Stories from our exhibitions

Photographs from the Deadly Awards by Jamie James.

Established in 1820, this cemetery became the final resting place for many Sydney-siders throughout the 19th century. The land was finally cleared in 1901 to make way for Sydney's new Central Station.

Records of life in a Japanese POW camp, buried in 1943.

To mark the centenary of the peace year, 1919, we take an intimate look at the lives of children during the ‘war to end all wars’.

The interviews delve into the personal stories of recently arrived migrants and their new lives in New South Wales, starting from birth and childhood and covering the (often harrowing) reasons they were compelled to leave their homes and seek safety in another country.

‘The Armistice – agreeing to cease hostilities’ was signed between Germany, France and Britain at 5 am on the morning of 11 November.

In the days before digital and film photography, images were often taken on glass. But from the 1880s, development of ready-to-use 'dry plate' negatives and simpler cameras saw the rise of amateur photography.

During the First World War nearly 7000 ‘enemy aliens’, mainly of German and Austro-Hungarian origin, were interned in camps in Australia. The Library’s collection of papers of ‘enemy aliens’ interned in Australia during WW1 contains around 40 handwritten diaries written by internees.

In October 1918 Angus & Robertson published what would become one of Australia’s best known children’s stories: The Magic Pudding.

It is estimated that over one million pairs of socks were knitted by Australian women and children during the war. 

George Bell was a bank officer from Port Headland, Western Australia.

The Library's collection of World War I diaries offers a glimpse into the life of Australians at war.