Stories
Our houses, museums and collections are packed to the brim with stories of all kinds

The Spa subsidised school
A curious index card unlocks information about a unique subsidised school, whose history has been preserved within the State Archives Collection

First Nations
Grief in the archives: a Blak reflection on Sorry Day
In this article, Dylan Hoskins, Project Assistant on the First Nations Community Access to Archives project, reflects on the significance of National Sorry Day through his lived experience as an Aboriginal person

An immersive solution to preserving the past
An important part of Collections Care work at the Western Sydney Records Centre is to conserve records that have been requested by readers and assessed as requiring repair

A closer look at bricks
A high-tech research collaboration is giving us new insights into some very familiar objects from our vast archaeological collection

Finding hope: Q&A with artist Hiromi Tango
Hope is a digital projection artwork by Japanese-Australian artist Hiromi Tango that uses the facade of the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Hyde Park Barracks as its canvas

Women police in NSW: a history of firsts
A collection of photographs at the Justice & Police Museum document the hard-won firsts, beginning in 1915, that led to women attaining equal status within the NSW Police Force

Wallpaper
Wallpaper printing rollers: from machine printing to 3D capture
In December 2022, Phyllis Murphy AM generously donated to the Caroline Simpson Library more than 3,000 wallpaper samples. While the bulk of the donation consists of wallpaper rolls, lengths and sample books, it also includes two printing rollers
First Nations stories
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First Nations
Grief in the archives: a Blak reflection on Sorry Day
In this article, Dylan Hoskins, Project Assistant on the First Nations Community Access to Archives project, reflects on the significance of National Sorry Day through his lived experience as an Aboriginal person

First Nations
Seeing Sydney, Knowing Country: The Library of the Dreaming
Dharawal and Yuin designer Alison Page shares the knowledge and philosophies that define Aboriginal understandings of Country and the life that is lived on it
![NRS 12061 [12/8749.1] 62/1515pt1, p334](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/zl9du87e/production/f95209714e7233f28b7abc814dbc999c0d9033e3-1404x2000.jpg?rect=0,525,1404,861&fit=max&auto=format)
First Nations
Advocacy, allyship and the rise and fall of the Aborigines Protection Board
In the lead-up to 26 January, the State Archives Collection provides opportunities to explore and reflect on past examples of advocacy and allyship in the fight for First Nations rights
![[Sydney from the north shore], Joseph Lycett, 1827.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/zl9du87e/production/efb0ca986f6e159dd142f8014c35c3b1010cbc06-1346x908.jpg?fit=max&auto=format)
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
Convicts
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Convict Sydney
Convict Sydney
From a struggling convict encampment to a thriving Pacific seaport, a city takes shape

Hyde Park Barracks – the convict years
In 1788, the penal colony of New South Wales was established on the Country of the Gadigal people

First Fleet Ships
First Fleet ships
At the time of the First Fleet’s voyage there were some 12,000 British commercial and naval ships plying the world’s oceans

Convict Sydney
Objects
These convict-era objects and archaeological artefacts found at the Hyde Park Barracks and The Mint (Rum Hospital) are among the rarest and most personal artefacts to have survived from Australia’s early convict period
Underworld

Underworld Blog
Descend into Sydney’s seedy underworld with our blog. Discover exclusive stories, never-before-seen images, and behind-the-scenes insights

Underworld
The Roaring Twenties
The 1920s heralded the brave new world that emerged from the devastation of World War I

Police photographer George Howard
George B Howard was a prominent police photographer in Sydney during the 1920s
Conservation
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Conserving the archive
Supervising conservator Dominique Moussou talks through her work and some of the projects underway in the MHNSW conservation lab

Conservation
Susannah Place conservation project
A behind-the-scenes look at some of the complex work that goes into conserving and preserving the fascinating Susannah Place Museum

Conservation
A strong and simple structure: conserving the woolshed
The second phase of a major conservation project on the woolshed at Rouse Hill Estate has seen the rustic 160-year-old structure strengthened and stabilised

Conserving Harry Seidler’s sofa
A sofa Harry Seidler designed for Rose Seidler House was conserved and reupholstered, and the process revealed some unexpected findings
Stories about our places

Museum stories
A turbulent past
With its deep, shady verandahs and elegant symmetry, Elizabeth Farm is an iconic early colonial bungalow

Museum stories
Gritty business
Immerse yourself in Sydney's chilling criminal past in this unique water-front museum of policing, law and disorder – with its grizzly collection of underworld weapons along with tales of mayhem and lawlessness, aptly described as an educational resource befitting a 'professor in crime'

Museum stories
Make yourself at home
Meroogal became home to four generations of resilient and resourceful women, whose house was their livelihood as well as their home

Museum stories
Not a lovelier site
‘There is not a lovelier site in the known world’, wrote the Sydney-born barrister and novelist John Lang about the Wentworth family’s estate of Vaucluse
3D story telling
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'A most excellent brick house' Elizabeth Farm
Curator Dr Scott Hill explores some of the enduring mysteries buried in the architecture of Australia’s oldest surviving homestead

3D scanning the archaeological dog skeleton
A key component of Museum of Sydney’s interpretation is the archaeological remains of First Government House

Museum stories
A rum deal
When Lachlan Macquarie began his term as governor of NSW in 1810, Sydney was in desperate need of a new hospital
Plant your history
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Plant your history
Beautiful bountiful bamboo
One of the most recognisable plants growing at Museums of History NSW today is bamboo. This colourful plant has a long history in colonial gardens

Plant your history
Sumptuous cape bulbs light up late summer gardens
Belladonna Lilies and Crinum Lilies are tough bulbs that never say die and can survive years of neglect

Plant your history
Acanthus - an apt symbol for The Mint
Look at any classical building today, anywhere in the world and chances are you will find an acanthus leaf lurking somewhere

Plant your history
Extending the olive branch
Just over a year ago we started a project to ensure the survival of the Elizabeth Farm European olive tree (Olea europaea), which is believed to be Australia’s oldest living cultivated olive tree
Dodgy, dangerous, disturbing
3D models: a fascinating exploration of some seemingly innocent objects modified for nefarious purposes from the Justice & Police Museum collection
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