Federation-Era Arncliffe

View to the north from “The Towers”, Arncliffe, circa 1910. Notice the amount of original vegetation still present.

This photo is one of a series taken from “The Towers” at Arncliffe in the early part of this century. Standing forlorn and neglected atop the Forest Road ridge, “The Towers” has sweeping views of the whole of Arncliffe. The series of photographs was taken sequentially in a 360 degree radius and present a clear picture of what the area was like circa 1910.

Surprisingly, the overall impression is one more reminiscent of a country town than that of a Sydney suburb. The area still “undeveloped” and covered in native vegetation is interesting considering the concentration of population and industry of today’s Arncliffe.

A circa 1882 sketch of Forest Road, Arncliffe (courtesy Bayside Library)
Forest Road, Arncliffe, circa 1910 (courtesy Bayside Library)

The house itself was built for Thomas Lawless about 1890. It was acquired by Edward William Esdaile in 1910. Mr Esdaile was an optical goods manufacturer and a prolific photographer. The sequence of photos in question were taken from the castellated parapet at the rear of the house.

Photograph taken by Edward Esdaile Junior from the Esdaile home, “The Towers”, circa 1910 (courtesy Bayside Library)

“The Towers” later became a private school and in later years was subdivided into flats.

The home “The Towers” in Towers Place, Arncliffe, circa 1910. It was the home of Peregrine Fernandez Smyth. (courtesy Bayside Library)

It stands well back from the road at 105 Forest Rd and although still occupied has now fallen into a state of considerable dilapidation.

This article was first published in the August 1990 edition of our magazine.

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Wazir Street, Arncliffe

by R. W. Rathbone (based on the research of E. C. B. McLeurin, former Head of the Department of Semitic Studies, Sydney University)

Early in 1989, I was asked by the Council to compile a list of the streets in the Municipality of Rockdale and how they received their names. Many are named after the district’s pioneers or members of their families; some are descriptive geographical names; royal and vice-regal names abound as do the names of former mayors and aldermen. The principals of the development companies which subdivided the land after the opening of the Illawarra Railway Line are well represented and there is a smattering of aboriginal names. The origins of many of them were easy to track down but others took many hours of research. A number had very unusual origins and one of these was Wazir Street, Arncliffe. The origin of this name has fascinated local residents for years.

Dr. Wazir Beg (courtesy Bayside Library)

Wazir Street, Arncliffe was named after Dr. Wazir Beg, a noted Presbyterian divine and the Minister of the Chalmers Street Free Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Street, Redfern from 1865 until 1882. He was born in India at Poona in the State of Bombay some time in 1827. His parents were devout Moslems and he received a typical Moslem middle-class education. About 1842 he became secretly converted to Christianity and was befriended by a Scottish Presbyterian missionary family. He then became a teacher in the mission school in Poona and decided to become a missionary.

He was an outstanding linguist, speaking Hindustani, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Latin, Greek and English. In 1853 he completed his theological training and was licenced as a Minister. He then went to Edinburgh where he decided to study medicine. In 1861 he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London.

In 1864 he arrived in Melbourne as a ship’s surgeon but his great interest was not medicine but Semitic History. The Semites were the descendants of Shem, one of the three sons of Noah born after the Great Flood and included the Jews, Arameans, Phoenicians, Arabs and Assyrians. No university in Australia provided studies in this area but the University of Sydney had a readership In Oriental Languages and Literature based mainly on the Arabic language. Beg successfully applied for the position and was also appointed Oriental interpreter to the Government. The University position did not last because of the lack of students and in 1865 he accepted the Ministry at Chalmers Street.

There he became a noted scholar on Presbyterianism and his Manual of Presbyterian Principles, published in 1870 was probably the most in depth study of the Presbyterian Faith published in many years. He was also a political activist taking a leading part in the campaign against State Aid for denominational schools. He became a prominent Freemason and rose to become Grand Chaplain of the N.S.W. Lodge as well as being editor of its journal, The Freemason. He was also an Orangeman, editor of that organization’s paper and a bitter critic of Roman Catholicism and the ritualism of the Anglican High Church.

