Transylvanian blood-suckers

Apothecary jar, for holding medicinal leeches, slip-cast earthenware, made by S. Maw and Son, London, England, 1860-1870 http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=182254#ixzz2lGArzAaV
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial

Last week I started work on a collection of objects relating the period of the Australian Gold Rushand one of the objects was a porcelain medical jar made by S. Maws and Sons between 1860 and 1870. It had been used for holding leeches and I thought there may be an interesting connection between these blood-sucking animals and the diggers who often spent long hours panning or ‘wet-digging’ in streams and rivers.

The Eureka Flag; 150 year mystery solved?

While working on a story relating to the Eureka Stockade I came upon some interesting information which may clarify a nearly 150 year old mystery relating to who designed the famous Eureka flag. Some accounts credit a Canadian miner, “Captain” Henry Ross, as being the designer of the flag. Others say the designer is still unknown and that Ross was simply the person who took the design to the three women, Anastasia Withers, Anne Duke and Anastasia Hayes, who sewed up the flag in time for the rally on 29 November 1854.