1. The Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Elizabeth Kata: An Australian in Japan during World War 2

MRS. S. KATAYAMA, wife of a Japanese pianist, and her son, David, 19 months, have arrived in Sydney from Tokio. Mrs. Katayama, formerly Miss Betty McDonald, of Sydney, intends to spend several years in Sydney. She wants her son to grow up an Australian. The News, South Australia, 4 March 1947, p 1. National Library of Australia via Trove, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127072368
It’s 70 years since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. As the bombs fell and killed an estimated 250,000 people, the Sydney-born author Elizabeth Kata was interned in the mountain resort village of Karuizawa. The Dictionary of Sydney has more about her amazing story of love in a hostile world and her attempts to fight racial intolerance, an issue that continues to be relevant today. Elizabeth Kata was born Elizabeth McDonald in 1912 and spent most of her life in northern Sydney. In 1936, Kata met the Japanese concert pianist and her future husband, Shinshiro Katayama, while he was studying in Sydney. Her family encouraged their relationship and by the following year, the couple were living in Tokyo, Japan. Before World War II, Kata experienced a privileged life in the bustling capital city, however, after Pearl Harbour was attacked in 1941, her situation changed dramatically. According to Damian Kringas’s article in the Dictionary, of the 41 Australians interned in Japan, it is believed there were only two women - one of them was Kata. She initially spent time teaching English in a high school, but as conditions deteriorated, she and her husband were moved to the mountain resort town of Karuizawa. In an interview in 1963, she said ‘those four dreadful years taught me how to appreciate peace and to hope that one wonderful day the world will really be peaceful’. Though they were safely tucked away from the major cities, the winter was harsh and the food supply dwindled. Then, three weeks before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Kata gave birth to her son David. She would later tell the Australian press she received no help from the Australian government in her desperate predicament. In 1947, Kata managed to return to Sydney with her son David. Their return was reported widely, with many Australian newspapers reflecting the hatred felt for all things Japanese. Some made pointed remarks about her son’s appearance, describing him as ‘dark -haired’, ’dark-eyed’ and ‘olive-skinned’. Others made more overt racist and offensive remarks and in the time that followed their return, Kata would campaign to have her son become an Australian citizen. Her first novel, Be Ready with Bells and Drums, was written from her Mosman home in 1959, and details the story of a blind girl who falls in love with an African American man. Her book became very successful, was published in different languages and adapted into an award-winning film called A Patch of Blue (1965). Although she was the first Australian writer to have a work adapted to an Academy Award-winning film, Kata did not receive significant royalties for her work. Kata continued to write for film and television both in Australia and overseas. Two of her books were directly influenced by her experiences in Japan. She and her husband never reunited, though they remained close and she regularly travelled to Japan. Kata died at her Sydney home in 1998. Her famous first book was used in schools in Australia and the United States as part of a curriculum aimed at developing racial tolerance. She said in 1963: ‘I’ve always thought very deeply about racial intolerance, to me its the greatest pain and greatest sorrow in this world today, worse than anything that ever has been’. Her words ring true, even today.

Further reading

You can listen to a podcast of my segment with Mitch at 2SER Breakfast here. Tune in again next week for more of Sydney’s history courtesy of the Dictionary of Sydney, on 107.3 at 8:20am. Don’t miss it!
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Sydney's governesses

