Stories from the archives

Re-enactment on a convict ship showing a convict being punished with a cat o' nine tails.

Ship of shame

An antique wooden barque called the Success, rebuilt from an Indian trader into a sensationalist touring exhibit supposedly representing a British convict ship. The enterprising entertainers were keen to exploit the Australian public’s appetite for a gothic convict narrative fostered by the novel For the term of his natural life.

John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia 1941–45

Declaration of independence

They are some of the most important documents in Australia’s evolution as an independent nation. But, for 80 years, they've gone largely unnoticed, filed away in a bound volume of Executive Council minutes.

This is the story of Australia’s first declarations of war.

HMAS Parramatta – detailed design drawing showing the below decks compartments and areas. MP611/1, 154/AF1, page 1

Lost at sea

Late November 1941 was a dark time for the Royal Australian Navy, with 2 major naval tragedies occurring within days of each other. The first is well known: the sinking of the HMAS Sydney by a German raider on 19 November with the loss of all 645 crew. Less well known is the sinking of the HMAS Parramatta just a few days later, with the loss of a further 138 lives.

Women toiling in the fields to bring in the wheat and oat crop, 1943. NAA: M4080, 9

Working 9 to 5

War expanded their horizons; war provided new opportunities; war sent them to work. And men sent them home again.

Australian Women's Army Service, Army Medical Women's Service, Auxiliary Australia Air Force and Voluntary Aid Detachment.

Girls on film

Photographs in the National Archives’ collection capture the faces of ordinary Australian women whose lives were about to change forever.

I married an alien

London, September 1913. A young society lady from a stately country mansion falls in love with a handsome diplomat from the Turkish embassy. It sounds like a plot line from the hit British drama Downton Abbey … but it’s the real-life story of Victorian socialite Florence Winter-Irving.

Teddy with his wife and 4 children. NAA: B13, 1933/22224, p. 5

Crowdsourcing the past

Thanks to a dedicated group of family historians and volunteers, you can now access information about Victoria’s non-European residents during the White Australia policy – without leaving home.

A postman riding a horse being followed by a dog

Postman vs dog

It's a struggle as old as time.

Lee Pao Sung’s identification card. NAA: D1976, SB1944/868

Dead in the water

In October 1945, a body washed up on the shores of the Port River in Adelaide. It was wrapped in blankets and weighted with ships spanners.

Opening of the extended Canberra Golf Course by the Right Honourable Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1927. NAA: A3560, 7545

Australia's golf champion prime minister

Prime Minister Stanley Melbourne Bruce is not generally remembered for being a man of the people. Yet if there was one thing that he shared with ordinary Australians, it was a great love of sport.

A photograph of a sea eagle on the arm of its handler. NAA: A1200, L58173.

Harry Frauca: snapshots of the bush

In over 20 years as a wildlife photographer, Harry Frauca contributed to what we know about native Australian wildlife and the habitats they call home.

Prince Charles at the wheel of a white Commonwealth Ford LTD, Richmond RAAF Base

Driving the royals

The royal tours of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in the 1950s and early 1960s are still fondly remembered for their grace and scale. Making sure they arrived on time at every destination was a fleet of Commonwealth cars and their drivers.