Archives Outside

For people who love, use and manage archives

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

Applications for History Week 2013-“Picture This”

History Week

Strike a pose, there’s nothing to it. In the image conscious 21st Century photographs shape the world. How has the development of the visual changed, informed and shaped society? How do historians use art and photography to inform their research? Who were the original mad men of the advertising industry? Long before the Kardashians, the rich and famous manipulated their images and throughout time people from all backgrounds and cultures have created their view of the world through visual representations. History Week 2013 will bring the past into view through the frame of images.

All members of the History Council of NSW are entitled to host an event during History Week. History Week events will be published on the website from August to September. The History Council of NSW also runs a statewide publicity campaign and event hosts receive an event host kit with advice on promoting their event and templates.

There are three ways to participate in History Week 2013:

1. Create your own event

Put on an exhibition, host a lecture or seminar, run a walking tour or throw a theme inspired party.

2. Register to host a speaker

Once again in 2013 the History Council of NSW, in partnership with the Royal Australian Historical Society, is offering member organisations in regional and suburban NSW the opportunity to receive speakers during History Week.

3. Speak at a History Week event

As part of History Week 2013 the HCNSW is seeking talented historians to travel to community and local government organisations in regional and suburban NSW to deliver exciting and thought provoking talks.

Applications for History Week 2013 are now open and close 30 March 2013.

Visit the History Council website for more information.

Can you date this photograph? [Junee]

We’re back from a break!

Let’s try to keep that summer holiday feeling with a picture of Junee swimming pool bustling with swimmers and onlookers!

There are quite a few clues to the date of this photo.

Can you date this photograph?

Larger version on Flickr

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We have many other undated photographs in Photo Investigator and on our Flickr account. If you know the dates or any other interesting facts about these images please let us know.

The Convict and the Premier – Australia Day 2013 roundup

This past Australia Day was a great day for State Records as we had original First Fleet Convict Indents on display at NSW Parliament House in the Sentenced beyond the Seas exhibition which was held in conjunction with Parliaments’ own exhibition, Twenty Five Stories from Australia’s First Parliament. It is estimated that there were 2,000 people through the door on Australia Day which is a fantastic result.

The Convict and The Premier

There are so many stories and families attached to the First Fleet Convict Indents. One unintentional connection within the exhibition was picked up by the eagle eyes of Janice Eastment and Kevin Shaw, the Secretary and Treasurer of the John & Mary Small Descendants Association ,who contacted us after the event.

After looking at Mary Parker’s indent papers, we noticed James Squire was listed as well and there are Small descendants that are also Squire descendants.  Did you notice that James Squire was immediately across the corridor from a picture of James Squire Farnell, his grandson and a Premier of NSW about ninety years after the grandfather was sent to the colony in disgrace.  Very well placed if it was deliberate, very ironic if it wasn’t.

What Price Freedom?

Cassie Mercer from insidehistory magazine has an ancestor with a fascinating connection to these archives as well.

What price did a convict put on their freedom? In 1800 Governor Phillip Gidley King discovered the amount was £12. Sydney’s early government clerks in charge of the record books had been engaged in a lucrative trade with the Irish convicts — changing life sentences to appear as seven years. Cassie Mercer, editor of Inside History and one of the researchers who discovered the story, believes it is the first documented fraud against the colonial authorities. And it was Cassie’s ancestor who instigated the scheme to have convict sentences altered in the record books………..

Janette Pelosi, from State Records NSW, is one of the archivists who’s been working on the collection. Janette, too, discovered the fraudulent entries. “It was so easy to alter the sentences,’ says Janette, “that even Governor Hunter had been fooled into allowed a serving convict to return to London with him.”

Online coverage of the exhibition

A sample of some of the online posts about the Sentenced beyond the Seas exhibition.

Earliest convict arrivals recorded online

 RECORDS OF THE EARLIEST convict arrivals to Australia have been made available online, to mark the 225th anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788.

Sentenced Beyond the Seas is a digital project run by State Records NSW. The archive, now available online, contains scans of the original arrival records of convicts between the years 1788 and 1801.

There are more than 12,000 names among the records for this period.

Sentenced beyond the Seas exhibition

NSW Parliament House presents ‘Sentenced Beyond the Seas’

Tomorrow, as part of the Australia Day celebrations in Sydney, NSW Parliament House will be open between 10am and 4pm. Despite being in and out of that building nearly every week (my day job is in government relations), I was going to be heading in to the city tomorrow morning to see something very special – instead I had an even better treat – I was given a sneak peek this afternoon!

In addition to the current exhibit, Twenty Five Stories from Australia’s First Parliament, they are displaying, for one day only, the original indents of the convicts sentenced to transportation on the First Fleet. These indents are rarely seen by the public, and it is a great opportunity to do so – especially if you have an ancestor named in those lists!

Australia Day Present from The National Archives UK

The National Archives of the United Kingdom publicly released Australian images from its collection to mark Australia Day 2013.

