Our latest addition to the RAHS Flickr page is a fascinating album of photographs donated to The Royal Australian Historical Society by Ray Woodley of Palmerston North, New Zealand in 2015. The album records a 1936 trip to Australia made by Ray’s uncle, Dave who lived in Wellington, New Zealand. Click here: www.flickr.com/photos/royalaustralianhistoricalsociety/albums Like a Facebook page today, the photos in this album show us the curated version of Dave’s trip as it was presented to friends and family. But … Read More
Indigenous Oral Histories – An RAHS/Oral History NSW joint seminar
From community-driven and university-based projects, to the collecting initiatives of libraries, archives and museums, the oral history work being undertaken with Indigenous communities across Australia is extensive. In this seminar, you’ll hear from Associate Professor Heidi Norman, who has expertise in conducting research about Aboriginal land rights, Dr. Dino Hodge, an activist and academic renowned for his explorations of Indigenous Australian queer histories, and archivist Kirsten Thorpe, who leads the Indigenous Services team at the State Library of NSW. The … Read More
LIVERPOOL TO HOLDSWORTHY RAILWAY
Moorebank Heritage Group has shared with us the upcoming exhibition and events on the historically significant LIVERPOOL TO HOLDSWORTHY RAILWAY, the only railway constructed during WWI by the Commonwealth for military purposes. Exhibition from Saturday 8 July to Saturday 2 September 2017 at Liverpool Regional Museum – 462 Hume Highway, Liverpool Bookings required at mylibrary.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/whats-on
MOREE REGIONAL SEMINAR – SATURDAY 8TH JULY
The RAHS in conjunction with Gwydir Family History Society Inc. presents the Moree Regional Seminar. Bookings are open for the RAHS’ next regional seminar, funded by Create NSW, this time in Moree NSW. Learn about accessing and using Land Title Records with RAHS President Carol Liston. RAHS Senior Vice President Christine Yeats will discuss the resources available for researchers wanting to discover how houses were furnished by our ancestors, and the wealth of Government Gazettes which are now available online … Read More
PROTECT PARRAMATTA’S HERITAGE: OBJECT TO PARRAMATTA NORTH DRAFT DCP AND DA/1124/2016
Attendees of the 2016 RAHS Conference in Wollongong would have heard Suzette Meade, President of the North Parramatta Resident’s Group (NPRAG), discuss the work NPRAG has carried out to protect and promote Parramatta’s heritage. To view Suzette’s presentation on YouTube, click here. Suzette has set up a template submission portal to enable people to easily make a submission objecting to the Draft DCP and the first DA from Urban Growth NSW, which is to approve the subdivision of Fleet Street … Read More
RAHS WINTER 2017 CALENDAR RELEASED
Explore the many events that make up our Winter calendar – download the PDF version here http://bit.ly/2rio2th or from the RAHS website http://www.rahs.org.au/events-overview/ We have something for everyone this Winter – learn how to access and use Land Title Records, tour Victoria Barracks, Millers Point or the Art Gallery of NSW, attend a seminar at State Archives and Records NSW on building research skills, and be part of our regional seminars in Moree and the Central Coast, funded by Arts … Read More
AUSTRALIAN LIVES: AN INTIMATE HISTORY by Anisa Puri and Alistair Thomson
Australian Lives: An Intimate History illuminates Australian life across the 20th and into the 21st century: how Australian people have been shaped by the forces and expectations of contemporary history and how, in turn, they have made their lives and created Australian society. From oral history interviews with Australians born between 1920 and 1989, fifty narrators reflect on their diverse experiences as children and teenagers, in midlife and in old age, about faith, migration, work and play, aspiration and activism, … Read More
PAUL IRISH ‘HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW – THE ABORIGINAL PEOPLE OF COASTAL SYDNEY’
In 2016 Historian Paul Irish and researchers from the La Perouse Aboriginal Community produced a successful exhibition on Aboriginal people of coastal Sydney at History House, ‘This is Where They Travelled: Historical Aboriginal Lives in Sydney’. Paul has now released a publication ‘Hidden in Plain View: The Aboriginal People of Coastal Sydney’, which is available from all good book stores or online through NewSouth Books. Paul was also interviewed recently by Wendy Harmer on ABC Radio and his website ‘Coastal … Read More
‘The Making of the Australian Working Class’
Join History Council NSW at Ashfield Library on 8th June for ‘The Making of the Australian Working Class’. Book now for this free event! Sources for the mobility of ideas that explain the strength of working class culture in Australia are scarce. Traditionally, historians have focused on educated and mainly middle class Irish rebels, English Chartists, and Scottish martyrs to interpret the rise of working class culture in Australia. By shifting historical focus away from these sources and the ‘crime’ … Read More
HISTORY WEEK 2017 DEADLINES
History Week 2017 (2-10 September) is almost here, with event registration and Speaker Connect deadlines fast approaching! The theme for History Week 2017 is ‘popular culture’. As History Week enters its 20th year, History Council of NSW members are invited to celebrate popular culture across the decades, investigate its construction and analyse its impact on communities and individuals. How has popular culture, whether it be music, theatre, dance, film, television, sport or fashion, changed over time? Who defines it, and why? What … Read More
