Photograph by Jill Lummis of the stained glass window in St Paul's Anglican church, Cobbitty 2011
Sydney's always been an arty place, from the carvings and dances of the traditional owners, and the sketchbooks and pianos of the early settlers, to the art societies and chamber music of the twentieth century and beyond.
The latest addition of material to the Dictionary continues our interest in these themes. Graeme Skinner has written a clutch of entries on musicians and groups of early twentieth century Sydney. Cyril Monk and his wife and colleague Varney Monk, father and daughter George and Iris de Cairos-Rego, and Ernest Truman would have met at concerts by the Austral String Quartet and Collegium Musicum, or performances of Collits Inn, Varney Monk's prizewinning musical.
Silas Clifford Smith has given us another piece on early twentieth century artists, the XV Independent Group of Artists, who reacted against modernism during World War II, forming their own school based on 'craftsmanship'.
Craftsmen of a different kind built the wonderful stained glass that Sydney is so rich in. Beverley Sherry's essay on this art form is lavishly illustrated and comprehensive, and will make you look at the windows around you in a different light. From the windows of Sydney University's famous Great Hall, to the stained glass at Sydney Airport, this essay shows the depth of architectural design and technical expertise that has produced Sydney's stained glass.
The story of Sydney's water supply is an epic, now told by Maclaren North in the Dictionary's new article on Water. From the Tank Stream, and the Botany swamps, through Busby's bore and Centennial Park, to the Nepean Tunnel and Ryde pumping station, and finally Warragamba Dam and the desalination plant, water has continued to flow in Sydney only because of the derring-do of ambitious engineers and politicians. Yet Sydneysiders take it for granted every time they turn on their taps. The huge infrastructure projects of the nineteenth century seem difficult to credit now, in a period where governments are loathe to borrow, even to secure essential services. But Sydney would not have grown the way it has without water.
Delivery of ice in the city c1900 by Frederick Danvers Powers, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW a422009 / ON 225, 22
Ice, on the other hand, was a luxury item. Nigel Isaacs takes us through the fascinating story of the 'frozen water trade', which brought American lake ice by insulated ship to Sydney in 1839. Many native-born Sydneysiders would never have seen ice of any sort, and the coolest drink available would have been a bottle of beer dangled in a river on a rope, so it's not surprising that it caused a sensation. Read about the 'sherry cobbler, ice cream, mint juleps and brandy smash' that was served at Sydney's best establishments while the ice lasted, and thank your lucky stars for the invention of refrigeration (helped along by Sydney engineer, Norman Selfe).
Sydneysiders love a party. Especially in summer. In recent years, New Year's Eve has become a huge celebration, complete with a theme, massive fireworks, music, and even an iPhone App. But this is not new. Hannah Forsyth's article, newly published in the Dictionary, shows how people have been celebrating the New Year for many decades, from New Year's Day celebrations in the nineteenth century, to the nocturnal revels which were enabled by reliable, bright lighting in the streets.
George Street, near the markets, on New Year's Eve 31 December 1878 Australian Town and Country Journal, 4 January 1879, p 24
For much of the twentieth century, the focus of New Year's Eve was Kings Cross, with ongoing conflict between revellers and police trying to maintain decorum. It wasn't until the fireworks shifted the public gaze to the harbour that Kings Cross quietened down on 31 December. Have a great night, and stay safe.
Life with the American Squadron, by Harry V Ingham, courtesy of the National Library of Australia nla.mus-an6964576
The first Americans arrived in Sydney with the First Fleet. They've been here ever since, as Margaret Park outlines in her new article on Americans, added recently to the Dictionary.
The history of Sydney's Americans is a long and illustrious one, if not entirely smooth sailing. Americans have toured and visited as writers, boxers, members of circuses, theatre troupes and musical extravaganzas, and many have stayed. Sydney has also hosted many American sailors and soldiers over the years, with complex results. Journalists, architects, manufacturers and businesspeople have also come from the States to Sydney, and stayed for a while or for good.
From Billy Blue to Kristina Keneally, Americans have helped to shape Sydney, with their skills, tastes, fashions and hard work. Long may it continue.
One of the Dictionary's colourful characters is Henri L'Estrange, showman, aeronaut and funambulist, who brought spectacle, danger and daring to Sydney on several occasions in the 1870s and 1880s.
Mark Dunn, whose writing for the Dictionary is supported by the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, through a partnership agreement, has written a lively biography of this rather mysterious figure.
With his origins and his ultimate fate lost in the shadows of history, L'Estrange burns all the more brightly during the 1870s as a fearless performer on the high wire. Thousands of people came to see his shows in the Domain, where he walked the wire 12 metres above the ground, eventually moving on to sit on a chair, cook a meal and ride a bicycle on the rope.
In 1877 he organised a huge spectacle, crossing Middle Harbour at Willoughby Bay, with an audience, brought by steamer and by foot, estimated at 10,000.
Read the article to find out his later adventures, and get a real feeling for the range of entertainment available in late nineteenth century Sydney. They were certainly up for a spectacular sight!