He had suffered from Bright’s Disease for many years and died aged 58 at his home in Woolloomooloo in January, 1885. He was survived by his wife Margaret Robertson, a Tasmanian widow whom he had married in 1873, and five children. He purchased the land in Arncliffe in 1882 as an investment and it was sold by his widow in 1887 as Beg’s Estate.

(courtesy Bayside Library)

This article was first published in the August 1990 edition of our magazine.

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Smithson’s Wine Bar

by B.J. Madden

Smithson’s Wine Bar in Stoney Creek Road was a feature of Kingsgrove’s life for about 50 years. (Smithson’s Tobacco Factory, run by Thomas Smithson, is a separate story).

James Edward Smithson was a son of Thomas Smithson, and was born on 26 February 1844 at Leeds, Yorkshire. On 7 May 1867, he married, at St. Mary’s Cathedral Sydney, Martha Jane Craven, who had been born on 29 March 1849 at Cork, Ireland. She was orphaned at a very young age and was brought to Australia by her foster parents.

After the marriage, the couple went to live at “Pembroke Cottage” in Stoney Creek Road (Now No.9 Bennett Street). J.E. Smithson bought land on the opposite side of Stoney Creek Road and built a stone house there and moved in about 1869. (Land Records indicate that he bought 2 acres 16 p an oblong block, part of lot 12, in 1871. He extended his holdings in subsequent years).

On his marriage certificate, J E Smithson’s occupation was given as tobacconist. However, he developed an extensive farm with fruit trees, vegetables, cows, pigs, fowls, horses, bees, lucerne etc. He was also a fine builder, and constructed many buildings in the St. George District and elsewhere, including “Holt House” at Sylvania. Besides his own house, he also designed and built a solid bridge in Stoney Creek Road near Laycock Street, and he built other country bridges. He also added weatherboard additions to the back of his house as the family grew.

In about 1880, they begun to sell wine on the property. At first, the wine was sold from a closed-in section of the verandah at the front of the house. A window announced “Smithson’s Wine Bar” to all passing along Stoney Creek Road. Business prospered. Christmas periods were particularly busy and saw horses and carriages lining both sides of Stoney Creek Road. Around the turn of the century, a separate building was erected for the wine bar, but it was attached to the house on the western side and the roof alignment was altered to incorporate this room. The wine bar was about 2 metres forward of the original house, with a verandah in front of that again. The original “Smithson’s Wine Bar” window was transferred from the verandah room to the new bar.

Smithson’s home and wine bar, believed to be decorated in honour of returning serviceman, Les Townsend, Bexley NSW, 1918 (courtesy Georges River Libraries Local Studies Collection)

The grapes (thought to be about 5 tons in the 19201 s) were brought in fruit boxes by train from Mudgee each year. In the early 1920’s prices were:

for port and sherry 2/- a pint, 3/0 a quart, 14/- a gallon in stone jars.

Muscat was slightly dearer at 2/3 a pint.

All the wines were naturally fortified – no spirit concentrate was ever added. There were 50 large 100 gallon casks in the cellar and there was a bottling room at the rear of the bar. James Edward Smithson had four sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Charles, was born in “Pembroke Cottage”, and the other children were born in the cottage which was to be associated with the wine bar. Charles became the wine maker. A son-in-law Fred Ball, who had married Ethel, managed the business from about 1920.

J.E.Smithson died in April 1926. The wine bar continued until it was sold by auction on 11 June 1934. The land was acquired by Bexley Municipal Council and became Kingsgrove Park for a time, prior to Bexley Golf Course being established. After Bexley Golf Club built it club house behind the wine bar building, the sturdy old stone house was demolished in the 19501s. The wine press had been sold about 1933 or 1934 to a German wine maker in Orange.

When the Smithson family first built their house in Stoney Creek Road, there was an ironbark forest on the flat. This was later cleared and the timber sold. This area became the holding yards for C. J. Stone’s slaughterhouse, the land being leased from Smithson.

