The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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The Great Fire of Sydney
Looking down Hosking Place from Castlereagh Street after the Moore Street fire, 1890, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (PXA 2127, Box 10, 45) Just after 2 o’clock in the morning on 2 October 1890 the alarm was raised after…
Memory, Love and Gothic Horror
Headstones in Devonshire Street Cemetery c1901 by Ethel Foster, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (ON146/386) It's History Week and this year's theme is 'Memory and Landscapes'. And there is no better way to think about memory and landscapes than…
What does Margaret say?
Lisa with her treasured 1977 edition of the Margaret Fulton Cookbook An officially decreed Australian Living Treasure (aka an Aussie icon) died on 24 July. Her name? Margaret Fulton. Listen to the whole conversation with Lisa and Tess on 2SER here Now,…
Hollywood nights
'She is 24, has a smile like sunshine, a devastating humor, and stands nearly 5 feet 10 inches in her nylons.', The Australian Women's Weekly, 1 December 1954, p69 via Trove Doris Goddard, the glamorous publican of the iconic Hollywood Hotel in…
Thar She Blows!
Two whale's teeth scrimshaw c1800s, both depicting whaling scenes, Dixson Collection, State Library of NSW (SAFE/DR 40 / Item a and Item b) Whales have been in the news of late, given that it's the whale migration season and that Japan…
On your bike!
Madame Franzina, bicycle performer 1876 , courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (PXA 362/v3/28r) Monday just been (3 June) was officially World Bicycle Day. You say you've never heard of it? Well, neither had I until the Dictionary of Sydney tweeted…
Sydney through a novelist's eyes
Ruth Park, pre 1947, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (P1/Park, Ruth) Melbourne claims to be the City of Literature, but this week Sydney is all things literary as we settle into the Sydney Writer's Festival. Listen to the whole…
Customs House
Custom House and Circular Quay 1845 by GE Peacock, courtesy Dixson Galleries, State Library of NSW (DG 35) The City of Sydney have just announced that they have acquired Customs House from the Commonwealth Government, so today I thought we'd take…
Bunting, pickets and harpoons - electioneering Sydney style
Embroidered election banner for Wentworth and Bland, 1843-1849, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (LR 3a) As electioneering reaches a fever pitch ahead of Saturday's polling day, I thought it might be instructive to look back on how electioneering was done…
International Women's Day
Three members of the Women's Emergency Signalling Corps, l-r Violet McKenzie, Pat McInnes, Esme Kura Murrell c1940, courtesy Australian War Memorial P02583.001 As it's International Women's Day this Friday, today I thought it would be good to highlight the lives and…