The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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Whaling in Sydney
'Shooting the harpoon at a whale' from book 'Field sports &c. &c. of the native inhabitants of New South Wales' by John Heaviside Clark, London 1813, National Library of Australia (nla.pic-an8936144) Over the weekend we heard that more than 140 whales…
Grab your partners for the Balmain Polka
Courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (M MUSIC FILE/SPA) November is AusMusic Month and so today I thought we should look back at some early Australian popular music and one of the early music composers in Sydney. Graeme Skinner at…
Sam Willis and James Daybell, Histories of the Unexpected: how everything has a history
Sam Willis and James Daybell, Histories of the Unexpected: how everything has a history Atlantic Books, 2018, 465pp., ISBN: 9781786494122, (h/bk), AUS$39.99 Histories of the Unexpected: how everything has a history, by British celebrity historians Sam Willis and James Daybell, is based…
Stephen Knight, Australian Crime Fiction: a 200-year history
Stephen Knight, Australian Crime Fiction: a 200-year history McFarland Books, 2018, 301pp., ISBN: 9781476670867 (p/bk), US$45.00 Stephen Knight’s new work Australian Crime Fiction: a 200-year history is a re-working and critical updating of his seminal text Continent of Mystery: a thematic history of Australian…
Remembrance Day: 100 years on
The Sydney Mail, 20 November 1918 Last Sunday, 11 November, marked 100 years since the official end of World War I. Initially called Armistice Day, it became known as Remembrance Day after the end of World War II. An article in…
Elizabeth Malcolm and Dianne Hall, A New History of the Irish in Australia
Elizabeth Malcolm and Dianne Hall, A New History of the Irish in Australia New South Books, 2018, 448pp, ISBN: 9781742235530 (p/b), RRP: $34.99 In 1986 Patrick O’Farrell published The Irish in Australia. At the time, the book was both feted and criticised…
A day at the races
Northern end of Hyde Park in 1842, several years after the racecourse had closed, by John Rae, courtesy Dixson Galleries, State Library of NSW (DG SV*/Sp Coll/Rae/16) Lisa and Tess are both back this week on 2SER Breakfast and given yesterday's…
The Sprite of the Creek
Illustrated Sydney News November 29 1879, p4 via Trove It's Halloween, so in keeping with the season, today we're sharing a very Sydney ghost story. Join Dictionary of Sydney special guest Dr Rachel Franks and host Jess Klajman around the 2SER…
Ruth L Lee, Woman War Doctor: The Life of Mary De Garis
Ruth L Lee, Woman War Doctor: The Life of Mary De Garis Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014, x + 197pp, ISBN: 9781925003420 (p/b), RRP: AUS$39.95 Pioneering Australian woman doctor Mary de Garis comes to life in this stimulating biography by Australian author and academic Dr Ruth…
Philippa Sandall, Seafurrers: the Ships' Cats Who Lapped and Mapped the World
Philippa Sandall, Seafurrers: the Ships' Cats Who Lapped and Mapped the World Affirm Press, 2017, 244pp., ISBN: 9781925712155, h/bk, AUS $24.99 Matthew Flinders was onto something when he wrote his little treatise about his faithful cat Trim. He could not have foreseen that cats would…