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Animals on the Dictionary of Sydney
Felix the Cat toy which was mascot of the Gun Plot Room on the HMAS Brisbane, courtesy Australian War Memorial (REL32980.022) Inspired by yesterday’s wayward wallaby crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, today Nicole thought she’d take a look at some other…
‘The past lives on’:Paul Keating’s Redfern speech
Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating giving speech at the launch of the United Nations' International Year of the World's Indigenous People, Redfern Park 10 December 1992 Courtesy City of Sydney Archives (SRC24730) Last Sunday it was exactly 25 years since the…
Everything old is new again
Completed escalators at the York Street entrance of Wynyard Station, 17 August 1931, courtesy State Archives & Records NSW (12685_a007_a00704_8735000024r) Last week on 2SER Breakfast Nicole talked about the development of the City Circle line, and over the weekend an amazing…
Sydney's City Circle
The Great Excavator, Building magazine, 12 October 1923, p107 This week saw a massive overhaul of Sydney's public transport timetables, and this, along with the ongoing construction works around the city and suburbs have left many of us feeling a bit…
YES, YES, YES!!
'Lesbian Brides' marching group, Mardi Gras 1994 Photograph by C. Moore Hardy, Courtesy City of Sydney Archives (C. Moore Hardy Collection 061352) It was an historic moment last Wednesday when it was announced that the Australian people had voted overwhelmingly in favour…
‘Sydney’s best kept secret’: Yaralla estate
Yaralla 2007 Courtesy City of Canada Bay Library Did you know ‘the most significant, suburban Edwardian estate in NSW’ is in Concord West, on the banks of the Parramatta River? Yaralla Estate, sometimes referred to as ‘Sydney’s best kept secret’, was…
Sydney’s coffee obsession
Sydney Gazette, 31 July 1803, p4 via Trove Sunday 1 October was International Coffee Day and we certainly love our coffee in Australia. Historian Garry Wotherspoon has written an article in the Dictionary of Sydney about how our city’s obsession with…
A distinguished lady doctor
Dagmar Berne c1890, State Archives and Records NSW (9873_a025_a025000112) Today on 2SER Breakfast we looked at the inspiring tale of Sydney's first female medical student, Dagmar Berne. It's not really a happy story, but this resilient and generous woman made an…
Thomas Ley: Politician and murderer
Portrait of TJ Ley 1925 Courtesy National Library of Australia (nla.pic-an23460617) The State Archives and Records NSW has a new exhibition online and at the Western Sydney Records Centre in Kingswood titled ‘Captured: Portraits of Crime 1870-1930’. It explores photographs and…
The Peapes ghost sign
The Peapes sign recently uncovered at Wynyard, September 2017 Photo courtesy City of Sydney You may have heard about or seen the colourful advertising sign for Peapes Menswear store that was revealed recently down at Wynyard (285-287 George Street) after the…