| Historical notes: | The "Eora people" was the name given to the coastal Aborigines around Sydney. Central Sydney is therefore often referred to as "Eora Country". Within the City of Sydney local government area, the traditional owners are the Cadigal and Wangal bands of the Eora. There is no written record of the name of the language spoken and currently there are debates as whether the coastal peoples spoke a separate language "Eora" or whether this was actually a dialect of the Dharug language. Remnant bushland in places like Blackwattle Bay retain elements of traditional plant, bird and animal life, including fish and rock oysters.
With the invasion of the Sydney region, the Cadigal and Wangal people were decimated but there are descendants still living in Sydney today. All cities include many immigrants in their population. Aboriginal people from across the state have been attracted to suburbs such as Pyrmont, Balmain, Rozelle, Glebe and Redfern since the 1930s. Changes in government legislation in the 1960s provided freedom of movement enabling more Aboriginal people to choose to live in Sydney.
(Information sourced from Anita Heiss, "Aboriginal People and Place", Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/barani )
The terraces sit on part of the two lots (13 acres, 2 roods, 10 perches) purchased by Richard Brooks in October 1814 at the Provost Marshall's sale. This was part of the original land grant of 70 acres to John Palmer, known as 'George Farm', dated 1/04/1794. Brookes was a mariner, merchant and settler who had acquired land in Cockle Bay and Ingleside and established a profitable business in Sydney (Cracknell & Lonergan, 1999).
In 1831, Brooks had cleared and subdivided his Surry Hills estate into 28 lots for sale. The Surveyor General, Major Mitchell, had imposed a new street layout over Meehan's grid and the present Albion, Crown and Bourke Street were established. The outline of Brook's Estate with Fitzroy Street on its southern boundary is reminiscent of Meehan's plan (Cracknell & Lonergan, 1999).
The site sits on Lots 19 & 20 bought by Thomas Waters, a Sydney Butcher, at Brook's sale in 1831. In October 1833, Lancelot Iredale purchased these lots from Waters. In 1835, John Verge was commissioned by Iredale to design and superintend '..Two Cottages on Surrey Hills'. It is possible that these cottages were located on the land purchased from Thomas Waters on the subject site (Cracknell & Lonergan, 1999).
In July 1868, William Barker contracted with Lancelot Iredale Brennand (Iredale's second daughter's son) for 'absolute purchase' of the Southern portion of his property, to accommodate the rear wings of 8 new terrace houses. The two easternmost terraces required the demolition of the western cottage. Barker's 8 lots are first recorded in the Sydney's Sands Directory in 1870. The first resident recorded (1871) of Lot 1 (present no.179) is Frederick Wyatt. Walter Buzacott, who married Lancelot & Keziah Iredale's daughter, lived in the largest terrace (Lot 4) in 1879. The street numbers of the terrace row changed from 233-247 to 179-193 in 1881-2. The terraces continued to be held by the Barker family until 1950 when the row was sold. |