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

Tracing NSW Gaol Inmates: Researching criminal offenders in the State Archives Collection

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

Friday 27 September 10.30am–11.30am
The polychromatic ornament of Italy / by Edward Adams, architect.
a card badge
Tour

A designer’s inspiration: 19th century ornament source books

Lavishly illustrated Ornament Source Books provided creative inspiration to 19th century designers. A wide variety will be on view for this Rare Book Week event

The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Wednesday 23 October 2.30pm–3.30pm
Government Printing Office; NRS 4481, Glass negatives NRS-4481-4-161-[AF00198139] Agricultural College Boys [Department of Agriculture] [no date]
Online talk

Raising the Farmer: Glass negatives taken for the Agricultural Gazette of NSW, 1890-1914

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 as a unique slice of rural life

Friday 25 October 10.30am–11.30am
Government Printing Office; NRS 4481, Glass negatives.  NRS-4481-3-[7/15880]-M1925 Government Printing Office 1 - 34395 - General dining room, Liverpool Asylum [From NSW Government Printer series: Department of Public Health]
Online talk

The records of Liverpool Asylum

This webinar will explore 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)

Friday 22 November 10.30am–11.30am
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

Postcard design with photo of cows crossing a creek
Featured display

A Passion for Postcards: The Postcard Collection of Miss Vera Bell

Our current library display draws from the postcard collection of Miss Vera Bell, a young Sydney woman, and provides a snapshot of an era: the golden age of postcards

Webinars

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

The Lord's Prayer - Religious tract written in an Aboriginal language 1836

First Nations Community Access to Archives

Join the First Nations Community Access to Archives project team in deep listening to learn about the journey of storytelling, truth-telling and language revitalisation

Government Printing Office 1 - 02086 - Oyster bed [From NSW Government Printer series: Ballina], 1926

Oyster culture leases files

The government started to encourage oyster fisheries from 1868 and later introduced oyster leases. This webinar focuses on our series of NRS-1302 Oyster cultures leases files, which tell the stories of the people who held these leases between 1920 and 1978

Portrait of a man

Colonial Secretary's minutes, 1826-1927

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

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

Cover label Small debts registers [Newcastle Court of Petty Sessions]
Latest News

Archives for Everyone

The Archives for Everyone project has seen us partner with 14 groups who have nominated Small Debts registers from Courts of petty sessions throughout NSW

Behind the scenes
Latest News

Significance matters

As part of an ongoing partnership with Museums & Galleries of NSW, our Curatorial and Digital teams have been hard at work making a suite of vocational videos that explore the importance of assessing and communicating the significance of museum collections

View of limestone cave
Latest News

Jenolan Caves in the State Archives Collection

We are donning our speleological hard hats and highlighting digitised material relating to Jenolan Caves held in the State Archives Collection

Donors enjoying the 'Syrens of Sydney' concert
Latest News

The Syrens of Sydney: a bespoke donor experience

On a perfect autumn afternoon in late May, donors were immersed in the musical world of the Wentworths and their contemporaries at the 'Syrens of Sydney' concert held at Vaucluse House

Stories from our collections

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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

Painting of various animals riding bicycles

Bicycle race

'Bicycle race' is just one of many postcards from the collection of Vera Bell as part of the Bell family papers, now housed in the Caroline Simpson Library

Cartoon drawing of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright

The Wasmuth Portfolio

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wasmuth Portfolio, is regarded as one of the most influential architectural treatises of the 20th century

Muswellbrook Power Station Carl Street Apprentices For 1982 Annual Report

Electricity Commission photos

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

'Day of Mourning' Aboriginal meeting on 26 January 1938 at Australian Hall, Sydney, NSW
First Nations

Day of Mourning

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

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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