Lydia Allen, governess c1876-1880. By Newman, Hubert. From the collection of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, a4157033 / P1/33
There's been some recent media coverage about the federal government reimbursing parents of their nanny fees and the Sydney Morning Herald reported that there was a trend from nannies to governesses on the wealthy north shore and eastern suburbs. Apparently the government is going to implement a two-year trial and fork out $246 million to pay for 4,000 nannies to look after about 10,000 kids. Why invest in after school care when you can have a nanny, or a governess? It seems everything old is new again. Sydney used to be awash with governesses in the 19th century. And of course, we have an entry in the Dictionary of Sydney all about it. The article is written by Kate Matthews a PhD student at the University of Western Sydney. Kate tells us:
"Governesses held an important place in Sydney's economic and social life during the nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries. As the main providers of female education and accomplishments, governesses occupied an interesting social position."
They worked for wealthy families and often lived with them, but they were not considered part of the family. They attended social functions, but were chaperones not participants. Working as a governess was one of the few respectable occupations for women in 19th century Sydney. Single women often pursued this career to earn a living before marrying. Many a child's education was curtailed by the governess going off and finding a husband. Occasionally women engaged in Britain in a governess role met a man on the voyage out and didn't even take up the position. The first governess in Sydney that we know of is Penelope Lucas, who came out to Sydney in 1805 to be the governess of John Macarthur's family. At 37 years old, Miss Lucas was probably seen as quite matronly with no danger of developing romantic designs on the Macarthur sons. But she got on really well with the family and was well looked after. Quite unusually, they built a her a cottage on the Elizabeth Farm estate at Parramatta. Hambledon Cottage, as she named it, still exists - you can see it at 63 Hassall Street Parramatta. Governesses usually taught music, drawing and languages as well as a basic grounding in English literature and history. Women from Britain and Europe were highly sought after as governesses, but colonial-born women also worked in this field. In the 1860s the quaintly named Female Middle Class Emigration Society was formed to provide interest-free loans to encourage educated women to emigrate to Australia. In 1861, the first five governesses arrived in Sydney under the auspices of the Female Middle Class Emigration Society. Between 1861 and 1888, 30 FMCES emigrants arrived in Sydney - of which over 80 per cent worked as governesses. The number of governesses working in the immediate Sydney area started to decline slowly from the 1880s, and significantly from the turn of the century. Better quality schools, including Ascham in Darling Point (now at Edgecliff) and Arnold's College for Girls (later Redlands) in North Sydney meant that wealthy families could provide good educations for their daughters without the inconvenience of teaching them at home. If you missed Lisa's segment on 2SER Breakfast with Mitch Byatt this morning you can catch up on the podcast here. Don't forget to listen in next week for more Sydney history courtesy of the Dictionary and 2SER.
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Top ten pages for June in the Dictionary

Front cover of 'Atlas of the Suburbs of Sydney', Part I 1886, Contributed by The Archaeology of Sydney Research Group Map Collection, the University of Sydney
We have a lot information in the Dictionary and each month we track our most popular entries and pages to see what people are looking for. This morning I thought I'd share with you the top 10 pages for June. Interestingly, our number one page in June was not an entry, but rather an artefact:  The Atlas of the Suburbs of Sydney. The Atlas is a group of maps produced in the late 19th centuray of the different municipalities and suburbs of Sydney. They were published at a time when there was a massive boom in realestate. The railways were heading out into the suburbs and people needed maps to understand where they wanted to buy. The maps are really beautiful; they are all coloured, you can see the town hall and all the streets and they are really popular with visitors to the Dictionary because you can see what has changed in your suburb. Number two often features in our list. It is Pemulwuy who was the Aboriginal resistence leader. He is an important figure for the Aboriginal community because he is a resistence leader and his story celebrates people who fought back and challenged people taking away their country. Number three - not an entry - is people browsing the contributor list for the State Library of New South Wales. We acknowledge all of our contributors, whether they write for the Dictionary or share images with us. The State Library is a big supporter and they have an amazing collection and it is great to be able to draw on their resources and curate them within the Dictionary. Number four is Henry Parkes. Henry Parkes was Premier of NSW and Colonial Sectretary. The great mongoose story and Henry Parkes is one that we've covered before. Number five is Woollarawarre Bennelong - another important figure in Aboriginal history in the early period of Sydney's settlement. Number six is an Aboriginal site but more contemporary - The Day of Mourning. The entry talks about the first protest that Aboriginal people held in 1938 against the celebrations of the establishment of the colony. 1938 marked 150 years of white settlement and the Aboriginal community held an alternative day of protest at the Australian Hall in Elizabeth Street. It is a really significant building and if you walked past it you might not realise how important it is - it's on the State Heritage Register - and a really important part of Sydney's, and Australia's, history. Worth checking it out. The Rocks comes next on the list. It is connected with Sydney's early history and a lot of school assignments! The association of the Rocks with the Green Bans in the 1970s and the struggle to save some of that colonial heritage rather than have it all demolished means that it is often set for assignments on urban planning. It's a great article by Grace Karskens who is really interested in Sydney's early history and was involved in the big archaeological digs that happened there in the 1980s and 1990s. Because of the artefact listing of Atlas of the Suburbs of Sydney, people are also accessing our entry on that. And right near the end of the list is our entry on The Myth of Sydney's Foundational Orgy which Nicole spoke about recently. It is interesting to look at the provenance of historiography and how we tell our history and our stories. The article highlights the role of foundational stories in our understanding of ourselves as Sydneysiders and people. And a bit of hedonism to end the list but this time it is true - Kings Cross! A lot of people visit there and it has a lot of exciting contemporary history connected with bohemianism, bars and clubs. In case you want to make sure you've read all our top 10 entries for June, here's the full list:
  1. artefact listing for the Atlas of the Suburbs of Sydney
  2. entry on Pemulwuy by Keith Vincent Smith
  3. browsing the contributor list for the State Library of NSW
  4. Henry Parkes entry by Lucy Hughes Turnbull
  5. Bennelong Woollarawarre entry by Keith Vincent Smith
  6. Day of Mourning 1938 entry
  7. The Rocks entry by Grace Karskens
  8. the entry on the Atlas of the Suburbs of Sydney
  9. the Myth of Sydney's Foundational Orgy by Grace Karskens
  10. Kings Cross entry by Mark Dunn.
To listen to this morning's podcast, click here. You can hear more Sydney history next week on 2SER breakfast with Mitch Byatt. 107.3 FM - turn the radio on at 8:15 and listen to a few tunes while you wait for the segment.    
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Wonderland City: Sydney’s amusement parks

