The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
Search the blogs
The Newcastle Hotel
Barmaids serving customers in the Newcastle Hotel 1968, National Archives of Australia (A1500, K19075) In honour of Clive James who died this week, today we're going to peek inside the doors of one of the Sydney establishments that helped him along,…
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…
It's a sign
Traffic congestion in Pyrmont, August 1938. Note the 'silent cop' on the road in front of the policeman directing traffic. Courtesy ACP Magazines, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (ON 388/Box 035/Item 098) Last week Lisa Murray mentioned a few of…
A decade of the Dictionary: the quintessential and the curious
Girl with birthday cake c1953, by Max Dupain, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (ON 559/Box 9/705) This week the Dictionary of Sydney is celebrating 10 years since it went live! I am continually amazed by the content and connections…
The shelf life of Zora Cross
Zora Cross 1919, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (PXA 690/3) Today on 2SER Breakfast, Tess talked to historian and author Cathy Perkins about the Australian poet and journalist Zora Cross. Now largely forgotten, in the early 20th century she…
David Hill, Convict Colony
David Hill, Convict Colony Allen & Unwin, 2019, 356 pp., ISBN: 9781760528669, p/bk, AUS$32.99 David Hill's new book Convict Colony is positioned as a story of a settlement that survived against all the odds, covering the first thirty years of the colonisation of…
Rose Bay Airport
[Window Title] Seagate Dashboard [Main Instruction] Seagate Dashboard has stopped working [Content] Windows is checking for a solution to the problem... [Cancel]_blankrel="noopener"> Short Empire Flying Boat Cooee at Rose Bay 5 July 1939, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW…
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…
The last public hanging at Darlinghurst Gaol
The People's Advocate and New South Wales Vindicator, 25 September 1852, p2 via Trove On 21 September 1852, illicit grog dealer, snappy dresser and murderer Francis Green was the last man to be publicly hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol. Listen to the…
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?…