| Historical notes: | Aboriginal Sydney:
When Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet landed, first in Botany Bay and then in Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), in January 1788, he was met by people who had lived on this land for many thousands of years. At least 1,500 people lived in the area between Botany Bay and Broken Bay and the intermediate coast (Attenbrow, n.d.)
There were two main languages spoken in the Sydney region - Darug and Tharawal. The Darug language had two main dialects - one spoken along the coast and the other in the hinterland (west of present-day Parramatta). Tharawal was spoken to the south of Botany Bay and as far west as the Georges River and possibly Camden (ibid, n.d.)
People belonged to small groups (territorial clans) through which they were spiritually related to specific tracts of land - these clans included the Gadigal, Wanngal, Gamaragal, Wallumedegal and Boromedegal. The suffix 'gal' denotes 'people of', thus, for example, the Gadigal were the people of Gadi (also spelled Cadigal and Cadi respectively) (ibid, n.d.).
The 'district of Gadi' was reported to have stretched from South Head west to 'the cove adjoining this settlement' (Darling Harbour) - an area that would have included Centennial, Moore and Queens Parks. Watkin Tench referred to the Gadigal as 'those who reside in the bay of Cadi'. The 'bay of Cadi' is probably Kutti, the Aboriginal place name recorded for present-day Watsons Bay, and the present name of a small beach in the bay (ibid, n.d.).
The Centennial Parklands Conservation Management Plan contains the following report that provides in depth detail of the pre-colonial history of the lands that are present day Centennial Parklands, which is where the text on this page comes from: Pre-colonial Aboriginal land and resource use in Centennial, Moore and Queens Parks - assessment of historical and archaeological evidence for Centennial Parklands Conservation Management Plan (ibid, n.d.).
Randwick history:
pre-1780s - local Aboriginal people in the area used the site for fishing and cultural activities - rock engravings, grinding grooves and middens remain in evidence.
1789 - Governor Philip referred to 'a long bay', which became known as Long Bay.
Aboriginal people are believed to have inhabited the Sydney region for at least 20,000 years (Turbet, 2001). The population of Aboriginal people between Palm Beach and Botany Bay in 1788 has been estimated to have been 1500. Those living south of Port Jackson to Botany Bay were the Cadigal people who spoke Dharug (Randwick Library webpage, 2003), while the local clan name of Maroubra people was "Muru-ora-dial" (City of Sydney webpage, 2003). By the mid nineteenth century the traditional owners of this land had typically either moved inland in search of food and shelter, or had died as the result of European disease or confrontation with British colonisers (Randwick Library webpage, 2003).
One of the earliest land grants in this area was made in 1824 to Captain Francis Marsh, who received 12 acres bounded by the present Botany & High Streets, Alison & Belmore Roads. In 1839 William Newcombe acquired the land north-west of the present town hall in Avoca Street.
Randwick takes its name from the town of Randwick, Gloucestershire, England. The name was suggested by Simeon Pearce (1821-86) and his brother James. Simeon was born in the English Randwick and the brothers were responsible for the early development of both Randwick and its neighbour, Coogee. Simeon had come to the colony in 1841as a 21 year old surveyor. He built his Blenheim House on the 4 acres he bought from Marsh, and called his property "Randwick". The brothers bought and sold land profitably in the area and elsewhere. Simeon campaigned for construction of a road from the city to Coogee (achieved in 1853) and promoted the incorporation of the suburb. Pearce sought construction of a church modelled on the church of St. John in his birthplace. In 1857 the first St Jude's stood on the site of the present post office, at the corner of the present Alison Road and Avoca Street (Pollen, 1988, 217-8).
Randwick was...slow to progress. The village was isolated from Sydney by swamps and sandhills, and although a horse-bus was operated by a man named Grice from the late 1850s, the journey was more a test of nerves than a pleasure jaunt. Wind blew sand over the track, and the bus sometimes became bogged, so that passengers had to get out and push it free. From its early days Randwick had a divided society. The wealthy lived elegantly in large houses built when Pearce promoted Randwick and Coogee as a fashionable area. But the market gardens, orchards and piggeries that continued alongside the large estates were the lot of the working class. Even on the later estates that became racing empires, many jockeys and stablehands lived in huts or even under canvas. An even poorer group were the immigrants who existed on the periphery of Randwick in a place called Irishtown, in the area now known as The Spot, around the junction of St.Paul's Street and Perouse Road. Here families lived in makeshift houses, taking on the most menial tasks in their struggle to survive.
