| Historical notes: | Early development of locality:
This site forms part of the land of the Gadigal people, the traditional custodians of land within the City of Sydney council boundaries. For information about the Aboriginal history of the local area see the City’s Barani website: http://www.sydneybarani.com.au/
Industrial history:
As one of only two major centres for historic Australian industry during the period when industry was centred in cities, Sydney’s industrial development is part of the national history of industrialisation. Australia’s industrialisation formed part of the ‘second industrial revolution’ which began during the mid-nineteenth century. This second revolution was driven by major technological innovations including the invention of the internal combustion engine and the assembly line, development of electricity, the construction of canals, railways and electric-power lines.
Sydney's twentieth century industrial development records when and how Sydney became one of the largest industrialised cities in the South Pacific and the diversification of Australia's economy beyond primary industry. Together with Melbourne, Sydney’s twentieth century industrial boom expanded Australia’s economy from the ‘sheep’s back’ to the ‘industry stack’ or from primary production to manufacturing. By 1947 more Australians were working in city industries than in farms or mines.
Sydney’s industrial development not only impacted on the national economy. Twentieth-century industry in Sydney also played a major role in developing Australia’s self-sufficiency, growth, urbanisation, society and its contribution to the war effort for World War II. Sydney’s industrial development has affected the lives of many Australians directly and indirectly, whether through the number of workers employed, goods and technology produced, the prosperity it engendered, or the social change and urban environments it generated.
Early warehouses history:
Sydney’s early warehouses were built to store imported products and goods for export, transported by ship. Sydney’s first warehouses were consequently located near the waterfront and major wharves. Early warehousing was built at the mouth of the Tank Stream and along western side of Sydney Cove, near the first dockyards, the government Commissariat stores, Customs House, and the first privately owned stores belonging to Robert Campbell of the East India Company. Early warehouses were primarily built to store exports from the sealing and whaling industries, and then for wool exports from the 1820s. Imports also required storage, including tea, alcohol, household goods, horses, hoists and most provisions used for the settlement and residents of colonial Sydney.
The only stores built far from the wharves were for goods considered dangerous or vulnerable, often on islands in the harbor. Gunpowder was stored on Goat Island and grain on Cockatoo Island. A few warehouses and stores from the 1830s and beyond remain in The Rocks and Millers Point.
Later stores spread around Dawes Point to the Pyrmont peninsular primarily for the wool trade from the 1880s, and into Darling Harbour for produce from the coastal shipping trade. The 1887 Corn Exchange building at the base of Market Street and warehouses built over the next few decades along Kent Street, demonstrate the warehousing development of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. They were sited in proximity to Darling Harbour and to the City Markets.
(Dr Shirley Fitzgerald, Sydney’s historic industrial and warehouse resources: overview of historic development, April 2014; City Plan Heritage, Report on City of Sydney Industrial and Warehouse Buildings, October 2014)
Precinct history:
The area forms one of the early warehousing districts of Sydney, located within the narrow grid pattern of streets on the western edge of central Sydney, principally defined by York, Clarence, Kent and Sussex Streets.
The street layout of this area dates from the early colonial period of Sydney’s settlement. Originally these streets were named Barrack Row for York Street, Middle Soldiers Row for Clarence Street, and Back Row or Back Row West for Kent Street. The early street names reflect how this part of Sydney town was originally occupied by the military. The military district extended between the land bound by George Street to the east, Druitt Street to the south and a line extending from Hunter Street to Darling Harbour to the north. No civilians were allowed in this area. This regulation was in force until the arrival of Governor Macquarie. (City of Sydney, York Street Special Character Area heritage inventory)
Wynyard Barracks was built in several stages within this district to become the largest British military barracks in the southern hemisphere. It was one of the most prominent landmarks in the town and occupied fifteen acres in the centre of the town. Various facilities developed around the Barrack. The pubs, eating houses and brothels were located in nearby streets. The wives of the soldiers lived just behind the barracks in rows of wooden huts in what is now Clarence Street. The military use of this land ended when the barracks was relocated to Darlinghurst and the Wynyard garrison moved out in 1848. (City of Sydney, York Street Special Character Area heritage inventory)
When Lachlan Macquarie arrived to govern the fledgling colony in 1810, he instituted major changes to the planning and buildings of Sydney town and other early settlements of New South Wales. Governor Macquarie renamed the subject streets in 1810 after British peers: York, Clarence, Kent and Sussex. Market Street was also named by Macquarie at the same time, indicating the early plans for markets located on the site of the later Queen Victoria Building from approximately 1812. (City of Sydney, History of Sydney Streets, http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/sydneys-history/people-and-places/streets, accessed 13 April 2015)
In February 1811, Governor Macquarie opened the new wharf at Cockle Bay, now Darling Harbour. Until this time, all general provisions for the colony were landed at Hospital Wharf in Sydney Cove. The only two other wharfs in operation were Governor’s Wharf and Robert Campbell’s Wharf. Produce from Parramatta was brought to the Market Wharf and transported to the new market located at the present site of the Queen Victoria Building. This stimulated commercial development in this western section of the town.
