Stories From Sydney

In this episode, we explore the very earliest years of the colony in Sydney Cove by following the fates of two ships: Sirius and Supply. Join us as we learn about a struggling outpost on the brink of starvation, and the extreme lengths they would go to fetch some flour. This episode is full of quotations from First Fleet diaries, which were found in the excellent Buried Alive: Eyewitness Accounts...

In this particularly lengthy episode the boys chart the history of Sydney's drinking water from the well-known Tank Stream to the well-known Desal plant, with stop-offs at several obscure systems along the way. Jed's enthusiasm for the minutae of water volumes is only surpassed by Alistair's pure joy at finally learning where the water he's been swilling for most of his life has travelled from. To...

We discuss the life of father of surfing Duke Kahanamoku and his trip to Australia in 1914, where he gave a surfing demonstration at Freshwater beach which popularised surfing in this country. Intertwined with the story of this legendary Hawaiian is that of early Australian female swimming pioneers, and the explosion of beach culture in the early 20th Century. Sources: David Davis: Waterman, The l...

This episode Jed digs up a history book that tells the story of one of colonial Sydney's early families. Like so many others, Thomas West found himself in Sydney in 1801 as a guest of the crown. From inauspicious beginnings, West quickly established himself as a capable man, right as the colony was beginning to boom. Having what appears to be a personal relationship with Governor Macquarie, within...

In this episode, we discuss the significance of the whaling industry in the early history of Sydney, jumping from familiar Sydney locations like Liverpool, Mosman, and Neutral Bay, all the way down the coast to Eden, and even the foundation of Hobart.  Whales celebrate the drilling of oil wells - A Vanity Fair cartoon depicting whales celebrating the Pennsylvania oil rush The whale ghosts - A shor...

John Job Crew Bradfield was one of the defining engineers of early 20th century New South Wales. In this episode we discuss the man's contribution to Sydney's water and transport systems and his largely unrealised vision to completely reshape the hydrology of inland Australia. As unlikely as that might sound, proponents of Bradfield's eponymous scheme continue to reference him to this day as they...

In this short and punchy episode the boys discuss three different plant species/genera common to Sydney Harbour. Yes, genera is the correct word for the plural of genus, and hence we would like to apologise in advance for insisting on using 'genuses' throughout the episode.   Listen in to our last episode of Season 4 as we discuss some well known facts, obscure trivia and maybe even the odd tall t...

In this episode we discuss Bungaree - a significant figure in the early history of Sydney and part of the first voyage to ever circumnavigate the continent of Australia! The detailed "King Bungaree" by Keith Vincent Smith was our major source for this episode.

In this episode Jed attempts to tell the multi-generational story of Yarramundi, Colebee and Maria of the Boorooberongal clan of the Dharug people of what is now Western Sydney. From the first encounters between the Dharug and the British on Dyarubbin in 1791, to the first ever land grant from the British regime to the original inhabitants of Australia in 1816, from Macquarie’s aborted ‘native ins...

In this episode we discuss the excavation of the Lapstone Creek rock shelter and what it tells us about Aboriginal history and culture in the Sydney region. Tune in to learn more about where you can find the best rock in the region for making stone tools, how it got there, and what kind of innovative uses it was put to by Aboriginal people over their staggeringly deep occupation of this continent!...

We're back for Season 4! Instead of our usual 2 minute teaser episode we are launching with a bang: just shy of 2 hours of mostly 18th century prose! In this episode Jed surprises Alistair with a dramatic reading of several passages  from Watkin Tench's 1793 publication 'A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson'. The stories we explore relate to some of the first journeys the coloniser...

In this bonus episode we discuss Following the Flow, a documentary exploring the people, places, ecology and history of the Macquarie Wambool River in Western NSW. Alongside Stories from Sydney, Jed has been working on this project for the past 3 years and is very excited to be bringing it to Sydney for a screening at the Golden Age Cinema in Surry Hills in July. As well as chatting inland waterwa...

