Stories

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crime

The Roaring Twenties was a golden era for criminals

Underworld Blog

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

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

Conserving the archive

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

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

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

A turbulent past

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

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'

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

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

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

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

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

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