From the 1870s purpose-built warehouses were constructed to the north of Sydney Town Hall and Druitt Street within this district, to serve the major working port of Darling Harbour. The land was well located between the Darling Harbour docks to the west and the markets and later the Queen Victoria Building to the east. By 1900 the Clarence Street block between Market and Druitt Streets was almost entirely occupied by warehouses (City of Sydney, York Street Special Character Area heritage inventory, undated; Report on City of Sydney Industrial and Warehouse Buildings, October 2014)
By the 1980s, the working Port of Sydney had effectively shifted from Port Jackson to Botany Bay, removing the need for extensive warehousing along the city waterfronts of Pyrmont, Darling Harbour and Millers Point.
Sydney building height history:
Technological advancements during the late 1800s and early 1900s made the construction of taller buildings possible, including steel and reinforced concrete construction materials, the introduction of a reliable and affordable electricity supply in 1904, and development of lifts and elevators for efficiently moving people and goods vertically.
In 1890 and 1901, major fires in Sydney and resulting loss of life and property, increased public concern and debate about the ability to fight fires and rescue people from tall buildings. The 1901 fire which destroyed Anthony Hordern’s eight-storey department store in Haymarket, killed five people including one man trapped at 120 feet (36.6 metres) who couldn’t be reached by the fire brigade’s tallest ladder. At the time, the chief officer of the fire brigades, Alfred Webb, was reported as advocating that no building should be erected higher than 90 feet (27.4 metres) “because it is recognised as the highest practicable height at which a brigade can fight a fire.” Chief Webb was later quoted in 1907 describing buildings of 100 feet (30.5 metres) as “suicidal” because the fire brigade ladders could only extend to 80 feet (24.4 metres) with a possible extra 10 feet. (Roberts, Alex and O'Malley, Pat, Skyscrapers, Fire and the City: Building Regulation in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Sydney. Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 11/83, http://ssrn.com/abstract=1954213)
Private development increased in the early twentieth century. Between 1905 and 1910, five new department stores opened in Sydney, including a rebuilt Anthony Horderns. By 1911, a record 6503 private buildings were constructed in Sydney. Never before had so many buildings been erected in one year. (Roberts, Alex and O'Malley, Pat, Skyscrapers, Fire and the City: Building Regulation in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Sydney. Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 11/83, http://ssrn.com/abstract=1954213)
Yet Sydney’s building regulations were still modelled on eighteenth century English regulations, which assumed buildings were constructed of brick and wood and would not exceed six stories. The building regulations also inadequately provided for fire safety and enforcement. The Fire Underwriters Association of NSW promoted fire safety in building design such as through discounted insurance premiums; however this was not legally binding. (Roberts, Alex and O'Malley, Pat, Skyscrapers, Fire and the City: Building Regulation in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Sydney. Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 11/83, http://ssrn.com/abstract=1954213)
International comparisons were important in debates about limiting building height at this time. It was noted in the NSW Parliament that most European cities had building height limits under 100 feet (30.5 metres), with Paris set at 65.5 feet (20 metres) and London at 80 feet (24.4 metres), while American cities such as Chicago had limits closer to 200 feet (61 metres). New York was generally held up as an example of the negative consequences of high-rise development, such as overcrowding, aesthetic and moral concerns. Sydney’s first building act had been based on English legislation, and the English influences continued to hold sway in 1912 when the new laws were passed by Parliament. (Roberts, Alex and O'Malley, Pat, Skyscrapers, Fire and the City: Building Regulation in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Sydney. Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 11/83, http://ssrn.com/abstract=1954213)
In 1912, the NSW government passed the laws which limited building heights to 150 feet (45.7 metres) in the Height of Building Act 1912. The laws also required any building taller than 100 feet to make adequate provision for protection against fire. This resulted in the fire-retardant malthoid roofs and water or sprinkler towers for fighting fires found in Sydney’s tall buildings of the time. In 1957, modifications to the 1912 laws relaxed the height limits. (http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/planning, accessed 15 April 2015; http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-anti-skyscraper-law-that-shaped-sydney-australia-30000644/?no-ist, accessed 15 April 2015)
Hydraulic lifts history:
Before the advent of petroleum and electricity as energy sources, pollution from burning coal was impacting heavily on city life, and there was no alternate, easily reticulated energy source other than mechanical power.
