This episode Jed digs up a history book that tells the story of one of colonial Sydney's early families. Like so many others, Thomas West found himself in Sydney in 1801 as a guest of the crown. From inauspicious beginnings, West quickly established himself as a capable man, right as the colony was beginning to boom. Having what appears to be a per…

In this episode, we discuss the significance of the whaling industry in the early history of Sydney, jumping from familiar Sydney locations like Liverpool, Mosman, and Neutral Bay, all the way down the coast to Eden, and even the foundation of Hobart. Whales celebrate the drilling of oil wells - A Vanity Fair cartoon depicting whales celebrating th…

John Job Crew Bradfield was one of the defining engineers of early 20th century New South Wales. In this episode we discuss the man's contribution to Sydney's water and transport systems and his largely unrealised vision to completely reshape the hydrology of inland Australia. As unlikely as that might sound, proponents of Bradfield's eponymous sch…

In this short and punchy episode the boys discuss three different plant species/genera common to Sydney Harbour. Yes, genera is the correct word for the plural of genus, and hence we would like to apologise in advance for insisting on using 'genuses' throughout the episode. Listen in to our last episode of Season 4 as we discuss some well known fac…

In this episode we discuss Bungaree - a significant figure in the early history of Sydney and part of the first voyage to ever circumnavigate the continent of Australia! The detailed "King Bungaree" by Keith Vincent Smith was our major source for this episode.By storiesfromsydney

In this episode Jed attempts to tell the multi-generational story of Yarramundi, Colebee and Maria of the Boorooberongal clan of the Dharug people of what is now Western Sydney. From the first encounters between the Dharug and the British on Dyarubbin in 1791, to the first ever land grant from the British regime to the original inhabitants of Austr…

In this episode we discuss the excavation of the Lapstone Creek rock shelter and what it tells us about Aboriginal history and culture in the Sydney region. Tune in to learn more about where you can find the best rock in the region for making stone tools, how it got there, and what kind of innovative uses it was put to by Aboriginal people over the…

We're back for Season 4! Instead of our usual 2 minute teaser episode we are launching with a bang: just shy of 2 hours of mostly 18th century prose! In this episode Jed surprises Alistair with a dramatic reading of several passages from Watkin Tench's 1793 publication 'A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson'. The stories we explore r…

In this bonus episode we discuss Following the Flow, a documentary exploring the people, places, ecology and history of the Macquarie Wambool River in Western NSW. Alongside Stories from Sydney, Jed has been working on this project for the past 3 years and is very excited to be bringing it to Sydney for a screening at the Golden Age Cinema in Surry…

In the last episode of Season 3 we briefly trace the history of Australia's first and most important export, coal, and the city with which it is inextricably linked. We trace this history from the dreaming of the Awabakal people all the way to the open cut coal mines of the Upper Hunter that frame our national narrative to this day. One particular …

This fortnight we discuss the Theosophical Society and their impact on Sydney, from the 2GB radio station, to the Star Amphitheatre in Balmoral (pictured) and The Manor in Clifton Gardens. Tune in to hear about the famous Australian figures associated with the movement, their early interest in Buddhism, and the touted messianic hero who renounced h…

In the early years of the 20th century Sydney was the undisputed Department Store capital of the world. Retail family dynasties competed with each other to open the largest, most modern and most spectacular stores from Broadway to Wynyard. Alas, the 1960s brought changing fortunes for these icons as the CBD started to decay and sprawling Sydneyside…

In this episode we discuss tensions within working class politics in Sydney during the First World War. If you enjoyed this episode you might be interested in this podcast episode about the Great Strike of 1917 from the City Of Sydney. Also, we really enjoyed this podcast episode from Forgotten Australia about Percy Brookfield, which was what alert…

In 1880 the bushranger era came to a dramatic end in Eastern Australia with the infamous death of Ned Kelly in Melbourne. Earlier that same year a man just as infamous at the time was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol after engaging in his own wayward adventures across the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria and in the South Pacific. Some 110 years …

Well before the gold rushes of the mid 1800s, there was another all but forgotten resource extraction boom which played an important role in the expansion of the early colony. After being first logged along the Hawkesbury River, red cedar soon became the third largest export from the nascent port of Sydney and was known colloquially as “red gold”. …

This episode we discuss the story of the Sydney Cove, a ship that set sail from Calcutta bound for its eponymous port in 1796. The Sydney Cove never quite made it the whole way, but after countless misadventures just under half of her crew did. Join us as we discuss a story that is not only all but unbelievable but is one of the most significant st…

We discuss the history and significance of the local bowlo with special guest Louis Heath. Perhaps you, like us, have always wondered where this quaint game comes from, and why so many bowling clubs dot the streets of Sydney. If so, then you're in luck! We'll dive into the royal origins of the sport, its enormous boom in popularity in the post-war …

To celebrate both boys recording from Sydney for the first time ever, we've included some bonus material about Manly in our introductory episode to Season Three - a "vignette from Sydney" as Jed likes to call it! Plus, find out about the exciting new episode format set to feature this season, and hear about the topics that we have prepared for you …

Whether we admit it or not, we tend to set standards that only favor us and when it doesn’t..we start throwing tantrums 🙄🙄

Rant about how hard and dangerous job hunting in Nigeria and Lagos is. Only God can safe us.