You can keep up with Mark's other historical work at his blog Scratching Sydney's Surface, where he and Laila Ellmoos, another prolific Dictionary contributor, post about the quirks and facets of Sydney's history.
Henri L'estrange, The Australian Blondin 1876, courtesy State Library of Victoria H96.160/2603
Christmas shopping crowd on Park St 1959, National Archives of Australia A1200, L29751
It's that time of year, and the streets outside our office near Sydney Town Hall are thronged with shoppers trying to find the perfect present.
New to the Dictionary are a brace of articles on Sydney's historic shops, to give you a selection of the shopping experiences available to the Sydneysiders of the past.
Department stores Mark Foy's, Grace Brothers and Marcus Clark helped to shape Sydney's shopping experiences from the late nineteenth century, moving out into the suburbs in the mid-twentieth century, and losing ground to others by the turn of the millennium.
For furniture and homewares, well-heeled shoppers flocked to Beard Watson and Bebarfald's. At the other end of the scale, Lassetter's offered lower prices and a huge range, as well as promising 'No bogus sauce at Cheapside!'.
Finding that special something, 1949, National Archives of Australia A1200, L11558
Tune into ABC Radio National’s Hindsight Program this Sunday afternoon at 2 (or download the podcast) to hear Dictionary of Sydney author Dr Beverley Sherry talking about the life, letters and trial of Scottish political prisoner Thomas Muir with other historians and experts from Scotland.
'An account of the trial of Thomas Muir, Esq. younger, of Huntershill, before the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh, on the 30th and 31st days of August, 1793, for sedition' (1794), from the John Adams Library at the Boston Public Library, via The Internet Archive
One of the Scottish Martyrs, Thomas Muir was transported to Sydney in 1794 when he was found guilty of sedition in Edinburgh after distributing Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man, escaping from the colony in 1796 on the American ship Otter.
We’re looking forward to publishing Dr Sherry’s entry on Thomas Muir on the Dictionary with our next build in March!
Lucien Henry design for wallpaper, from The Australian Flora in Applied Art by Richard T Baker , 1915, from The Internet Archive, australianflorai00bake_0087King Street in the rain, c1900 by Frederick Danvers Power, courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales (a422001 / ON 225, 14)Detail from DH Souter's cartoon 'On the Ocean Beach 'Them as wants the womanly woman can have her - the Manly girl is good enough for me' ', The Bulletin. 20 April 1905 p 25 http://dictionaryofsydney.org/image/76948
It's time to unveil the latest version of the Dictionary of Sydney!
Lots to read over the wet summer ahead. State Library of Victoria, H98.105/2
There are 42 new articles, covering the usual wide range of subjects and viewpoints. We’ll be taking you further into this new content on the blog over the next few weeks, but here is the whole list, divided into some new categories:
New material adding to our histories of indigenous Sydney: all you historians out there working on Sydney’s indigenous history, we are always looking for more…
New material on Sydney’s communities, which are always among our most popular articles: if you are an expert on the history of any particular cultural group in Sydney which hasn’t been included yet, please get in touch!
New articles on work, technology and life in Sydney: a city of this size needs all kinds of builders, infrastructure, occupations, cultures and institutions, and we intend to cover them all eventually.
Douglass Baglin's photograph of Peace, from the front door of Fairwater, Double Bay. Used with kind permission of the Baglin estateNew entries on Sydney’s arts and culture, and its development over the years: including the disputes and dissent that cultural work always inspires. We hope to bring you a lot more on Sydney’s visual and performing arts next year.
New material on Sydney’s commercial life, and its cycles and changes. The emphasis this time is on the great department stores, with some great work by Michael Lech on the giants in Sydney retailing.
New biographies of musicians and performers of Sydney: individuals who kept Sydney’s performing cultures going, often at great cost to themselves. This time, most are musicians:
L'Estrange's death-defying feat of tight rope walking over Middle Harbour, from the Illustrated Sydney News, 28 April 1877 (SLNSW TN115)
but we also have a more unclassifiable performer, the great, if rather accident-prone, ‘Australian Blondin’:
New biographies of City of Sydney aldermen and mayors: there will be more next year on these founders of Sydney’s municipal governance. This time, we have:
There are also two new enhancements that we are really pleased with.Multimedia browse — now you can browse through the Dictionary’s images and multimedia on one page, sorted by our informative titles. Use Ctrl-F to find your keywords.
Cite this — now you can easily cut and paste accurate URLs, citations and Wikipedia reference code for all entries, just by clicking the Cite this link. It brings up a popup that looks like this, with all the details of the entry you are looking at auto-generated for you. These enhancements are the work of our colleagues at Arts eResearch, Sydney University. Thanks go to them, as always.
You can now find the URL, citation details and Wikipedia code for citing every entry right there on the top right, under the 'Cite this' link.
In addition, we’ve been beavering away writing captions and descriptions and making thousands of links, so you’ll find the whole Dictionary much enriched.
Enjoy!
