Category History Blog

The new exhibition at the Wollondilly Heritage centre is “HER WAR”. This has been produced in conjunction with the research by Betty Villy for her book “Red Poppies and the White Waratah; heroines from Wollondilly in the Great War.”

The exhibition uses objects from the collection to illustrate the patriotism of local women in the lead up to the Great War. From early in childhood children were encouraged to support the British Empire in their books and toys which featured English scenes and Colonial armies. A collection of letters from 1918-1919 written to a local soldier and brought back by him reveal the changes as the war ground on...

From information transcribed from an original diary in Yerranderie archives collected by Val Lheude and donated to the Wollondilly Heritage Centre at The Oaks

Sapper Albert E Nurse

Albert Nurse gave his address as ‘Tonalli, Mill Street, Carlton, Sydney.

He left Sydney 26/6/15 at 5pm by the “Berrima” arrived Melbourne 27/6/1915 leaving again 30/6/15 in calm weather. He arrived at Suez 25/7/15 then took train to Cairo and marched to camp at Heliopolis on August 5th he joined the 4th Field Engineers attached to the 5th Brigade and commented “Field Engineers better than Infantry” – he also said that his book was taken away in a black kit bag so he will have to write from memory.

They had one month training before leaving for Alexandria on the Knight Templar arriving on Lemnos Islan...

It is now over 50 years since the wild rivers of the Burragorang Valleys were captured and tamed. The Warragamba dam was built to provide the growing city of Sydney with a reliable source of water following sporadic series of droughts. The Oaks Historical Society holds many stories, archives, photographs and objects relating to the people who called this beautiful area home. The current exhibition at the Wollondilly Heritage Centre and Museum at The Oaks features the dispossession of these families, beginning with the Aboriginal families. Their attempts to keep some of their traditional lands in the face of increasing demand from European settlers has been documented in such Books as ‘Sacred Waters” by Dianne Johnson and “From Invasion to Embassy” by Heather Goodall...

A TALE OF TWO BROTHERS TOLD IN A NEW DISPLAY AT THE WOLLONDILLY MUSEUM

Tom and James Littlewood were the sons of William & Jane (nee Wheatley) Littlewood. They lived at “Waratah” The Oaks and were two of eleven children. Tom was born in 1871 and James (Jim) in 1892. They attended the local Church and School run by Josephite nuns. The whole family and their neighbours helped to support the nuns and their school by growing and supplying them with vegetables.

Trapping and selling rabbits and growing and selling flowers were activities they both shared and they were both creative but in different ways.

Tom Littlewood

Tom made a living from selling honey from his many hives and grew and sold waratahs, but his creativity was demonstrated in sketching and wood carving...

Tucked away in The Oaks is a treasure that most people know and others are delighted to find – it’s a trove of artefacts, facts and glimpses of the past, which can all be found at the Wollondilly Heritage Centre and Museum – which showcases history as well as reliving it.

The centre and museum tell the unique stories of the people and places of Wollondilly and the Burragorang Valley. Before the Burragorang was flooded to allow water to flow into the Warragamba; it was a thriving village – a community complete with shops, a church and school –many of which were salvaged.

But some of the oldest items proudly on display are Aboriginal sharpening tools which date back many generations...