Welcome

to the Ratbag Encyclopedia.

This here is a quokka,
extinct on the mainland,
you shouldn’t kick it like a football,
or feed it by the hand.

All the articles:

  • Thompson’s Swamp

    Thompson's Swamp

    I’ve been wading through the history of the Swamp lately. That is — the actual swamp that had Dyson’s name on it — not the metaphorical entity that represents the Dyson family’s life in early colonial Australia. This is the one that is currently known as Lake Jualbup.

  • Missing an Allpike link?

    Missing an Allpike link?

    Stephen Hallpike (1786-1844) was a convict from Lancashire sent to the Australian colonies. It was in Liverpool that he was finally busted for the most Lancastrian crime it was possible to commit — stealing 100 yards (91.44 metres) of cotton cloth.

  • Flame out

    Flame out

    The discovery of gold changed everything in Western Australia.

  • Shadowy Spouses

    Shadowy Spouses

    Have I uncovered the identity of Emily Bates, the spouses of Jane and Mabel Dyson, and parents of Mrs Jane Dyson?

  • Central Perth in cardboard

    Central Perth in cardboard

    A guide to the diorama of central Perth before 1880 on display in the Museum of Perth

  • Bio: Edward Hales Taylor

    Bio: Edward Hales Taylor

  • I’m sure this is all completely normal

    I'm sure this is all completely normal

    There was nothing particularly unusual about the citizens of Perth suing each other in the civil courts during the 19th Century. It was more out of the ordinary not to be embroiled in some sort of legal action at any given moment.

  • The One that Got Away

    The One that Got Away

    Much as I would dearly love to visit Tasmania again and wallow amongst the microfilm, that’s not going to be possible any time soon. Then, thanks to a lead not affiliated with any of the “official” sources of knowledge, I learnt that a certain religious sect have in their possession the documents I seek

  • Four days with the VDL Establishment

    Four days with the VDL Establishment

    Convict James Dyson was assigned to work for the Van Diemen’s Land Establishment for all of four days between 2 and 5 October 1837. What happened next will not surprise you in the slightest.

  • Bio: Samuel McKee

    Bio: Samuel McKee

    A Vandemonian Maverick (but weren’t they all?)