Alice the elephant loading the Wirth's Circus train c1932. By Sam Hood. From the collection of the State Library of New South Wales, hood_05790 / Home and Away 5790, Mitchell Library
Alice the elephan Alice the elephant loading the Wirth's Circus train c1932. By Sam Hood. From the collection of the State Library of New South Wales, hood_05790 / Home and Away 5790, Mitchell Libraryt loading the Wirth's Circus train c1932
It’s been 150 years since the famous author Lewis Carroll published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but did you know Sydney had its own Wonderland back in the early 1900s? I thought I’d delve into the Dictionary of Sydney and spoke to Sophie on 2SER Breakfast about our city’s love of amusement parks. It turns out Lewis Carroll’s Alice and her trip down the rabbit hole to the fictional country called Wonderland has been the source of inspiration for amusement parks for quite some time. And the first large scale open-air amusement park to hit Australia was in Sydney’s eastern suburb, Tamarama, when the theatrical entrepreneur William Anderson opened Wonderland City in December 1906. On the opening night, 20,000 people travelled to Tamarama to see the ‘fairy city’ buzzing with novel attractions and exciting rides. Across its 20 acres, it included an artificial lake, Australia’s first open-air ice skating rink, a merry-go-round, Haunted House, labyrinth, music hall which could seat 1,000 people and a Japanese tearoom. Among the more novel attractions was the ‘Airem Scarem’ dirigible, which was a floating airship suspended on a cable which extended over the sea. Other attractions included an elephant called Alice, perhaps referencing Carroll’s character. Alice the elephant was dubbed ‘the children’s friend’ and was sold to Wirth’s Circusin 1908 continuing to entertain Australian audiences until her death in 1941. Wonderland City employed over 160 people and it is estimated 2,000 people came each summer weekend. But the park was short-lived, as it closed just five years later in 1911 and Anderson reportedly lost £15,000 on the venture (in 2014 money, that’s almost $2 million). Wonderland City was by no means the first entertainment precinct to offer Sydneysiders amusement. Circus acts had been witnessed by citizens since the 1830s, with rope-walkers, gymnasts, acrobats and clowns entertaining the audiences. Roofless arenas were built in the city centre, and in 1871, Australia’s first ‘hippodrome’ or oval-shaped open arena was opened for 6,000 spectators for Queen Victoria’s birthday. It was complete with a fun-fair, circus performances and chariot races. There were also pleasure gardens which were also open-air spectacles. One of them was established in Botany Bay in the 1840s. Opened by the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, the gardens exhibited exotic animals including an elephant, Bengal tiger and Himalayan black bear. In 1852, English writer John Askew described his experience visiting Sydney mentioning the ‘menagerie in Elizabeth Street that contains an elephant, two or three monkeys, a lion and a lioness and a few other animals of the cat species’.
Colour photograph of Luna Park ferris wheels taken with long exposure to create continuous lines of motion and light
Luna Park Shutter Blend experiment #1 2008. By Brentbat. Contributed by Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/brentbat/2560241643/
After Anderson’s Wonderland City, another noteworthy amusement park to hit Sydney was, of course, Luna Park in Milsons Point. The park opened in 1935 and became a major social and entertainment space when World War II broke out in September 1939. From its opening until 1970, it was operated by the engineer and long-term employee Ted Hopkins. In June 1979, a fire in the Ghost Train resulted in the park’s closure. Six children and one adult died during the tragedy as inadequate fire-fighting measures caused the fire to completely destroy the ride. After the tragedy the park was neglected but it was redeveloped and restored from the 1980s to 2000s and it reopened in 2004. You can listen to a podcast of my segment with Sophie at 2SER Breakfast here. Tune in again next week for more of Sydney’s history courtesy of the Dictionary of Sydney, on 107.3 at 8:20am. Don’t miss it!
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NAIDOC Week celebrations

