Collections

Burdekin House, Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney Mint, Old Sydney 1933-35 / [Thomas J Lawlor, photographer] [photograph album]
Featured display

Leaving Only Memories: The loss of Burdekin House

Our current display showcases objects and artworks related to Burdekin House, a grand colonial mansion that once stood on Macquarie Street but was demolished in 1933, a victim of Sydney’s urban development

Tuesday 7 July
(Left) Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly, bushranger, c1880; (right) telegram re Kelly Gang, 1880
Online talk

The Ned Kelly Papers

Join us for this webinar exploring the life and crimes of Australia’s most notorious bushranger, featuring recently digitised records from the NSW State Archives Collection.

Friday 27 November 10.30am–11.30am
Apprentice photographers at Sydney Technical College, 1955
Online talk

Five Things to Discover in the Photographic Archive of the Government Printing Office

Join this webinar to explore the 20th-century photography of the NSW Government Printing Office. Learn the stories behind these images and how you can access them

Friday 30 October 10.30am–11.30am
(Left) Cover of surveyor field book, 1932; (right) surveyor at work, c1913
Online talk

NSW Surveyor Field Books: What Every Researcher Needs to Know

Join us for this webinar to learn how to access these fabulous records detailing the landscapes of NSW and explore the information they contain.

Friday 25 September 10.30am–11.30am
Design for ceiling decoration,  ca.1890

Exploring the Augusto Lorenzini archive

Assistant Research Curator Anna Stewart-Yates reflects on discoveries and questions raised by months spent cataloguing the archive of Augusto Lorenzini, 19th-century decorator of vanished Sydney interiors. The archive is now fully catalogued and can be explored online

Catalogues of Lost Dreams

House contents have been sold at auction in Sydney for over 200 years. Discover the gossip behind these sales and view auction catalogues

Growing the living collection – camellias at Vaucluse House

At Vaucluse House, Museums of History NSW cares for a highly significant collection of historical camellias, including several rare cultivars dating back to the mid-19th century

Latest News

Useful and beautiful – new Caroline Simpson Library niche display

The new display in the niche just outside the Caroline Simpson Library gives visitors a chance to see an original Morris & Co chair with an Australian provenance