| Historical notes: | Cabarita Park
At the time of European settlement the Canada Bay area was part of the traditional lands of the Wangal clan of Aboriginal people. The Wangal were a clan of the larger Darug language group or Aboriginal nation. Their lives were strongly focussed on the harbour and its foreshores, especially in food gathering. Aboriginal people also hunted animals, harvested plants and gathered raw materials in the bushland fringing the harbour. The Hen & Chicken Bay area, along with Homebush Bay, was traditionally a major meeting place for Aboriginal people from Port Jackson and the wider Sydney region. Before the arrival of white settlers, Cabarita Park was a typical rocky outcrop along the shores of the Parramatta River (Parkland Environmental Planners, 2006, 11).
Cabarita may have been derived from an Aboriginal word meaning 'by the water' (Pollon, 1988) or may have been derived from a place in Spain where Surveyor-General Mitchell worked under Wellington (Parkland Environmental Planners, 2006, 12).
Cabarita Point was first sighted by the first European settlers in February 1788 - by Captain Hunter on his journey up the Parramatta River. The park was reserved as a recreation area in 1856, and first accessible by steamer in the 1850s. Early in its history the park was popular for picnics and watching boat races on the harbour. (Parkland Environmental Planners, 2006).
Part of the suburb was originally granted in 1795 to David Anderson, a private soldier in the NSW Corps. The grant was described as being at 'Caberita Point, at the upper part of the harbour'.
Cabarita Park, a picnic area on Cabarita Point was known as Correy's Gardens in the 1880s. This part of the river was the venue for early regattas, including the GPS schools 'Head of the River' before these races were moved to the Nepean River. The park was dedicated for public use in 1880. Cabarita was linked to Burwood station by tram, and the park was popular with families for picnics.
There was a segregated swimming pool, with one half for men and boys, the other for women and girls. Husbands and wives, as well as lovers, would lean on the dividing fence for a chat as the water swirled around their legs. France Bay, Exile Bay and Canada Bay, adjacent to the park, commemorate a group of 58 French-Canadian exiles. After an 1838 rebellion in Canada these prisoners were sent to NSW and held in the Longbottom Stockade in Concord, at which time the 3 bays received these names. (Pollon, 1988, p.43).
24/4/1936 Cabarita Park was proclaimed a public park under the Public Parks Act 1912 (Parkland Environmental Planners, 2006, 12).
The Federation Pavilion (former) / Rotunda
On a hot, windy summer day in Sydney, the first of 1901, about 200,000 people made their way from the Domain to the 13 year old Centennial Park to celebrate the polygamous marriage of the colonies. Although most Sydneysiders had opposed the union, about half the city's residents came out to enjoy the festivities. On the way, they walked along Oxford Street under grand arches decorated to celebrate elements of the new nation: flowers, fauna, wheat, wool and coal were represented, as was the military, foreign allies and citizens. Melbourne had her own arch. Finally, a 21-gun salute signalled 'a thing called Australia had been created ... looked upon with affection, pride and curiosity' but meagre applause (Schultz, 2022, 228).
The practical business of creating a nation resembled a wedding. There were documents to be signed, obligations to dispense with and celebrations to be had. On the table used by Queen Victoria to sign the Royal Assetn, that Edmund Barton (Prime Minister) had asked her for, each of the new ministers appointed by the Govenror General, Lord Hopetoun, signed his name. To the amusement of some and horror of others, the hot wind blew the papers off the table. The Federation Stone, which embodied the moment, was placed in a six-sided, 14m high plaster of Paris pavilion, ornately decorated with native flora and fauna and the royal coat of arms of Great Britain (ibid, 2022, 228).
The pavilion's timber structure was used as the site for the swearing in of the first Governor General of Australia, Lord Hopetoun, the first prime Minister, Edmund Barton, and first Cabinet at the official inauguration of the federation of the colonies in Centennial Park, Sydney, on 1 January 1901. The structure was the specially erected focal point of the official ceremony to inaugurate the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. The ceremony was accompanied by much pomp and attended by a vast crowd of 60,000 onlookers. The swearing in oaths were administered by the Lieutenant Governor and Chief Justice of NSW, Sir Frederick Darley.
Originally the pavilion stood 14m high and was covered with ornate details rendered in fibrous plaster. The building was the responsibility of the Decorations and Illuminations Committee for the celebrations, with the NSW Government Architect taking a prominent role. It is not known however who designed the structure. The work appears to have been financed out of the Citizens' Commonwealth Celebrations Fund.
Frederick Winchester Grant was (in Tracey's view) the principal plasterwork modeller in his firm Grant and Cocks. He undertook the work for the Federation Pavilion, an ornate, fibrous plaster and wood structure designed by architect Walter Liberty Vernon for the ceremony to mark the inauguration of the Commonwealth by New South Wales Government [plaque held in the Powerhouse Museum](Tracey, 2009).
