Written by Elizabeth Heffernan, RAHS Intern On Saturday 24 July 1915, a supplement to the London Gazette was published, recording the military honours King George V had bestowed upon his British and imperial subjects during what was then known as the Great War. Four men were awarded the Victoria Cross, the British empire’s highest military honour, for ‘conspicuous bravery’ in the line of enemy fire. One of these men was an Australian, Lance-Corporal Albert Jacka, today one of our country’s … Read More
Submission to the NSW Heritage Act Review
The NSW Heritage Act 1977 is currently under review by the NSW Government. As part of the review process, the NSW Legislative Council called for public submissions on the proposed changes. As the oldest historical society in Australia and a peak body for the study of NSW history, the Royal Australian Historical Society prepared a submission to the Council’s Standing Committee as follows: The Royal Australian Historical Society was founded in 1901 to encourage the study of Australian history. We … Read More
Call for Papers: Special Issue on ‘Migrant Voices: Community Collaboration and Telling Migration Histories’
Contributions are invited from Australia and overseas for publication in a special issue of Studies in Oral History on ‘Migrant Voices: Community Collaboration and Telling Migration Histories’.
Digital Pick: History Detective
Written by Elizabeth Heffernan, RAHS Intern Our Digital Pick for the latest edition of the RAHS e-newsletter is the History Detective podcast, the perfect companion for Sydney’s extended lockdown. Created by history teacher Kelly Chase, each episode of History Detective delves into a new historical ‘case’ not typically covered by textbooks or in the classroom. Chase then reimagines each story through an original song. Although designed primarily as a classroom tool with accompanying reflection questions and additional educational materials, History … Read More
Changing times: 50 years of daylight saving
Written by Elizabeth Heffernan, RAHS Intern Daylight saving is an accepted, if confusing, part of life for most Australians. On the first Sunday in October, people living in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory set our clocks forward by one hour to extend daylight hours after the working day. On the first Sunday in April, we set them back. The practice is a controversial one, neatly illustrated by the five time zones daylight saving … Read More
Ancestry Digitisation Grant Program 2021
During 2021, Ancestry.com is offering a series of grants to support the family history & archival community within Australia and New Zealand. The deadline for submissions is Saturday 31 July 2021.
2021 Transport Heritage Grants
Submissions for the 2021 Transport Heritage Grants Program are now OPEN! The closing date for submissions is 10 August 2021.
Kogarah Historical Society – 2021 Local History Awards
Kogarah Historical Society is pleased to announce its third Local History essay competition for the purpose of encouraging research and recording events in our district’s past. Entries should focus on any aspect of the history of the Kogarah or Georges River Council area and can include environmental heritage, built heritage, events and personalities.
Ninnis, Mertz, and Mawson
Written by Elizabeth Heffernan, RAHS Intern 110 years ago in 1911 the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) set sail from Hobart, Tasmania, on the old whaling ship Aurora. Among the crew were a young Frank Hurley, soon-to-be war photographer; Frank Wild, English explorer and Antarctic veteran; Belgrave Ninnis, son of the Arctic explorer of the same name and lieutenant with the Royal Fusiliers; Xavier Mertz, Swiss champion skier; and Douglas Mawson, Australian geologist and leader of the expedition, six months shy … Read More
National Archaeology Week 2021
Join us as we celebrate National Archaeology Week 2021 (16 – 22 May) with a Special Evening Lecture: Dr Iain Stuart will trace the gold and silver mining history of Sunny Corner and its connection to the birth of Broken Hill.
