Digital Gallery
The Digital Gallery aims to showcase both photographs and records from our archival collection.
We also have a Flickr account which highlights other interesting images and records.
Many of these images are also accessible in Photo Investigator - our searchable database of photographs dating back to the late 19th Century.
Convicts and former convicts were not the only ones to be caught up in the scandals, crimes and corruption of the past. The 60kms of NSW State archives include many records about others who found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Of these records, some of the most useful and informative are the gaol photographs.
Matron Susan Austen was chaperone to 98 single females on the 'Fitzjames' which arrived in Sydney on 1 April 1857. She was expected to make daily diary entries of the work completed by the women and of her observations of the behaviour and general conduct of the young women. Her diary records the dramas which unfolded during the voyage, the sea-sickness suffered during stormy weather, the tantrums and shortcomings of many of the young women, and the despair felt by the Matron at their behaviour.
Thursday 20 August 1908 witnessed the arrival of the United States of America fleet at Port Jackson, Sydney. This was part of a round the world cruise by the fleet which had originally set out on 16 December 1907. The sixteen warships were painted white to denote peace. They would be known as The Great White Fleet.
A journal providing a unique insight into the criminal underworld in Sydney during the 1840s. The volume was kept as an official surveillance record by William Augustus Miles who was Superintendent, then Commissioner, of Sydney Police in New South Wales from July 1840 to July 1848.
Attempted Murder and Conspiracy - The Lemon Syrup Case
This 1895 murder case involved George Dean attempting to poison his wife. Found guilty, then granted a free pardon, his lawyer later admitted that he was, in fact, guilty. The saga of George Dean and Richard Meagher has continued to capture the public interest. On 26 February 1983 the ABC television broadcast a dramatisation of the events in Verdict: The Dean Case.
In August 2002 several documents relating to the capture of the bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang were returned to State Records' custody. These documents were archival estrays (that is, they had passed from the control of the public office responsible for the record).
Showcasing the history of The Rocks area of Sydney using the raw material of history - the State's archives. This oldest area of European settlement continues to be a focal point for the cultural life of Sydney today. This gallery contains various themes and a timeline tracing key events in The Rocks' history.
Unity and Nationhood Federation
Based on our travelling exhibition which toured NSW in 2001 to commemorate the Centenary of Federation 1901-2001. Material for this exhibition was drawn from the New South Wales State archives.
Tells the story of Australia through the documents which give our national, state and territory governments the right to govern.
The Dunbar - Australia's Titanic
On the night of Thursday 20 August 1857, the clipper Dunbar approached the heads of Sydney Harbour after a voyage of 81 days. The wreck of the Dunbar lives on as one of the worst maritime disasters in Australia's history. This gallery includes the story of the shipwreck in 1857 and a list of the passengers and crew aboard.
NSW Bushmen's Contingent for South Africa
Often known as 'mounted rifles', 'bushmen' or 'imperial bushmen' these images show the NSW Contingent. This series comprises photographs of the New South Wales Bushmen's Contingent departing for active service in the Cape Colony during the Boer War. There are photographs of the bushmen in the saddle on inspection parades, an officer on horseback, and a Bushman on horseback, plus scenes of camp life.
Celebrating our sporting heritage
From the appointment of the trustees of the Domain Cricket Ground in 1851 to the 2000 Olympics, government has played an active part in the promotion and regulation of sport in New South Wales. This gallery is arranged by themes: National Fitness Council, National Parks and Wildlife, School Days, Sporting Heroes, Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground, and Work and Play.
Purging Pestilence - the Bubonic Plague
The Bubonic Plague hit Sydney in January 1900. Spreading from the waterfront, the rats carried the plague throughout the city. Within eight months 303 cases were reported and 103 people were dead.
Lebanese Migration and settlement in NSW
By the 1880s sizeable numbers of Lebanese or 'Syrians' as they were then known, were settling in Australia. At the 1901 census there were 739 'Syrians' living in NSW, many living in or near Redfern.
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