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Evangelist and social worker who was the founder of refuges for women and children including the Sydney Rescue Work Society. His later work as a member of the Aboriginal Protection Board led directly to some of the most tragic and damaging results of colonialism for…

Dawson's Foundry (the Australian Foundry) at George Street and Sydney Cove was the colony's first important iron foundry and a machining and engineering works that operated for four decades. This leading colonial manufactory played an important role in transferring iron trade…

Australia's first major motor racing venue financed by a syndicate of Sydney businessmen on 33 hectares of Crown Land at Maroubra. It operated for about 10 years but poor design, five fatalaties and reduced attendance lead to its closure and redevelopment as a…

Lower north shore suburb, named either after British statesman Lord Sydney of St Leonards, or by surveyor general Thomas Mitchell after the town in England. In recent years it has grown into a major business district, as well as being the location of the Royal North Shore…

Large cemetery established in 1868 on the railway line between Sydney and Parramatta at Haslem's Creek. It became known as the Rookwood Necropolis after the suburb in which it was located. The suburb's name was eventually changed to Lidcombe, but the cemetery retained the…

Area of 15 square kilometres on Sydney's northern beaches formerly governed by Manly Council until being merged with Warringah and Pittwater to form Northern Beaches local government area in 2016. No part of Manly was more than one kilometre from either the harbour or the…

Fountain to commemorate the Australian soldiers of the 9th Division who fought near the Egyptian town of El Alamein in two battles which helped change the course of World War II. As a work of modernist design it was a Sydney icon in the 1960s and 1970s.

Lane which once formed part of Hamilton Street and was renamed in 1981 after much disappeared under the Australia Square complex. Following the same path as the original water source for Sydney it is a reminder of the mangroves and mudflats which previously existed in the…

Sandstone warehouse in The Rocks on land once owned by Mary Reibey, incorporating parts of very early commercial buildings in Sydney and built in stages, the east wing being completed in 1826, the west between 1840 and 1845. In the 1970s it was repurposed as a retail centre…

Founder and supporter of scientific and artistic organisations in Sydney, who helped establish Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and was a landowner at Mount Wilson. He worked as a chief draftsman at the Department of Lands, and often explored the Bliue Mountains, camping near…

The City of Randwick in south-eastern Sydney is located on land that was once swamps and heath vegetation. Home to local Aboriginal people for thousands of years, the area remained relatively isolated to Europeans until the mid nineteenth century when Randwick village began…

The area that is now East Circular Quay was quickly seen as the governor's side of Sydney Cove after colonisation in 1788. The first house built on the point belonged to Bennelong. When the semi-circular quay was constructed from 1837, the eastern side of the bay was used as…

Based in Pyrmont, Artefact Heritage Services is a leading provider of heritage management and archaeological services, including all aspects of Aboriginal and historical cultural heritage management and archaeology. Artefact’s projects span the breadth of New South Wales but…

Writer, publisher, inventor and activist, Louisa Lawson influenced Sydney life at the turn of the twentieth century in many ways. At her death, she was called 'the mother of womanhood suffrage in New South Wales'.

Phillip described the transportation of convicts to New South Wales as a voyage 'to the extremity of the globe'. Having successfully managed both the ships and the convicts, the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove brought Phillip new challenges: how to keep men and…

Commercial building in Martin Place, built at the time of the widening and improvement of the street, which housed tenants including the Sydney Stock Exchange and the United States consulate. In 1976 it became one of the earliest examples of a modern redevelopment retaining…

Reservoir constructed in 1923 as part of the Upper Nepean Scheme to increase the ability of the Scheme to respond to the daily demand fluctuations of the city. It has twice the capacity of the No.1 reservoir and remains an integral part of Sydney's water supply system.

Terminal station in the Royal National Park that opened on 9 March 1886 to provide access to a miltary training camp. The line and station was subsequently used by tourists and visitors to the park The platform is currently used as a tramway stop for the Sydney Tramway Museum…

An active pile lighthouse off South Head in Sydney Harbour. A white timber and concrete octagonal structure, with an iron and glass light and copper dome, it was constructed in 1908 to replace an earlier buoy and beacon. It was originally powered by an acetylene gas…

Jo Litson is a Sydney-based freelance arts writer and the arts writer and theatre reviewer for Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph. She has a BA Hons in English and Drama from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. In 2004, she conducted historical research for the…