Taking of Colbee (Colebee) and Benalon (Bennelong), Manly Cove, 25 November 1789. By Bradley, William. From the collection of the State Library of New South Wales, a3461020 / ML Safe 1/14 opp. p. 182
As I've mentioned before, the Dictionary of Sydney has a wide range of content relating to Aboriginal Sydney. Today I thought I would highlight a thoughtful article written by eminent historian Grace Karskens about Manly Cove, or Kai'ymay. Grace Karskens writes:
Kai'ymay, or Manly Cove, a sandy cove on North Harbour on the western side of the Manly peninsula, is a key site of the earliest contacts between Aboriginal people, the Eora (this is the local word meaning 'people') and the British people who arrived on the First Fleet in 1788. It continued to be the place to which Governor Phillip and his officers returned in their attempts to open communications with Aboriginal people – sometimes by force. It was also where Aboriginal people took action against the newcomers in their land – Governor Phillip was speared here by an Aboriginal warrior in September 1790, an event that ultimately led to the first reconciliation between Aboriginal people and white settlers in Australian history. A number of the early Sydney paintings depict Manly Cove and these key moments in cross-cultural contact as they unfolded on the beach.
Kai'ymay should be revered as a site of cross-cultural interaction. Grace Karskens concludes her article by noting: "This was the site for first encounters between people from opposite sides of the globe, the site of greeting, gift-giving and dancing, of goodwill and curiosity, as well as betrayal, violence, justice and retribution. From a world history perspective, it was also the site where the two great waves of migration from Europe to Asia and Australia, separated by over 90,000 years, were reconnected." There are many ways to learn about Sydney's Aboriginal history. I'd like to give a couple of plugs to talks and events curated by friends of the Dictionary of Sydney. There is a talk at Customs House Library on Thursday evening looking at Heaven and Earth. Professor Ray Norris and Dr Paul Irish will present aspects of Aboriginal Sydney history. Ray discusses astronomical history and Aboriginal understandings of the sky, while Paul reflects on the early history of Aboriginal and British interactions around Sydney. The City of Sydney's history team, which I head up, has released an intimate view of Aboriginal archaeological finds around the Sydney CBD. There are 19 new essays about Aboriginal culture and living in early Sydney, including articles about the Tank Stream, Blackwattle Creek, the Moore Park campsite and Goat Island. Check out the articles here: And finally, if you want to get out and about, access the new self-guided walk "Barani: Sydney Cove / Warrane" featured for NAIDOC week on the Sydney Culture Walks App. From everyone at the Dictionary of Sydney, we wish you a happy NAIDOC Week. You can hear this morning's podcast from 2SER Breakfast here.
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40 years: The Juanita Nielsen disappearance