This article was first published in the April 1981 edition of our magazine.

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Reminiscences of Early Hurstville Families

by Thelma Hayman

In 1911 when I went to live with my grandparents in Matthew Street, the lower end of which is now known as Hillcrest Avenue, this particular section of Hurstville was then being opened up as a residential area. It was not until the closing of the 1914-1918 World War that Hurstville Grove began to be closely settled.

On the opposite side of the street to where my grandparents resided was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Webb. It may be mentioned that Mr. Webb held the responsible position of foreman in the paint shop division of the Eveleigh Railway Workshops and that his good wife, before her marriage, was Miss Anna Hall, the eldest daughter of Mr. Hall, the first stationmaster at Hurstville. Because of our friendship with Mrs. Webb I came to know Mrs. Hall and her other two daughters and their families. The second daughter was named Lavinia and she married Mr. Albert Schloeffel, a member of the long established firm of estate agents, still operating in Hurstville as Messrs. Schloeffal and Paul. The other girl, Martha, was wedded to Mr. Horace Hearn. I believe there was a son named Thomas, but I was not acquainted with him.

Alexander Louden in 1904

The house of the Hall family is still standing at the corner of Pearl Street and Gloucester Road, opposite the present Hurstville Community Hospital. In my recollection the latter premises, known formerly as “Goshen”, was the home of the Louden family. Mr. Louden being a boot and shoe manufacturer. The house was eventually utilised as the Goshen Private Hospital and, in due course, became the community Hospital. The original building was a large white-painted weatherboard cottage, surrounded by wide verandahs, and set amidst beautifully kept gardens and shrubbery. Underneath the house was a large cellar which, in the days before household refrigeration became almost universal, was most useful for keeping food-stuffs cool.

Goshen Private Hospital, Gloucester Road, Hurstville NSW, ca 1935 (courtesy Georges River Libraries Local Studies Collection)

It was customary for suburbanites to keep numerous ducks and fowls confined within wired enclosures at the rear of the house, a hole generally being cut in the base of the dividing fence to let the birds forage at will on the adjacent vacant paddock. The Hall family were no exception to this rule and much exchanging of broody hens and ducks, together with settings of eggs, went on amongst the neighbours. The merits or otherwise of the various roosters were also discussed and their exuberant crowing at the break of day was, perhaps, the principal sound to be heard in old-time Hurstville.

The good ladies of the Hall household were great makers of jams, preserves, pickles, etc., made from the fruit and vegetables grown in their back yard garden. It was a great delight in those now far off days to go down to the cellar where Mrs. Hall kept good things to eat. The rows of neatly labelled jars standing in order along the various shelves were, in modern parlance, a finger-licken” attraction, The dimly lit cellar, especially in the hot summer months, was always delightfully cool and well aired.

Of course, living so close to the Webb family my memories of them are the strongest. There were three girls and two boys, who were Mrs. Webb’s step-children (Mr. Webb having been left a widower with a very young family to rear). These children all attended Hurstville Public School. It was quite a distance to walk and there was no form of public transport for local services in those days. Quite often, instead of walking the full length of Hillcrest Avenue, we children would turn off at Belmore Road, now King Georges Road, and proceed across the overhead traffic bridge at Penshurst, this deviation being made to take eggs, and sometimes ducks and fowls, to Mrs. Hall’s place, the birds being placed in a sugar-bag in which a hole was cut at a convenient height to permit the unfortunate bird to have a last look at the surrounding world in general. The long trek to the school was then resumed. After school we would, on occasion, call at Gloucester Road again to carry back similar items to Mrs. Webb.

