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Robert 'Nosey Bob' Howard was the New South Wales public hangman from 1876 until his retirement in 1904. He acted as assistant executioner several times prior to his official permanent appointment. Howard had been a successful hansom cab driver who was apparenlty popular with…

The Melocco Brothers  - Pietro (Peter), Antonio and Galliano -  were the first tradesmen to practice mosaic craft in New South Wales and introduced terrazzo to Australia. The business was established in 1908 when Pietro Melocco arrived in Sydney from Italy, with his brothers…

Convict theatre that opened in Sydney in 16 January 1796, thought to have been either at Windmill Row (Prince Street), Bells Row (Bligh Street), or High (George) Street near Jamieson or Hunter Streets. It was built by 'some of the more decent class of prisoner' and  'fitted…

Built on Aboriginal land, Warrawee was cleared by timber-getters and became orchards and residential land by the 1870s. Subdivision followed the railway in 1900, but commercial development was not allowed, and some of Sydney's best domestic architecture is displayed in…

French wool buyer and chef who established The Hermitage (L'Hermitage) restaurant in the former Paling's building in Ash Street with his wife, Jeanne. He originally worked as a wool buyer in Melbourne and Sydney until World War II. During the war, he was called up for service…

Courthouse on Phillip Street, between the older Water Police Court and the Water Police Station, that opened in January 1886. It was intended for use mainly as a summons and small debts court, in addition to the older court building. At the opening, Whittingdale Johnson, the…

Built on the land of the Gameygal clan, Carss Park is named for William Carss, the first of the early landowners to actually live on his property, who moved there in the 1860s. By 1917 when the Carss farm was left to the Sydney Sailor's Home, the area was mostly small mixed…

On 11 September 1819, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser reported the death of Hugh McDonald as follows:

Death—On Thursday morning last, in the 36th year of his age, after a long and painful illness, borne with Christian fortitude…

Matthew Flinders' cat, who accompanied the navigator on his voyages to Australia and Mauritius. During the circumnavigation of Australia in 1801-03, Flinders' noted his feline companion formed a bond with fellow shipmate and Garigal man, Bungaree. After departing for England…

In 1788, Major Robert Ross built the Lieutenant Governor's House, a small single storey cottage that was the colony's first substantial stone building.  After Ross was recalled in 1791, the house was occupied by Major Francis Grose, who, possibly inspired by buildings he'd…