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DEAR DAMNED DIARY
It is such a privilege to have access to someone’s diaries. I find myself handling them with something akin to reverence. Recently I have been in Sydney’s Mitchell Library reading those of...
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TWO WILLIAM BLIGHS OF BLACKHEATH
The old Admiral and Governor ONE BLIGH OF THE BOUNTY, TWO OF BLACKHEATH In 1910, Governor Bligh’s grandson, William Russell Wilson Bligh (1827-1914), bought a house called Whiteleaf Cross, in...
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GUNSHOT IN THE MITCHELL LIBRARY
The Mitchell Library in 1923 The Mitchell Library Reading Room, now the Friends’ Room. As a young woman, Miss Joyce Cocks became an attendant (and later a buyer) at Sydney’s historic Mitchell...
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INTO THE LIGHT – THE NEW MITCHELL LIBRARY GALLERIES
New exhibition galleries are due to open at Sydney’s Mitchell Library in October 2018. Here is a little of what is underway; As part of our transformation of the...
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Miles Franklin’s Waratah Cup
MILES FRANKLIN AND HER BRILLIANT IDEA Many literary figures of the day visited Miles Franklin (1879-1954) at her home in the Sydney suburb of Carlton. The author of the beloved book My Brilliant...
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THE MYSTERY PAINTING OWNED BY LACHLAN MACQUARIE.
Sydney’s Mitchell Library is in the process of doubling the size of its exhibition gallery space. In a new initiative, 300 works of art have been selected for permanent display. Some have rarely been...
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THE LOVE OF LIBRARIES
‘I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.’ Eleanor Roosevelt. Dorothy Parker was certainly correct in...
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The Puzzle of a Truncated Portrait
Isn’t this a striking, full length portrait? The subject is Tasmanian born artist Florence Rodway. It was completed by her friend and fellow artist Norman Carter (1875-1963), in 1910. Unfortunately no...
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THE MITCHELL LIBRARY ROOFTOP BAR
What could be more wonderful than working at Sydney’s Mitchell Library then popping up to the roof for a drink….or two? The space was once used by library staff as a canteen and recreation area, but...
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THE AURORA & THE ANTARCTIC BOTTLE – A MYSTERY
On May 7 1927 a strange story appeared in the Newcastle Sun. It said that a Mr George Bressington had been walking along a beach at Tuggerah, on the NSW Central Coast, when he unearthed a half...
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