Collections

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.

Experience the collections

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A wallpaper frieze
On display
Featured display

A Generous Gift: The John and Phyllis Murphy Collection

Our current library display features an array of colourful and evocative historical wallpapers from the John and Phyllis Murphy Collection

The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Tuesday 29 October
Settlers' muster book, 1800
Online talk

Settlers’ Muster Book 1800

Join us for a webinar led by Dr Carol Liston AO, Adjunct Associate Professor in History at Western Sydney University, who will explore the contents of the Settlers’ Muster Book 1800

Friday 31 January 10.30am–11.30am
Murphy sample book 2: No. 10. 1925
Talk

A Lesson in Bold Design

Exploring the John and Phyllis Murphy Collection of historic wallpapers

The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Wednesday 5 February 6pm–7.30pm
Acquisition of the John and Phyllis Murphy wallpaper collection
Online talk

Murphy Wallpaper Collection

This webinar will illustrate the (perhaps surprising) riot of colour and pattern with which Australians decorated their homes in the 19th and early 20th centuries and will also consider what these wallpapers can tell us about the aspirations of Australian homeowners in the past

Friday 7 February 10.30am–11.30am

Photo collections

Our collections include thousands of photographic images ranging from the late 19th century to the present, highlighting the rich and diverse life in New South Wales

Find out more
Two strands of pearls, or more, v3 by Dianne Beevers

Regional NSW

Thanks to the support and involvement of our regional communities, audiences, peers and partners, our work and remit stretch across the state

Aboriginal Languages and Nations in NSW & ACT © Reconciliation NSW

First Nations Community Access to Archives

This project aims to improve access for First Nations people to important archival material about culture, kinship, stories, and languages within the State Archives Collection

Webinars

General dining room, Liverpool Asylum 1911. Government Printing Office 1-34395

The records of Liverpool Asylum

This webinar explores the records of the Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute (1862-1933) and was later known as the Liverpool State Hospital and Home (1933-1961)

Government Printing Office; NRS 4481, Glass negatives NRS-4481-4-161-[AF00198139] Agricultural College Boys [Department of Agriculture] [no date]

Raising the Farmer

Explore with us some of the 6,000 unique and beautiful glass negatives taken to illustrate articles in the Agricultural Gazette of NSW – now digitally available on our website, a unique slice of rural life

Government Printing Office; NRS 4481, Parramatta [Gaol] [Department of Public Works] [no date]

Tracing NSW gaol inmates

This webinar shows you how to use the State Archives collection to trace your ancestors through the NSW prison system, uncovering their crimes and incarcerations

Government Printing Office; NRS 4481, Glass negatives. NRS-4481-3-[7/15883]-M2439 | Government Printing Office 1 - 30700 - Supreme Court, King and Elizabeth Streets, Sydney [From NSW Government Printer series: City Views]

Equity Court records

Since 1823 the Equity Jurisdiction has dealt with matters of fairness and the enforcing of rights not recognised at Common Law

Design for frieze / by Ethel Atkinson

Creating Imagined Interiors

Join industry experts at the Caroline Simpson Library as they discuss different approaches to creating interiors for house museums and film and television productions

Photo of children in dress up clothes

Unlocking Past Lives

Join Matthew 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

Vivienne Chaffer : Colour [interior design student workbook]

Phyllis Shillito and her colour curriculum 1945–1979

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

Watercolour of a group of people landing ashore

The Extraordinary Story of Rose de Freycinet

Hear the story of Rose de Freycinet, the first woman to write an account of a global circumnavigation, with Suzanne Falkiner

Scottish Rifles outside Hyde Park Barracks / photographer Charles Bayliss
Latest News

New insights from an old photograph

A recent acquisition for the Caroline Simpson Library captures a rare view of the long-demolished southern range of the Hyde Park Barracks

Sydney Opera House - Red Book
Latest News

Envisioning the ‘Sydney National Opera House’: A different ‘Red Book’

A variant version of the ‘Red Book’ – with additional plans dated May 1958 – has recently been generously donated to Museums of History NSW by Mr Mark Matheson

page from an 1836 bundle of correspondence
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Languages alive 2024

In the second annual NSW Aboriginal Languages Week, held on 20–27 October, we celebrate the determination and courage of First Nations peoples to maintain and revitalise languages

A large register sits open showing handwritten entries of wages paid to orphans
Latest News

Wages Paid to Orphans – a regional tour

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our recent Collections on Tour program on Wages paid to orphans, 1849-1851

Stories from our collections

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[Sydney from the north shore], Joseph Lycett, 1827.

Hearing the music of early New South Wales

A new website documents an exciting partnership between Museums of History NSW and the University of Sydney in an exploration of Indigenous song and European settler vocal and instrumental music in early colonial NSW

Phyllis Murphy in her East Malvern apartment, Melbourne, c1950
Wallpaper

Beyond the wallpaper: the life and work of Phyllis and John Murphy

A significant donation of more than 3,000 wallpaper samples to the Caroline Simpson Library reflects just one facet of the remarkable careers of Phyllis and John Murphy, partners in life, architecture and heritage conservation

The fountains of Machattie Park, Bathurst

Several of the postcards featured in our current library display depict Machattie Park in Bathurst. Postcard collector Vera Bell lived in Bathurst between 1905 and 1908 while her father, John, acted as the police superintendent

Back of postcard with short text address to Miss Vera Bell

Tea and scandal

‘Come to afternoon “Tea and Scandal” tomorrow’ is the wonderfully enticing offer made via postcard by Viley and Olive, young friends of Vera Bell

WSRC Historical Photos. Opening of the Western Sydney Records Centre
On This Day

28 Nov 1975 – the Western Sydney Records Centre opened

The NSW State Archives officially opened the Western Sydney Records Centre (Stage 1) at Kingswood on this day

Letter containing a statement of absolute pardon for Samuel Henry Horn (more often known as  Horne), dated 1830 and signed by Governor Richard Bourke in 1832

Convict turned constable

A recently donated letter, signed by the governor of NSW in 1832, offers a tangible connection to the story of Samuel Horne, a convict who rose to the rank of district chief constable in the NSW Police

Muswellbrook Power Station Carl Street Apprentices For 1982 Annual Report

Electricity Commission

These photos record the power generation and transmission assets of the organisation and document the working conditions and social events of its employees

A crowd of people in a rotunda decorated with streamers

Celebrating federation

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

Collections conservation

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A women holds a large book open while she threads the pages together.

Conserving the archive

Supervising conservator Dominique Moussou talks through her work and some of the projects underway in the MHNSW conservation lab

Sandstone headstone lying horizontal against dark background

Historic houses in 3D

A project to capture 3D scans of MHNSW properties will greatly assist conservation work and create exciting new interpretation opportunities far into the future

Objects in storage at Vaucluse House.

Barcoding our collection

During the 2021 COVID lockdown, a team was busy working behind the scenes to implement technology that will improve how we manage our collections & make them more discoverable for our audiences

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