A year in review

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

2015

wp-image-11751https://home.dictionaryofsydney.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/BodgieStyle.jpgBodgie Styles for Spring 1951 . Almost-deserted Sydney beach (except for pretty, dark-haired Joan Francis) was chosen by bodgie David Roper, 17, to air leopard-skin trunks, with tail. From the collection of the State Library of New South Wales [TN18] (PIX, 14 July 1951, p30 (detail)) 400623/> Bodgie Styles for Spring 1951 . Almost-deserted Sydney beach (except for pretty, dark-haired Joan Francis) was chosen by bodgie David Roper, 17, to air leopard-skin trunks, with tail. From the collection of the State Library of New South Wales [TN18] (PIX, 14 July 1951, p30 (detail))

I can't believe another year has slipped by! We often get to the end of the year, and think: what have we done? Well, in the case of the Dictionary of Sydney, it's a lot!! So I thought today was a good time to take stock and share some of the achievements of the Dictionary in 2015 and some of the great stories we have brought you. Summertime is a great time to catch up on a few stories and we sure do have plenty of them at the Dictionary of Sydney. Some of the most popular content in 2015 has been our content around Aboriginal people in early Sydney. Consistently making our top ten most popular pages each month are:

Pemulwuy and Bennelong - The history of Aboriginal resistance to white celebrations of settlement is a big hit.
The 1938 Day of Mourning rarely leaves our top ten essays.

Our pictures are another great feature of the Dictionary, and much effort is put in by our authors, contributors and our picture researcher Linda Brainwood to find fascinating images of Sydney. Here are some of my favourite coastal and summertime Sydney images:

18 footers racing Sydney Harbour 1921
Bodgie Styles for Spring 1951 Almost-deserted Sydney beach (except for pretty, dark-haired Joan Francis) was chosen by bodgie David Roper, 17, to air leopard-skin trunks, with tail
Bondi Beach
Pleasure Park at Tamarama, c.1890
Botany Bay sunrise 2007
Ice! ice! ice! newspaper advertisements 1855

We've made some great additions to the Dictionary.

Audio excerpts of oral histories around Liverpool really bring the district's early history to life.
We've also encouraged to get you out on the streets and exploring our history by publishing a walking tour of convict Parramatta in our smartphone app.

Some of our most popular blog posts have been:

And what can we look forward to in 2016? Well, we have two new walking tours in the pipeline, connecting Sydney's history through place and time. Look out for:

So until next year, from everyone at the Dictionary of Sydney, greetings for the festive season and have a fantastic Sydney summer holiday. If you missed Lisa's segment this morning, you can catch up on the podcast here. A big thank you to Mitch Byatt and the team at 2SER for a great year and to all guest historians, in particular, Dr Lisa Murray and Nicole Cama. Have a great break and tune in again next year for more Sydney history courtesy of the Dictionary.