Walter Liberty Vernon (1846-1914) was both architect and soldier. Born in England, he ran successful practices in Hastings and London and had estimable connections in artistic and architectural circles. In 1883 he had a recurrence of bronchitic asthma and was advised to leave the damp of England. He and his wife sailed to New South Wales. Before leaving, he gained a commission to build new premesis for Merrrs David Jones and Co., in Sydney's George Street. In 1890 he was appointed Government Architect - the first to hold that title - in the newly reorganised branch of the Public Works Department. He saw his role as building 'monuments to art'. His major buildings, such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales (1904-6) are large in scale, finely wrought in sandstone, and maintaining the classical tradition. Among others are the Mitchell Wing of the State Library, Fisher Library at the University of Sydney and Central Railway Station. He also added to a number of buildings designed by his predecessors, including Customs House, the GPO and Chief Secretary's Building - with changes which did not meet with the approval of his immediate precedessor, James Barnet who, nine years after his resignation, denounced Vernon's additions in an essay and documentation of his own works. In England, Vernon had delighted his clients with buildings in the fashionable Queen Anne style. In NSW, a number of British trained architects whow were proponents of hte Arts and Crafts style joined his office and under their influence, Vernon changed his approach to suburban projects. Buildings such as the Darlinghurst First Station (Federation Free style, 1910) took on the sacale and character of their surroundings. Under Vernon's leadership, an impressive array of buildings was produced which were distinguished by interesting brickwork and careful climatic considerations, by shady verandahs, sheltered courtyards and provision for cross-flow ventilation. Examples are courthouses in Parkes (1904), Wellington (1912) and Bourke, Lands Offices in Dubbo (1897) and Orange (1904) and the Post Office in Wellington (1904)(Le Sueur, 2016, 7).
The pavilion was raised on a platform consisting of a huge slab of polished Moruya granite with six sides to represent the original six states of the federation. Known as the Commonwealth Stone, the slab was later, in 1904, embedded into the ground as a permanent memorial to mark the exact spot where the Commonwealth came into being. (Pearson et al., 1999, 24).
Following the inauguration ceremony, a number of people suggested that the original fibrous plaster ornamentations should be remade in marble. No action was taken in relation to these suggestions, and in 1902 the pavilion was reported in the Botanic Gardens and Domain Report for that year to be in a very dilapidated condition. The report recommended the pavilion's removal. It was soon put up for sale and bought by the Municipality of Concord for the sum of 60 pounds. At the time of purchase the plaster ornamentations had all but disintegrated, leaving the wooden skeleton or frame on which they had been erected. (Pearson et al., 1999, 16).
The pavilion was moved (the woodenscaffolding (Schultz, 2022, 231) shell of the rotunda) by Concord Council to Cabarita Park (then known as Mortlake Park) in 1903 though it was now stripped of all its original ornamentation.
As part of the Jubilee of Federation celebrations, the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Justice of NSW, The Hon. J.K. Street, unveiled a memorial tablet and plaque in the pavilion at its new location in Cabarita Park on 9 May 1951. The ceremony was organised by Concord Council and attended by some 10,000 people. Representatives of 14 harbour side councils also attended, while the Mayor of Concord, Ald.H.F.Stanton, read messages fro 18 other city and suburban councils. The messages had been delivered by runners from the Western Suburbs Amateur Athletic Association who had taken part in an 11 mile relay around Concord Municipality before the ceremony. Messages of goodwill were also received from the then Lord Hopetoun and his son, the Marquis. Accompanying the ceremony were exhibitions of basketball, gymnastic displays and aquatic events, including water-skiing and speedboat racing. The Navy League, local Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts formed guards of honour for the distinguished guests after unveiling the plaque.
A proposal to restore the pavilion to its original appearance, but using marble for the ornamental features, arose in 1972. However this was refused by the NSW Government Architect because of the difficulties involved, the lack of any known plans and drawings for the structure, the fact that it would not be satisfactory to reproduce in durable material ornamentation that was originally designed to be temporary. In 1983, the NSW Premier's Department initiated moves to return the pavilion to its original location in Centennial Park in preparation for the Centenary of Federation celebrations in 2001. This proposal was rejected unanimously by Concord Council, its members indignantly pointing out that the structure would not have survived at all but for its purchase, re-erection and maintenance by the Council.
From at least the 1980s the pavilion in Cabarita Park has been used as the venue for wedding parties and band recitals.
In 1988, a new and permanent Federation Pavilion, designed by architect Alexander Tzannes in post modern style and evoking the form of a classical rotunda was erected over the granite slab in Centennial Park, the Bicentennial year of European settlement (Pearson et al., 1999, 17, 24).
Other structures in Cabarita Park over the years have included a boatshed, netted harbour swimming baths, Cabarita Swimming Centre, a kiosk/caretaker's cottage, picnic shelters, marina, boat ramp, children's playground and Rivercat ferry wharf (Parkland Environmental Planners, 2006). |