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Museums
Elizabeth Bay House
Elizabeth Farm
Hyde Park Barracks
Justice & Police Museum
Meroogal
Museum of Sydney
Rose Seidler House
Rouse Hill Estate
Susannah Place
The Mint
Vaucluse House
Reading rooms
Caroline Simpson Library
State Archives Reading Room
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Become a member
For exclusive Member events and experiences plus a range of year round benefits
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Exhibitions
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Coomaditchie: The Art of Place
Experience community life by the ocean through the works of First Nations artists
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Coomaditchie: The Art of Place
Experience community life by the ocean through the works of First Nations artists
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Collections
Dive deep or just browse among our diverse and inspiring collections
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State Archives Collection
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Subjects A-Z
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State Archives catalogue
Caroline Simpson Collection
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Caroline Simpson catalogues
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Museum Collections
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Objects catalogue
Collections on Tour
We're on the road again, sharing our stories with the people of regional NSW
Read on
Collections on Tour
We're on the road again, sharing our stories with the people of regional NSW
Read on
Learning
Explore the past and imagine the future through immersive and interactive programs and resources, onsite and online
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Learn with us
Onsite programs
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Learning
Discover past lives, events and stories in the places where they actually unfolded
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Learning
Discover past lives, events and stories in the places where they actually unfolded
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First Nations Hub
A dedicated space for First Nations community, cultures and history
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Read and reflect
First Nations Hub
First Nations Speaker Series
First Nations Community Access to Archives
First Nations stories
Alexander Riley, legendary Aboriginal police tracker
The remarkable talents of Aboriginal trackers who worked for NSW Police in the 20th century are featured in a display at the Justice & Police Museum
Read on
Alexander Riley, legendary Aboriginal police tracker
The remarkable talents of Aboriginal trackers who worked for NSW Police in the 20th century are featured in a display at the Justice & Police Museum
Read on
Get involved
Our supporters are a central part of our story and our success
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Stitching for our house museums
For almost 15 years, a dedicated group of volunteers has gathered to sew, crochet, knit, embroider and stuff historically authentic soft furnishings for our houses
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Stitching for our house museums
For almost 15 years, a dedicated group of volunteers has gathered to sew, crochet, knit, embroider and stuff historically authentic soft furnishings for our houses
Read more
Stories
There’s no limit to the stories our houses, museums and collections can tell
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Popular topics
Architecture & design
Collections
Conservation
Convict Sydney
First Fleet
First Nations
Music
Photography
Regional NSW
Underworld of the Roaring 20s
Sydney Opera House
Women's stories
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’
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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’
Read more
Venue hire
From magnificent colonial style buildings to iconic modern designed spaces, we have a venue ready for you
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Find your event space
Our venues
Weddings & celebrations
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Corporate
Be inspired
Unique and spectacular spaces for your next event or occasion
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Be inspired
Unique and spectacular spaces for your next event or occasion
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Government services
Information and resources for managing, storing and transferring government records 
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Government Records Repository
Manage your records with GRR
GRRWeb
Agency Services
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Visit the State Records NSW website

Search our website and collections

Go direct to State Archives online indexes Go direct to State Archives catalogue

Photography

Photos from Urban Affairs and Planning

This collection includes both colour and B&W photographs taken between 1945 and 1999, depicting Sydney, its surrounding areas, and regional NSW

Government Printing Office; NRS 4481, Glass negatives NRS-4481-4-161-[AF00198139] Agricultural College Boys [Department of Agriculture] [no date]

Raising the Farmer

Explore with us some of the 6,000 unique and beautiful glass negatives taken to illustrate articles in the Agricultural Gazette of NSW – now digitally available on our website, a unique slice of rural life

PR866 Old govt [Government] surveyor, Devonshire St. [Street] reproduction

Photo collections

Our collections include thousands of photographs ranging from the late 19th century to the present, highlighting the rich and diverse life in New South Wales

Muswellbrook Power Station Carl Street Apprentices For 1982 Annual Report

Electricity Commission

These photos record the power generation and transmission assets of the organisation and document the working conditions and social events of its employees

Jenolan Caves in the State Archives Collection

We are donning our speleological hard hats and highlighting digitised material relating to Jenolan Caves held in the State Archives Collection

Unlocking Past Lives

Join Matthew Stephens, research librarian at the Caroline Simpson Library, as he uses the library’s specialist collection to explore the contexts of a selection of historic family photographs

A man sits at a desk and looks at an album of pictures through a magnifying glass

A recent acquisition uncovers rare tintype photographs

Tintypes are photographs printed on thin sheets of metal, rather than card. MHNSW doesn’t hold many in our collections, so this discovery is an exciting one

Children playing outside with see saw and ride on elephant

Public Works photographs: an unsung treasure

The amazing quality and variety of the photographs taken by the Public Works Department is a testament to the photographers. This webinar explores these images in depth

Black and white photo showing wharf, horses and drays, Cowper Wharf Road

Maritime Services Board images

Dive into the Maritime Services Board images and see how you can find them