The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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Horse Drawn: John Rae and 'The Turning of the First Turf'
John Rae c1884, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (ML MSS A807) John Rae is, perhaps, my favourite dead white male. On the surface, he’s really rather ordinary. An administrator who was meticulous and ambitious, he was a career public servant.…
Sydney's Lady Footballers
A high kick, The Australasian. 24 September 192, p67 via Trove Last week Australia and New Zealand won their joint bid to host the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup on Friday, prompting us to think across codes about some other legendary…
Sprucing up Sydney Town Hall
Sydney Town Hall under construction c1875, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (SPF/334) You know, we often take Sydney Town Hall for granted. It's undeniably a city landmark - we sit on its steps and watch the world go by, use…
Putty Road
Mark's new book is available now. With Sydney surrounded by mountains on three out of four sides, getting out of the city area has, until fairly recently, been tricky. This was particularly the case in the colonial period. In the west…
Order in the Court! The Trial of Two Murderers
John Jenkins 1834, by John Gardiner Austin, National Library of Australia (nla.pic-an5600121) In the mid-eighteenth century, the famous London magazine Punch published a short piece on the ever-increasing popularity of true crime stories: We are a trading community—a commercial people. Murder is,…
Barney’s on Broadway
Sunday school, St Barnabas's Church, Broadway, December 1856, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (SPG/115) St Barnabas' Anglican Church on Broadway, affectionately known as Barney's, has catered to congregations of all sorts since it was established in the mid-nineteenth century. Listen…
Carangarang
Bennelong Point from Dawes Point c1804, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (V1/1810/1) Today is the start of National Reconciliation Week, so I thought we’d take a look at someone who was part of Sydney’s early history: Carangarang. Now I must confess…
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 venerable old bird
Cocky Bennett, Sea Breeze Hotel, Tom Uglys Point 1911, State Library of Victoria (H23120) Here at the Dictionary of Sydney we like to give you insight into those seminal moments in the city’s history, the patterns and forces that shaped our…
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.…