Stories From Sydney storiesfromsydney

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 scheme continue to reference him to this day as they call for massive water diversion programs to fulfill their own nation building fantasies.
Further reading:
The City and Suburban Electric Railways and Sydney Harbour Bridge - JJC Bradfield (1924)
Watering Inland Australia - JJC Bradfield (1941)
The Revised Bradfield Scheme (1981)
Bradfield, 75 Years On (5 part blog series) - The Strategic Week
 

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 facts, obscure trivia and maybe even the odd tall tale about three plants dear to Jed's heart; Lomandra longifolia, Xanthorrhoea and Tetragonia tetragonioides!

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.

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 Australia in 1816, from Macquarie’s aborted ‘native institute’, the first Indigenous/British marriage and all through the stolen generation to the present day, Yarramundi’s family have been at the centre of the unfolding relations amongst the people that call Western Sydney home.
In this podcast we discuss The History Listen podcast episode Yarramundi and the people of Dyarubbin and the Sydney University research that debunks one of the stories they tell. As with anything do with the people of Dyarubbin, Grace Karskens research is wonderfully helpful and the State Government published Dyarubbin: Mapping Aboriginal history, culture and stories of the Hawkesbury River that she was involved with is well worth a look if you’re interested in the specific geography of these last few episodes.
Lastly, at the end of the episode we plug The Australian Histories Podcast and Jed also mentions a book he read on William Buckley, which is Jock Serong’s Buckley’s Chance.

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 their staggeringly deep occupation of this continent!Sources:Grace Karskens: People of the River - a wonderful bookThe Lapstone Creek Excavation - the foundational text of Australian archaeologySourcing Stone from the Sydney Region - a hatchet jobCastlereagh and Penrith Lakes - a lovely blog postPenrith Lakes Scheme - an aspirational video of what the quarried moonscape could become

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 relate to some of the first journeys the colonisers made to Dyarubbin, the one river that they had mistakenly identified as both the Hawkesbury and the Nepean.