During the early nineteenth century, both compressed air and hydraulic (high pressure water) systems, were developed to meet the needs of industry. The main person to selectively develop and use water-based hydraulic power was William Armstrong with a hydraulic crane in 1840 and the hydraulic accumulator of 1858.
By the 1880s, local authorities installed public hydraulic power systems. These provided high-pressure water to consumers who paid a fee based on their water usage.
This system functioned through high-pressure pumps which forced water into an accumulator to maintain the pressure and provided a small reservoir of high-pressure water. The water from the accumulator could then be readily reticulated around a factory, or a city, as an energy source.
The Sydney Hydraulic Power Company (SHPC) was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1889. This represented the fifth such system in the world. At its peak, the company had over 2000 customers and 80 km of pipes throughout the city.
The water at 750 psi was used primarily to drive passenger and goods lifts, cranes, bullion lifts, wool presses, bank doors and conveyors. the hydraulic lift was instrumental in enabling building heights to increase, ultimately leading to the modern skyscraper.
(J Gibson, Sydney Hydraulic Power Company, Extant Remains in Sydney, Notes on 185 Clarence Street, 11 October 2014)
Site history:
This building was constructed in 1909 as a warehouse and store on land owned by the Union Trustee Company of Australia (Lang Rate Assessment, 1907, No 499; CT 2107 f 145). The company leased land between Clarence and Kent Streets land to Norman Shelley, a Sydney merchant, for 40 years at £400 per annum. The lease required Shelley to construct a warehouse and store costing £8,000 to the plans of ‘Mr Pritchard’ at his own expense. The building was to be complete by 29 December 1909 (Old System Deed, No 358 Bk 872).
Architect Arthur F Pritchard’s plans for the building were signed by the building firm, Baldwin Brothers, on 31 December 1908 and approved by Council on 15 January 1909. Baldwin Brothers, of Angel Place, Sydney, and 141 Enmore Rd, Newtown, was run by John William Baldwin and George Baldwin (Registers of Firms, SRNSW 2/8532, No 67).
Arthur F. Pritchard, a past president of NSW Chapter of the Institute of Architects, took a leading part in promoting the Architects’ Registration Bill in 1920. His firm designed a number of large commercial premises in Sydney, including the warehouses of Goldsbrough, Mort & Co. at Pyrmont and Circular Quay, and the large stores of Winchcombe, Carson & Co. at Pyrmont. Pritchard also designed important alterations to the Royal Exchange, which included the Wool Exchange.
Pritchard's original drawings document the building design and construction of brick walls, timber floors and steel stanchions extending nine bays between the two streets. A staircase along the northern side wall, two lifts near Kent Street, a strong room in the basement and cart docks off Kent Street are also shown in these plans. The block plan in these drawings also show the outline of the ‘old store’ and ‘old cottage’ on the site which were demolished for construction of this building . (SCC Plan 1909/0007)
The Sands directory of 1910 showed Norman Shelley, wine and spirit merchant at ‘187 Clarence Street’. This entry had been updated to No. 185 by 1911 (Sands, Directory, 1910, p 32; 1911, p 33). The 1911 rate book also recorded that the building was occupied by Norman Shelley and owned by the Union Trustee Company of Australia. Rate books then described the building as a warehouse of brick with a slate roof of 6 floors and 6 rooms (Lang Rate Assessment, 1911, No 487).
