RAHS Latest News
Gresford to Carrabolla: People and Places
Paterson Historical Society launch new book: Gresford to Carrabolla – People and Places Paterson Historical Society’s new book, Gresford to Carrabolla – People and Places by Dr Brian Walsh, was recently launched by the Mayor of Dungog, Digby Rayward, at Gresford Bowling Club. It was published with support from Create NSW’s Cultural Grants Program. The book reveals how European society emerged along the Paterson River from the 1820s, albeit at the expense of the dispossession of Aboriginal...
Evening with the Editor: A Legacy in Print Recordings
A Legacy in Print: Honouring the Past and Embracing the Future of the JRAHS Celebrate the storied past of the Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society (JRAHS), an essential outlet for Australian history since 1906. Recorded live at History House on 25 February 2025, this event was chaired by Dr Samuel White, the Editor of the JRAHS. It provided a platform for discussions with a cross-section of past contributors, including local, early-career, and professional historians. The panel...
Royal Society of NSW Bicentennial Bibliography
Two New History Research Guides from the Royal Society of NSW Australia’s colonial and post-colonial history includes many conflicts and controversies. Two new digital reference guides could help modern historians and writers to better understand how many British-European migrant scholars studied, mapped and interpreted Indigenous people, places, animals, plants, geology, chemistry, fossils, weather conditions and astronomical phenomena. After celebrating 200 years of its intellectual culture...
Looking Outside the Square: Exploring Business and Biographical Records in Family and Local History
2025 Central Coast Regional Seminar Looking Outside the Square: Exploring Business and Biographical Records in Family and Local History Saturday, 29 March 2025, 10 am to 3.30 pm Gosford City Lions Community Hall, East Gosford On 29 March 2025, the RAHS and the Central Coast Family History Society will co-host a seminar for genealogists, historians, and researchers titled Looking Outside the Square: Exploring Business and Biographical Records in Family and Local History. The event will cover a...
Community Heritage Grants 2025
What are the Community Heritage Grants? The Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program supports community-based organisations to identify and care for Australian, moveable cultural heritage collections which are publicly accessible, locally held and nationally significant. How we can help The CHG supports small, local groups with limited funding and staffing resources, who would benefit from access to professional cultural heritage expertise. Grants of up to $20,000 are available to help...
2025 Annual General Meeting Papers and Agenda
Rascals and Respectables: A social history of Kiama area hotels
Kiama Historical Society to launch new book: Rascals and Respectables: A social history of Kiama hotels Published by Kiama Historical Society, Dr Tony Gilmour’s new book tells the exciting history of the hostelries of Kiama, Jamberoo and Gerringong on the NSW south coast. From the first local hotels licenced in 1837 to the present day, drinking venues have shaped local social life and character. Kiama was once a place of ‘besotted and shameless drunkards’, nearby Bombo hosted an illegal ‘sly...
Mosman Story: The Council and Community Then and Now
Mosman Story: The Community and Council Then and Now Dr Peter Abelson will discuss his recently published book Mosman Story: The Council and Community Then and Now: A History and A Personal Memoir. The book covers the period from Mosman’s Indigenous origins to the author's retirement from its local government in 2017. Its key message is the enduring importance of the local community and council in Mosman residents’ lives. Please join members of the Mosman Historical Society for refreshments...
Mothers, Matrons and Lady Superintendents
Mothers, Matrons and Lady Superintendents: Women Working in NSW Prisons, 1788-1969 By the end of the 19th century, female staff were thought to be more appropriate to manage institutions housing women and children. However, the status, everyday experience and career prospects for women in these senior appointments was often difficult and within the NSW prison service remained discomforting for male colleagues and problematic for the authorities. Noeline Kyle says she wanted to find the...
The Old Court House at Wisemans Ferry
Written by Robert Cunneen (Secretary, Dharug and Lower Hawkesbury Historical Society) Last December, an exciting discovery was made at Wisemans Ferry. It is the foundations of an early colonial building contemporary with Cobham Hall, which still exists on land belonging to Hornsby Shire Council. An early survey dated 1831 shows that it is the site of the courthouse, office and residence of the surveyors (and magistrates) in charge of constructing the Great North Road between 1826 and 1832....
Working as a freelance and/or oral historian in NSW
PHA-OHA Event: Working as a freelance historian and/or oral historian in NSW The Professional Historians Association of NSW-ACT and Oral History Association of NSW have partnered to bring you an informative discussion about working as a freelance historian and/or oral historian. You are invited to hear from three experienced freelancers, who will hopefully answer many of your questions, such as: How do I set myself up to work as a freelance/consultant historian? Can you provide some advice on...
Lavender Bay Heritage Walk
Lavender Bay Heritage Walk led by Dr Roy Lumby Join the Twentieth Century Heritage Society of NSW and ACT for the Lavender Bay Heritage Walk led by heritage practitioner Dr Roy Lumby. Originally known by First Nations people as Gooweebahree or Quibaree, understood to mean spring of fresh water, Lavender Bay's history has been rich and varied. In the 1820s and 1830s, it was known as Hulk Bay, after the prison hulk Phoenix that was anchored there. It was renamed Lavender Bay after George...
RAHS Weekly News Round-Up