Famous visitors sung city’s praises

THE latest literary instalment of Doug Bradby’s Ten Delightful Tales series has arrived on local bookshelves.

Famous Visitors to a Famous City looks at the interesting people who historically took a trip to Ballarat in the 19th and 20th centuries, including Charles Kingsford Smith, ‘Wizard’ Stone, Agnes Grace, Sir John Monash, Robert Baden-Powell, Sir Douglas Mawson and Henry Parkes.

Bradby said the latest volume of his series is less analytical, and full of “gorgeous stories” that emphasise the joys of community life, and “mutual backslapping.”

“We said they were terrific, they said Ballarat was terrific, both sides were genuine, and everyone had a lovely day,” he said.

“Travel was risky, expensive and time consuming. If you were a visitor, there was something different about you; money and time.

“Visitors’ journeys were much the same, up Sturt Street, around the lake, to a few mines, and back to Craig’s Royal Hotel for dinner.”

Bradby said the most popular visitor was operatic soprano Dame Nellie Melba, who sang the city’s praises, and was “adored and loved” by the Ballarat people.

“She loved the South Street competitions, which were nationally important. They’d run into trouble financially… so she put on a concert, raising £800.

“She was brilliant with the press, saying ‘a day in Ballarat is the finest tonic in the world’,” Bradby said.

Captain John Bulwer Godfrey and his crew visited Ballarat during the gold rush, after a 77-day on-water journey from London via the ‘great circle route,’ past Antarctica.

The captain described the busy mining hub as an ‘ant heap.’

“He gave Ballarat the greatest possible compliment. He said, ‘this is more exciting than The Great Exhibition of London’,” Bradby said.

Prime Minister Joseph Cook stayed at Craig’s in August of 1917. It was in the hotel dining room on the evening of 2 August that he realised the magnitude of the upcoming First World War, and that Australia’s involvement was unavoidable.

Katie Gold, a stewardess on the Titanic, arrived in Ballarat three months after the liner sank, to be with her uncles.

She was the last woman to be rescued from the ship, finding safety in the final lifeboat, number 11.

A Ten Delightful Tales book is released every two months. Sturt Street will be the star of the next volume.

Famous Visitors to a Famous City is currently available at Collins Booksellers in the Bridge Mall for $9.99.