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Hilary Bell, The Marvellous Funambulist of Middle Harbour and Other Sydney Firsts

Hilary Bell, The Marvellous Funambulist of Middle Harbour and Other Sydney Firsts, illustrated by Matthew Martin (Kensington, New South Wales: New South, December 2015). ISBN: 978 1 74223 440 3 RRP $24.99 Hilary Bell, The Marvellous Funambulist of Middle Harbour and…

Carol Baxter, Black Widow: The True Story of Australia’s First Female Serial Killer

Carol Baxter, Black Widow: The True Story of Australia’s First Female Serial Killer (Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2015), 1–366.  ISBN 978 1 74331 501 9. RRP $29.99 Carol Baxter, Black Widow: The True Story of Australia’s First Female Serial…

Sydney’s cultural life

Hyde Park, St James Parsonage Dispensary, afterwards the Mint, and Emigration Barracks 1842 by John Rae Credit: Dixson Galleries, State Library of NSW (a928373 / DG SV*/Sp Coll/Rae/16) We’re coming into the festival season, when our city seems to come alive…

Sydney's ocean pools

Bronte Baths c1880-1900 Credit: Tyrrell Photographic Collection, Powerhouse Museum (85/1285-223) It’s summertime and as the temperatures rise, Sydneysiders will no doubt be flocking to the city’s famous beaches. This morning for 2SER Breakfast, I thought I’d talk to Mitch about our love…

Woodford Academy

Staff and pupils of Woodford Academy c1910. Contributed by Blue Mountains City Library [Local Studies Collection PF1028] It’s holidaying season and a good time to venture beyond Sydney. A trip to the Blue Mountains is always a great idea, and the…

Bodgies and African American Influences in Sydney

If you're a square you'll have to get hep to bodgey language, March 1951. Bodgies and widgies have added to the headaches of the English language by inventing a whole tribe of new expressions. From the collection of the State…

Grace Bros and the Roselands Shopping Centre

A new Grace Bros regional store at Parramatta October 1939. By Sam Hood. From the Mitchell Library collection of the State Library of New South Wales [hood_09953 / Home and Away 9953] You might have heard that Roselands shopping centre turned…

Flashback to Sydney’s original trams

wp-image-11038https://home.dictionaryofsydney.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/PedestriansandtramGeorgeSt1910.jpgBy Harvey, John Henry. Pedestrians and tram on George Street c1910. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria [H92.150/143] 470454/> By John Henry Harvey, Pedestrians and tram on George Street c1910. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria…

Sydney Open

Catch up with Lisa Murray's segment on 2SER earlier today and get the lowdown on Sydney Open:   by Lisa Murray Tiles in the disused train tunnels under St James Station. The tunnels will be open to a lucky few Golden Ticket…

A Walk Through Convict Parramatta

by Michaela Ann Cameron Last year the Dictionary of Sydney released its debut historic walking tour Old Irish Sydney on the free Dictionary of Sydney Walks app. Using the Old Irish Sydney app got me excited about the way multimodal technology…