… a freelance historian, heritage consultant and editor who loves working on community histories. Naomi’s current area of interest is the life and milieu of Musquito, who was exiled from NSW in 1805 and hanged in Tasmania as a bushranger in 1825. What made you decide to pursue a career in history? I grew … Read more
Sue Castrique explains… Some of the surprising users of the National Library of Australia’s Trove are knitters. In 2012, Rose Holley at the NLA noticed that, while the most popular searches were for births, deaths, marriages and murders, there was a strong trend for knitting patterns. For a while, ‘knitting pattern’ and ‘knit + cast … Read more
by Judith Godden … At last! After some four years’ delay, my history of Sydney’s baby factory, Crown Street Women’s Hospital, is out! Published by Allen & Unwin, Crown Street sheds light on Sydney’s social history as well as international issues in women’s health. It also has some lessons for today, though I normally … Read more
Ian Willis writes about Sydney’s central parklands… The Domain and Royal Botanic Gardens are some of the most important open spaces in Australia’s urban landscape. The 29 hectares of gardens are surrounded by 51 hectares of parkland including the Sydney Domain. They were officially recognised as a botanic garden in 1816, while only becoming … Read more
Melbourne is abuzz in the lead-up to Christmas. The crowds are out in shops and eateries. Others have been watching 16 hours of Richard Wagner’s monumental Ring Cycle. This production by Neil Armfield accentuates the opera’s warnings about the adverse consequences, on relationships as well as on nature, of greed and material acquisition. Another … Read more
Christine Yeats represented the PHA NSW&ACT at an Australian Society of Archivists seminar, Forging Links, on 18 October 2016. This post is based on her presentation at the seminar… Today, people from across the globe can get online access to an ever-increasing number of records. Does this render obsolete the expert advice and assistance … Read more
Pauline Curby, author of Independent Minds: a history of St George Girls High School (UNSW Press, Sydney, 2016) talks about the importance of writing the history of public schools… St George Girls High School opened at a critical juncture in the history of Australia. The year 1916 was a troubled time, with political unrest, and war … Read more
by Yvonne Perkins Thousands of people have voiced their outrage at the latest illegal demolition of an historic building in Australia. The Corkman Irish Hotel, which had been part of inner-suburban Melbourne since the 1850s, is now a pile of rubble. Damaged a week earlier by a fire the police are investigating, the hotel … Read more
Anisa Puri has worked mainly in oral history, heritage interpretation and project management. She is President of Oral History NSW, and managed the Australian Generations Oral History Project from 2012-2015. She is currently working as a historian at a heritage consulting firm and is also involved in the HIV/AIDS Volunteers History Project at Macquarie … Read more
Ian Willis reports The Australian Red Cross Society is part of one of the world’s most important humanitarian organisations. It has provided relief in times of crisis for 100 years. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement has seven guiding principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality. The origins of … Read more