| Historical notes: | Manly and The Corso
Manly Cove was one of the earliest sites of contact between the Aboriginal people and European settlers. The area was low lying and scrubby and at times of high water the North Head was almost completely cut off from the mainland by water. Due to the isolated geography of the area and to poor access, Manly remained reasonably undeveloped, with only a few isolated huts. Early development of the area was a direct result of access by ferry boat leading to the establishment of some of the first villa homes in the area.
There were scant development in the area before 1840. In 1810, two grants for Crown land were made. Gilbert Baker was granted 30 acres of land south of the present day Corso and extended to the current Ashburner Street. Richard Cheers was granted 100 acres of land to the south adjoining Baker’s grant, from Ashburner Street to the Patrick’s College land. Most of the North Head had been reserved for defence purposes and the Quarantine Station. D’Arcy Wentworth purchased both the Baker and Cheers grants prior to his death in the 1820s but the area remained relatively undeveloped up until the 1880s. In 1836, there were only 43 people living in the Manly district, 13 of them “government men”.
To the north of the area now known as The Corso, John Thompson was granted 100 acres in 1842. Thompson’s grant was purchased in the early 1850s by an enterprising gentleman named Henry Gilbert Smith. Smith made several purchases in the area including 20 acres at North Steyne. He then set about planning his grand scheme for the private village that was to become Manly. Smith initially called the area Ellensville, then Brighton after the similarly named seaside resort in England.
Smith had visions of a great Marine Retreat and health resort, inspired by the concerns of a health-conscious community that still laid blame for ill health on miasma rather than direct contact with bacteria. In 1855 Smith prepared several plans for his marine retreat. One was for Ellensville, encompassing the area from The Corso, north to the current Pine Street. The southern portion from The Corso to Ashburner Street was named Montpelier. Every aspect was well considered, down to the plantings and manipulated views. Smith stated:
The object has been to give such a character to these marine Retreats that they may become the favourite resorts of the colonists. The promenades and Squares indicated on the plan will be the means of ensuring the health and amusement to residents and visitors and that the spaces thus reserved to recreation may be laid out and embellished, the proprietor undertakes to devote for this purpose one-sixth of the proceeds of all sales by him during the ensuing ten years.
In 1855, Smith built a pier in Manly Cove and began a ferry service between Sydney and Manly. Initially difficult to access by land, transport from Sydney by ferry was vital to the future development of Manly. Smith then set about developing one of the few private townships in New South Wales, one of the first suburbs to develop outside the walking boundary of Sydney. Smith’s plan for Ellensville was centred around a grand thoroughfare which he named The Corso, after a famed street in Rome.
The Corso was initially a sandy track cleared by Smith in 1855, and ran on a diagonal between the ferry wharf at Manly Cove and the ocean beach to the east. It is likely to have followed an original Aboriginal pathway. It was about this time that the first Norfolk Island pines were planted by Smith. Along Manly Cove he planned an esplanade separated from the harbour by a tree lined reserve. A similar esplanade, The Steyne, was planned at the eastern end of The Corso. Smith also laid out a street running directly west, the future Sydney Road. It was intersected by a major divided road, East Promenade and West Promenade, later known as Pittwater Road, and eventually, Belgrave Street. Sydney Road to the west of the promenade was known as Sebastapol Street and to the east was known as Fountain Street. Sebastapol Street was named in reference to the Crimean War, along with several other proposed manes that did not proceed.
In the triangular shaped area formed by The Corso and Fountain Street, Smith set aside a Market Square. Between Market Square and the future Belgrave Street, he laid out a street running directly north to the future Pine Street. This was named Whistler Street. Almost without exception, the pattern of streets and allotments set out in Smith's plan of Ellensville (later Brighton) remain today.
At first catering to the day tourist trade, H G Smith constructed the Pier Hotel in 1856 on the north-west corner of The Corso, opposite the ferry wharf, and the Steyne Hotel in 1859 on the ocean beachfront. In 1857 he built the Clarendon Hotel also on North Steyne facing the ocean. Smith leased these buildings and other buildings he constructed, as well as substantial portions of his land. Smith also donated land and money towards the establishment of churches, a school and a School of Arts. Subdivision of the land north of The Corso occurred in 1858, resulting in the first development of Manly.
