Jacqui was kind enough to share some recipes and even had some curry powder (recreated from an early recipe) for us to sniff!
Stephen Gapps presented on a new avenue of research that he is undertaking, which highlights how Australia’s post-1901 military history connects with the Australian Frontier Wars in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We heard about symbolic connections – emu feathers in hats – but also the very real experience that soldiers who joined the First AIF had on the frontier. Stephen also shared some of the work of his collaborative project, Australian Wars and Resistance. We encourage you to go take a look.
Jeff Hopkins-Weise presented his paper ‘Northern Australia’s last imperial outpost: Somerset, Cape York, 1864-67’ which enlightened us about the establishment (and relatively quick demise) of the last British imperial outpost in Australia in the very isolated environs of Cape York. The settlement was troubled from its outset and was the site of significant frontier violence. This is one of Jeff’s passion projects and we hope to hear more from him as he continues to work on tracing often-forgotten imperial Army and Navy detachments in the Colony of Queensland.
Thank you to our wonderful speakers!!
We had a great turnout, both in-person and online and want to thank everyone who attended for their contributions to some very lively and enlightening discussion! It was fantastic to see so many members from across NSW and ACT attending. The RAHS auditorium provides supportive facilities for hybrid events.
We hope to see you all at our next event.