John Sutton, Mayor of Sydney c1866 City of Sydney Archives ref: 0588709 (SRC18779)
We've got more City of Sydney material in the form of another bunch of aldermen, scrappy, argumentative geezers that they are.
Terri McCormack has unveiled the lives of Stephen S Goold, James Merriman, Charles Moore, James Oatley, William Speer, Thomas Spence, John Sutton and John Woods. All were mayors between 1862 and 1878, and they must all have known each other well.
As with our other aldermen and mayors, it's interesting to see how many of them came from very humble backgrounds, and hands-on businesses, working their way up to an eminent position in their city.
We are looking forward to the launch of the City of Sydney's Aldermen website, where a complete database of City aldermen will be available for searching and research. Keep an eye on the blog to find out when.
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
The Dictionary's new material for Winter 2012 is up on the website, and there's lots to see.
Perhaps most exciting is the inclusion of over 50 maps from the 1880s, geo-referenced so that they display over Google maps, and can be directly compared to modern Sydney. Our map boffin, Andrew Wilson, has written an article about the series, and what it was created for, and over the next few months we'll be linking them to suburbs, local government areas, and whatever else we can find to connect with them. These maps come from the City of Sydney Archives, which has downloadable versions here.
We are working hard to include more historical maps in the Dictionary. If you like these ones, let us know!
From Mud Bank Botany Bay - mouth of Cooks River 1830, Courtesy Dixson Library, State Library of NSW DL PXX 31, 2a
The Cooks River was the ‘fine freshwater stream’ that Captain Cook wrote about in his account of the landing at Botany Bay and remarked on the ‘fine meadows’ along the banks of the river. The Dictionary of Sydney's 'fine stream ... fine meadow' project encompasses fourteen stories that connect to the Cooks River as it flows through to Botany Bay.
In partnership with three local council areas, the City of Botany Bay, Marrickville Council and the City of Canterbury, the Dictionary engaged local researchers, authors and historians to document some of the significant buildings, the people and the events that have shaped the stories of the Cooks River in south-west Sydney.
In 2013, the resulting articles were published after being professionally edited, enhanced with multimedia images and depictions of the area, and fully linked and integrated into the Dictionary's website. The articles can be viewed here.
This project was supported through funding from the Australian Government's 'Your Community Heritage Program' and our primary sponsor, the City of Sydney.
The Dictionary of Sydney would like to thank all the authors, institutions and multimedia donors who contributed to this project. We would especially like to thank Brian Madden and the Cooks River Alliance for allowing us to publish works by the late Lesley Muir whose essays on this part of Sydney’s history form the centrepiece of our project.
Entries in the Cooks River project:
If you have some free days in late August, you should come along to a great conference the Dictionary is co-sponsoring.
From the Ground Up: People and Places in Sydney's Past brings together academics, postgraduate students and professional historians of Sydney and its suburbs to explore urban history in this place. Professor Grace Karskens, Board member and contributor to the Dictionary, is a keynote speaker and many of Sydney's most interesting and prolific historians will be there.
The conference is co-sponsored by the Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University and the State Library of NSW, as well as the Dictionary of Sydney. Find out more, and register at the conference website.
The Dictionary and the Sydney Journal will be publishing a selection of the papers, but anyone with an interest in Sydney history should come along and be part of what is sure to be a lively and interesting conference.
See you at the Dixson Room, State Library of NSW, on 23 and 24 August 2012!
This child’s ankle boot of the 1840s, found in the roof cavity of a house in Lower Fort Street, Dawes Point, is believed to have been concealed as a response to the deaths of three children in the same family.
Have you ever found anything unusual hidden in your house?
For centuries, in Europe, people placed objects in secret spaces around the house to ward off evil spirits. They didn't stop just because they came to a new country.
Now home-owners across Sydney are finding these historic treasures and the compelling stories that accompany them.
In a special event at the Museum of Sydney this June, you can hear renowned architectural historian and writer Ian Evans discuss his ground-breaking research into this fascinating ancient ritual.
Rituals in Old Australian HousesA special discussion with Dr Ian Evans
Sunday 24 June, 2pm—3pm
Museum of Sydney, Cnr Bridge and Phillip Streets, Sydney
Tickets: General $10, Concession $5
Bookings not required
You can find out more about the objects hidden and later rediscovered at Hyde Park Barracks in Peter Davies' article on the archaeology of the Barracks, in the Dictionary of Sydney.
Congratulations to Jock Phillips and the team at Te Ara, as they contemplate 10 years of trailblazing. Te Ara, if you don't know it, is the online Encyclopedia of New Zealand, a wonderful resource funded by the NZ Ministry for Culture and Heritage. It continues to inspire and challenge us at the Dictionary of Sydney.
www.teara.govt.nz/en
We've learned, emulated and envied so much of what Te Ara has pioneered, and even where we've taken a different path, the shining example of Te Ara, which means 'the pathway' in Maori, has compelled us to really think things through.
