The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.
Tourist Sydney
![Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany Bay 1857 Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany Bay 1857](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2015/01/SirJosephBanksHotel1857.jpg)
![Manly, Australia's Premier Seaside Resort c1945 Manly, Australia's Premier Seaside Resort c1945](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2015/01/ManlySevenMilesfromSydney.jpg)
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Parramatta Gaol
![](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2015/01/ParrmattaPrison2009.jpg)
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Circus in Sydney
![](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2015/01/AshtonsCircus.jpg)
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New Year celebrations
![lashlight photo of crowd in the Strand Arcade on New Years Eve, 31 December 1901, Australian Town and Country Journal, 11 January 1902 p 21](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2014/12/6fa33cd946705bce530d3f4036ca1ddaadff1d54.jpg)
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Summer reading
![Sydney Beaches: A History](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2014/12/SydneyBeaches-cover1.jpg)
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Alasdair McGregor, A Forger's Progress: The Life of Francis Greenway, NewSouth books
As Australia's first government architect, Francis Greenway has left an enduring legacy in Sydney. Sentenced to death for forgery, than granted a last minute reprieve, he was transported to NSW in 1814. Under the patronage of Governor Macquarie he was responsible for designing Hyde Park Barracks, St James' Church, the first Supreme Court and the courthouse at Windsor, amongst other achievements. Both bonkers and brilliant, this is a fascinating insight into a very complex man. He was also pivotal in the transition from Sydney as a 'penal colony' to a society of respectable free settlers.Babette Smith, The Luck of the Irish: How a Shipload of Convicts Survived the Wreck of the Hive to Make a New Life in Australia, Allen and Unwin
The convict ship Hive sank off the NSW coast in 1835 with 250 Irish convicts on board. Luckily for them, 'the luck' of the Irish was with them, and they all survived. Rather than cast the Irish in Sydney as second class citizens, this book instead reveals that many Irish men from the Hive found Sydney a place of opportunity, re-invention and new beginnings.![The Luck of the Irish: How a Shipload of Convicts Survived the Wreck of the Hive to Make a New Life in Australia](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2014/12/LuckoftheIrish-cover.jpg)
Raden Dunbar, The Secrets of the ANZACs: The Untold Story of Venereal Disease in the Australian Army, 1914–1919, Scribe
Sex, scandal, the debunking of the ANZAC Legend – what is not to like? Many returned, infected, ANZACs were immediately whisked off to the Randwick Hospital, away from the public gaze, when they returned home. These ANZAC 'heros' do not belong in the ANZAC Legend and their stories have not been acknowledged for almost a century. This is a story which reveals their reality. It is also a story of morality, shame, sex education and the official recognition that prophylactics be distributed amongst Australia's first AIF. Fascinating indeed.Caroline Ford, Sydney Beaches: A History, NewSouth books
Today we take going to the beach for a swim or a 'bake' for granted. This, readers might be surprised to know, was not always the case. This glorious book charts the intriguing story about how the right to sun bathe, wear beach attire, and still be seen to be behaving 'respectably', had to be fought for almost over a century. An excellent and fascinating book that all beach lovers (or even all Sydneysiders) should read this summer.![The Secrets of the Anzacs the untold story of venereal disease in the Australian army](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2014/12/SecretsOfTheAnzacs_300dpi_titlecover.jpg)
Caroline Overington, Last Woman Hanged, HarperCollins
Louisa Collins was the last woman hanged in New South Wales. Accused of poisoning two husbands with rat poisoning – the second of which was married soon after the death of her first – this book is horribly fascinating (including grave digging and post-buriel post-mortems) but also illuminates how there was a precursor to the more well-known thallium poisonings by women in Newtown and other areas of Sydney in the 1950s. But it leaves the reader wondering – Why did this mother of six not defend herself (or get a lawyer to) in court against the charges? Both morbid and moreish (if that's possible) Other titles Catie recommends are: David Hill, The Making of Australia, Random House; Rob Mundle, The First Fleet, HarperCollins; John Maynard, True Light and Shade: An Aboriginal Perspective of Joseph Lycett's Art, NLA Publishing; Thomas Keneally, Australians: Volume 3 - Flappers to Vietnam, Allen and Unwin; and Don Watson, The Bush, Penguin Books Australia Thanks Catie! But wait! There's more to read this summer: Don't forget The People’s Park: Centennial Park – A History, co-authored by Dictionary board member, Paul Aston with Armanda Scorrano and Kate Blackmore. There's also a free history walk of Centennial Park you can download and enjoy. For the inaugural Dictionary, Mary Lightfoot contributed a piece on Louise Lightfoot - Dancer, "An architect who remade herself as a dancer and remade Sydney dance culture in the process." Mary has now published part 1 of her biography, Lightfoot Dancing: An Australian-Indian Affair as an e-book on amazon au.![The Smile Revolution In Eighteenth Century Paris](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2014/12/TheSmileRevolution.jpg)
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Me-mel or Goat Island
![Goat Island - Place of punishment for prisoners 1841](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2014/12/GoatIsland-PlaceofPunishment1841.jpg)
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The Sydney Punchbowl
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Sydney Culture Walks nominated for FBi SMAC Awards!
![Vote for the City of Sydney Culture Walks in FBI's SMAC Awards! Vote for the City of Sydney Culture Walks in FBI's SMAC Awards!](http://fbiblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/votenow-665x665.png)
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William Henry Paling
![Front cover of the 'Sydney Railway waltz' 1855 by William Paling, courtesy National Library of Australia nla.mus-an6340871 Front cover of the 'Sydney Railway waltz' 1855 by William Paling, courtesy National Library of Australia nla.mus-an6340871](http://nla.gov.au/nla.mus-an6340871-s1-v.jpg)
![W.H Paling & Co., 356 George Street, Sydney, courtesy State Records NSW 4481_a026_000041 W.H Paling & Co., 356 George Street, Sydney, courtesy State Records NSW 4481_a026_000041](http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/BOSImages/Series/0004/481/Items/0441/973/4481_a026_000041.jpg)
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Luigi Coluzzi
![Italians arrive on Alitalia, Mascot 30 June 1965](https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/slnsw.dxd.dc.prod.dos.prod.assets/home-dos-files/2014/11/Italiansarriving.jpg)
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