Hurstville Public School Students at Public Schools’ Display, Sydney Cricket Ground, Moore Park, Sydney NSW, 1901 (courtesy Georges River Libraries Local Studies Collection)

There were many employees of the Railway Department living close to our home at Hurstville Grove and I well remember the 1917 Railwaymen’s Strike and its often uncontrolled happenings. Mr. Webb remained loyal to the Department, being a “Staff” man by his very position, and it became necessary for him to have a police escort from the nearby railway station to his home, the strikers of the locality walking along the opposite side of the street calling out “Scab”, an opprobrious name totally undeserved in his particular case. The strikers also exhibited their fury by throwing stones on the roof of Mr. Webb’s house at all hours of the day and night. It was an offensive period to say the least, and its rancour lasted for many a long year after the event. Upon his retirement from the Railway Department, Mr. and Mrs. Webb went to live at Tahmoor where the good wife died about 1960, Mr. Webb having predeceased her.

Labourers at work on tracks, Hurstville Railway Station, ca 1917 (courtesy Georges River Libraries Local Studies Collection)

Eveleigh Workshops during the 1917 railway strike (courtesy Museums of History NSW)

This article was first published in the October 1970 edition of our magazine.

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St. George 130 Years Ago

by A.H. Wennholm

When the old Rockdale Town Hall was being erected in 1888-9, at the corner of Rocky Point Road (now known as Princes Highway) and Bryant Street, there was also being built a little stone church at the top of Bryant Street. The site selected for this church was a rocky one, consequently the stone for the building was mostly quarried on the site. Strange to relate the minister of this new church did most of the work himself. He cut out the stone blocks and then laid them in position. He built well, and afterwards preached within its four walls. When the church was opened for public worship in April 1889, it was known as the United Wesleyan Church, as distinct from the other Wesleyan Churches. After being so conducted for some years the Plymouth Brethren took over the property. They conducted services there for some years, but eventually the building became untenanted, and remained so for some time. However, in 1904, another religious organisation took charge, carried on for some years as the Gospel Hall, until the place again became untenanted.

At about the same time as the Town Hall and the little church were being built the Rockdale Public School was opened on the rocky ramparts of Rockdale at the rear of the church. In those days the school and the church were surrounded by huge gum trees, shrubs, vines, ferns and various kinds of native flowers. Goats by the hundred lived and thrived in the rocky caves surrounding the school and church. As a pupil of the school at that time the writer well remembers how the children loved to ramble among the trees and rocks and flowers – at the same time tormenting the goats, which on more than one occasion became inquisitive and ventured into the porches and class-rooms, purloining hats and children’s lunch packets.

The Rockdale Public School library, circa 1936 (courtesy Bayside Library)

After the little church building had remained there for 38 years, with not a crack in its well-built walls, its days of usefulness as a church came to an end. It was purchased by Constable F. Berger, a native of the district, who was better known as Sergeant Berger, of the Hurstville Police. Sergeant Berger’s parents settled at Kogarah about one hundred years ago, and commenced market gardening pursuits in the vicinity of the present Moorefield Racecourse. Sergeant Berger purchased the church building in 1927, had it demolished, and built his home on the site, which was then surrounded by comfortable homes – not a gum tree or a sign of the primeval bush remaining to remind one of days gone bye (sic). When the building was pulled down a bottle containing newspapers of the day, was found under the foundation stone. One of these newspapers was the local news-sheet of that time – the “St. George’s Advocate,” dated Saturday, April 20, 1889. From this paper, which was in a fairly good state of preservation – the quality of paper being better than that of modern newspapers – the writer gained some interesting information which is incorporated in this story of St. George as it was 130 or more years ago.

The “St. George Advocate” was established in 1888, and was printed and published by Mr. Edward H. Myerson at the Phoenix Printing Works, Railway Parade, Kogarah. It comprised four pages, and was sold at two pence per copy. It was published on Saturdays, shops at that time being open until about 11 o-clock on Saturday night. However, as can be expected at that period, the circulation was not very large on account of the sparse population. In the early nineties the business was purchased by Mr. G.L.A. Davies, and transferred to Rockdale, where the paper was printed in premises opposite the Rockdale Methodist Church in Bay Street, then known as the Masonic Hall. The writer of this article served his apprenticeship in the “Advocate” Office, the commencing wages being 2/6d per week, concluding a five-year term in 1903. The late Mr. Davies was a fearless critic, and many an alderman or public man wilted under his exposure and sarcasm, but in all his writings he never deviated from his opinions if he believed he was right. His whole life had been devoted to journalism, but on account of advancing years he eventually ceased publishing the “Advocate” and sold the plant, but not before the late Mr. James Watson had established the “Citizen” in opposition to the “Advocate”, making two newspapers for the St. George district. Mr. Watson began printing the “Citizen” at Arncliffe, later transferring to premises opposite the Royal Hotel, Rockdale.

