Biography

Of all the Australian stage performers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Nellie Stewart was the best known and most universally loved.

Australian nurse Muriel Knox Doherty recorded her experiences and insights after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. 

A collection of papers traces one family’s escape from the Armenian genocide.

The well-known conservationist Myles Dunphy’s romantic side is beautifully illustrated in a new acquisition.

Sugar and slavery are intertwined in the hidden story of Australia’s early industry.

Intimate letters from 100 years ago paint a detailed self-portrait of a young Australian woman.

A feminist newspaper from the early 1980s brings back memories of lively co-op meetings, nutritious sandwiches and high ideals.

From 1863 to 1865, over 100 robberies are attributed to Ben Hall and his various associates

Sifting through the ‘glorious clutter’ of the Thompson family papers offers a sense of early Sydney life and insights into several significant local families.

Bushwalker, feminist and pacifist Marie Byles helped to shape Buddhism in Australia.

To mark the centenary of the peace year, 1919, we take an intimate look at the lives of children during the ‘war to end all wars’.

The interviews delve into the personal stories of recently arrived migrants and their new lives in New South Wales, starting from birth and childhood and covering the (often harrowing) reasons they were compelled to leave their homes and seek safety in another country.

Buried deep down in the cool darkness of the Library’s framed picture store hangs a beautiful portrait of the young Mrs F O’Brien. It was painted in mid-1841 by naval surgeon-turned artist Maurice Felton from a death mask.

Henry Marshall was working in the Grace Brothers photographic studio in Sydney when war was declared. 

'There'll be so much to be done when this is all finished…So many big subjects to be covered where the right kind of film will be useful.' Damien Parer (1943)

Louis Vasco enlisted as a Sapper, or engineer, but his calling was art.