Archives Outside

For people who love, use and manage archives

Archives Outside - For people who love, use and manage archives

Listen to State Records staff talk about travel and transport archives in our collection

On the State Records website we have uploaded several podcasts and accompanying slideshows presented by staff at Open Day back in August. As you know, the theme of the day was travel and transport and these presentations cover a broad selection under this category: from convict transport to railroads, cars and road construction.

Toot, toot!

Toot, toot!

What can you listen to?

1. The train that Thought it Could: Blue Mountains Railways

Looking at the development and expansion of the railway line through the Blue Mountains and how arrival of the Great Western Line saw a period of rapid growth for the towns along the railway.

Presenter: Suzanne Upton, Archivist, Public Access

2. Sentenced Beyond the Seas: Convicts transported to NSW, 1788-1801

State Records’ Sentenced beyond the Seas project revealed tales of convict fraud, the origins of Australia’s love of beer, executions and more. Join Janette to hear the tales of our earliest convicts from 1788 to 1801.

Presenter: Janette Pelosi, Senior Archivist

3. I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad: Family history gems in transport records

Highlighting some of the government transport employee records we hold such as railway personal history cards and registers of Tram employees. We also look at some Maritime Services Board records concerning qualifications and licensing.

Presenter: Gail Davis,Senior Archivist, Research, State Records NSW

4. Here Come the Cars!

Stories from the early history of Automobiles in NSW told through the eyes of prominent and seedy characters of NSW History. A showcasing of hidden automotive treasures of State Records NSW.

Presenter: John Cann, Archivist, Public Access

Still to come

Carrying the Load: Transport in NSW during WWII

Despite the popular view that Australia was unprepared for war, material in the State archives proves NSW had been involved in national planning for many years before the ‘surprise’ attacks of 1942.

Presenter: Jennifer Sloggett, Archivist, Archives Control

Thanks for coming to Open Day #srnswopenday

How wonderful it was to meet Archives Outside readers in person at our Open Day last Friday! I got a few autographs on my copy of the Moments in Time book which I’m very chuffed about.

It was a huge day, final visitor figures haven’t yet been calculated but the estimate is that 300+ people trooped through our gates to see what we do, usually behind closed doors.

A big thankyou to all our guest speakers who really made the day special. Fiona and I enjoyed presenting our session on dating old photos and kudos to Bill Oates and Mick Reed who demonstrated the dating photos using shadows technique.

The day’s program was massive with tours heading off every half hour; a full day of various talks and seminars; conservation working bees; digitisation workshops, and; conservation clinics where our conservators advised people on how best to keep their family records. There was also  a couple of family history stalls, a prize draw, some accordion playing and a sausage sizzle.

Open day 2011 - Tours ran every half an hour. Photo by Alan Ventress

Tours ran every half an hour. Archivist Janette Pelosi was one of the tour guides. Photo by Alan Ventress

Open Day 2011 - Tour groups stopped by conservation to see the work being done in preserving the State's heritage. Photo by Fiona Sullivan

Tour groups stopped by conservation to see the work being done in preserving the State's heritage. Photo by Fiona Sullivan

Open day 2011 - Talks were filled to capacity. Photo by Alan Ventress

Talks were filled to capacity. This is the session by Richard Lehane. Photo by Alan Ventress

Open Day 2011 - One of the Conservation Clinic sessions. Photo by Paul Elliott

One of the Conservation Clinics. People were able to bring in some of their own family records and received face-to-face advice from our conservators on the best way to preserve them. Photo by Paul Elliott

Open Day 2011 - There was the opportunity to join a conservation working bee and have hands-on experience working with archives. Photo by Fiona Sullivan

There was the opportunity to join a conservation working bee and have hands-on experience working with archives. Photo by Fiona Sullivan

Open Day 2011 - In Living Memory touring exhibition. Photo by Alan Ventress

In Living Memory touring exhibition. Photo by Alan Ventress

Open Day 2011 - Digitisation workshop. Photo by Alan Ventress

The digitisation workshops run by our photographer Tara Majoor were very popular. Photo by Alan Ventress

Open day 2011 - The Board Room housed treasures from the collection. Photo by Alan Ventress

The Board Room housed treasures from the collection. Here is archivist Gail Davis, in period costume. Photo by Alan Ventress

Open Day 2011 - The Lions Club put on a terrific sausage sizzle. Photo by Fiona Sullivan

The Lions Club put on a terrific sausage sizzle. Photo by Fiona Sullivan

Open day 2011 - Fabian with accordion. Photo by Fiona Sullivan

Some entertainment over lunch from archivist and accordion player Fabian LoSchiavo. . Photo by Fiona Sullivan

Open day 2011 - A couple of family history organisations set up stalls. Photo by Alan Ventress

A couple of family history organisations set up stalls. Photo by Alan Ventress

Open Day 2011 - A good day had by all. Photo by Alan Ventress

A good day had by all. Photo by Alan Ventress