Skip to main content.

Sydney Past and Present

An account of the early history of Sydney, Australia's first colonial city. Best known for his collection of light-hearted yarns, Steve Brown's Bunyip and other Stories, J. A. Barry first published the chapters of this book as a series of articles in the Town and Country Journal. Published shortly after the Federation of Australia in 1901, Barry's version of Sydney's nineteenth century history is anecdotal and entertaining, and opens a window on to the attitudes and concerns of its times. (6 hr 37 min)

Chapters

The Founding of the City

21:29

Weakly Infancy

18:58

The Harbour - Macquarie's Buildings

21:47

Early Social Life

19:08

Sydney in the Twenties

23:12

Sydney in the Twenties (Continued)

23:21

The Early Thirties

23:17

The Later Thirties

29:31

The Early Forties

28:30

In the Forties

24:53

In the Forties (Continued)

27:39

Sporting in the Forties

29:37

Some Early Suburbs & Islands

23:41

Sydney in the Fifties

24:58

The Fifties And Sixties

24:21

The Sixties and Seventies (Conclusion)

25:07

The Rocks Resumptions

7:52