Fun Facts!
from history
The past is full of surprises! Travel back in time.
Meet the creatures and people of long ago –
when Australia was a different and dangerous place…
Australia's Ancient Animals
Take a tour deep into the dens of the Melbourne Museum. Get an up-close look at some of Australia’s dinosaurs and megafauna!
Australia in Convict Days
In 1841… England and Australia are ruled by Queen Victoria – this is the ‘Victorian era’.
Australia is changing fast. New homes and farms are springing up in South Australia, Western Australia and around Port Phillip (now Melbourne). New South Wales is now longer a dumping ground for convicts. Sydney is a bustling town, where thousands of people have come to seek their fortune.
Find out more about the real world of Letty and the Bushranger’s Boys – click the links below.
Fashion in 1841
Victorian clothes were very different to ours, especially female clothes. Women wore long dresses with very big skirts. Girls’ clothes were similar, but their skirts didn’t reach the floor. Until about the age of five, little boys wore frilly dresses!
Sailing to Australia
The only way to get to Australia in the old days was by ship. Sailing to Australia was tough. Ships were crowded and uncomfortable. Hundreds of people were crammed onto a wooden boat, about 10 metres wide by 35 metres long. That’s a bit longer and thinner than a netball court. For months and months…
Food in 1841
Did people in the past eat the same food as us?
No. Food in colonial Australia was plain – no pizzas, pastas or Asian takeaway. An 1846 recipe book called Modern Cookery (!) has recipes you probably will not like. And some you probably will.
Mrs Chisholm’s Immigrants Home
New South Wales wanted more women in 1841. But when the young women and girls got off the ships in Sydney, they often had nowhere to go.
One woman, Mrs Caroline Chisholm, was determined to do something to help.
Do you know these 10 odd Oz history facts?
Test yourself on this QUIZ!
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