November 2021

Contents

• President’s column and Society news - page 1Plans for the 2021 annual meeting and museum reopening, with introductions to the Bong Bong excavation and Bowral courthouse history.
• Society notices and reflections - page 2The planned annual meeting and Christmas lunch, and Bruce Moore’s reflections on conversation after lockdown.
• Bong Bong Common archaeological dig - page 3Linda Emery describes a Society visit to trenches and preliminary discoveries near the early colonial settlement, alongside bicentenary and site works information.
• President’s and archivist’s annual reports - page 4Society activities during COVID restrictions, proposed building works and new collections including Mittagong glass negatives and Wood family research.
• Annual reports from Society teams - page 5Publication, finance, conservation and family-history reports, including work to preserve local newspapers.
• A brief history of Bowral Court House - page 6Bohdan Bilinsky’s account places Bowral’s court and its 1896 courthouse in the wider development of country courts.
• Bowral Court House and its practitioners - page 7The courthouse’s trachyte, its architect and courts, and historical recollections of local legal practice.
• Society information and office bearers - page 8Contact, opening and committee details as printed in November 2021; they may have changed.

Issue highlights

• A site visit reports on an archaeological investigation at Bong Bong Common (p.3).
• The Society presents its annual report and plans for archive accommodation (p.4).
• Society reports discuss research enquiries and preservation of historical newspapers (p.5).
• A history of Bowral Court House describes earlier court venues, its architecture and legal practice (pp.6-7).

Original Society source