toddlers

Romanies arrived in Australia with the first fleet in 1788 from England. Very few were actually identified as Romanies as they travelled under the nationality of the country they came from. Centuries of persecution had made them very cautious and secretive about their true cultural identity. It’s highly likely that this family in the photo from Queensland, which was taken around the turn of the last century, was from the Machwaya group. This group came to Australia from Serbia via Greece and travelled the country in horse drawn vans looking for seasonal work such as fruit picking, farm work, cane cutting, mining, laboring, blacksmithing, horse handling, leather work, metal work, timber mill work and tree felling. Source including the same photo: www.oocities.org/romani_life_society/indexpics/MagApr08.pdf

The children at the mission learned to read and write in Guugu Yimidhirr (which had been transcribed earlier by the missionaries), and the girls helped in the missionaries’ houses and in the garden. It was routine for the girls to be confined to a dormitory each night and to have limited access to their families. Initially, the missionary Wilhelm Poland supervised them closely at Elim while the senior missionary, Georg Heinrich Schwarz, attempted to establish a second station at Hope Valley. This arrangement was altered in 1890 after the older girls, including Mulun, secretly invited Guugu Yimidhirr boys into their dormitory at night. Thereafter the older girls were periodically sent to Hope Valley to stay with Schwarz. Source: ia.anu.edu.au/biography/mulun-magdalena-29712

In case you are wondering where this image was taken, check out the answer posted on Yahoo!7 Answers - au.answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20080409172809AAp644E

According to parish map 1406150 that I have calibrated against a modern Sydney map, it stood at 33°51'40.13"S, 151°12'24.88"E (WGS84 datum) , close to where the Cahill Expressway loops under the Bradfield Highway.

jbimages got in before me with the map location, however I will post the information that I found when answering the question in Yahoo!7 Answers: In short, it was on the corner of Gloucester and Little Essex Streets, The Rocks. Unfortunately the building hasn't stood the test of time and was demolished. "Numbers 140-142 are the remaining pair of a larger contemporary group, now demolished, that fronted Cumberland , Little Essex and Gloucester Streets. 140-142 Cumberland Street is a part of the 'Long's Lane Precinct'. Long's Lane is a cluster of nineteenth and early-twentieth houses, rear yards, and laneways between Gloucester and Cumberland Streets, the Rocks. These buildings are part of the same development as 117-117A Gloucester Street, relating to the NSW Government Housing Board redevelopment of the block bounded by Little Essex (now demolished), Cumberland and Gloucester Streets. Style: Edwardian; Storeys: 2" The only mention that I can find of the hotel is an extract from an article entitled "Cradle of the Commonwealth" by John Barlow F.I.A. printed in "The Red Funnel" Vol.1. No.1. August 1905, produced by Union Steamship Company of New Zealand. It talks about the peninsula between the present Circular Quay and Darling Harbour, from Argyle Street to Dawes Point, which takes in The Rocks. "There are still a few residents of The Rocks who remember hearing Wentworth advocate Constitutional Government from the balcony of the old Black Boy - now the Ocean Wave - Hotel at the intersection of Gloucester and Little Essex Streets, though that is nearly seventy years ago." I also tracked down a photo of Princes Street, between Essex and Little Essex Streets in case you were interested. These buildings were demolished to make way for the Harbour Bridge. This was the same area as the photo on Flickr. I have also found some other pictures of Gloucester Street around the Long's Lane precinct and have added links for you. www.australiagenweb.org/archive/oldsydney.pdf www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/AboutSydney/HistoryAndArchive... thisisntsydney.blogspot.com/2006/03/cribbs-lane.html au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080409172809AAp...

cool

A couple more views of this hotel - www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/3810093259/ www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/3810093211/