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The roll of honour from the former Ultimo Presbyterian Church, now located in the Ultimo Community Centre, lists 36 men associated with the Ultimo community who served in the First Australian Imperial Forces in World War I. The board, instigated in 1916 shortly after the…

Wallumedegal country until the Europeans came, East Ryde was part of the Field of Mars common from 1804, until it was resumed in 1874 and sold in the 1880s. A tramline and a railway link, long promised, were never built, and the area remained undeveloped until the 1950s…

Ambleside and its garden were a refuge and an inspiration to photographer Harold Cazneaux, who lived there from 1915 until his death in 1953.

Long home to the Darug and Gundungurra people, the place that became Lawson was renamed for one of the first Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains. It subsequently became important as a stopping place on the road west, and a holiday destination for Sydneysiders.

Darwin's Walk starts from Wilson Park Wentworth Falls and runs across a boardwalk and bush track through open forest, shrub, and hanging swamps to the national park boundary. It was in the valley at the end of Jamison Creek that Charles Darwin stood in 1836, struggling for…

Biddy Giles was a Dharawal woman who lived her whole life on her people's country. With her husband Billy, she guided groups of travellers on shooting and fishing trips, telling stories and sharing her skills and knowledge of the river and its wildlife.

Dharug people were traditional owners of the area that became Studley Park, but it was granted to various settlers by Governor Macquarie in the 1810s. It changed hands many times in the nineteenth century, and one owner, William Payne, built a grand house called Studley Park…

Traditional country of the Cabrogal people, St Johns Park was first used by Europeans as part of the Orphan School land grant. By the end of the nineteenth century, agriculture was well established, with a sizeable Italian community already growing grapes.

Wangal country before the Europeans came, the area that became Silverwater was part of a grant made to John Blaxland in 1807, and stayed in the family until 1860. It was broken up into small farms, and later residential blocks, but dairies remained into the 1930s. Industrial…

At the request of Governor Macquarie, a new convict hospital was built at Parramatta and opened in 1818. Designed by John Watts, the building was based on a military hospital and proved grossly inadequate: only half the expected number of patients could be treated there, men…

Long inhabited by the Tharawal, Gundungurra and Cubbitch-barta people, the area that became Mount Hunter was later a prime dairying area with a thriving village community. The dairy farms are gone, but Mount Hunter retains its rural feel.

The third gaol built in Parramatta, Parramatta gaol's changes over the years reflected changing philosophies of correction.

Named for a police constable who killed a bushranger, Hornsby expanded rapidly with the construction of the north shore railway line in 1890.

After colonisation, Cromer, originally known as Dee Why West, developed slowly from farms and bush, remaining semi-rural until the 1960s. Industrial and residential development led to more services and community facilities, but some bushland remains.

As early as 1889 girls began rioting to express their anger at the conditions of the Parramatta Girls Home, an industrial school and reformatory run by the New South Wales Government from 1887 until 1975. Some 30,000 girls passed through the doors of what is now regarded as…

The Archibald Prize is an institution in the Australian art calendar and an event keenly anticipated every year. It is the source of great debate and controversy and above all, an exhibition the public adores.

Royleston, like the nearby girls' institution, Bidura, served as a depot for children in the New South Wales Government child welfare system from 1922 until 1983 providing temporary accommodation for children in transit between children's court hearings, foster care…

Named after an 1812 land grant, Gilead was to grow from an important dairy farming area to one of the largest suburbs in the Campbelltown district.

Caught up in the Rum Rebellion, Thomas Arndell was loyal to Bligh and lost his magistracy and pension. With his wife, a former convict, he founded a successful family and farm at Cattai.