RAHS Latest News
2025 FAHS Awards of Merit
Guidelines for the FAHS Awards of Merit The Federation of Australian Historical Societies (FAHS) annually calls for nominations for its Awards of Merit. Up to five Awards of Merit are awarded to individuals. These awards take the form of a Certificate of Merit. Awards of Merit are recognition of a meritorious contribution to the community history and heritage movement across a region, at State/Territory level or across more than one State/Territory. Any individual is eligible for this award...
Irish Bigamy with Damian Gleeson
Learn more about Irish bigamy in colonial NSW at the Liverpool City Library This Family History Month, join Damian Gleeson at the Liverpool City Library for a fascinating talk exploring love, marriage and bigamy among Irish convicts in early New South Wales. Historian and genealogist Dr Damian John Gleeson will share insights from his new book, Irish Bigamy: New Insights into Colonial New South Wales. Based on over 100 real cases, Dr Gleeson reveals how convicts — regardless of religion —...
The Historical Land Records Viewer: Searching for Individuals
Historical Land Records Viewer workshop at History House Join Christine Yeats for a course on using the Historical Land Records Viewer (HLRV) to research individuals and properties. This course will guide participants through the process of accessing and interpreting historical land records, parish maps, and other key documents. Ideal for family historians, local researchers, and anyone interested in land ownership and settlement patterns, the course offers step-by-step instruction, research...
Challenging Narratives: Introducing the June 2025 JRAHS
Challenging Narratives: Introducing the June 2025 Volume of the JRAHS The June 2025 issue of the Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society (Vol. 111, Part I) explores new perspectives on colonial authority, identity, and Australia's contested past. As Editor Dr Samuel White outlines in his foreword, this issue reflects the Journal’s original intent: to challenge dominant narratives and recover overlooked voices from across Australia’s history. Dr Keith Amos revisits the 1790 spearing...
Not Another Gentlemen’s Club: The origins and significance of the Royal Society of NSW
Not just another gentlemen’s club The origins and significance of the Royal Society of NSW Wednesday, 16 July, 1.00 pm – 3.00 pm We're excited to partner with the Royal Society of NSW for a fascinating presentation at History House on Wednesday, 16 July 2025. Join historian Dr Anne Coote as she explores the origins and legacy of the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere, founded in 1821. Drawing on her bicentenary history, Knowledge for a Nation, Dr Coote will uncover the Royal...
Symbols of Australia: A Look at the Icons That Shape Us
A Presentation by Richard White MacAdams Music Centre, Port Macquarie Saturday, 19 July 2025 Why do we wear a sprig of wattle, queue for a democracy sausage, or argue about flags? Symbols of Australia offers illuminating — and often surprising — insights into the symbols that shape how we see ourselves as a nation. From Uluru to the Australian flag, the rainbow serpent to the FJ Holden, the southern cross to the democracy sausage, the Akubra to the Great Barrier Reef, these symbols are often...
The Recruiting Officer: Australia’s First Recorded Play
The Recruiting Officer: Australia’s First Recorded Play Written by Rebecca Vipond, RAHS Volunteer When you hear the word ‘convict’, what comes to mind? Chain gangs? Cat o’ nine tails? How about theatre and play acting? On 4 June 1789, the birthday of King George III, a group of convicts performed Australia’s first recorded play at Sydney Cove. (1) The play was The Recruiting Officer by Irish playwright George Farquhar. It is not surprising that a play was performed by the colonists. In the...
RAHS 2025 Annual General Meeting
RAHS 2025 Annual General Meeting The RAHS held its 2025 annual general meeting via Zoom on 15 April 2025, with members joining RAHS Councillors to review the annual and financial reports. The following motions were passed unanimously: Confirmation of the minutes from the previous annual meeting held 16 April 2024 Adoption of the RAHS Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2024 Adoption of the RAHS Financial Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 RAHS Council Nominations The 2025...
2025 Easter to Anzac Day Closure
Easter/Anzac Day Close 2025 18 April to 25 April 2025 History House will be closed between the Easter and Anzac Day public holidays. (Friday, 18 April to Friday, 25 April 2025). RAHS employees will return on Monday, 28 April 2025. We wish all our members and friends a safe holiday break.
RDHS History Talk: Resuming Bondi Beach
RDHS History Talk: Resuming Bondi Beach Join the Randwick and District Historical Society for an engaging presentation that will explore the history of Bondi Beach. Did you know the world-famous Bondi Beach was privately owned for most of the nineteenth century? Public use was dependent on the landowners’ permission until the NSW Government resumed it in 1882. Achieving public access took time and advocacy. About the speaker: Alice Paul is a local historian and member of the Waverley...
The Convict Valley: Parramatta Female Factory Speaker
The Convict Valley by Mark Dunn Parramatta Female Factory Friends Bi-monthly Speaker Newcastle, at the mouth of the Hunter River, is largely a forgotten convict town, despite its foundation story being a convict story and its first twenty years being one of convict toil, punishment and endeavour. The talk will focus on the story of Newcastle in the years before 1830, including its foundation as a convict penal station, interactions with Aboriginal people and the exploitation of the area’s coal...
Gresford to Carrabolla: People and Places
Paterson Historical Society launch new book: Gresford to Carrabolla – People and Places Paterson Historical Society’s new book, Gresford to Carrabolla – People and Places by Dr Brian Walsh, was recently launched by the Mayor of Dungog, Digby Rayward, at Gresford Bowling Club. It was published with support from Create NSW’s Cultural Grants Program. The book reveals how European society emerged along the Paterson River from the 1820s, albeit at the expense of the dispossession of Aboriginal...
RAHS Weekly News Round-Up