Welcome
Welcome to the website of the Sydney Diocesan Archives, Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney
To return to the Sydney Diocesan Registry click here
During 2010 the Sydney Diocesan Archives will be closed to public enquiries, from time to time, in order to work on re-shelving and stock-take.
However we will service enquiries for provision of a copy of a personal record of baptism. Please see the relevant page on this website “How to Obtain a Copy of your Baptism Record”.
This website aims to provide the reader with a starting point from which to gain an understanding of the work of Sydney Diocesan Archives, the collection, services available, and the wider diocesan context within which the Sydney Diocesan Archives operates. Readers are encouraged to explore the website, and then contact the Sydney Diocesan Archivist for more details if necessary.
Information on the website includes:
• Details about access to the Sydney Diocesan Archives for the general public, and other user groups
• Collection Policy and holdings of the Sydney Diocesan Archives
• Downloadable documentation
The Archivist’s Mission
Archivists ensure that records which have value as authentic evidence of administrative, corporate, cultural and intellectual activity are made, kept and used. The work of archivists is vital for ensuring organisational efficiency and accountability and for supporting understandings of Australian life through the management and retention of its personal, corporate and social memory.
[Australian Society of Archivists: http://www.archivists.org.au ]
News
2007 Church Administration Conference
On Saturday 16 June 2007, the Sydney Diocesan Secretariat (SDS) is holding an inaugural Church Administration Conference to help newly elected churchwardens and parish councillors to understand:
• What does it mean?
• What do you do now?
• What is your part in these important ministry roles?
The Conference will be a great opportunity for newly elected church officers (and those who are already in these positions) to gain a greater understanding of their roles in the life of church and parish. The SDS also encourages rectors and other interested ministry staff, and anyone else in churches and parishes who may be considering becoming a churchwarden or parish councillor in the future, to attend this conference.
The conference sessions will cover the following subjects:
• Roles & responsibilities of churchwardens & parish councillors
• Parish accounting and financial controls
• Ministry staff remuneration
• Risk Management Program Module 2
Throughout the day there will be information booths presenting and showcasing various other services to parishes. The Sydney Diocesan Archives will be represented at this Conference in this way. Those attending will be able to ask the Sydney Diocesan Archivist about records management and archives administration in the parish office, deposit of parish records into the Sydney Diocesan Archives, and about the work of the Sydney Diocesan Archives.
Category: General Interest
QLD Branch of ASA visits the Brisbane Anglican Diocesan Archives
The Queensland Branch of the Australian Society of Archivists held its bi-monthly meeting (on 21st March 2007) at the Brisbane Anglican Diocesan Archives.
Ms Desley Soden is the Brisbane Diocesan Archivist. Prior to the business meeting, Ms Soden gave members a guided tour of the Records and Archives Centre of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane. The Records and Archives Centre was established in 1979 as the official repository of the records of the Anglican Church within the Diocese of Brisbane.
The Colony of Queensland was created in 1859, and the the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane was created in the same year. It was formed out of the northern division of the Diocese of Newcastle. The first Bishop was Edward Wyndham Tufnell (1814-1896).
Category: Archival Profession
NSW Branch of ASA visits the NSW Masonic Archives
The NSW Branch of the Australian Society of Archivists held its monthly meeting (on 21st March 2007) at the NSW Masonic Archives, situated at the Sydney Masonic Centre.
Mr Brian French is the Grand Archivist for the NSW Masonic Archives. Prior to the business meeting, Mr French gave members a guided tour of the NSW Masonic Archives and collection, and welcomed the advice and recommendations of ASA members in solving some problems he encounters with the management of the collection.
In past years, some members of the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Sydney were also Freemasons, so this collection may well be of interest to historians of the Anglican Church in Sydney.
Category: Archival Profession
The Reverend Dr Peter Bolt, biographer of Thomas Moore
As of February 2007, The Reverend Dr Peter G. Bolt has resumed his research in the Sydney Diocesan Archives, in preparation for a biography of Thomas Moore.
Dr Bolt is the Head of New Testament and Greek at Moore Theological College in Sydney. Click here to learn more about Dr Bolt’s work: Peter G. Bolt, Moore Theological College
Thomas Moore was a shipbuilder who lived in the Liverpool area and was connected with the parish of St Luke’s Liverpool. Thomas Moore died in December 1840 and he bequeathed a considerable section of his estate to the Diocese of Sydney to provide for the founding of a college to train young Protestant men. From these funds Moore Theological College was founded in Liverpool in 1856. Moore Theological College, now situated in Newtown, celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 2006.
Dr Bolt commenced his research at the Sydney Diocesan Archives in July 2006, and he has been working with the papers of the Trustees of the Estate of the late Thomas Moore.
Whilst Archbishop Donald Robinson has worked with these papers previously, it is possible that Dr Bolt is the first researcher to use these records since they were sent to the Sydney Diocesan Archives in the late 1970s.
Throughout 2006, Dr Bolt gave a number of lectures and published a number of papers based on his research findings connected with Thomas Moore.
Read an account written by Dr Bolt of the early beginnings of Moore College and the use of Moore’s bequest at the following link: Moore College Celebrates 150 Years
Read some more articles on a range of topics published by Dr Bolt at the following link: Articles by Peter Bolt 2005-2006
Category: Visiting Researchers