Caroline Simpson Collection
Home and garden design, history and life
Three collections, millions of items, unlimited stories
Museums of History NSW is the new home of three of the state’s most significant and fascinating collections. Dive in and explore.
Home and garden design, history and life
Making history every day
Place-based collections at our historic houses and museums
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Caroline Simpson Library, which was created through an extraordinary cultural gift donated by the children of Caroline Simpson OAM (1930–2003).
This webinar will take a deep dive into the Colonial Secretary's minutes
Join Mathew 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.
This webinar will focus on the Oyster Lease Cultures files, which tell the stories of the people who held these leases between 1920 and 1978.
Museums of History NSW is on the road again, sharing our stories with the people of regional NSW
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Caroline Simpson Library, which was created through an extraordinary cultural gift donated by the children of Caroline Simpson OAM (1930–2003).
We welcome your input in this year's survey to help evaluate our services
Now with surviving inquest papers from 1916-1939 and April–December 1963 (Glebe Coroners Court), this webinar shows you how to use the inquest index and explore the new additions
These records are digitised and available to search and view in our catalogue. This webinar explores the declarations, why they were required and how to find them.
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
This webinar features records of children, the aged and infirm in care and how to access them
This event focused on the colour curriculum of pioneering Sydney-based colour designer and educator Phyllis Shillito (1895–1980) of the 1940s to the 1970s
Hear the story of Rose de Freycinet, the first woman to write an account of a global circumnavigation, with Suzanne Falkiner
Join Dr Catriona Quinn on a journey through Australia’s rich interior design heritage and a deep dive into the studios of design educators in Sydney in the 1940s, 50s and 60s
Today is National Close the Gap Day 2024. Closing the gap refers to the meaningful action that is required by governments, organisations, communities and individuals to address inequity experienced by First Nations peoples in Australia
On Thursday 14 March, MHNSW donors enjoyed a fascinating behind-the-scenes tour of the NSW State Archives Collection at the Western Sydney Records Centre
The First Nations Community Access to the Archives team welcomes three First Nations staff to the Collections space
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
Upon completion in 1923, The Astor in Sydney's Macquarie Stree twas the largest reinforced concrete building in Australia, the tallest residential block, and this country’s first company title residences
Inspired by a watercolour of the ruins of the temple of Vishnu, refugee curator in residence Jagath Dheerasekara writes about Devinuvara as a site of pilgrimage, colonisation and uprising
Watch pockets hung on the head cloth of a four-post bedstead and originally served in place of bedside tables, which were uncommon in the 19th century
January 26 has long been a day of debate and civic action. Those who celebrate may be surprised of the date’s significance in NSW as a protest to the celebrations of the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet on what was then “Anniversary Day” in NSW
Significant publications and reports on the Sydney Opera House project, including the rules for the design competition, plans, drawings and photographs at various stages of the construction
The collection of glass-plate negatives held in the State Archives and Justice & Police Museum are endlessly fascinating and revealing
In collaboration with experienced heritage consultants and traditional tradespeople, MHNSW is undertaking conservation works to the northern range buildings
The Vaucluse House kitchen garden recently underwent a significant rejuvenation project to preserve the site and allow it to continue to be used as a valuable educational resource
MHNSW is undertaking the first comprehensive conservation works to the fence surrounding the 1870s resting place of William Charles Wentworth
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