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

Watch pockets
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

Cutter and Coota: a children’s play by Bruce Pascoe
Meet author and historian Bruce Pascoe and the main characters from his play Cutter and Coota as they reflect on the play’s themes and the experience of performing at the Hyde Park Barracks

Dressing Joan Sutherland
One of the most spectacular costumes on display in the exhibition The People’s House: Sydney Opera House at 50 is an extraordinary Renaissance dress designed by Kristian Fredrikson and worn by Dame Joan Sutherland in the part of the notorious Lucrezia Borgia

Wall to wall: a marvellous wallpaper collection
A remarkable donation of over 3000 wallpaper samples by John and Phyllis Murphy adds to our existing collection to form Australia’s largest repository of historic wallpapers

A Sepik River mei mask
An eye-catching object in the People’s House: Sydney Opera House at 50 exhibition reveals an unexpected story of the opening ceremonies, of performance, and of international diplomacy

An Opera House in every home
Instantly recognisable, the Opera House has been replicated across a vast array of forms and materials, from kitsch souvenirs and homewares to artworks and designer accessories

Harold Blair, trailblazer
Wulli Wulli tenor Harold Blair AM was Australia’s first professionally trained Aboriginal opera singer

Marion Mahony Griffin: architect, environmentalist, visionary
Marion Mahony Griffin was a woman ahead of her time. Over five decades she promoted progressive ideas that are as relevant today, 150 years after her birth, as in her own time
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

Convict Sydney
The turning tide
Amidst public outcry, the convict ships stop but the ‘stain’ of Sydney’s convict past is harder to erase

Convict Sydney
Objects
These convict-era objects and archaeological artefacts found at 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
Sydney Opera House
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Fort Macquarie, Bennelong Point
Fort Macquarie was constructed between 1817-1821 and demolished in 1901. The Tram Depot was opened in 1902 and pulled down in 1958 to make way for the building of the Sydney Opera House
![Government Printing Office 2 - 08376 - Opera House Committee at Public Works Building [Department of Local Government; interiors; architects; public servants] [GPO original locations or series - 47927] [11/1/1957]](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2023/06/6c044bb10f784986b9f04aa78dab183a.jpg)
Management of the Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House Trust operates and maintains the Opera House on behalf of the NSW Government

Opening of the Sydney Opera House
The Opera House was officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen on 20 October 1973. This was followed by a two-week festival of events
![Government Printing Office 2 - 49270 - Sydney Opera House [Public Works] [GPO original locations or series - St89262] [Jun-73]](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2023/06/d6a81135238f446c974d7ed335b7ab99.jpg)
Photographs and oral histories of Sydney Opera House
There are many images of the Sydney Opera House in all stages of construction and use in the State Archives Collection.
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

A new way of living
Once word spread about the newly built Rose Seidler House in 1950, it was the ‘most talked about house in Sydney’. Seventy years on, it's impossible to deny the strength and daring of Seidler's vision

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

In the pink at Elizabeth Farm
Amid the late summer bounty in the garden at Elizabeth Farm, the crepe myrtle is the undoubted star of the show

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