William Street, Kings Cross at night 1970
William Street, Kings Cross at night 1970 By Fitzpatrick, John. Contributed by National Archives of Australia A1200, L84008
This Saturday 4 July 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the disappearance of the heritage conservationist and publisher Juanita Nielsen. Even today, the mystery of her disappearance and presumed murder continues to overshadow her story, however, Nielsen is also remembered for her active role campaigning against the development of Victoria Street in Sydney’s Potts Point. I spoke with Mitch about it on 2SER this morning... Juanita Nielsen was born in 1937, her grandfather was Mark Foy, who established the famous department store in his name on Oxford Street, Sydney in 1885. Juanita became a larger-than-life character in The Cross during the early 1970s. She was the publisher of a newspaper called Now from 1967, working from her terrace at 202 Victoria Street in Potts Point. She was a tall, stylish and sassy woman, locals said she was always exceptionally well-dressed. When developers began to work their way into Victoria Street in 1973, some of the poorer tenants were evicted and Juanita decided to take a stand. She published articles in her newspaper against the demolition of the Victoria Street terraces and tenant evictions. She joined local action groups including the Victoria Street Ratepayers’ Association to galvanise the community to oppose the redevelopment. Many of the beautiful historic properties on Victoria Street were in poor condition, and developers planned to demolish them to make way for residential towers with one plan detailing a building at 45 storeys. Juanita also supported what became known as the ‘Green Bans’ movement, which saw trade unions join residents in their campaign against redevelopment. Labourers employed to construct skyscrapers, shopping precincts and these big residential towers refused to work on projects considered environmentally damaging or a threat to heritage conservation. The movement was the first of its type in the world, and after campaigning a ‘green ban’ was placed on Victoria Street and parts of Woolloomooloo in April 1973. But this ruffled feathers and took its toll on its participants as armed thugs vandalised buildings marked for demolition and threatened residents. One green ban activist disappeared and returned to the area allegedly ‘too frightened to say what happened to him’. On 4 July 1975, at exactly 11:20am, Juanita was seen publicly for the last time, getting into a yellow Ford Falcon. She had attended a business meeting at 10:30am at the Cross nightclub The Carousel. Since her disappearance, strong suspicions fell on James McCartney Anderson, who managed the Carousel and was a prominent figure in Sydney’s criminal underworld. However, Juanita’s body has never been found and no one has ever been charged with her murder. As Lisa Murray, my fellow Dictionary of Sydney 2SER guest has noted, ‘Juanita remains a symbol of people power and her disappearance sits at the heart of one of Sydney's most enduring mysteries’. And writer Peter Rees, who published a book about Juanita in 2004, articulated her contribution to our city quite nicely: ‘Juanita’s legacy transcends and inspires the struggle for the soul of Sydney’. You can listen to a podcast of my segment with Mitch at 2SER Breakfast here. Tune in again next week for more of Sydney’s history courtesy of the Dictionary of Sydney, on 107.3 at 8:20am. Don’t miss it!
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Voices from Liverpool's past

A group of Italian prisoners of war behind the perimeter fence of the main compound at the Liverpool prisoner of war and internment camp November 21, 1945. 1945-11-21 By McQuillan, Ern. Contributed by Australian War Memorial AWM 123706
The Dictionary of Sydney has been working with Oral History NSW, the Royal Australian Historical Society and Liverpool City Council to curate excerpts from Liverpool Library's oral history collection, digitise them and make them available online. Last week 65 snippets of oral history interviews were added to the Dictionary. The audio clips are drawn from the project 'Looking back at Liverpool: an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960'.  This interview recording project was conducted by Liverpool City Council between June 1985 to March 1986. There are approximately sixty cassette tapes within the collection, all of which are transcribed and indexed, and available in the Liverpool City Library collection. So it was a big job going through them and curating short clips for people to dip into and enjoy. Let's listen to one now. This is Miss Marjorie Tebb, who was born in 1920. She was interviewed nearly 30 years ago, in 1986. In this clip Miss Tebb remembers one of the Chinese hawkers who sold their wares door-to-door in Liverpool in the early twentieth century. The Liverpool audio clips provide memories of a number of migrant communities that lived in the district in the early 20th century, including the Chinese (as we've just heard), gypsies, Italians, and Germans. And there are several reminiscences of Aboriginal people living by the river and working around the place. Many oral history interviews demonstrate the dramatic changes that have taken place in the suburbs of Sydney. In this clip Mr Joseph Bradshaw, who was born in 1905, recalls being the proud owner of the second car in Liverpool, which he bought in 1927.  Petrol was cheap and there was no traffic congestion. Those were the days!  What I love about these recordings too is the way it captures the Australian accent. There are some great clips to listen to; some are a little bit crackle-ly because they are so old but there are some gems there. You can hear about making meals stretch during the Depression, working at the local butchers, the Liverpool soldiers riot in 1917, and the gypsies that came to Liverpool every year and camped in the paddocks. You can find out about what it was like to live in Liverpool during the first and second world wars, or how young kids learnt to swim in the Georges River. Here's one last clip. Mr Jack Healy was born in 1908. Here he remembers how boys learnt to swim in the Georges River and where they used to go. Check out the full set of clips about Liverpool here. Our work is not done. These clips will soon be connected to articles from the Georges River Project and other subjects in the Dictionary. If you missed Lisa's segment on 2SER Breakfast with Mitch Byatt this morning, you can catch up here. Tune in next Wednesday morning for more Sydney history courtesy of the Dictionary and 2SER. 8:20am, 107.3 FM.
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Law and order in Sydney