By this time D'Arcy Wentworth had died and the land south of The Corso had been bequeathed to his daughter Katherine. Smith leased Baker's 30 acres from Katherine in 1853 for 21 years. Katherine married Benjamin Darley and following Darley's death, she married Thomas Bassett. Due to some doubt arising as to the legal title of the lands arising from Wentworth's will, it became necessary to pass an Act of Parliament in 1877, empowering the Trustees to sell the land. This gave rise to the Bassett-Darley Estate and it was not until after this time that the area south of The Corso developed.
Smith set out plans for the area south of The Corso in 1855, which he called Montpelier. The land immediately to the south and adjacent to The Corso he reserved as Victoria Park. Two rows of allotments were laid out either side of the park facing onto the Esplanade on the south-west and onto East Steyne on the north-east. Provision was made for a road to North Head slightly east of the current Darley Road, referred to on the plan as Victoria Road. Only one cross street was planned, that being Pacific Street, running between the Esplanade and East Steyne. This became the future Victoria Parade. Further allotments and roads were set out on the Montpelier plan on the land south of the current Ashburner Street, above the escarpment. This was on the Cheers grant but leased from Katherine Darley (nee Wentworth) by Charles Hemington until 1875. Local folk lore states that there were in fact two creeks (both now piped), one flowing into the ocean (where the South Steyne Surf Club is now located) and one into the harbour (opposite Ashburner Street). These two creeks never joined, but were divided by higher ground near what is now Darley Road (which has been lowered to facilitate access and traffic flow).
Apart from St Matthews Church, first constructed in 1863 on the south side of The Corso near the corner of the future Darley Road, this side remained mostly vacant. One of Smith's first sub-leases was to George Birch in 1856, for part of Lot 10 (on the Montpelier plan), on the site of the present day Coles Store. Birch opened refreshment rooms. John Oatley took the other half of the allotment. In 1859 Lots 8 and 9 were leased to A W Smith, a prime site opposite the wharf but with the stipulation that no wines or spirits were to be sold from the premises. This later became the site of the Temperance Hotel. Despite these leases on The Corso, the rest of the area south of The Corso failed to develop until after the expiry of Smith's lease of the land from the Wentworth Estate. New subdivisions followed the sale of land after 1877, much of it acquired by the Anglo Australian Investment Company.
Early pictures and plans of The Corso show the majority of development along the northern side. Apart from St Matthews Church and the adjacent timber school house on its west, the southern side remained mainly wooded. The Aboriginal people are reported to have been still holding occasional corroborees on the land east of the church, in the vicinity of the current Galleria Arcade, up until the 1870s. The focus of development on the north side of The Corso occurred between Whistler Street and Fountain Street. Part of Lot 7, facing onto The Corso, with rear lane access to Market Square, was purchased by John Farrell in 1873. The other portion was purchased by Sarah Savage where she conducted a fruit shop. Farrell soon after purchased Lot 6 and by 1874 had constructed an eight room stone house and a four room cottage. Farrell also operated a butcher's shop. These were adjacent to the Colonnade Hotel. The post office was also in this area. Similar sales resulted in the mixture of private residences and shops that was to remain the character of The Corso into the 1880s.
In 1877 Manly was gazetted a Municipality. By this time H G Smith had returned to England and the well-to-do were coming to Manly for holidays not just day trips. Hotels and boarding house proliferated during the 1870s. The first ideas of beautification arose following local residents’ appeals to Council to promote the area as a "resort". This resulted in the planting of trees along The Corso following Council seeking advice from experts at the Botanic Gardens.
It was recommended that Moreton Bay fig trees, Norfolk Island pines and pinus insignis (radiata pines) be planted along the sides rather than down the center of The Corso. This last recommendation was rejected and the first Norfolk Island pines were planted along The Corso, Steyne and the Esplanade. In the late nineteenth century Manly experienced a substantial increase in population, in addition to tourists. In 1871, the population of Manly was estimated to be about 500 residents. This had increased to 3,000 by 1887 and by 1901 was over 5000. Public bathing had become popular and tourism flourished resulting in the construction of numerous boarding houses, refreshment rooms and premises for local shops and trades. Although halted by the economic depression of the 1890s, by the turn of the century, the area was flourishing once again.
