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When a Spade’s a Spade: the hanging of John Hammell
On 7 May 1832, John Hammell (also reported as John Hammill, John Haymell and Charles Hammell) was hanged for the murder of his boss George Williamson. Not everyone was sorry Williamson had been bashed in the head with a spade, but committing murder has consequences....
The Hermits of Killarney Heights
The picturesque suburb of Killarney Heights at Middlehead was a popular picnic destination named after Killarney in Ireland. However, 41 years ago it became indelibly associated with the suffering of refugees fleeing war torn Europe. [button...
Joseph Fowles
Joseph Fowles was by way of being an early Colonial artistic influencer. He arrived in Sydney in 1838 with his...
Brutality at Birch Grove
Research on the epitaph on a tombstone in Sydney's old Devonshire Street Cemetery led to the shocking story of the deaths of Samuel Bradley, 59, and his wife Esther, 65, who were brutally murdered at their home in Birch Grove on 15 August 1822. [button...
Barracluff’s Ostrich Farm
There are many great things about the Dictionary of Sydney, but one of the things I love the most is the way you can discover quirky things about Sydney. In the past I've shared about Cocky Bennett, and public toilets, and the Electrical Women's Association. Here's...
No honour among thieves…
In Governor Arthur Phillip’s great outdoor gaol in Sydney Cove, most eyes were on the convicts. It was logical to assume that those who had already proven themselves as felons were those most likely to offend in a new settlement. Yet, it was a military man, not a...
Jack Mundey and the Green Bans
Can you imagine Sydney without The Rocks? or what if we didn't have the Centennial Parklands or the State Theatre? These are just some of the iconic Sydney places that were saved from wholesale destruction in the 1970s by the imposition of green bans by trade...
Throw like a girl
To ‘throw like a girl’ or ‘run like a girl’ is usually an insult hurled at a man without sporting prowess. But for over hundred years women have demonstrated throwing like a girl has been the winning move. In cricket women have carved out place on the pitch with their...
Ben Boyd
Sailing into Sydney in his yacht Wanderer in July 1842, Benjamin Boyd was welcomed by the press of the day as a flamboyant saviour to the failing economy. [button link="https://assets.2ser.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/24195716/Dictionary-of-Sydney-0224.wav"...
The High Life
Nestled at the Harbour end of Macquarie Street facing the Botanic Gardens is The Astor, the grand old dame of Sydney’s apartment blocks. Built in 1923, it was then Australia’s tallest residential building – at 13 storeys. [button...