In the last episode of Season 3 we briefly trace the history of Australia's first and most important export, coal, and the city with which it is inextricably linked. We trace this history from the dreaming of the Awabakal people all the way to the open cut coal mines of the Upper Hunter that frame our national narrative to this day. One particular mystery, however, forms the focus of the episode;...

This fortnight we discuss the Theosophical Society and their impact on Sydney, from the 2GB radio station, to the Star Amphitheatre in Balmoral (pictured) and The Manor in Clifton Gardens.   Tune in to hear about the famous Australian figures associated with the movement, their early interest in Buddhism, and the touted messianic hero who renounced his role and brought a decade of eager anticipati...

In the early years of the 20th century Sydney was the undisputed Department Store capital of the world. Retail family dynasties competed with each other to open the largest, most modern and most spectacular stores from Broadway to Wynyard. Alas, the 1960s brought changing fortunes for these icons as the CBD started to decay and sprawling Sydneysiders begun to favour newer, more climate controlled...

In this episode we discuss tensions within working class politics in Sydney during the First World War.   If you enjoyed this episode you might be interested in this podcast episode about the Great Strike of 1917 from the City Of Sydney.   Also, we really enjoyed this podcast episode from Forgotten Australia about Percy Brookfield , which was what alerted us to this story in the first place.   And...

In 1880 the bushranger era came to a dramatic end in Eastern Australia with the infamous death of Ned Kelly in Melbourne. Earlier that same year a man just as infamous at the time was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol after engaging in his own wayward adventures across the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria and in the South Pacific. Some 110 years later the letters Andrew George Scott, known to th...

Well before the gold rushes of the mid 1800s, there was another all but forgotten resource extraction boom which played an important role in the expansion of the early colony. After being first logged along the Hawkesbury River, red cedar soon became the third largest export from the nascent port of Sydney and was known colloquially as “red gold”. It played a vital role in the foundation of places...

This episode we discuss the story of the Sydney Cove, a ship that set sail from Calcutta bound for its eponymous port in 1796. The Sydney Cove never quite made it the whole way, but after countless misadventures just under half of her crew did. Join us as we discuss a story that is not only all but unbelievable but is one of the most significant stories of first contact between First Nations peopl...

We discuss the history and significance of the local bowlo with special guest Louis Heath. Perhaps you, like us, have always wondered where this quaint game comes from, and why so many bowling clubs dot the streets of Sydney. If so, then you're in luck! We'll dive into the royal origins of the sport, its enormous boom in popularity in the post-war era, and what the future holds for these local ins...

To celebrate both boys recording from Sydney for the first time ever, we've included some bonus material about Manly in our introductory episode to Season Three - a "vignette from Sydney" as Jed likes to call it! Plus, find out about the exciting new episode format set to feature this season, and hear about the topics that we have prepared for you (or in some cases soon will be preparing).

Despite their household name being all but forgotten, the Macleay family were a force to be reckoned with in Colonial Sydney society. They owned vast swaths of NSW as it was carved up in the 19th century, they represented much more of the colony in parliament, they built a most impressive sandstone mansion at Elizabeth Bay House and after 3 generations of collection famously bequeathed one of the...

Tracing the history of sewerage infrastructure in Sydney provides a wild ride through the origins of democracy in NSW, the popularity of Egyptian obelisks in the nineteenth century, and the unsavoury prospect of surfing in the city’s muck. Join us on this week's episode of Stories from Sydney as we discuss the fractious history of the city’s waste disposal projects, and the monumental architecture...

Until more recent years Sydney's large and visible queer community was generally ill considered by wider society, in large part due to the negative light the police and mainsteam media portrayed them in. Despite, or perhaps because of, this, a secret world of partially hidden dance parties was occurring across the city on an epic scale. This episode tracks the history of Sydney's gay bashes (the g...

We discuss the swimming scene in Sydney at the turn of the century, some iconic locations, our first Olympic champion, and the stroke that changed everything.