Work-Life balance is definitely a strange term to Lagosians because it doesn't exist....at all. Lagos is never going to be a real place. This episode is a rant btw🤧🤧

Since we're all trying to secure the bag, a few tips on investments and savings and just financial talk...sometimes I'm serious😏😏

Love languages, giving and receiving love, expectations...random lovey stuff.

Are women better at hiding their "street" ways or are men just being to it. (Mistakenly deleted🤧🤧)

Dealing with being alone in a new city, missing my family and friends.

Despite their household name being all but forgotten, the Macleay family were a force to be reckoned with in Colonial Sydney society. They owned vast swaths of NSW as it was carved up in the 19th century, they represented much more of the colony in parliament, they built a most impressive sandstone mansion at Elizabeth Bay House and after 3 generat…

Tracing the history of sewerage infrastructure in Sydney provides a wild ride through the origins of democracy in NSW, the popularity of Egyptian obelisks in the nineteenth century, and the unsavoury prospect of surfing in the city’s muck. Join us on this week's episode of Stories from Sydney as we discuss the fractious history of the city’s waste …

Until more recent years Sydney's large and visible queer community was generally ill considered by wider society, in large part due to the negative light the police and mainsteam media portrayed them in. Despite, or perhaps because of, this, a secret world of partially hidden dance parties was occurring across the city on an epic scale. This episod…

We discuss the swimming scene in Sydney at the turn of the century, some iconic locations, our first Olympic champion, and the stroke that changed everything.By storiesfromsydney

Surprising things I experienced in Eko. I never hexperrerit.

Lol how I became an ex- convict. Put some respect on my name please. Thank you.

Lagos house hunting...an absolute nightmare. Send your house hunting experience in different states to jjctales@gmail.com

A brief introduction of what my podcast will be about ... Have fun guys!!!

This episode we head West from Sydney to a town that has long shared connections with the Harbour City. From Ancient Caves to Pistol Duels and Unfinished Roads, through 3 short stories (and a generous introduction) we learn a little bit about a little town called Wellington.By storiesfromsydney

On a quiet autumn day in 1935, a recently captured Tiger Shark on display in the swimming pool at the Coogee Palace suddenly regurgitated an entire human arm. How did the arm get there, and what does this murder mystery reveal about Sydney society during the Great Depression?By storiesfromsydney

In the 1890s the temperance movement took off across Australia. At first laughed out of the room, the coming of World War One dramatically changed public attitudes and saw the cultural centre of towns and suburbs move away from the public bar. A new, arguably less civilised, drinking culture took hold across the land and Sydneysiders had to grapple…

Despite arriving as a convict in the very early years of the colony, Billy Blue went on to achieve considerable success as a ferryman and harbour master and gave his name to many locations on Sydney's North Shore. Tune it to find out more about this colourful figure and the little-known history of African-American convicts in Sydney.…

Tune in to this week's short trailer to get yourself geared up for another season of Stories from Sydney, find out what's changed (not much) and to hear our first episode's all important clue!By storiesfromsydney

Colonial Sydney was rife with grand schemes to put the town firmly on the map and in hearts and minds across the Empire. Few such schemes were as demanding, or as necessary, as the plan to build a road connecting the Parramatta, Hawkesbury and Hunter Rivers. Things didn't quite go as planned, but the present day residents of the route might just be…

The so called "Rum Hospital", which still stands on Macquarie Street, was constructed in return for exclusive rights to import rum into the young colony. How did it come to pass that rum was such an important commodity in colonial Sydney? Did this government contract exacerbate the drunken debauchery that Macquarie had been tasked with bringing und…

In the 19th century British settlement irreversibly altered the ecological and cultural landscape of the Burragorang Valley. For the Gandangara people of the valley, the 20th century would bring only greater pain, as Sydney's demands for water and recreation would see them displaced again and again. The 21st century brought greater recognition of t…

This week's episode follows the story of Louisa Collins, a working class woman who in 1888 saw not one but two husbands die under mysterious circumstances. During the episode, we discuss the history of the Darlinghurst Courthouse and Gaol, and touch on the struggle for female political emancipation and growing opposition to capital punishment in th…

It took white Australians 25 years to find a way across the Blue Mountains, but only 10 years for a pub to open on the way down the other side. This story is about a pub that burned briefly, but burned bright, leaving an indelible mark on Australia forevermore.By storiesfromsydney

The notebooks of William Dawes, astronomer of the First Fleet, disappeared from public view for nearly 200 years before being uncovered in 1972. These weren’t just any old diaries, but instead contained an extensive account of the indigenous language of Sydney. This episode is about how these notebooks came to be written and then forgotten, and wha…

The role the railways played in the growth of Sydney and New South Wales could hardly be overstated. But when, and how, did it all begin? Tune in to find out just how close Sydney came to missing the proverbial boat of the world's first rail boom.By storiesfromsydney

On Boxing Day, 1908, before a crowd of 20,000 Sydneysiders, an African American boxer named Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns, a white Canadian, to become the first ever black Heavyweight Champion of the World. This episode tells the story of how this important event ended up taking place in Rushcutters Bay at the newly built "Sydney Stadium".…

Hello and welcome to Stories from Sydney: History of the Harbour City. In this episode we’d like to briefly introduce ourselves and give you a quick rundown of what you can expect from this podcast. Every fortnight one of us tells the other a story from the rich and varied history of Sydney and her surrounds.…