Ratbags & Roustabouts
Ratbags & Roustabouts tells the extraordinary histories of ordinary people. We dig around in the ancestry archive and dive into the genealogical gene pool to uncover the most incredible, never-before-told stories of seemingly common folk from our past.
Podcasting since 2023 • 18 episodes
Ratbags & Roustabouts
Latest Episodes
Anzac Day Special: Captain Ivor Margetts, Gallipoli to Pozieres
To mark Anzac Day, we hear the story of Hobart teacher Captain Ivor Margetts, who led his men into battle at Gallipoli during WWI, surviving the whole campaign in the Dardanelles Strait, only to be killed at the very start of the Battle of Pozi...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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42:00
Curr vs Cross: Indentured absconders and the Van Diemen's Land Company
In 1832, when a group of indentured servants ran off from their jobs with the Van Diemen’s Land Company in northwest Tasmania, the ramifications would be severe — both for them and for their former master, Edward Curr.At the fledgling se...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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40:57
In Ned Kelly’s footsteps: Tasmanian bushrangers Sutherland & Ogden
In 1883, Kelly Gang wannabes James Sutherland and James Ogden carried out their brief but bloody bushranging careers near Epping Forest, Tasmania. But they never achieved the same infamy as their hero Ned Kelly.In the middle of the night...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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35:23
Murder on the dance floor: Audrey Jacob and Cyril Gidley
In 1925, Audrey Jacob walked through the crowded ballroom of Perth’s Government House, tapped Cyril Gidley on the shoulder and shot him point blank in the chest. But after a sensational trial, she was cleared of murder. So just how was she foun...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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38:53
A Pocketful of Patriarchy: The gendered history of the pocket
SUMMER SPECIAL: There’s a reason women always exclaim in delight when they realise a garment has pockets, and it is a story that is woven through hundreds of years of history — and firmly entrenched in the suffragette movement.In this sp...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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21:07
