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

Government and General Order regarding the 'civilisation of the Aborigines', 10 December 1814
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

Hope by Hiromi Tango

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 roller undergoing 3D capture using photogrammetry
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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Government and General Order regarding the 'civilisation of the Aborigines', 10 December 1814
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

Our Ngura
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
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.

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

Convict Barrack Sydney N.S. Wales

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, Level 1, Hyde Park Barracks Museum
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

Cameron McIntosh Bean (alias Clifford Bennett), Special photograph number 781, 24 March 1922, possibly Central Police Station, Sydney
Underworld

Crime

The Roaring Twenties was a golden era for criminals

C Smith, J Bezzina, W J Williamson, A Feutrill, G Hodder and W Thorson, Special Photograph number 1607, 25 January 1928, Central Police Station, Sydney

Underworld Blog

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

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Underworld

The Roaring Twenties

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

Howard Family photographs

Police photographer George Howard

George B Howard was a prominent police photographer in Sydney during the 1920s

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

Kitchen, 60 Gloucester Street, Susannah Place Museum
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

Internal view of the timber shed at Rouse Hill Estate
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

Rose Seidler (left) and Bea Evans seated in the living room, Rose Seidler House

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

Joseph Lycett, 'The residence of John McArthur Esq. near Parramatta, New South Wales'. Aquatint. Published London, John Souter, 1825. Elizabeth Farm collection, Museums of History New South Wales.
Museum stories

A turbulent past

With its deep, shady verandahs and elegant symmetry, Elizabeth Farm is an iconic early colonial bungalow

Black and white image of a sandstone building. A man can be seen in the foreground.
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'

Image of the Meroogal homestead on a sunny day.
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

image of painting showing a dramatic panoramic view of harbour surrounded by natural bushland with Vaucluse estate in the foreground.
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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Elizabeth Farm house - front verandah and carriageway

'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

Large 2 storey building with deep verandahs, steps leading to lower verandah and bushes and driveway in the foreground.
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

Plants against a sandstone wall in the front garden of The Mint.
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

Plastic pots of Olives taken as cuttings from the first Australian olive at Elizabeth Farm
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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