OUR LATEST UPLOAD TO YOUTUBE: ‘Direct Hit: The Bombing of Darwin Post Office’
On Wednesday 3rd May at History House, Brett Bowden, Professor of History and Politics at Western Sydney University told the story of the bombing of Darwin during World War II; the Post Office in Darwin at the time suffered a direct hit. Taking cover in a slit trench in the backyard of the Postmaster’s residence were nine members of the Postmaster-General’s Department, including the Postmaster, his wife and daughter – all nine were killed instantly. The presentation is now available … Read More
2017 TROVE ROADSHOWS
May and June 2017 Join the Trove team as they help you find out more about making your organisation’s content available in Trove, improving the discovery of your collection, and options for digitisation. There will be two separate presentations in each location – one for larger organisations (collections larger than 20,000 digital items) and another for smaller organisations. Larger organisations – find out how to make your collections available, increase the number of your collections within Trove and improve how … Read More
RAHS Day Lecture: Direct Hit – The Bombing Of Darwin Post Office
Join us at History House on Wednesday 3 May for our next free day lecture. Brett Bowden will present ‘Direct Hit – The Bombing Of Darwin Post Office’. On the floor of the Northern Territory Parliament is a small plaque that reads: “ON 19 FEBRUARY 1942 AN ENEMY BOMB FELL HERE AND KILLED TEN PEOPLE.” It commemorates a major event in Australian history when 188 Japanese fighters and bombers launched a deadly air raid on Darwin. Among the targets was … Read More
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AUSSIE DIGGER HUMOUR – ONE WAY AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD
A message from the NSW Lancers Memorial Museum: 10am to 4pm daily, 6th and 7th May 2017 After the solemnity and reflection of ANZAC Day, the NSW Lancers Memorial Museum is running an unusual exhibition showing how Diggers have poked fun at danger, injury, appalling conditions and the pompous (usually Officers), from the Boer War in 1899 to the present day. Using a rich and rare collection of soldier’s diaries, cartoons, official and unofficial trench news sheets, unit publications and … Read More
A 2016 Heritage Grant-funded project – ‘Long Bay’ by Patrick Kennedy
Patrick Kennedy will be releasing his 2016 Heritage grant supported publication Long Bay in late 2017. Patrick has recently set up a website and Facebook page to help spread the word of his forthcoming publication. The Long Bay prison is historically significant as the only prison in Australia to be planned with separate prisons for men and women. The women’s prison, which opened in August 1909, was one of the earliest purpose-built female prisons in the world. Situated on a … Read More
THE COLONY AND ITS FLEDGLING PARLIAMENT
Over 60,000 documents, the Digitised Records of the First Legislative Council (1824-1855), are now available on website of the Parliament of NSW: http://bit.ly/2pjvYZj. The First Legislative Council, the precursor to the current NSW Parliament, is the oldest legislative body in Australia, having been established in 1823 as an advisory body of 5 appointed members. Initially the Council’s jurisdiction covered not only NSW, but also the colonies of Victoria, Tasmania, parts of Queensland, South Australia and even further afield. RAHS President, … Read More
RAHS/ASHET Lecture: Yaralla, Concord – its landscape heritage
Join the Australian Society for History of Engineering and Technology (ASHET) and speaker Stuart Read on the evening of Thursday 27 April for a lecture on the ‘Yaralla’ estate in Concord, Sydney. Hidden in inner-west Sydney, on the Parramatta River are 2 peninsulae marking the domain of the Walker family: merchant Thomas and only child, Eadith. Both were willed to NSW’s people as convalescent hospitals. Yaralla (Dame Eadith Walker Convalescent Hospital)’s expansive grounds are a little-known surprise. Paddocks in Concord … Read More
40 YEARS OF THE NSW HERITAGE ACT – A FORUM
Forty years on from the passing of the Heritage Act 1977, come and hear from speakers who will reflect on the state of heritage conservation in NSW – and look ahead to the next 40 years. Tuesday 18 April 9:00 for 9:30am – 12:00pm Jubilee Room at the Parliament of NSW For more information and booking details click here: http://www.pennysharpe.com/heritageforum
ARTS NSW CULTURAL GRANTS – NOW OPEN
Applications are now open for the Arts NSW Cultural grants program. This program supports local history and heritage projects that facilitate the understanding of the history of the people and places of New South Wales. The Society will distribute $50,000 in grants in 2017, which will be awarded at the RAHS Conference in Cowra in October. This year applications must be made using the online grants management system SmartyGrants. If you have not used this system before and plan to … Read More
STRICKLAND HOUSE DAY – Sunday 30th April
STRICKLAND HOUSE – 52 VAUCLUSE ROAD, VAUCLUSE A message from Woollahra History & Heritage Society Inc. On Sunday, 30th April, The Woollahra History and Heritage Society will give three talks on the history of Strickland House followed by walks around the grounds highlighting some of their interesting features. These will start at 11.00 am, 1.00 pm and 2.30 pm. They will last an hour. No charge to attend but donations will be gratefully accepted. Government Property NSW is carrying out … Read More