In the late eighties the Parliamentary electoral district was known as Canterbury, being represented by four members of Parliament. Of course, there were no Federal members, as the federation of the States of the Commonwealth had not then been accomplished. In 1889 the four members of Parliament for this district were Messrs. J.H. Carruthers, John Wheeler, A. Hutchinson and T.J. Wilshire. Mr. Carruthers, who lived at Kogarah Bay, later became Sir Joseph Carruthers, Premier of New South Wales.

Local Government in the area was controlled by three municipal councils, viz. Rockdale (previously known as West Botany), Kogarah and Hurstville. Bexley at that time was part of Hurstville Municipality, as was also part of Sutherland Shire, the area on the southern bank of George’s River from Como to beyond Lugarno. In later years this area was seceded to Sutherland Shire and Bexley Ward of Hurstville Municipality became the Municipality of Bexley. Each council was comprised of nine aldermen, instead of twelve as at present. In 1889 Rockdale Council comprised Aldermen W.G. Judd (Mayor), S. Geeves, A.C. Carruthers, A.E. Green, H. Cooke, P.J. Smythe, E. Godfrey, T.S. Huntley and T. Price. (Messrs. Judd and Price later represented the district in Parliament). Mr. Thomas Leeder was the council clerk and Messrs. S. Tattler and H. Tuckwell, overseers. In the same year Kogarah Council was composed of Aldermen G. Read (Mayor), P. Hermann, J. South, D.J. Treacy, T.B. Eldridge, P. English, J. Carroll, J. Hatfield, and W. Chappelow. Mr. E.T. Sayers was council clerk and Mr. George Jones the overseer. In 1889 Hurstville Council comprised Aldermen Hugh Patrick (Mayor), Chas. Bull, C.H. Halstead, Myles McRae, John Sproule, C. Fripp, W. Humphrey and Osgood. Mr. G.W.K. Leeder was the council clerk and Mr. W.J. Thompson the engineer. Government roads throughout St. George were under the control of Mr. E. Dyson. Government roads were main roads passing through the various municipalities.

There were only three public parks in the St. George district 130 years ago. They comprised mostly virgin land, and very little improvement was made to them on account of the usual shortage of funds. However, the old pioneers did well to preserve these areas for posterity, and it is a great pity that no more areas were dedicated to the people while land was available for such purposes. These parks were controlled by local trustees, and at the time of which I write they were:- Scarborough Park: Messrs. W.Neil, J. Cooke, J. Bowmer, A. Henry, E.J. Wehlow and A. Black. Cook Park: Messrs. W. Neil, S. Cook, J. Bowmer, W.G. Judd, E.H. Wehlow and J. Henry. Peakhurst Park: Messrs. J.H. Carruthers, A. Milsop, Myles McRae, H. Patrick, Dr. J. MacLeod and J.H. Want. These old pioneers are now in their last resting places, and the parks, considerably improved, are controlled by Rockdale and Hurstville Councils, who, with Kogarah and Bexley, have since added many other parks and playing fields to their areas.

Scarborough Park, circa 1891 (courtesy Bayside Library)

Over 130 years ago seven constables patrolled the area, mostly on horseback. They were Constables M. McCole, Kogarah, who was in charge; G. Alexander, Hurstville; J. Curry, Rockdale; G. Gess, Peakhurst; A. McKenzie, Cook’s River; – Russell, Kogarah, and – Tugwell, Arncliffe. Sergeant McCole afterwards lived in retirement at Kogarah, and was a well known local identity until he died. The Court of Petty Sessions for the district was at Newtown.