Mr W H Rolfe, a successful timber merchant, built a substantial two storey villa on the corner of The Corso, between Whistler Street and current Belgrave Street in 1877. This became the Town Hall in 1907 and remained so until the 1937 when the current Council Chambers were constructed. Prior to this Council used the original Ivanhoe Park Hotel, constructed in Ivanhoe Park in 1875. In 1885 the Anglo-Australian Investment Company subdivided the Cavendish Park Estate, the land bounded by Addison Road, Marshall Street, Stuart Street and Osborne Street. By the early 1900s most of the land along the South Steyne had been sold and developed. A horse-drawn tram had started in Manly in 1903, running from the harbour wharf up The Corso and along the Steyne to Carlton Street before turning back towards Pittwater Road, then north to manly Lagoon.
This encouraged further development along “The Flat”, towards the lagoon and corresponded with a shift towards the establishment of Manly as a residential suburb. Trams ceased to run down The Corso in 1914.
The population of Manly had doubled in the first decade of the twentieth century and manly continued to grow steadily until the 1930s, although at a slower pace. The 1920s and 1930s saw a proliferation of “flats”, a new mode of dwelling for the suburban commuter. This is evidenced by the large number of new residential flat buildings and throughout Manly in the Interwar period, and the conversion of many larger houses into flats. Manly continued as a popular holiday destination through the twentieth Century, particularly for those from the country.
In 1988 The Corso was redesigned by well-known landscape architect Bruce McKenzie, including part-closure to vehicles. Some of the original pines in The Corso were replaced at this time by palms and figs, to some of the remaining specimens date to from the 1920s.
Sydney Road
The eastern section of Sydney Road, between Belgrave Street and The Corso was known up until the late nineteenth century as Fountain Street. Fountain Street was laid out as part of H G Smith's 1855 plan for Ellensville, the future Manly Village. In the early days of Manly, The Corso and the street now known as Sydney Road, were the major streets. The importance of Fountain Street is reflected in the development that occurred there.
In 1866 Smith donated land on the south-east corner of Fountain Street and The Corso for the construction of a Police lock-up. The building was constructed of stone and had two cells as well as living quarters for the constable and his family. Horses were kept behind the Steyne Hotel. The building was demolished in 1928 following construction of the current Police Station in Belgrave Street. In 1880 Charles Eastes established Manly's first chemist in Sydney Road opposite the north-west corner of Belgrave Street. In the absence of a medical practitioner, Eastes assisted with many medical emergencies and moved his shop to the Post Office Villas in The Corso in 1885.
Opposite the Police Station in Fountain Street, Manly's first purpose-built Fire Station was constructed by McKellar and Wilson in 1898. In 1902 the Metropolitan Fire Board purchased a further 3 blocks of land extending up to Norton Street, now known as Central Avenue. The site was sold following construction of a new Fire Station at Fairlight in 1920.
Sydney Road was occupied at first by Victorian period houses until they were gradually demolished to make way for shops. The future Manly Daily began from premises at the corner of Norton Street (now Short Street). This corner was occupied by a row of three, two storey terraced buildings prior to demolition in the late twentieth century. On the north-western corner of Short Street was a substantial single storey residence with the Congregational Church on its west, at the corner with Whistler Street. The church was constructed in 1863 and is the oldest remaining building in Manly. On the northern corner of Belgrave Street (known previously as the East Promenade and then Pittwater Road) was the Post Office and Telegraph Office. This was later demolished and a substantial two storey building was constructed for the Commonwealth Bank on the site in the 1930s. The Post Office had served as an agent for the bank for many years, as was common at the time. This site is now vacant and provides a visual corridor to the Congregational Church opposite.
Adjacent to the fire station on the south east, the Eulin Flats were constructed c. 1922 with shops at street level. Next door to that was the Britannia Theatre, constructed in 1915 by Hassall and Stockham, and later renamed the Olympic, in honour of Manly athletes representing Australia at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Market Square was always the back end of the surrounding streets. Early photographs show it provided access to stables (later garages) and storage for surrounding businesses. It later served as a car parking area until the current car park (1968) and library (1995) were constructed. |