Caroline Simpson Library
A specialised resource centre
The Caroline Simpson Library is a specialised research library open to anyone with an interest in the history of house and garden design, interior furnishings and domestic life in NSW. Its collection features a wide range of formats, including architectural pattern books, architectural fragments, wall and floor coverings, trade catalogues and sample books, garden ornaments, hardware and fittings, soft furnishings and trimmings, personal papers, manuscripts, pictures, photographs, books, periodicals and oral histories.
Display
A Generous Gift: The John and Phyllis Murphy Collection
Our current library display features an array of colourful and evocative historical wallpapers from the John and Phyllis Murphy Collection
Caroline Simpson Library
Gadigal Country
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000- Cafe
- Wheelchair accessible
New insights from an old photograph
A recent acquisition for the Caroline Simpson Library captures a rare view of the long-demolished southern range of the Hyde Park Barracks
Stories
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An extraordinary collection
The Caroline Simpson Collection has become Australia’s leading source of information on the history of houses, interiors, furnishings, gardens and domestic life
![Alexander Mackintosh Archive :
architectural plans and specifications, 1901-ca.1921: Waterhouse & Lake : architectural plans and specifications, 1909-1924 / B.J. Waterhouse & J.W. Lake [architectural drawing]](https://images.mhnsw.au/fotoweb/embed/2024/12/41b04e66f26c41e0a8a932bedad1490a.jpg)
The Alexander Mackintosh Archive: revealing records of a master builder
Forgotten for decades, the archive of building contractor Alexander Mackintosh was rediscovered in a roof space in the 1990s. It includes more than 270 architectural drawings and reveals information about the work of many of Sydney’s leading architects of the early 20th century
![[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
The architectural pattern books of Elizabeth Macquarie
The architectural achievements of Governor Macquarie’s era are usually attributed to Macquarie’s architect Francis Greenway. Yet evidence collected during an inquiry into the state of the colony of NSW in the early 1820s includes references to the involvement of the governor’s wife, Elizabeth Macquarie, in matters architectural
Beyond the wallpaper: the life and work of Phyllis and John Murphy
A significant donation of more than 3,000 wallpaper samples to the Caroline Simpson Library reflects just one facet of the remarkable careers of Phyllis and John Murphy, partners in life, architecture and heritage conservation
Find out more about our collection
Annual Giving: Sharing our stories
Your support will help us to preserve and share the stories of NSW through our places, collections, archives and programs
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