Norman Shelley died on 17 January 1915 after building up a large firm (SMH, 19 Jan 1915, p 5). The goodwill and leasehold of these premises were transferred to his brother Harry M Shelley (SMH, 23 April 1915, p 8). The building was used for many years as a wholesale liquor warehouse and store.
In 1917, plans for works were lodged with council by H N Shelley for 185 Clarence Street on 19 November (SCC Street cards).
Assessment books record the tenancy change from rating Norman Shelley in 1918 to Harry Shelley from 1924 (Lang Rate Assessment, 1918, 1921, 1924 and 1927).
By 1921, the fire underwriters plan held in the Mitchell Library dated 8 April recorded that the building measured seven storeys on Kent Street and 6 storeys with 2 basements on Clarence Street with a flat malthoid roof. The use was noted as ‘Harry Shelley, general merchants & wholesale grocers’. Three lifts are shown on this plan, including the pair near the Kent Street frontage and one between the lower floors near the Clarence Street frontage, plus a timber staircase along the south side wall. (Fire Underwriters Plan, ML Block 146, 147)
The building had two hydraulic lifts installed, located side-by-side near the Kent Street entrance, used as goods lifts ranging from the ground level to level 5 over 6 floors, and a third ‘dumb waiter’ style hydraulic lift in the sub-basement level near Clarence Street. McLaughlin and Co Ltd were later connected to the Sydney Hydraulic Power system on 20 May 1935 at a fee of three pounds per quarter per machine. McLaughlin’s lifts were still functioning when Sydney Hydraulic Power Company closed by 1975 because two modern oil-based hydraulic pumps were used to replace the public water-based system. (J Gibson, Sydney Hydraulic Power Company, Extant Remains in Sydney, Notes on 185 Clarence Street, 11 October 2014).
Harry Shelley died on 26 June 1932, aged 69 (SMH, 27 June 1932, p 10). The 1936 rate book recorded that 186 Clarence Street [sic] was subsequently leased to ‘McLaughlin & Co Pty Ltd’. The building was still noted as a warehouse at this time. By 1948, the building was still leased to McLaughlin & Co Pty Ltd. (Gipps Rate Assessment, 1936, No 27175; 1948, No 27136).
The altered fire underwriters plan from approximately 1940 records the building as ‘McLaughlin & Co Pty Ltd & E A Dawbarn & Co Pty Ltd'. These uses are noted as a wholesale wine & spirit merchants store, blending & bottling workrooms, and warehouse and liqueur mixing workroom (Fire Underwriters Plan, SCC, Block 146, 147).
E A Dawbarn & Co Pty Ltd was a manufacturer’s agency. Its imports included sanitary earthenware (SMH, 24 Feb 1938, p 7; 15 July 1944, p 2).
In 1949, R M Joy & Pollitt proposed to use the building as an office & storeroom in plans lodged on 8 July (SCC Street cards).
In 1955, the property was transferred to McLaughlin & Co Pty Ltd on 25 March (CT 3176 f 57), as shown in the 1956 detail sheet. After the building was transferred to the Sydney County Council on 21 January 1969, the premises were leased the same day to McLaughlin & Co Pty Ltd (CT 3176 f 57).
On 16 July 1973, Arthur Cocks & Co proposed to use the building for jewelry and optical sales and as a warehouse (SCC Street cards). Later, on 9 October 1973, Kennedy & Scott Pty Ltd proposed alterations for works valued at $40,000 (SCC Street cards).
The warehouse and showroom were subsequently leased to a number of tenants including Cocks & Halls Ltd on 19 November 1975 (CT 3176 f 57) and Warringah Industrial Park Ltd on 20 February 1979 (CT 3176 f 57). The second floor was leased to Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia on 11 October 1979 (CT 3176 f 57). The ground floor was leased to Lyttle & Westaway Pty Ltd on 25 February 1980 (CT 3176 f 57). |