1905

Sir Robert Menzies

Posted in 1905

  • Ballarat Town HallRobert and sister Belle leave Jeparit to join brothers, Les and Frank, living with their grandmother in Ballarat. They attend Humffray Street State School the following year.
  • On paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Menzies:

"Somewhat narrow-minded, devout and lacking in humour, she was also frugal. The children got from their parents threepence a week pocket money. For Bob and Belle, one penny of this was earmarked for the tram fare to make regular visits to their maternal grandfather, John Sampson, who lived in East Ballarat. On one occasion Grandmother Menzies discovered that the children sometimes walked to the Sampsons. She immediately accused them of doing so to save one penny for self indulgent purposes, like buying their favourite lubricant for hours of study - peanuts - and promptly docked it from their allowance."
A W Martin, Robert Menzies: A Life. Vol 1 1894-1943, 1993 p 14.

World Events

Posted in 1905

  • Albert EinsteinPresident Roosevelt of USA acts as mediator between Russia and Japan; the Russo-Japanese war ends.
  • Norway becomes independent of Sweden.
  • Einstein publishes his special Theory of Relativity: Absolute time and absolute motion do not exist; all depends on the observer.