Discover SLM
Find a weekly summary of what’s new across our channels, look up activities to do at home with the family, including in the kitchen and the garden, explore our properties and our collections, and settle in for some good long reads.
This week’s focus:
Join us as we take a closer look at Elizabeth Farm. Built for the young military couple John and Elizabeth Macarthur and their growing family, Elizabeth Farm has witnessed major events in the growth of the colony, from the toppling of governors and convict rebellion to the birth of the Australian wool industry. Find out more about its history, stories, collection items and more as we shine a light on one of the oldest homes in Australia.
Elizabeth Farm is open Wednesday–Saturday, 10am–4pm. Book your tickets online here.
Story
A short history
In 1793 John Macarthur received his first grant of land at Rosehill, soon after renamed Parramatta, which was rapidly developing as the colony’s second centre.
Collection
Serving dish, c1812
Two intricately painted and monogrammed china plates that were once part of a large dessert service made for the table of John and Elizabeth Macarthur, are testimony to an adventurous spirit in early colonial Sydney.
Activity
Mini museum models
Make your own mini museum! Choose from six Sydney Living Museums properties. Simply download the plans, colour, cut, fold and glue.
Recipe
Fragrant Peach jam
Elizabeth Macarthur wrote to a friend in England about the abundance of fruit and vegetables that could be grown, to the point that their pigs were fed with the left over melons and peaches. Recreate the tastes of 19th century cooks in this 1845 recipe from Eliza Acton.
Watch & listen
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Growing up at Elizabeth Farm
Duration: 5:38
Growing up at Elizabeth Farm
Curator Scott Hill talks about childhood and the Macarthur family at Elizabeth Farm in the early years of colonial Sydney.
Duration: 5:38
Online puzzles
Get puzzling
Take a moment to relax and recharge with one of our online puzzles featuring our beautiful collections and museums.
Gardens
Extending the olive branch
Read on to find out more about how we are ensuring the survival of the Elizabeth Farm European olive tree (Olea europaea), which is believed to be Australia’s oldest living cultivated olive tree.
Convicts
James Watsford
From convicted horse thief to trusted coachman for the Macarthurs, and finally coach proprietor, discover the story of James Watsford.
Competition
Student Writing Competition
Stage 4 and 5 students in NSW are invited to write a piece of historical fiction inspired by our A Thousand Words exhibition.
Online exhibitions
Meroogal Women’s Art Prize 2020
Entries are now open for the 2020 Meroogal Women’s Art Prize, with a prize pool of over $10,000.
A Thousand Words exhibition
‘A picture tells a thousand words.’ This adage is the inspiration for an innovative exhibition in which the public becomes the curator with 20 new images released each month.
More stories
A taste for the ornate
A turbulent past
With its deep, shady verandahs and elegant symmetry, Elizabeth Farm is an iconic early colonial bungalow. Begun in 1793, it was extended and modified over the next 35 years for John and Elizabeth Macarthur, best known as pioneers of the Australian wool industry.
James Watsford, coachman for the Macarthurs
From convicted horse thief to trusted coachman for the Macarthurs, and finally coach proprietor, the story of James Watsford shows that with a little luck and the right connections some convicts were able to turn their fortunes around.
Oiling The Wheels Of Patronage
While sheep made him famous, it was actually John Macarthur's reputation as an olive grower that kick started his career.
Remembering John Macarthur
September 2017 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of John Macarthur: wool pioneer, politician, rebel, businessman, family man, and builder of Elizabeth Farm.
Sarah Pettit, the Macarthurs’ first servant?
Elizabeth Farm lists hundreds of employees, from assigned and emancipated convicts to those ‘born free’ in the colony. One significant name remained elusive – the very first. Until now.
The dream tree: Jacaranda, Sydney icon
Every November, jacarandas rain a shower of purple on Sydney’s streets. This gorgeous flowering tree has such a firm hold on the city and its imagination that few of us could imagine it any other way. But the Brazilian native was once considered as rare as it was beautiful.
The Elizabeth Farm dripstone
Next time you turn on the tap and pour a glass of cool, clean water, think about how people in Sydney managed almost two hundred years ago. Our Head of Collections & Access, Megan Martin looks at the impressive dripstone, or water filter, in the courtyard at Elizabeth Farm and pieces together a few clues on its origins.
Latest news
Our favourite images from A Thousand WordsMonday 27 July 2020
Employment
20/SE032 Website Development LeadTuesday 21 July 2020
Our favourite images from A Thousand WordsThursday 18 June 2020
Media release
A fresh vision for Sydney Living MuseumsTuesday 16 June 2020
During lockdown, Sydney Living Museums (SLM) and NSW State Archives had a unique opportunity to reflect, reassess and reimagine the purpose of our partnership and our engagement with audiences, existing and potential.
