sobraon

Now if my granny's cousin is in the 1938 electoral roll as a "hulk operator", what does that mean ? Work on one of these old ships ?

Mich I asked one of our Senior Archivists in Public Access about this; she hasn't come across the term "hulk operator" before. It is also not listed in the "Dictionary of old trades & occupations". If there are any occupations/trades experts out there, perhaps you can help with this definition? AB

The house I currently live in is named after this ship as the original occupant did his training on board.

My Grandfather John Ashley was committed to this Ship in 1899, at the age of ten. He was found by Police sleeping out at night and charged at Balmain.

jricho50 Thanks, jricho50, for adding this history. You might be interested in other Sobraon images on Photo Investigator. jo.carpenter1 jo.carpenter1 That is interesting to know how your house came to be named! AB

My grandfather (Wilfred Purcell) was committed to the Sobraon on 1 January 2010 at age 14 years, 9 months. His cousin (Roy Purcell) had been commited there 3 years earlier.

Purcell 1895 Thanks, Purcell 1895, for sharing; you might be interested in some other images of the Sobraon in our image catalogue, Photo Investigator and some information on the records we hold. AB

This is a good one for a game of "spot the difference"!

Museums of History NSW - State Archives Collection Nearly got me there ... I thought from the thumbnail it was one of your rare duplicated posts!

Wondering where the "Recreation Ground" was. What's the building behind? Church / courthouse to the right?

beachcomber australia from Children's institutions in nineteenth-century Sydney by John Ramsland, 2011, Dictionary of Sydney:

A recreation ground was set up for the boys on Cockatoo Island adjacent to the ship's moorage, and a saltwater tidal baths was erected beside it. Larger pets such as an emu were kept on the fringes of the recreation grounds and smaller pets such as dogs and cockatoos were kept aboard ship to be cared for there.

- www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/childrens_institutions_i...

Although not digitised, the Powerhouse Museum description would indicate their entry is for the same photo -

The boys are shown playing cricket and doing gymastics. An Emu is seated in the middle of the ground.

which would date this photo to 1894, and not long before 14 June -

The donor, Captain Frederick William Neitenstein, superintendent of the Sobraon, states in a letter to the Museum, 14 June 1894, that the photographs P1835:P1854 are "just received from the Government Printer".

- www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=321221