Go and look around Te Ara, and their blog Signposts, and see what riches you can find. Here's to 10 more excellent years!
Dr Lesley Muir OAM, a Dictionary author, and a stalwart of Sydney's local, architectural and political history, has died at the age of 67.
Dr Lesley Muir, speaking at Berrima District Historical Society in 2010
Lesley was active for many years in historical societies and organisations, and served as an office bearer in several. She wrote Belmore and Hurlstone Park, with her husband Brian Madden, for the Dictionary of Sydney.
Her funeral will be held in the Chapel of St Michael the Archangel, Rookwood Catholic Cemetery, tomorrow, Thursday 24 May 2012, commencing at 12.30 p.m.
The funeral will leave the chapel at the conclusion of the Liturgy for interment within Rookwood Catholic Cemetery, Lidcombe.
Our deepest sympathies go out to Brian and to Lesley's family and friends.
Photo by Sam Hood, 1934, State Library of NSW hood_03935 / H&A 2925Annual Appeal 2012
The Dictionary of Sydney Trust relies heavily on the support of sponsors, partners and donors to keep growing and developing in a difficult period for fundraising. To ensure the continued success of this innovative project, we are calling for tax-deductible donations.
Funds raised from the 2012 Annual Appeal will directly contribute to the work of our very small but dedicated team, including:
editing, illustration and curation of online content already produced for the Dictionary of Sydney
selection and commissioning of volunteer historians and writers to provide content for the Dictionary
development of outreach and communications to develop our audiences and partnerships
administration and fundraising efforts to secure continued growth of the Dictionary and its sustainability in the future.
Make your tax-deductible donation before June 30.
Donations are fully tax-deductible and will help support the continued growth of online content and audience development. Every cent counts and donations from $20 to $10,000 will assist in every way to support the future of the Dictionary of Sydney.
The Dictionary of Sydney will continue to provide an invaluable historical and social resource for all greater Sydney communities, and we urge you to make a tax-deductible donation today.
Cheques can be made payable to the Dictionary of Sydney Trust and sent to:
Attention: Victoria Keighery
Dictionary of Sydney Trust
GPO Box 1591
Sydney NSW 2001
or visit http://www.everydayhero.com.au/dictionaryofsydney to make an online donation now!
Thank you for your generous support!
Happy Dance! Photo courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW ref: hood_16041/ Home & Away 16041
As you may know, we've been having technical trouble with the display and functioning of the site when viewed through Internet Explorer 8 and earlier versions.
We're very pleased to announce that, thanks to the hard work and perseverance of our colleagues at University of Sydney Arts eResearch, we've resolved these problems, and the site now works in IE 8. It's not quite as good as it looks in Chrome, Safari, Firefox or IE 9, but it's functional.
Thanks for your patience, as we worked on fixing the problem. We look forward to lots more feedback from those of you with IE 8 (which is still very common in corporate environments).
If you can upgrade to a newer browser, you'll have a better experience with the Dictionary. You can do that for free: Firefox, Safari, Chrome.
We are all breathing a sigh of relief, and we can now get on with the hard work of getting ready for next month's regeneration of the site, with 20 new articles, and hundreds of new entities, images, captions and links.
Stay tuned!
The new issue of Inside History magazine is out, and it's a beauty, with a fascinating theme of cemetery research, how to do it, and where to find help.
Lots of people are fascinated with cemeteries, even if they aren't into family history, including our Chair, Lisa Murray, who wrote her doctoral thesis on 'Cemeteries in 19th century New South Wales: Landscapes of memory and history'. Lisa, who is also Sydney's City Historian, has an article in the new Inside History, focussing on cemetery design, and how it evolved, along with town planning, from the churchyards of the early 19th century into the general cemeteries of today.
Inside History issue 10 out now!
The magazine is running an offer for Mother's Day, of 18 months for the price of 12, via their Facebook page here. You'll have to get in quickly though, as the offer ends on Monday.
Inside History also has a killer iPad app, which looks so beautiful it's almost distracting! If you have an iPad, I'd definitely recommend getting it.
From Mud Bank Botany Bay - mouth of Cooks River 1830, Courtesy Dixson Library, State Library of NSW DL PXX 31, 2a
From the Ground Up: People and Places in Sydney's Past brings together academics, postgraduate students and professional historians of Sydney and its suburbs to explore urban history in this place. Professor Grace Karskens, Board member and contributor to the Dictionary, is a keynote speaker and many of Sydney's most interesting and prolific historians will be there.
The conference is co-sponsored by the Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University and the State Library of NSW, as well as the Dictionary of Sydney. Find out more, and register at the conference website.
The Dictionary and the Sydney Journal will be publishing a selection of the papers, but anyone with an interest in Sydney history should come along and be part of what is sure to be a lively and interesting conference.
See you at the Dixson Room, State Library of NSW, on 23 and 24 August 2012!