In 1858 when the NSW Government passed the Municipalities Act, enabling formation of municipal districts empowered to collect rates and borrow money to improve their suburb, Randwick was the first suburb to apply for the status of a municipality. It was approved in Februrary 1859, and its first Council was elected in March 1859.
Randwick had been the venue for sporting events, as well as duels and illegal sports, from the early days in the colony's history. Its first racecourse, the Sandy Racecourse or Old Sand Track, had been a hazardous track over hills and gullies since 1860. When a move was made in 1863 by John Tait, to establish Randwick Racecourse, Simeon Pearce was furious, expecially when he heard that Tait also intended to move into Byron Lodge. Tait's venture prospered, however and he became the first person in Australia to organise racing as a commercial sport. The racecourse made a big difference to the progress of Randwick. The horse-bus gave way to trams that linked the suburb to Sydney and civilisation. Randwick soon became a prosperous and lively place, and it still retains a busy residential, professional and commercial life.
Today, some of the houses have been replaced by home units. Many European migrants have made their homes in the area, along with students and workers at the nearby University of NSW and the Prince of Wales Hospital. (ibid, 218-9).
Cliffbrook:
The existing property Cliffbrook presently stands on part of an original estate named "Cliff-Brook" which comprised three parcels of crown land granted between 1845 - 1846 to Lewis Gordon, a State Government Surveyor.
Gordon surveyed land in Randwick, Coogee and Waverley as early as 1839 and became a landholder on a grand scale in various parts of Sydney. In Randwick he had holdings in Brook, Beach, Byron, Dudley and Douglas Streets, and was the original grantee of Dixon's 'Cliffbrook' property in 1842 (Lynch & Larcombe, 1959, 38).
The original grant was for four acres 1 rood and was followed a year later by two further parcels, one 1 acre 3 roods 30 perches. The "Cliffbrook" estate, today stands on part of the latter parcel. Extensive changes to the boundaries of the estate have occurred through time.
Gordon apparently erected a house on the estate, however, no record of it can be found today.
Cliffbrook was designed in the Victorian Italianate style: "the main walls of the house were solid stone quarried from the site. the balustrades to the verandahs and parapet walls were brickwork rendered in cement. The whole of the external walls and cement mouldings were given a lime and cement wash to give the building a uniform colour. The large verandah on the upper floor was laid in Italian mosaic imported from Rome, the main entrance hall floor was tiled. There was a stone lodge at the main entrance gates. large stone stables with four horse stalls. coach house, harness room and man's quarters."
The stone buildings were located on the northern end of the estate where the current mansion stands.
The term 'villa' was first used in England in the 17th century, partly from the Latin and Italian 'country house, farm', perhaps derived from the stem of vicus (village). The villa was a country mansion or residence, together with a farm, farm-buildings, or other house attached, built or occupied by a person of some position and wealth. It was taken to include a country seat or estate and later a residence in the country or in the neighbourhood of a town, usually standing in its own grounds. From this is was appropriated by the middleof the 18th century to mean a residence of a superior type, in the suburbs of a town or in a residential district, such as that occupied by a person of the middle class, and also a small, better-class dwelling house, usually detached or semi-detached. The term 'villa garden' was used in the context of Hobart and Sydney residences in the 1830s, and if near the coast or harbour, the appellation 'marine villa' was often applied. Australian origins probably date from the grant conditions applied to Sydney's Woolloomooloo Hill (1827, under Governor Darling), which obligated the construction of villas fulfilling certain conditions... 'with garden like domain, and external offices for stables and domestic economy' (John Buonarotti Papworth, 1825, quoted in James Broadbent's 1997 book, 'The Australian Colonial House'). Many gardens of 19th century villas followed Gardenesque conventions, with garden ornaments often complementing the architecture of the house. The term had acquired such widespread usage by the 1850s that when Jane Loudon issued a new editiion of her husband (John Claudius Loudon)'s 'Suburban Gardener and Villa Companion' (1838) she merely entitled the revised work 'The Villa Gardener' (1850). This coincided with a growing period of suburbanisation in Australia with consequent fostering of the nursery trade... By the 1880s, descriptions of Australian villas implied sufficient room for a lawn on two or three fronts of the residence. By the 1920s, a garden attached to a large suburban house was often described as a villa garden... after WW2 the term villa was rarely used..(Aitken, 2002, 619-20).
