PHA NSW Members at Work

  PHA (NSW & ACT) member Sue Castrique’s long-awaited history of the convict period on Cockatoo  Island was launched at History House in Sydney on 26 November. This work deals with corruption, patronage and intrigue, constant features of NSW politics in colonial times just as they are now. Under the Colony’s Eye tells the story … Read more

  It’s spring! Time to dust off our togs, thongs, hats and all the things that make us comfortable at the beach. This year, beach-going historians will have the perfect reading material. PHA (NSW) member Caroline Ford’s new book has just come out – Sydney Beaches: A History. Caroline offers her reader a fascinating analysis … Read more

Bruce Baskerville, PHA NSW & ACT Chair, posts some ideas about pathways between Professional, Associate and Graduate membership of the association. I flagged the question of pathways between different levels of membership in the PHA NSW/ACT in my annual report. Now, I would like to encourage more discussion among members to assist the committee in … Read more

  This year the Australian Historical Association (AHA) Conference was held at the University of Queensland’s campus in Brisbane. The theme of the AHA’s 33rd annual get together, held in the week of 7-11 July, was ‘Conflict in History’. The setting of the conference, in rooms within the sandstone buildings that make up the university’s … Read more

by Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley, Centre for Media History, Macquarie University. Since Kerry Packer’s death on Boxing Day, 2005, his family, and that of the Murdochs, have been ripe for nostalgic embrace. Three dramatic mini-series focused on the Packer empire: Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo (on the ABC in 2011), Howzat! The Kerry Packer War … Read more

by Nicole Cama, Digital Curator, Australian National Maritime Museum. I always find the amalgamation of past and current events to be a challenging task as a historian. Last week I was a guest speaker for the Dictionary of Sydney’s weekly history segment on Breakfast at 2SER radio. The International Court of Justice had, only the day … Read more

Ian Willis reports on a public lecture he presented on 9 October 2013  at the Camden Historical Society  called ‘The story of the Camden district Red Cross in war and peace, 1914-1945’. This is a wonderful story of conservative country women doing their patriotic duty in an outpost of the British Empire. From 1914 Camden … Read more

Post by Yvonne Perkins “I thought it was amazing”, enthused Robyn McConkey of North Sydney at the end of a history walk conducted by professional historian, Dr Ian Hoskins. A group of about thirty walkers had gathered three hours earlier outside Shore School in North Sydney for the walking tour, ‘Following Photography’ Footsteps’. The school … Read more