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This tab is being used to spread news relating to Parramatta's history (i.e. new findings especially archaeological or genetic), and also as an archive of previous articles. Major news will be indicated in ❝bold type❞. Discuss such things in the activity feed.
2024.04.10 — Discovery of pottery rewrites Aboriginal history (James Cook University)
“The discovery of the oldest pottery ever found in Australia on
Jiigurru/Lizard Island off the Queensland coast is challenging the idea
that Aboriginal Australian communities were unaware of pottery
manufacture before European settlement.”
2023.08.08 — From convict huts to a fire-ravaged theatre, Parramatta Metro Station site is a wealth of history (Sydney Metro)
“Heritage investigations at the Parramatta Metro Station site have been ongoing since March 2022 and are now more than 50 per cent complete.”
“The plan to rebuild a heritage villa pulled down to make way for the Parramatta Powerhouse has been labelled "a fantasy" after photos obtained by Nine News raised concerns among heritage experts.”
2023.07.10 — Iconic Sydney pub demolished for no reason (host Ben Fordham)
“The 200-year-old Royal Oak Hotel in Parramatta was demolished to accommodate the new Light Rail. It’s now been revealed the site is no longer needed for the route.”
“Designs have been revealed for a 22-storey tower planned to be built above a heritage-listed former restaurant [a convict-built cottage that dates from around 1826, “subject to ill-considered alteration and additions in the past”] in Parramatta.”
―――――――――――――――― Before project revival ―――――――――――――――
2020.01.11 — Royal Oaks Hotel Update (author Gaye)
“The Royal Oak Hotel is scheduled for demolition early in 2020. The 1813 Stables at the rear of the Hotel where John Andrews sadly committed suicide in 1832 by hanging himself from the stable rail, will remain on the site.”
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――――――――――――――――――――― 2000s CE / 12,000s HE ―――――――――――――――――――――
2008.02.16 — WHO WE ARE: The man who nearly changed everything (author David Dale)
“Nobody knows what was actually said in the most important speech ever given in Australia, because it was not written down, and in any case it was in a language nobody speaks any more. We only know that the words almost changed the course of our history.”
“A cache of charcoal, stone tools and artefacts [were] found to be 30,000 years old, more
than doubling the accepted age of Aboriginal settlement in Sydney. The discovery ... was the result of a dig originally set up to search for signs of convict era occupation.”