History High Tales: Sin and the City

The Historic Houses Association of Australia brings you the third of our History High Tales with historian Max Burns-McRuvie and a soulful sound from Wes and Allison Harder duo.

Colonial Sydney was built on crime. It was the criminal acts of convicts committed half a world away that provided its first labour force and even its first government architect; raising a city from the ground. As Sydney grew throughout the nineteenth century, so did the amount of crime that was committed from within. It lurked in the laneways, it peppered the newspapers and it often ended at Darlinghurst Gaol with the hangman’s noose. Some of these crimes were horrific and drenched in blood. Others were crafty and left more mysteries than clues. Many were never solved and countless have been forgotten.

Join Sydney historian Max Burns-McRuvie for ‘Sin and the City — 'true tales of crime and debauchery from Sydney’s peculiar past’. Drawing from local newspapers, journals and court records that span a century and a half of Sydney’s colourful and often notorious criminal history, this presentation will focus on acts of vice and villainy that have occurred within a city radius of the Kent Street heritage precinct. 

Enjoy jazz and swing with some cool blues by Wes and Allison Harder for grooving at ‘Sin and the City’. Allison is an experienced vocalist with a background in blues, soul and contemporary jazz. Wes has performed extensively as piano/keyboardist for Blues, motown, soul and jazz bands.

Doors open at 4.30pm with a welcome complimentary cocktail. Choose from our themed cocktails: The Stormy Charlotte, Mr Peacock's Punch, or The Thirsty Soldier.