Between 1846 and 1856 the estate was sold in full to M.H. (colonial architect, Mortimer) Lewis and subsequently to O.M. (Oswald) Lewis.
It was sold again in 1859 to John Thompson. By this time, the "Cliff-Brook" estate included a further parcel of land. The grounds were "over 14 acres then, and included the sheltered bay" - Gordon's Bay. Thompson was a local businessman who became Mayor of Randwick in 1873. He is believed to have built the original "Cliff-Brook" mansion in the 1860s. (RCC, 1985, 20 says that Thompson's estate was 14 acres)
The property was again sold in 1889 to squatter, George Hill. The later additions to the mansion, including the towers are believed to have been carried out by Hill.
Hill owned Cliffbrook from 1892 to 1900 (ibid, 1985, 20). He was "a squatter and a horse-player and we may never know which sent him broke" but in 1899 he was declared bankrupt and the property was repossessed by the Bank of New South Wales in payment of debts owing to the Bank. The Bank employed a caretaker to look after the house and grounds which were apparently used as a poultry farm. After spending "some (Pounds)600 clearing up the house and garden, the caretaker was finally dismissed.
In 1905 Sir Denison Miller, then assistant to the general Manager of the Bank of New South Wales, was asked to occupy the mansion, rent free. Six years later, Miller, now the first Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, purchased the estate. "He paid (Pounds)8,000 for the land and house and later sold the foreshores of Thompson's Bay" to Randwick Municipal Council for (Pounds)3,000. Miller occupied Cliffbrook between c1905-1921. A photograph shows a garden party held at Cliffbrook House to celebrate the opening day of the Commonwealth Bank, in 1916 (ibid, 1985, 20).
Miller built an additional imposing residence in the grounds now occupied by the Australian Atomic Energy Commission. Miller was an ardent supporter of Simeon Pearce's activities, an MLC in both Sydney and Melbourne and an ally of Daniel Cowper in the Upper House (Lynch & Larcombe, 1959, 36).
The present "Cliffbrook" mansion was built in 1921, according to the Randwick Historical Society's documentation, designed by Architect John Kirkpatrick in the Federation Free Classical style. The original stone buildings were demolished to accommodate the residence. Kirkpatrick had established himself as a prominent architect in Sydney by the late 1880s. He was architect for several important surviving buildings in Sydney City, including the Colonial Mutual Life Building, Martin Place (1894) and the Commonwealth Bank, Pitt Street (1914). Although Thomas Rowe won the competition for the Sydney Hospital Buildings on Macquarie Street, Kirkpatrick was commissioned by the government to finish the project. The design of the Operating Theatre and Chapel at the hospital's rear is attributed to Kirkpatrick. He was also architect for grandstands at the Sydney Cricket Ground (AHC).
The authorship of the design remains unresolved. The lack of primary source references in secondary sources consulted suggests that a resolution of this question will require much more research. Uncorroborated oral evidence provided in an inquiry to the Australian Heritage Commission suggested a strong friendship between Sir Denison Miller and Kirkpatrick, perhaps connected with Mlller's Governorship of the Commonwealth Bank from 1911 and Kirkpatrick's commission for the Pitt Street Bank Building completed in 1914 (AHC).
