The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
Search the blogs

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…

The camels at Government House
View of old Government House - Sydney - N.S.W. as it appeared when vacated by Sir George Gipps in 1845, painting by George Edwards Peacock, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (ML 658) The State Library of New South Wales holds…

A Drama of Llamas
Social distancing measures with llamas, Durango Trails, Colorado These days we’re all talking about social distancing, or, more accurately, physical distancing but how far should we be staying away from each other? Some advice is 1.5 meters, some is 2 meters.…

Edward Smith Hall and The Monitor
Edward Smith Hall, 1852, by Charles Rodius, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (P2/7) This week on 2SER Breakfast, Dr Rachel Franks and host Tess Connery talked about the founders of one of Sydney's earliest newspapers, Edward Smith Hall. Listen…

Sharon Hudgins (ed), Food on the Move: Dining on the Legendary Railway Journeys of the World
Sharon Hudgins (ed), Food on the Move: Dining on the Legendary Railway Journeys of the World Reaktion Books / NewSouth Books, 2019, 256 pp., ISBN: 9781789140071, h/bk, AUS$49.99 Editor Sharon Hudgins has curated nine tales of food and travel, in Food on…