Drawing of a riot in George Street 19 September 1890 titled 'The Labor Crisis'
The Labor Crisis - the riot in George Street 19 September 1890. Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria, IAN01/10/90/1
Monday marked the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, or the Great Charter, which has been widely recognised as the most famous legal document in the world. With all this talk about Magna Carta, being the origin of the rule of law and an important step toward modern democracy, I thought I’d search the Dictionary of Sydney and find out about how Sydney established law and order from the early days of convict settlement. Academic Mark Finnane notes law and order was a feature of Sydney society from the days of convict settlement. Australia’s first criminal trial was conducted in February 1788, only a few days after the First Fleet anchored in Sydney Cove. Convict Samuel Barsby was drunk on rum when he assaulted a marine and yelled obscenities. At his trial Barsby said he could not remember anything. In the court minutes of proceedings, it ends with three simple words: ‘Guilty. 150 lashes.’ Floggings were one of the many punishments handed out to those who threatened law and order in the new colony. There was also hangings, and in some cases, people were nailed by the ear to a pillory post. In 1808, order was threatened when Governor William Bligh was deposed by officers of the NSW Corps forcing military rule during the Rum Rebellion. And in 1816, another Governor, Lachlan Macquarie, attempted to restore ‘the public peace’ by prohibiting Aboriginal people armed or in parties numbering more than six to enter Sydney other settlements. During the 1820s and 1830s, the Sydney press asserted the rights of settlers in light of tensions with Aboriginal communities. Notions of law and order also saw challenges with the prominence of bushranging from the early days of the colony to the late 1800s. Bushrangers, the most of famous being Ned Kelly, were convicts who would flee to the bush from the authorities and live off the land and steal from settlements. But another feature which characterised these early concepts of law and order were the battles with and treatment of Aboriginal people. The Myall Creek Massacre in 1838 was an example of this. Ten white men and one African man shot and killed 30 unarmed Aboriginal people at Myall Creek near Bingara. In the end, seven of the 11 killers were executed for their crimes. Another common feature in the newspapers, other than disturbances in the outlying colonial settlements, was the disorder in the streets of Sydney. Public drunkenness was often attributed to the city’s convict beginnings. The Sydney Herald reported on the disproportionate high crime rate of Sydney compared to other countries, claiming ‘robberies and murders, increasing both in numbers and in audacity, infest our streets and beset our inhabitants’. In fact, the crime rate had gone down, but highly publicised crimes such as the murder of shopkeeper Ellen Jamieson by naval captain John Knatchbull in 1844, added to these sensationalist views. Incidentally, a long-term study conducted during the 1970s identified three periods of major disorder in Sydney - the late 1880s, World War I up to 1935 and the late 1960s. These were times of protest, social change and political upheaval. Other examples of disruption in our city often centred around celebrations and public events involving large crowds. It seems things were not so different over 130 years ago when on Boxing Day in 1884 Sydneysiders witnessed alcohol-fuelled violence and riots at Bondi Beach. Larrikin gangs were also a prominent part of Sydney’s darker side. These were gangs of youths who wore flashy clothing and harassed people in the streets. Mark Finnane goes into more detail at the Dictionary of Sydney. You can listen to a podcast of my segment with Mitch at 2SER Breakfast here. Tune in again next week for more of Sydney’s history courtesy of the Dictionary of Sydney, on 107.3 at 8:20am. Don’t miss it!
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sydney history

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Pic: A bird's eye view - Sydney Harbour Bridge c1931 Source: State Records New South Wales 12685_a007_a00704_8731000053r  http://dictionaryofsydney.org/image/94937

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CONTACT US

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The Dictionary is only staffed on a part time basis, but we will try to reply as soon as possible.

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The Dictionary of Sydney is a free, innovative, collaborative online history project based at the State Library of NSW.

If you have a comment, question or suggestion about the project, we'd love to hear from you. 

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT YOUR FAMILY HISTORY OR PERSONAL RESEARCH, we do not have the resources to help. However, we use and recommend the following invaluable resources:

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY PRINTS OR USE IMAGES OR OTHER MULTIMEDIA ON THE DICTIONARY, you will need to contact the contributor of the image. You will find this information listed under the image, along with the contributor's reference numbers where relevant. If a persistent URL was supplied, then clicking on the reference numbers will take you directly to to the contributor's catalogue. A link to the contributor's website can be found, where available, on the right hand side of their Contributor page.

