My grandparents moved to Ainslie in 1939 where they lived for almost 50 years until they passed away. My mother, Enid Wheeler (nee Guard) spent her teenage years in Ainslie and returned in 1961 with my father and their four children. Her story is in the book.
I grew up in Ainslie and have lived here most of my life. I am married with four children who are fourth generation residents of Ainslie.
Ainslie is a wonderful place to which to live. My family and I have chosen to live here for its location, the diversity of its residents, for its old established trees and gardens and for an intangible factor, best described as ‘its feel’. It ‘feels good’ to live here. Others must share our affinity with the suburb as during the course of writing the book I found original residents living in the same homes they had moved into new in the late 1920s and 1930s. They couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
Voices of Old Ainslie
A Collection of Life-stories from Early Residents of Ainslie
- Stanley Ray
- Iris Carnall (nee Wilden)
- Mary Sloan (nee McDonald)
- Isabel Hunt (nee Hunter)
- Olive Browning (nee Barrand)
- Alma Schell (nee Gleeson)
- Tom Gribble
- Claude Fisher
- Roy Gillard
- Harold Begent
- Don and Mavis ‘Reilly (nee Edlington)
- Elsie Smith (nee Ford)
- Margaret Cover (nee Eldridge)
- Enid Wheeler (nee Guard)
- Arthyr Thomas
- Alvy Werner (nee Stephens)
- Maurice Martin>
The Ainslie community has started a petition to revitalise the community building at 91A Wakefield Gardens. Continue reading→
How to get more public housing and community facilities for local residents – Speakers Professor Chris Wallace, Uni of Canberra and Kurrajong MLA Elizabeth Lee MLA.
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Ainslie was named after James Ainslie who was the first overseer of Duntroon Station. He was wounded at the battle of Waterloo in 1815 and came to Australia shortly afterwards. In 1825 Ainslie was employed by Robert Campbell to take a mob of seven hundred sheep southwards from Bathurst to look for suitable grazing land. ...Continue reading→
I grew up in Ainslie from about five years old and so the classic, old-volcano, Mount Fuji-type shape of Mount Ainslie has always been a big part of life. As children we had the comfort of the aircraft signal light on top of Mount Ainslie slowly flashing red and green outside our bedroom windows and...Continue reading→
I returned to Canberra in 2004 after many years travelling the world. It took a while to settle back into this city’s strange ways. When the gang gangs arrived heralding a turn in the weather, I finally felt back at home. They love eating the nuts from my liquid amber tree and delicately hold the...Continue reading→
An e-petition has been launched calling for a public enquiry into a proposed high-rise residential and commercial development on Wakefield Street.Continue reading→
Calls for the ACT Legislative Assembly to scrutinise a rezoning proposal of sport and recreation land at the Ainslie Football Club site.Continue reading→
Sherbrooke Street in Ainslie is to become an ‘active travel street’ as part of Canberra’s City Cycleway.Continue reading→
Developers have applied to rezone land around Ainslie Football Club on Wakefield Avenue so they can build high density housing and commercial complexes there.Continue reading→
The Ainslie Football Club is proposing an amendment to the Territory Plan so that a mixed residential and commercial complex can be developed on what is now recreation land. Continue reading→