Places

Places

Founded in 1915, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music was established in the gothic former stables of Government House, which were designed in 1815 by convict architect Francis Greenway. The first director (and only salaried staff member) was Henri Verbrugghen, a Belgian conductor and violinist, and its aims were “providing tuition […]

Sydney Conservatorium of Music

 in Music / Sydney by
“You ain’t heard nuthin’ yet!” Sydney audiences broke all box office records in late December 1928 when The Jazz Singer opened at the Lyceum, and The Red Dance opened at the Regent. In a week these two cinemas took £8,500! In November 1928, Western Electric engineers had installed Fox Movietone […]

The Jazz Singer and Sydney’s 1928 talkie war

 in Sydney by
1920s Sydney had the largest network of tramways in the Southern Hemisphere, with 1600 tramcars running daily on 291 km of tram lines. This amazing video clip shows trams shifting 1000 passengers per minute at the end of the final race of the 1928 Sydney Cup meeting at Randwick Racecourse.

Trams in 1928 Sydney

 in Sydney by
Janette Beard’s fascinatingly detailed 1983 Sydney University thesis Newtown 1892-1922: A Social Sketch became a valuable roadmap for researching life in 1920s Newtown, where Lucy lives. It was quite a fashionable place to live, and King Street became the first important shopping strip outside the city. Newtown retail advertising in […]

Newtown 1892-1922: A Social Sketch

 in Newtown / Sydney by