UK archives seeks help identifying historic Australian photos posted online

 

THE UK’s National Archives is calling on Australians to help identify thousands of photographs and drawings dating back to the mid-1800s.

The archives has posted 2000 images of Australian towns, buildings and people online for the first time to help celebrate Australia Day.

The images include a rarely-seen panorama of Sydney harbour taken in 1870 and a 1927 photo of the prime minister’s Lodge in Canberra.

They can be viewed on the photo-sharing site Flickr.

 

 

Staff Pick : Soldiering in the late 19th Century


Larger version on Flickr

Jim Sinclair is the Executive Officer for State Records NSW. He is also a foundation member of “The Razor Gang”,  our newly formed fundraising team   for the World’s Greatest Shave 2013. This is a charitable event run on behalf of the Leukaemia Foundation. Watch this space for more information! (Editorial note: Go Jim, you’re a legend, we’re all behind you!!)

I have a long-term interest in part-time soldiering in Australia, as I have myself served as a part-time soldier since 1973. I like this image because it represents a forgotten period of part-time soldiering, the late 19th century. After the withdrawal of British troops from the Australian colonies in 1870, the States and Colonies were responsible for providing their own military forces. The image shows Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) of what appears to be the 2nd Battalion, NSW Infantry, in the latter years of the 19th century, probably attending an Easter camp. The image is interesting as it shows a group of older men, all sporting beards and the pill box hats which were typical of this period. Even today part-time soldiers are usually older than their Regular Army counterparts. The NCOs are standing in front of a marquee tent, a style which, with minor modifications, remained in use by Australian Army Reserve units until the 1970s

 Other military records in our collection

  • Additional military photographs from State Records collection can be viewed on Flickr
  • Information about the military, war and related collections at State Records can be found on our specialist research page War and Australia (includes the Sudan, Boer War, World War I and World War II).
  • The blog  A Land Fit For Heroes which is about the  Soldier Settlement Program (1916-1939) may also be of interest.

World War I Service Personnel Records

If you are interested in records about World War I Service Personnel then I can also highly recommend Tim Sheratt’s aggregated search engine which covers:

 

Australia Day 2013: Come and see the real thing (Original First Fleet Convict Indents on Display)

First Fleet Convict Indents on Display at NSW Parliament House

State Records NSW in partnership with the Parliament of NSW is celebrating 225 years since the establishment of New South Wales. On Australia Day, 26 January 2013, at NSW Parliament House, the exhibition Sentenced beyond the Seas features the original indents for convicts transported in the First Fleet. Don’t miss this rare opportunity! (On display for Australia Day 2013 only.)

Hours of Opening: Parliament House will be open to the public on Australia Day, Saturday 26 January 2013 from 10am to 4pm as part of the Macquarie Street celebrations.  Entry is free.

Sentenced Beyond the Seas Digitisation Project

State Records NSW’s digitisation project Sentenced beyond the Seas for the first time makes available colour digital images of the early convict indents from 1788 to 1801. Sentenced beyond the Seas, features the series Indents First Fleet, Second Fleet and ships to 1801 (NRS 1150) and contemporary indexes known as the Alphabetical Indents, 1788-1800 (NRS 12188). The digital images in Sentenced beyond the Seas include archives held by State Records NSW and selected archives held by The National Archives (United Kingdom), the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales. State Records NSW thanks these institutions for their co-operation in this project. There are over 800 colour digital images included in Sentenced beyond the Seas.

Sentenced beyond the Seas can be found on State Records website via Online Indexes or through the Convict records web page. The comprehensive Early Convict Index includes over 12,000 names which appear in the records, including not just those who arrived but those on the lists who were embarked, those who died on route and even those whose names were crossed off the lists. The index includes: surname, first name, alias, ship page and ship entry, age, tried at, county, tried when, sentence, occupation, ship and remarks. There are links from each entry to the digital images for the ship’s indents and/or the Alphabetical Indents.

Sentenced beyond the Seas is State Records NSW’s free gift to the people of Australia and the world to mark the 225th anniversary in 2013 of the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788.

Happy holidays (who’s up for some photo hunting during the break?)

The end of the year calls and we’ll be having a break here at Archives Outside… but, never fear! It does not mean an end to all your fun. We wish you all the best and thank you for all the brilliant knowledge, facts and fun you’ve contributed in the last year.

Seasons Greetings from Archives Outside. Digital ID 16410_a111_1[1A]_000073A_p1

A tinted Seasons Greetings from Archives Outside! Digital ID 16410_a111_1[1A]_000073A_p1

A virtual holiday tour
(goes nicely with those virtual boxes of chocolates)

Although there should never be anything virtual about chocolates…

We recently came across some wonderful travel brochures hidden in the deep, dark depths of our catalogue and managed to curate some digital galleries for your viewing pleasure (more to come in the New Year).

While browsing this holiday brochure you immediately sprang to mind because some of the photos in this brochure may look familiar to you.