In September 2018, management of the Dictionary of Sydney was transferred to the State Library of New South Wales, who will preserve the website and continue to make the content available. Publication of new content will cease in early 2022.

The State Library of New South Wales Foundation can be found HERE.

If you are having trouble with this form, please contact us directly using our email address info(at)dictionaryofsydney.org.

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ABOUT

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Welcome to the Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney is a website about the history of Sydney – its urban myths, characters, political players, writers, dreamers, intellectuals, sports people, criminals – anyone and everything that contributes to Sydney's story. [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" _builder_version="3.27.4" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid"]From the Hawkesbury River in the north, Port Hacking in the south, the Blue Mountains in the west and the Pacific coast in the east, our aim is to gather as much information as possible about all aspects of Sydney's history including its natural features, built forms, structures, significant events, artefacts, organisations, places and people. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="3_4" specialty_columns="3" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_row_inner column_structure="1_3,1_3,1_3" admin_label="row_inner" _builder_version="3.25"][et_pb_column_inner type="1_3" saved_specialty_column_type="3_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_divider show_divider="off" disabled_on="on|on|off" admin_label="Divider" _builder_version="3.23.4" height="10px" hide_on_mobile="on"]  [/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label="our organisation" _builder_version="4.0.5" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid"]

Our purpose

The Dictionary publishes historical and cultural information about Sydney for the broadest possible audience, whether residents or visitors, students or researchers, or people just interested in Sydney.

The Dictionary is updated regularly to include new content.

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Our contributors

At the heart of the Dictionary is the dedicated scholarship of more than 400 volunteer authors who give their work to the project. They range from eminent professors and professional historians to local experts and enthusiasts of all kinds. A full list of authors published to date can be found here. [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Our contributors" _builder_version="3.27.4" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid"]The Dictionary has agreements with a range of institutions and individuals that allow us to use material from their collections in the Dictionary. Without them, it would be a far less interesting and exciting project. A full list of these institutions and collections can be found here. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column_inner][et_pb_column_inner type="1_3" saved_specialty_column_type="3_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_divider show_divider="off" disabled_on="on|on|off" admin_label="Divider" _builder_version="3.23.4" height="10px" hide_on_mobile="on"]  [/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label="our organisation" _builder_version="4.0.5" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid"]

Our organisation

Conceived in 2004, the Dictionary of Sydney grew out of an Australian Research Council project supported by the University of Sydney in partnership with University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), State Library of New South Wales and State Records, with the City of Sydney as industry partner.

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Launched in November 2009, the Dictionary of Sydney website continues to grow.

In 2014 we launched our free mobile app for smart phones and tablets which makes available several free self-guided walking tours around parts of Sydney. 

After providing support since 2006, in December 2016 the City of Sydney ceased to fund the Dictionary on an annual base. In 2017, the Dictionary's content was moved onto a new platform at the State Library of New South Wales to ensure its preservation.

In September 2018, the Dictionary of Sydney Inc was wound up and management of the Dictionary passed to the State Library of New South Wales. As the Dictionary has no ongoing financial support, publication of new content will cease when funding runs out in early 2022 and the site and content will be archived to ensure future access.

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Partnerships

Since 2017 the Dictionary has been part of the State Library of New South Wales.

The Dictionary has community partnerships with many of Sydney’s other leading cultural institutions and universities as well, such as State Archives and Records NSW, History Council of NSW, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney.

Sponsors of Dictionary projects have included the Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities; Transport Heritage NSW; Liverpool Council; Maritime Museums of Australia; NSW Department of Environment and Heritage; Oral History NSW; Royal Australian Historical Society; Randwick City Council and the Sydney Mechanics School of the Arts.

The Dictionary continues to enter into collaborative projects that can enrich our understanding and appreciation of Sydney in areas such as:

  • History and heritage
  • Reconciliation
  • Community expression and identity
  • Academia and education
  • Local, state and federal government
  • Digital technology and multimedia
  • Arts and creative industries
  • Civic pride and public interest
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Detail from MS Hill's 1888 map 'The City of Sydney',  a birds-eye view over the city looking to the south and west across Darling Harbour. http://dictionaryofsydney.org/image/97526

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