Peter McCallum, who is currently a Principal of EA. and T.M. Scott, has advised that he recalls the firm's archives were destroyed in 1958. EA. Scott established his practice in 1888: after World War I the firm was E.A Scott, Green and Scott: and after 1949 the name EA and T.M. Scott was adopted. Peter McCallum is not able to connect "Cliffbrook" with the firm but did note that E.A Scott designed many houses in Lang Road, Centennial Park, often recognised because of his use of "plum-coloured" bricks (AHC).
The present evidence is circumstantial. "Cliffbrook" may have been designed by John Kirkpatrick, or E.A. Scott, or (a third possibility) by Kirkpatrick in association with E.A. Scott. This theory is based on the presumption that Kirkpatrick, late in his career, may have undertaken part of the commission and sought assistance from a younger architect - or may have, for reasons as yet unknown, been unable to complete the commission which was then taken over by E.A. Scott (AHC).
The new house took on the name "Cliffbrook" and the earlier residence was subsequently known as "Gordon Court".
Miller died in 1923 and the property was sold to Mr Welki King before finally being sold to the Federal Government. During the Second World War the estate was occupied by the army to serve as a school of tropical Medicine.
After 1945, 'Gordon Court' and part of the estate was auctioned and sold to Mr Friedrich Schiller, a Hungarian, electrician who lived in, the mansion with his sister. 'Gordon Court' was eventually sold in 1977 and promptly demolished to make way for housing development.
The site as it stands today was purchased by the Commonwealth and housed the headquarters of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC) from 1953 to 1981 (later renamed the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) (ANSTO). The property purchase by the AAEC was not finalised until 1959, for the sum of $13,518.42.
The period between 1953 and 1981 saw the most far reaching changes to the site. 3 substantial buildings were added to the site. A single storey brick residence, single storey brick office building and 2-3 storey brick office building. Along with these were lesser buildings including 2 fibro buildings (which may date from the army's occupancy) and a small greenhouse.
The exact dates of construction of three brick buildings are not known. Max Dupain's photographs of the site dated 1965 show that both the L-shaped brick office building and the single storey brick office building existed at this time and presumably too the residence.
The photographs also show that in 1965 the present 2-3 storey L-shaped building comprised a single storey on its northern wing and 3 storeys on the eastern wing. This photograph also shows a mature Norfolk Island pine in the space between "Cliffbrook" and the three storey wing.
It appears from ANSTO records that the single storey northern wing of the L-shaped building existed prior to 1958 when architects Budden Nangle and Michael designed the three storey eastern wing. The caretakers cottage was also designed in 1958. The Green house was erected in March 1959.
The eastern wing although containing the equivalent number of storeys as today has been altered on its western and southern faces. The northern wing has had a further level added to it and has also had its facade significantly altered since 1965.
The alterations to the L-shaped building were carried out after 1969. The architects Edwards MadiganTorzillo and Partners were employed to design and document alterations and additions to this building. The contract documents for this work are dated July 1969 and from this we can assume that the additions were carried out soon after 1969.
The most substantial alterations to "Cliffbrook" were in 1963 - 64. Plans by Budden Nangle and Michael dated 19th September 1963 show how the original kitchen G 12/G 13 was opened up by removal of the south wall, installation of a new lower ceiling and construction of the existing inquiry counter where a former hall closet existed. The kitchen stove recess had new shelves and doors fitted and the south door and partition wall in G 13 was constructed at this time.
A drawing dated 15th May 1964 shows removal of the north wall of the main upstairs bathroom and construction of a new W.C. compartment, new dog-leg stud partition wall (between U7 and U8) and a built in wardrobe. The alterations to the en-suite bathroom and re-opening of the door between U2 and U3 are also shown in the drawing.
In 1981 the Australian Atomic Energy Commission now known as the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) moved their headquarters to Lucas Heights in 1981. (McDonald McPhee 1993)
During 1988 the Commonwealth Government sought to dispose of the property. As an item of State significance a Permanent Conservation Order was placed over the property on 28 October 1988 to ensure the future conservation and Management of the property. In the early 1990s ownership of the property was transferred to the University of New South Wales for research and administrative purposes. It was transferred to the State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. |