On This Day: The Royal Mint
Written by RAHS Volunteer, Maximilian Reid On 14 May 1855, the Royal Mint in Sydney was first opened to the public. The discovery of gold in 1851 created the immediate need for such a vital institution due to the increased economic growth in the colony of New South Wales. The building itself – housed in the southern wing of the General Hospital and Dispensary – was already undergoing a conversion. The Hospital, built in 1811, was three buildings grouped together … Read More
Our history up in flames? Why the crisis at the National Archives must be urgently addressed
Michelle Arrow, Macquarie University Imagine you are in a large building near Parliament House in Canberra filled with irreplaceable objects. Not jewels, medals or paintings, but a collection of letters, tapes and documents of Australian life. The collection contains letters written to and from prime ministers, and recordings of their speeches. It has historic episodes of the ABC television programs Four Corners and Countdown. Audio recordings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Your grandmother’s migration records. Your … Read More
RAHS Day Lecture – That Luminous Moment: The ‘wild and enthusiastic’ ways of artist, mystic and republican Adelaide Ironside (1831-1867)
Adelaide Ironside was born in Sydney to a native-born mother and a Scottish auctioneer. When her parents’ marriage ended in 1834, she and her mother went to live at Redman’s Court, just a stone’s throw from Circular Quay and across from the town’s goal where her grandfather was Principal Gaoler. Although Adelaide’s remaining art and archive is porous, there is much to suggest she was first taught to paint by her grandmother, who was transported for forgery during the Napoleonic … Read More
Blanket Returns at NSW State Archives
The Blanket Returns list Aboriginal people who received blankets from the colonial authorities and are an important resource for Aboriginal family history and personal research.
Remembering Regional City 75th Anniversaries, 2020-2022
Bruce Pennay Commemorative anniversaries are carefully selected. They are used to revisit and refine public memory of a past shared by a particular nation or community within it. More often than not, they focus public attention on matters significant to the now as much as the then. They are commonly intent on sharing a past … Read More
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Statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Queen’s Square
Written by Phil Donnelly, President of The Bouddi Society For many years the statues of Victoria and Albert faced each other across Macquarie Street, the Queen’s statue in front of St James Church and Albert the Good in front of Hyde Park Barracks. This alignment reflected the opinion of historians that the marriage between Victoria and Albert was one of the great historical love matches.[1] In 1888 Queen Victoria’s Statue was erected in front of St James Church before a … Read More
Women’s Protests: Then and Now
By Elizabeth Heffernan, RAHS Intern On Monday 15 March 2021, thousands of protestors attended more than forty ‘March 4 Justice’ events across the country. From Melbourne to Mullumbimby, participants rallied against the virulent culture of gendered violence, harassment, and discrimination that plagues even the highest offices of federal parliament. They wore black and carried placards denouncing misogyny, domestic violence, rape culture, and sexual abuse in the workplace. Their rallying cry was simple and became a trending hashtag: #EnoughIsEnough. Women’s protests … Read More
Faith Bandler (1918-2015)
Written by Elizabeth Heffernan, RAHS Intern To celebrate Women’s History Month in 2021, the Royal Australian Historical Society will continue our work from previous years to highlight Australian women that have contributed to our history in various and meaningful ways. You can browse the women featured on our webpage, Women’s History Month. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this webpage contains the names of people who have passed away. “My belief is in people,” said activist and … Read More
Judy Cassab (1920-2015)
Written by Elizabeth Heffernan, RAHS Intern To celebrate Women’s History Month in 2021, the Royal Australian Historical Society will continue our work from previous years to highlight Australian women that have contributed to our history in various and meaningful ways. You can browse the women featured on our webpage, Women’s History Month. A two-time Archibald Prize winner with such high-profile portrait subjects as Joan Sutherland, Princess Alexandra, and Queen Sikrit of Thailand, Judy Cassab’s extraordinary life took her from Nazi-occupied … Read More
Ruby Payne-Scott (1912-1981)
Written by Elizabeth Heffernan, RAHS Intern To celebrate Women’s History Month in 2021, the Royal Australian Historical Society will continue our work from previous years to highlight Australian women that have contributed to our history in various and meaningful ways. You can browse the women featured on our webpage, Women’s History Month. Ruby Payne-Scott was Australia’s first woman radio astronomer. Though relatively unknown during her lifetime, due to both the obscurity of her work and wartime confidentiality, today Ruby is … Read More