The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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Barney’s on Broadway
Sunday school, St Barnabas's Church, Broadway, December 1856, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (SPG/115) St Barnabas' Anglican Church on Broadway, affectionately known as Barney's, has catered to congregations of all sorts since it was established in the mid-nineteenth century. Listen…
A venerable old bird
Cocky Bennett, Sea Breeze Hotel, Tom Uglys Point 1911, State Library of Victoria (H23120) Here at the Dictionary of Sydney we like to give you insight into those seminal moments in the city’s history, the patterns and forces that shaped our…
Sydney's smallpox epidemic in 1881
'Small-pox! : a treatise' by D. Kinnear Brown. Sydney: J.G. O'Connor, 1881, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (DSM/614.473/B) As we stare down the barrel of an unknown pandemic, we remember that the city has seen quite a few epidemics in…
An Old Swamp in the City
‘The Inundations at Marrickville: Rescuing the Homeless’ May 1889 Illustrated Sydney News, 6 June 1889 p14 The new decade began in Australia with an apocalyptic vision of drought, fire and flood, but it’s always a bit of shock to Sydney when…
The Santas of Sydney’s Christmas Past
Little boy sitting on Santa's lap at Roselands December 1969 , National Archives of Australia (A1200, L85978) Some of us still have the photos taken of us crying, having a tantrum or terrified while perched on the knee of the strange…
The Explorer's stump
Explorers Tree, Katoomba c1890, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (PXA 1031, 25) On the southern side of the Great Western Highway just west of Katoomba is a colonial relic known as the Explorers' Tree. But you would be forgiven…
The Governor's Demesne
Plan of Governors Demesne Land, surveyed in the year 1816. By C Cartwright. From the collection of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales [a2869001 / ZM3 811.172/1816/1] What did you last go to the Domain for? A protest?…
The Witch of Kings Cross
A Weird Story By A Gifted Fifteen Year Old Authoress, Smiths Weekly, 6 January 1934, p16 via Trove Amidst the bohemian neighbourhood of Kings Cross in the mid 20th century, the self-proclaimed ‘witch’ Rosaleen Norton (1917-1979) was hard to miss; a…
The Stolen Girls
Five unnamed women who were working as domestic servants in Sydney under the auspices of the 'Aborigines Protection Department', Sydney Mail 24 May 1922, p23 via Trove Walking around Sydney’s wealthy suburbs it is easy to be seduced by beautiful heritage…
The Last Snake Man of La Perouse
Dancer Paula Pratt and snake expert George Cann at La Perouse 1947, PIX, 22 February 1947, p8 This week on 2SER Breakfast, Tess talked to Minna Muhlen-Schulte about George Cann, the 'snake man of La Perouse'. Listen to Minna and Tess…