The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
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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…
Posters, ghost signs and billboards
"We are not going to try to have this announcement placed on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, feeling that even a 'CAPSTAN' advertsiement would be somewhat out of harmony with the dignity and impressiveness of this mangnificent structure", Brisbane Courier 23…
The Mitchell Library's new galleries
It's a VERY exciting week to be an historian in Sydney this week with the opening of the new galleries and a learning centre in the historic Mitchell Library wing of the State Library of New South Wales, so today…
The Penrith Museum of Printing
Albion Printing press, c1860 at the Museum of Printing, photo by Alison Wishart The Penrith Museum of Printing Sydney is lucky to have one of the few operational printing museums in the world. Yes, all the old printing presses in this museum actually…
Murder most foul: the Sussex Street Mystery
New South Wales Government Gazette, September 21, 1866. p 2194 via Trove This week on 2SER Breakfast, the Dictionary's special guest Dr Catie Gilchrist talked to Tess about one of the stories she's come across during her work as a Fellow…
Sarah Luke, Callan Park Hospital for the Insane
Sarah Luke, Callan Park Hospital for the Insane Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2018, 253 pp., ISBN: 9781925588965, p/bk, AUS $39.95 The nineteenth century lunatic asylum, in both the literary and the historical imagination, is often a lurid and depressingly dark place. The story goes that mad…
Redfern Park and Oval, one of Sydney's most important public spaces
Aerial view of Redfern Park and Redfern Oval 1949, courtesy City of Sydney Archives (CRS1132/79) This week the Minister for Environment and Heritage announced that Redfern Park and Oval would be included on the State Heritage Register, a list of heritage…
Keith Kinnaird Mackellar
Keith Kinnaird Mackellar 1898-1899, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW ( State Library of New South Wales (PXE 1193, 1) Most Australians associate the name Mackellar with Dorothea, the writer of one of our most beloved poems. But today we're…
Robert Wainwright, Rocky Road
Robert Wainwright, Rocky Road Allen and Unwin, 424pp., ISBN: 9781760291556, p/bk, RRP: $32.99 ‘Life is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re gonna get’ – Forrest Gump’s philosophising may not be the most prosaic observation but it…