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  1. The Dictionary of Sydney
  2. Hoskins, Ian

Hoskins, Ian

Author

Ian Hoskins is a Sydney-based historian. His book Sydney Harbour: A History won the Queensland Premier's Literary Prize for History in 2010. Coast: A History of the New South Wales Edge was published in 2013 by New South Books

Islands of Sydney Harbour as Author
Kirribilli as Author
Neutral Bay as Author
River Cycles - A History of the Parramatta River as Author
Sydney Harbour: A Cultural Landscape as Author
Waverton as Author

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Islands of Sydney Harbour

Sydney Harbour once had 14 islands. These were outcrops and the peaks of steep hills left uncovered as the sea level rose, between 10,000 and 6,000 years ago, flooding an ancient river valley and forming the harbour that exists today

Kirribilli

Part of the traditional lands of the Cammeraygal people, Kirribilli was granted to an ex-convict, Samuel Lightfoot, while the Cammeraygal still lived there, and despite later grants and leases, there was still a band of Aboriginal people living there in the 1820s, including Bungaree. From the 1840s Kirribilli was subdivided and large villas built, taking advantage of proximity to the city. Small scale waterfront industry continued into the twentieth century, when flats replaced many villas, making Kirribilli one of Sydney's densest suburbs.

Neutral Bay

Built on the traditional country of the Cammeraygal people, Neutral Bay was part of the Thrupp Estate bought in 1816, and sold to Daniel Cooper in 1827. Until the 1860s houses were built on the waterfront, but spread up the hill after Military Road was built along the ridge line. Industry and improved transport brought more residents, as well as shops, pubs and eventually schools to the district. By the 1930s, Neutral Bay was a popular garden suburb. Since the 1960s, high rise apartments have changed the look of the area.

River Cycles - A History of the Parramatta River

Prior to European settlement, the waterway we now call the Parramatta River was a shared food source, a highway and a territorial boundary for the Wangal, Wallemudegal, Gammeraygal and Burramattagal peoples. Colonisation dramatically reshaped the ecology of the river; the natural cycles of climate and tide that had long influenced the waterway have been joined by other diverse social forces; economic, cultural and technological. Agriculture, river transport, land development and heavy industry have left a long term legacy despite recent environmental remediation.

Sydney Harbour: A Cultural Landscape

Known worldwide for its beauty, Sydney Harbour has been a source of inspiration for thousands of years. First Aboriginal, then European peoples settled the shores, naming and renaming the coves, headlands and points. Artists and writers have explored the harbour's people, landscape, animals and plants. As Sydney has grown and changed, the harbour surrounding the city has evolved from a working waterway into a one of leisure and entertainment. Parts of the old working waterfront, once dismissed as redundant, have become case studies of adaptive reuse with vibrant cultural precincts emerging along the harbour foreshore.

Waverton

Still bearing the traces of its traditional Cammeraygal owners, Waverton became part of Alexander Berry's estate and later an industrial area.