| 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 )
Originally adjacent to original shoreline, lease to Shadrach Shaw by 1800. Shaw sold the lease to Simeon Lord. Macquarie recalls the land and instructed Francis Greenway to construct an obelisk and fountain, the area became a public reserve. By the 1850s the extensions of roads in the area reduce the site to its present configuration.
Macquarie Place occupies the land riginally adjacent to original shoreline that was once the eastern bank of the Tank Stream near where it flowed into Sydney Cove. Artists’ sketches from as early as 1793 show the land that was to become Macquarie Place as a triangular area adjoining the garden of the First Government House. The triangle of Macquarie Place and the alignment of Bridge Street are also visible on plans of Sydney dated from as early as 1800. Meehan's Plan of the Town of Sydney of 1807 shows this triangular area of land to comprise part of the vegetable garden of Government Domain in the northeast ern corner, part lease to Shadrach Shaw in the southwestern corner (lease established by 1800) and the guardhouse in the southeastern corner of the triangle. Shaw sold this lease to Simeon Lord. Macquarie recalls the land and instructed Francis Greenway to construct an obelisk and fountain, the area became a public reserve. Macquarie Place was named and dedicated as a park by Governor Macquarie in the Government and General Order in October, 1810. The sandstone obelisk was constructed by Macquarie in 1818 to mark the point from which all distances in the colony.were measured. Macquarie Place was proclaimed on December 31, 1834.
By the 1850s the extensions of roads in the area reduce the site to its present configuration.
Several reports exist providing detailed historical evidence. These include Lester Tropman & Associates, Masterplan and Plan of Management Macquarie Place. Council of the City of Sydney, 1990.
Ted Higginbotham. Historical research for the Macquarie Place urban design study area. Conybeare Morrison & Partners. 1984.
Heritage Group, State Projects, NSW Public Works. Conservation plan, The obelisk, Macquarie Place, Sydney. NSW. Sydey City Council, 1995.
By 1807 Bridge Street had become Sydney’s most prestigious residential area. Macquarie Place reserve was the focus of the colony with the city’s elite residing in properties adjoining the grounds of Government House. The Governor’s Domain, the grounds associated with the First Government House, was built in 1788 and occupied by successive Governors of New South Wales until 1845. Bridge Street consisted of the public thoroughfare from George Street to Macquarie Place, and the public right of way stopped at the entrance to the grounds of Government House at the east side of Macquarie Place. With the construction of new stables for Government Houses (now the Conservatorium of Music) in 1817, up the hill to the east of the house, a carriageway to the stables appears to have been opened up, roughly along the line of the present eastern end of Bridge Street, but this was not a public thoroughfare.
In 1840’s the city grid was extended in the North-South direction and Government House was relocated to the Domain. The topography of this area was changed due to the filling of the Tank Stream and the formation of Circular Quay. Wells Map of 1843 notes Government House in its Bridge Street location. In 1845 the old Government House complex of buildings was demolished opening up Bridge Street to the original Domain around Macquarie Place, Pitt, Phillip and Macquarie Streets were extended north to the harbour and the Macquarie Place reserve reduced in size to the present area.
In 1845 Governor Gipps moved into the new Government House. This newly created city block was bounded by Macquarie, Bent, Phillip and Bridge Streets. Allotments in Macquarie Street were sold in the late 1840s and this became a fashionable residential area. In a plan of 1850 showing the Macquarie Street side of this subdivision, the Bridge Street frontage of the block is shown subdivided into allotments which were not sold. This northern part of the city block remained vacant until the construction of the Public Works and Colonial (Chief) Secretary’s offices in 1873. A system of lanes provided the rear lane access between the Macquarie Street and Phillip Street houses.
The obelisk erected at Macquarie Place by Governor Macquarie in 1818 was the datum point for all distances within the colony. Governor Macquarie in 1818 commissioned convict stonemason, Edward Cureton to cut an obelisk. The first whale oil street lamp was lit in Macquarie Place in 1826. It is also believed to be the place where Captain Phillip first hoisted the flagstaff of the new colony. The anchor and the cannon from the flagship of the First Fleet, HMS Sirius was laid to rest here in 1907.
The western side of the triangular reserve was available for private purchase, while the south side was occupied by official buildings and on the east was the Government Domain. Macquarie Place looked into the Tank Stream.
Macquarie Place was once a lively centre of commercial, civic and domestic activity. It was later displaced by Martin Place as the centre of Sydney. Three of the four pioneers of commerce who located to the western side of Macquarie Place were convicts, Andrew Thompson, Mary Reiby and Simeon Lord. Thompson’s building straddled Bulletin Place at Macquarie Place and housed pioneers merchants, Thompson later became Justice of the Peace and Chief Magistrate. Mary Reiby and Simeon Lord also bought land on the west side. Mary Reibys cottage was sold to the Bank of New South Wales, Australia’s oldest continuous commercial enterprise. Sergeant Jeremiah Murphy of the 46th regiment, Surgeon John Harris of Ultimo and Dr Williams Redfern were the first clients of the Bank. The Royal Exchange branch of the bank maintains the Macquarie Place link with its premises on the site of Simeon Lord’s famous three-storied sandstone mansion with its warehouse next to the Tank Stream occupying the site of the future Kyle House. In 1803, Lord constructed his residence and warehouse at the property on Macquarie Place known as “Lord’s Mansion” and “The White House”. Lord’s residence was an elegant three-storey sandstone mansion with a verandah overlooking Macquarie Place. Behind it stood his warehouse, the western boundary being the Tank Stream. It survived until 1908 and was considered one of the most stylish houses in the colony. Dean Cowper’s description of Macquarie Place during Macquarie’s reign. Uther’s Beaver Hat originally set up by Lord. Parsonage House which later formed part of the Customs House Hotel. The north was Brown’s stores and counting house with Reiby Cottage ending the block at what is now named Reiby Lane. Simeon Lord convict, servant, auctioneer, beaver hat maker, woolscourer, merchant and ship-owner, forged his way to wealth and prominence. Lord was responsible for the first woollen mills to be run under private enterprise, the first manufacture from his house in Macquarie Place around 1815. At one time Lord owned the whole of Macquarie Place. In 1811, Governor Macquarie asked Lord to surrender half an acre of his land in Macquarie Place to enable the laying out of the present Park. This was to be exchanged for land near Customs House. This land proved to be unavailable and Lord was finally awarded a grant of 17,813 acres of rural land.
In 1843 fighting between candidates for election to the new Legislative Council broke out in Macquarie Place. Wentworth-Bland and O’Connell factions fought, and Dr Bland was borne away unconscious. In 1849, at Macquarie Place, citizens voted their opposition to the last convict ship Hashemy and its unwelcome cargo of transportees.
Several reports exist providing detailed historical evidence. These include Lester Tropman & Associates, Masterplan and Plan of Management Macquarie Place. Council of the City of Sydney, 1990.
Ted Higginbotham. Historical research for the Macquarie Place urban design study area. Conybeare Morrison & Partners. 1984.
Heritage Group, State Projects, NSW Public Works. Conservation plan, The obelisk, Macquarie Place, Sydney. NSW. Sydey City Council, 1995. |