The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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2SER Supporter Drive
Support 2SER's annual fundraising event and let them know you care! You may have noticed that the Dictionary hasn't been on the radio lately, and that's because 2SER are running their annual supporter drive. We love our segments on 2SER Breakfast each…
Scandalous Music
Monument in memory of NC Bochsa, erected by Anna Bishop over his grave in Camperdown Cemetery, 1856 by Edmund Thomas Source: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a4236001 / SV1/Cem/Campe/1) I was wandering around Camperdown Cemetery the other day when I…
The Royal Commission into Noxious and Offensive Trades
Scalding and dressing pigs at Mr D O'Connell's pig-killing pens, Glebe Island abattoir, 1879 Australian town and country journal, 7 June 1879, p 1088 There have been many current and proposed Royal Commissions in the news lately, so I thought I’d…
Have you ever been to see Kings Cross?
William Street, Kings Cross at night 1970 by John Fitzpatrick, Credit: National Archives of Australia (A1200, L84008) Comic entertainer Frankie Davidson asked Australians in 1963 'Have you ever been to see Kings Cross?' Whether you've been there or not, you probably know…
Sydney’s shipwrecks
Last week news broke that HMS Terror, the long-lost ship of British polar explorer (and former Governor of Tasmania) Sir John Franklin, has been found 168 years after its sinking. I thought I’d delve into the Dictionary of Sydney and…
The Garden Palace, objects and memories
Garden Palace, Sydney c1879-1882 by JT Richardson Credit: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a128953 / XV1/ Pub/ Gar P/2) On 17 September 1879 the Sydney International Exhibition opened in the newly built Garden Palace in the Botanic Gardens, along with…
Sydney sayings
Like 'Not happy Jan' in the 1990s, the 1940s advertising slogan 'Gone to Gowings' (referring to the iconic Sydney department store on the corner of George & Market Streets) quickly made it into the local vernacular. In 1946 when notorious underworld…
History Week 2016
Download the History Week 2016 program here History Week 2016 begins this Sunday and Sydney's history lovers are going to be busy! Now in it’s 19th year, History Week is a significant event that engages local communities on the NSW cultural calendar.…
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,…
The Bubonic Plague in Sydney
wp-image-12965https://home.dictionaryofsydney.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Plague_Proclamation_SRNSW_CGS4917_SR_Doc_31-1.jpgPlague Proclamation poster, 1 February 1905 Source: State Records NSW (CGS 4917, [SR Document 31])357528/> Plague Proclamation poster, 1 February 1905 Source: State Records NSW (CGS 4917, [SR Document 31])GS4917_SR_Doc_31 Have you been struck down by the lurgy this winter? Lisa's been looking…