The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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Mark Dunn, The Convict Valley: the bloody struggle on Australia’s early frontier
Mark Dunn, The Convict Valley: the bloody struggle on Australia’s early frontier Allen & Unwin, 294 pp., ISBN: 9781760528645, p/bk, AUS$32.99 Mark Dunn opens his history of the Hunter Valley, The Convict Valley, with an observation from Lieutenant John Shortland. The naval…
Here's one for all the (library) lovers out there
Preserve this as a bookmark / the property of the Free Public Library, Sydney c1880, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales (M 027.591/1A1) This coming Friday is Library Lovers Day, so today on 2SER Breakfast Dr Mark Dunn…
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…
William Dalrymple, The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
William Dalrymple, The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company Bloomsbury, 2019, 522 pp., ISBN: 9781408864388, p/bk, AUS$26.99 Highly-regarded historian William Dalrymple's The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company is a fabulous achievement. There are two epigraphs upfront.…
Colonial neighbours: Reynolds' cottages
Reynolds Cottages on the left, Harrington Street, The Rocks 1901 Courtesy State Records NSW (4481_a026_000192) Did you know there are three cottages side by side on Harrington Street in The Rocks which have survived for 187 years! Writer and historian, Melissa Holmes,…
"I challenge you sir!" - Duelling in colonial Sydney
'Honour Calls Him to the Field' from Whims and oddities : in prose and verse, by Thomas Hood, London 1836, p342 (The Internet Archive) Did you know a duel took place in a field in Homebush early one morning in March…
NAIDOC 2016: Sydney's Aboriginal people
Portrait of Bennelong c1793, attributed to William Waterhouse, State Library of NSW, a1256013 / DG 10, f13 NAIDOC Week 2016 celebrations are in full swing at the moment and the Dictionary of Sydney recently published new articles about Sydney’s Aboriginal past by…
The Appin massacre - 200 years on
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 11 May 1816, p2 This Sunday 17 April 2016 marks 200 years since the Appin massacre, when at least 14 Aboriginal men, women and children were killed by soldiers under the command of…
Colonial scandal and murder
John Jenkins 1834. By John Gardiner Austin. Contributed by National Library There is nothing like reading about a colourful historical figure to remind ourselves how rich and complicated our society actually is. This week I was struck by the story of…
New tour! Sydney Harbour Islands
Bennelong Point c1804, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a1528483 / V1/1810/1) The Dictionary of Sydney has launched a new tour! Following on from Convict Parramatta, we can now explore Sydney’s harbour islands on our mobile devices, from the Royal Australian…