Can you spot which ones are on Flickr and in Photo Investigator? Happy hunting and see you next year!

Snapshot of the Holidays in NSW Travel Brochure

Most viewed 10 posts/pages for 2012

1. Did you watch Underbelly last night? Check out some real life mugshtos of the razor gangs (still)

2. Useful tips for reading handwritten documents

3. Conservation Tip 5: Removing mould from records and archives (it was definitely a wet year)

4. Australian soldiers in black and white

5. Digitising your collection – Part 1: Project Planning

6. Conservation Tip 3: Removing blood from documents

7. What are your tips for dating photos?

8. Regional Archives Centres

9. Digitising your collection (PDF download)

10. Social media strategies for archives – what we learned

Congratulations to all of our photo sleuths this year who have solved many a mystery! Here are a couple of cases in the “unsolved” category from this years Moments in Time series.

Harnessing the power of public participation

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has approximately 130 million items online and an estimated 110 billion pages of paper in their collection in total. In this video they discuss the way they are creatively exploring the use of public participation to help them meet the challenges of managing and making accessible such a large collection online.

The Citizen Archivist Dashboard is NARA’s new crowdsourcing tool for tagging, transcription, digitization of records, and more. Meredith Stewart demonstrates the various collaboration tools in the dashboard and discusses how the dashboard fits into the National Archives’ online strategy as part of Social Media Week DC.

Feeling inspired? Why not check out the Citizen Archivist Dashboard and start exploring.

November 2012 – Link Roundup

Metadata

Chris Hurley’s Stuff

An essential bookmark for all of those who are interested in professional accountability, governance and description. Chris Hurley has generously made his writings available online.

Chris has taught recordkeeping and written extensively on the subject. This site gathers together much of his published work. He continues to write and present at conferences and seminars. In recent years his work has appeared only on-line.

Ideas for making submissions to the current Commonwealth Government review of FOI legislation #foirev

Some FOI food for thought from the Recordkeeping Roundtable.

The following represents potential areas for a submission to Review of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (C’wealth) and the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010 (C’wealth) currently being carried out by Dr Alan Hawke at the request of the Attorney General Nicola Roxon. These were identified during the Recordkeeping Roundtable event ‘FOI under attack’ in Sydney on November 20, by our speakers, Brendan Molloy and Paul Farrell, and the participants.

Danish Flag

Danish emigration archives

Emigration lists compiled by the Copenhagen Police from 1869 to 1940. These lists give the name, last residence, age, year of emigration and first destination of the emigrant from Denmark. The records are made available for the years 1869 to 1908 (394.000 emigrants)The Danish Emigration Data Base compiled by the Danish Emigration Archives and The City Archives of Aalborg

The Danish emigration material and the database
Following a number of scandals in which unsuspecting emigrants were conned by Danish emigration agents, The Danish parliament passed more stringent regulations on May 1, 1868. According to the new law, The Copenhagen Chief of Police was to approve and monitor all emigration agents in Denmark and authorize all overseas tickets made out in Denmark. This was to be done whether an emigrant would be traveling directly from Copenhagen to the United States or indirectly via another European harbor for destinations overseas. As an extra measure of control, all the information from each ticket was copied down in ledgers, and thus became the Copenhagen Police Records of Emigrants. A total of 90 thick volumes were compiled, containing the same type of information for every emigrant.

Past/Lives – Revealing Traces of a Former Sydney

Sydney’s past is still visible beneath the facade of today if you look close enough.

Past/Lives seeks to uncover the secrets, reveal the hidden parts and tell the forgotten stories of Sydney using the clues that have been left behind through the years.

Past/Lives chronicles those instances of poorly reconstituted Pizza Huts, lazily retooled milk bars and forgotten former points of significance we notice every day, but never really stop to look at.

Water Damaged Bathing Beauties

Coping with water damage (via @spellboundblog)

This 10-minute video provides step-by-step guidance on dealing with water damage at museums, libraries, and archives. Practical tips on safety, simple equipment, and salvage priorities also make the video a useful guide for home owners who want to rescue treasured family heirlooms.

 A look at the Digger Picture

In 1919, when William Ifould, the principal librarian of the Mitchell Library, placed a newspaper advertisement offering ”good prices” for the original diaries of Australian soldiers who had taken part in the Great War, there was a promising response.

But Ifould was a hard man to please: he was scathing of some offerings and rejected others in his quest for good-quality accounts for future students.

Now, as the centenary of the start of World War I nears, the diaries are being re-examined, rediscovered and digitised for a new audience online…………………

…….Elise Edmonds, a librarian at the State Library, says some 1000 diaries by 400 diarists are being transcribed by a small group of volunteers fuelled by cups of tea.

pulse - detail

National Digital Forum Conference 2012

Last week the National Digital Forum Conference was held in New Zealand.         Fortunately @armchair_caver has created a twitter archive for the event, which for those of us who were unable to attend is the next best thing. It is jam packed with insightful commentary, posts and links (with occasional references to alcohol).