Caroline Simpson Collection
Home and garden design, history and life
Three collections, millions of items, unlimited stories
Museums of History NSW is the new home of three of the state’s most significant and fascinating collections. Dive in and explore.
Home and garden design, history and life
Making history every day
Place-based collections at our historic houses and museums
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Caroline Simpson Library, which was created through an extraordinary cultural gift donated by the children of Caroline Simpson OAM (1930–2003).
Join Mathew Stephens, research librarian at the Caroline Simpson Library, as he uses the library’s specialist collection to explore the contexts of a selection of historic family photographs.
Join Melinda Doring, Craig McPherson and Joanna Nicholas as they discuss different approaches to creating interiors
This webinar will focus on the Oyster Lease Cultures files, which tell the stories of the people who held these leases between 1920 and 1978
Museums of History NSW is on the road again, sharing our stories with the people of regional NSW
This four-year project aims to unearth language and cultural materials from the NSW State Archives Collection and prepare these materials for community access
A deep dive into the minutes, highlighting how these documents that dealt with Government policy, detailed plans and proposals also captured the lives of individual people, and how to find them
Now with surviving inquest papers from 1916-1939 and April–December 1963 (Glebe Coroners Court), this webinar shows you how to use the inquest index and explore the new additions
These records are digitised and available to search and view in our catalogue. This webinar explores the declarations, why they were required and how to find them.
The amazing quality and variety of the photographs taken by the Public Works Department is a testament to the photographers. This webinar explores these images in depth
This event focused on the colour curriculum of pioneering Sydney-based colour designer and educator Phyllis Shillito (1895–1980) of the 1940s to the 1970s
Hear the story of Rose de Freycinet, the first woman to write an account of a global circumnavigation, with Suzanne Falkiner
Join Dr Catriona Quinn on a journey through Australia’s rich interior design heritage and a deep dive into the studios of design educators in Sydney in the 1940s, 50s and 60s
Our Collections Care and Digital teams have been hard at work making make a suite of vocational videos for volunteers and staff working in museums across the state
Today is National Close the Gap Day 2024. Closing the gap refers to the meaningful action that is required by governments, organisations, communities and individuals to address inequity experienced by First Nations peoples in Australia
On Thursday 14 March, MHNSW donors enjoyed a fascinating behind-the-scenes tour of the NSW State Archives Collection at the Western Sydney Records Centre
The First Nations Community Access to the Archives team welcomes three First Nations staff to the Collections space
Upon completion in 1923, The Astor in Sydney's Macquarie Stree twas the largest reinforced concrete building in Australia, the tallest residential block, and this country’s first company title residences
Inspired by a watercolour of the ruins of the temple of Vishnu, refugee curator in residence Jagath Dheerasekara writes about Devinuvara as a site of pilgrimage, colonisation and uprising
Watch pockets hung on the head cloth of a four-post bedstead and originally served in place of bedside tables, which were uncommon in the 19th century
The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on 1 January 1901. The Federation Pavilion in Sydney’s Centennial Park was the focus of the inauguration ceremonies and a five mile procession through the decorated streets of Sydney was greeted by large crowds
January 26 has long been a day of debate and civic action. Those who celebrate may be surprised of the date’s significance in NSW as a protest to the celebrations of the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet on what was then “Anniversary Day” in NSW
Significant publications and reports on the Sydney Opera House project, including the rules for the design competition, plans, drawings and photographs at various stages of the construction
In collaboration with experienced heritage consultants and traditional tradespeople, MHNSW is undertaking conservation works to the northern range buildings
The Vaucluse House kitchen garden recently underwent a significant rejuvenation project to preserve the site and allow it to continue to be used as a valuable educational resource
MHNSW is undertaking the first comprehensive conservation works to the fence surrounding the 1870s resting place of William Charles Wentworth
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