Stories
Our houses, museums and collections are packed to the brim with stories of all kinds
Inside the creative mind of Beastman
We spoke to Beastman about his art and how he created the vibrant, abstract patterns for PlayScapes
Designed with intent: colonial vs modernist chairs
This selection of furniture juxtaposes the old with the new: early 19th-century colonial seating and modernist styles made over a hundred years later
Unexpected views
Over the decades, photographers have captured unexpected glimpses of the Mint’s history
‘Gii, Gundhi (Hearts and Homes)’
A single song can have a thousand meanings depending on its interpreter. Yuwaalaraay storyteller and musician Nardi Simpson shares her version of a 19th-century parlour song
Bicornes, bonnets & boaters
There’s a variety of headwear across our collections ranging in date from early to late nineteenth century
‘Well have we loved’
Awaiting execution at Darlinghurst Gaol in 1880, bushranger Captain Moonlite wrote moving letters describing his feelings for fellow gang member Jim Nesbitt
The colour-filled career of Marion Hall Best
Interior designer Marion Hall Best had a love of colour and an uncanny ability to use it to transform a room. Museums of History NSW holds the largest collection of Best’s work
A manuscript cookbook from Meroogal
Cooking was an integral part of the rhythm of life for the family at Meroogal, near Nowra on the south coast of New South Wales
Up in smoke: clay tobacco pipes
From the earliest days of the colony, Sydney-siders smoked them, broke them, and discarded them into drains, rubbish piles, work sites and hidden cracks and crevices of buildings
Conservation
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Conserving the archive
Supervising conservator Dominique Moussou talks through her work and some of the projects underway in the MHNSW conservation lab
Susannah Place conservation project
A behind-the-scenes look at some of the complex work that goes into conserving and preserving the fascinating Susannah Place Museum
Wentworth Mausoleum perimeter fence conservation
MHNSW is undertaking the first comprehensive conservation works to the fence surrounding the 1870s resting place of William Charles Wentworth
Conserving Harry Seidler’s sofa
A sofa Harry Seidler designed for Rose Seidler House was conserved and reupholstered, and the process revealed some unexpected findings
3D story telling
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Dodgy, dangerous, disturbing
3D models: a fascinating exploration of some seemingly innocent objects modified for nefarious purposes from the Justice & Police Museum collection
'A most excellent brick house' Elizabeth Farm
Curator Dr Scott Hill explores some of the enduring mysteries buried in the architecture of Australia’s oldest surviving homestead
Historic houses in 3D
A project to capture 3D scans of MHNSW properties will greatly assist conservation work and create exciting new interpretation opportunities far into the future
Hyde Park Barracks: a keeper of lost things
Uncover and explore some of the items found inside the barracks
Convicts
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Convict Sydney
Back to business
From 1822, with the British government keen to cut costs and encourage pastoral expansion, part three sees the removal of convicts from town.
Convict Sydney
For the civic good
With the Napoleonic Wars over in 1815 and Britain crowded with returned soldiers, poverty and crime, part two finds the colony swamped with incoming convicts.
Why were convicts transported to Australia?
Until 1782, English convicts were transported to America, however that all changed after 1783
10 Sep 1823 - escapee re-transported to NSW
On the 10th of September 1823 Susan Courtney was tried in England for returning from transportation.
Stories about our places
A new way of living
Once word spread about the newly built Rose Seidler House in 1950, it was the ‘most talked about house in Sydney’. Seventy years on, it's impossible to deny the strength and daring of Seidler's vision
The finest house
In 1835 colonial secretary Alexander Macleay set about building the ultimate trophy house, a shimmering, classical styled jewel box, perched in rugged bushland on the northern side of present day Potts Point, high above Elizabeth Bay with majestic views across Sydney harbour and beyond
Museum
A turbulent past
With its deep, shady verandahs and elegant symmetry, Elizabeth Farm is an iconic early colonial bungalow
Talk of the town
Six generations of Rouse and Terry families occupied Rouse Hill House from its construction in the early 1800s until the late 1990s, when it opened as a museum