History

Gone and Forgotten on Glebe Point Road, Part 2
Posted on 1st July 2024
Gone and forgotten are Gurth, Wamba and Mussett, three of the six dwellings replaced by the Anchorage at 451 Glebe Point Road. Read about some of the families that occupied these beautiful waterfront homes.

The story of Derwent Street from 1975 to 1980 continues …
Posted on 13th June 2025
The final instalment of Brian McDonald’s fascinating account of living in Derwent Street in the late 1970s.

This month’s mystery photo: June 2025
Posted on 13th June 2025
This month’s mystery photo is a bit different. Where are we?

Two more Blue Plaques for Glebe
Posted on 9th May 2025
Heritage NSW has just announced the latest successful nominations for a Blue Plaque; among which are two from our suburb …

Blue Plaque nomination #3: 67 Glebe Point Road, once Women’s Liberation House
Posted on 20th May 2022
by Ian Stephenson, Bulletin 3/2022 (May) The third site nominated by the Glebe Society for a Blue Plaque is Women’s Liberation House, 67 Glebe Point Rd. The building is important for its ability to represent the early days of second-wave feminism in Australia. First wave feminism was focused on suffrage and legal obstacles to gender […]

51 Hereford Street, Glebe: Some early history
Posted on 7th April 2025
Have you ever wondered what was located at 51 Hereford Street before today’s controversial unit block was built in the mid-1990s? A newly unearthed photograph reveals the stately Victorian villa ‘Lask’, named after the Polish hometown of the Rogalsky family who built it in 1883.

This month’s mystery photo: April 2025
Posted on 8th April 2025
There are two mystery photos this month. Try your hand at working out where they were taken. (Answers also provided)

Pub quiz
Posted on 3rd March 2025
There are eight pubs trading in Glebe today, a lot fewer than in earlier times. When was ‘peak pub’ in Glebe? Find out the answer to this and other Glebe pub trivia questions.

How I got to Glebe: Duncan Leys
Posted on 3rd March 2025
Although Glebe Society President Duncan Leys grew up in Moree, Glebe has a special significance for Duncan, featuring in his family’s history.

This month’s mystery photo: December 2024
Posted on 2nd December 2024
Where are we and what’s going on? And how did you go with last month’s mystery photo?

A plaque for Sadie
Posted on 28th October 2024
A dedication ceremony was held in August in front of the old Glebe Post Office where a plaque has been installed to honour the life of Sadie (Sarah Murdoch King). Sadie was a well known figure in Glebe. She lived in Glebe for over 75 years, was a staunch unionist, advocate for the rights of women in the workplace and for people living in social housing.

This month’s mystery photo: November 2024
Posted on 28th October 2024
Where are we? And, in which decade was this photo taken?

Memories of Lindy Anne Peisley
Posted on 28th October 2024
Lindy was one of the real characters of Glebe and she will be missed by family and friends.

This month’s mystery photo: October 2024
Posted on 2nd October 2024
This one’s a bit tricky. And there’s an interesting solution to last month’s mystery photo.

This month’s mystery photo: September 2024
Posted on 28th August 2024
Someone is building an aircraft, but where and when?

This month’s mystery photo, August 2024
Posted on 31st July 2024
What are we looking at here? Plus find out the answer to last month’s mystery photo.

Famous figures in Glebe’s past
Posted on 1st August 2024
Each month we publish articles by our intrepid History Team on famous and infamous figures in Glebe’s past.
Here are some of our recent stories. This photo is of ‘Comrade Wally Clayton’ of Glebe Point Road.

Remembering their sacrifice: Max Solling’s 2024 Anzac Day address, part 3
Posted on 31st July 2024
Max Solling recalls the ‘war memorial movement’ that followed the First World War, when the design and construction of many beautiful monuments in our neighbourhood marked the grief and pride experienced by local communities at the tragic loss of so many young lives

Walk Report: The Glebe Estate — St Phillips and Bishopthorpe
Posted on 1st July 2024
Max Solling led Glebe Society Walks fifty years ago to raise awareness of the Glebe Estate’s significance. A successful campaign resulted in the protection of the Estate by the Whitlam government. Max led another fascinating Walk of the Glebe Estate in May this year.

This month’s mystery photo, July 2024
Posted on 1st July 2024
In this month’s mystery photo, you see only part of a building. Can you identify it?

Max Solling’s 2024 Anzac Day address, Part 2
Posted on 1st July 2024
In this second extract from his 2024 Anzac Day address, Max Solling looks behind the public commemoration of WWI dead to the private grief of the many Glebe women who lost sons, brothers and husbands. As the bodies of WWI war dead were rarely repatriated, Glebe’s War Memorial in Foley Park became the focal point for remembrance and processing grief.

This month’s mystery photo: June 2024
Posted on 29th May 2024
Glebe and Forest Lodge sleuths wait with bated breath for the next identification challenge and the revealing of the answer to last month’s mystery. Lyn Collingwood poses the challenge and provides a bit of history for last month’s photo..

Supporting a fellow community group: Pyrmont History Group
Posted on 1st May 2024
Following the seminal work ‘Women of Pyrmont’, first published in 2017, ‘Men of Pyrmont’ was finally produced in 2024. The new book has been glowingly described as ‘surprising, entertaining, a joy!’. It is a collection of 42 most diverse reflections on life in Pyrmont. The Pyrmont History Group is offering the two books for sale.

Max Solling’s 2024 Anzac Day address
Posted on 26th April 2024
Glebe historian, Max Solling’s 2024 Anzac Day address touching on war memorials, Indigenous Australians in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and the women of Glebe.

This month’s mystery photo: May 2024
Posted on 1st May 2024
This month’s photo has something of a development flavour. Last month featured a home in Ferry Road. This home and others in the street have an interesting history which has inspired coverage of the street’s background.

This month’s mystery photo: April 2024
Posted on 27th March 2024
A new photo for this month. Can you guess where the photo’s subject is located? And find out where last month’s photo was taken.

‘The Cream of the Coast’ in Forest Lodge
Posted on 27th March 2024
Stripped of its paint during recent renovations, the wall of a former corner shop in Forest Lodge revealed a fragment of a Streets Ice Cream advertisement before being once more retired beneath layers of paint. The fragment was from Streets’ tagline, ‘The Cream of the Coast’.

This month’s mystery photo: March 2024
Posted on 28th February 2024
A new mystery photograph to test your knowledge of Glebe and Forest Lodge.

Blue Plaque nomination #21: ‘Calmar’, 128 Glebe Point Road, designed by Edmund Blacket
Posted on 28th February 2024
The twenty-first and final site nominated by the Society in 2021 for a Blue Plaque is Calmar at 128 Glebe Point Road which was designed by Edmund Blacket.