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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…
Sailors, Spies and Sydney Stairs
Looking down the McElhone Stairs from Victoria Street towards Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo 1960, by Geoff Paton, Courtesy of City of Sydney Archives (SRC21844) Surely few stairways in Sydney have seen as much drama as the McElhone Stairs. Constructed in 1904,…
The National Trust
Building and Engineering, 24 November 1947 p40-41 via Trove This week the NSW heritage sector celebrates the good work done across the state. It is the Heritage Festival, and as part of that the National Trust (NSW) hosts an awards function…
Sydney through a novelist's eyes
Ruth Park, pre 1947, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (P1/Park, Ruth) Melbourne claims to be the City of Literature, but this week Sydney is all things literary as we settle into the Sydney Writer's Festival. Listen to the whole…
The Satyr and Five Bells
Life's Tragedy: announcement of Joe Lynch's death in Smith's Weekly, 21 May 1927, via Trove Today on 2SER Breakfast, historian Minna Muhlen-Schulte and Tess talked about the story behind Kenneth Slessor's moving and influential poem, Five Bells. Listen to the…
Sydney’s Tank Stream
wp-image-16081https://home.dictionaryofsydney.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/SLNSW-XV1-1803-1-DETAIL.jpgThe mouth of the Tank Stream in Sydney Cove c1803, a detail of [Sydney from the western side of the Cove, ca1803], atrributed to GW Evans, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (XV1/c1803/1)400301/> The mouth of the Tank Stream…
Customs House
Custom House and Circular Quay 1845 by GE Peacock, courtesy Dixson Galleries, State Library of NSW (DG 35) The City of Sydney have just announced that they have acquired Customs House from the Commonwealth Government, so today I thought we'd take…
Sydney’s pissoirs & underground conveniences
Urinal Observatory Hill 1968, Courtesy City of Sydney Archives (CRS 34/2401/71 ) Nicole Cama's been sharing stories from the Dictionary with 2SER listeners for five years. Sadly it's her last segment for a while today, so she thought she'd revisit one…
Bunting, pickets and harpoons - electioneering Sydney style
Embroidered election banner for Wentworth and Bland, 1843-1849, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (LR 3a) As electioneering reaches a fever pitch ahead of Saturday's polling day, I thought it might be instructive to look back on how electioneering was done…
Temperance and the ‘evils of tight lacing’: Susan Beckett
Diagram of Susan Beckett's Bust and Shoulder Supporter in her application to the United States Patent Office, April 1896 (Patent No: US557945) With International Women’s Day and the All About Women festival in the past week, there have been some great…