Ten Justices of the Peace sufficed for the whole of St. George half a century ago. To-day many hundreds have that honour. In 1889 the local Justices were Messrs. A. Harden, Arncliffe; J. Sproule, Hurstville; J. Bowmer, Rockdale; S.A. Fuilford, Hurstville; E. Hogben, Kogarah; D.J. Lamrock, Kogarah; H. Kinsela, Bexley; Dr. Read, Kogarah; F.J. Gibbins, Arncliffe; and W.G. Judd, Arncliffe. The registrars of births, marriages and deaths were: – Mr. H. Cambridge, Kogarah; Mr. Hardwick, Rockdale; while Mr. George Leeder, of Hurstville, looked after the interests of Hurstville, Bexley, Kingsgrove, Peakhurst and Sutherland.

The Kinsela & Sons, and M. J. Cahill Grocer store on Rocky Point Road (now Princes Highway), Rockdale, circa 1910 (courtesy Bayside Library)

Old residents will remember that Shea’s Creek and Muddy Creek, tributaries of Cook’s River, were narrow rivulets surrounded by a huge swamp area, overgrown by mangrove trees, swamp oaks etc. The area extended from Skidmore’s bridge, Rockdale to Bay Street, on to Bestic Street, where it widened out to Cook’s River. It was a favourite spot for quail and duck shooting. Part of the area, at Arncliffe, was used for a sewerage farm for some years, until the advent of the sewerage system. The present recreation grounds at North Brighton were also part of the swamp area. Reclaimed land at Shea’s Creek is now covered with factories, etc. Muddy Creek is now a tidal watercourse, near its outlet, and a stormwater concrete channel near its source. All this improvement work has cost many thousands of pounds. In the St. George district today are some of the most modern business premises to be found anywhere, many of them comparing more than favourably with Sydney stores. Their artistic modern window displays and huge stocks have attracted thousands of people to shop locally rather than going to the city to make their purchases. 130 years ago the principal shopping centre for the St. George district was Newtown, but things have changed considerably since then.

The Arncliffe Sewage Farm train, circa 1890 (courtesy Bayside Library)

However, the district was catered for fairly well in those distant times by local stores, but their stocks were not very large. However, food and household articles could be purchased locally much cheaper then than it is possible today. For instance, bread was delivered at 2d. or 1.75d. per loaf as against about 1/3d. today. The best imported sugar could be purchased at 2.5d. per lb., and tea at 1/- per lb. Mention of a few of the businesses in operation in St. George in the early 1900s may be of interest. Bricks for building purposes were supplied by a number of small brickyards, the bricks being mostly handmade. However, the principal brickmakers were the Hurstville Steam Brick Works at Mort’s Hill, now known as Mortdale, managed by the Messrs. Edwards and Gardner, who were both well-known residents of Hurstville until they passed away some years ago. The principal drapery store in Rockdale over 130 years ago was that controlled by the late Mr. C. Barsby, at the corner of Bay Street and the now Princes Highway. In the nineties he opened another store at Kogarah, his brother Jack, eventually taking over the Rockdale business. Charlie Barsby was a keen advertiser, and many old residents will remember a tree facing the main road between Rockdale and Kogarah on which was attached a sign for many years, reading, “Woodman, spare this tree, for Charlie Barsby.” At any rate, this was the last old gum tree facing the highway to be cut down. His brother Jack, was also a humorist. In those days local store-keepers displayed most of their goods on the footpaths outside their premises, in addition to hanging them on the exterior walls. This served better than window displays, as intending purchasers could sample the goods outside, without going inside the stores. Boots, clothing, dress-material etc., were all hung on the walls outside, and taken down at night. In those days “shop-lifting” and petty thieving was practically unknown – the residents respecting the belongings of others more so than they do today, notwithstanding modern social services, higher education, and more churches. As a youth the writer knew the Barsbys very well, and one incident concerning Jack and his Rockdale store is well remembered. In those days, Rocky Point Road – now Princes Highway – and Bay Street, were very dusty thoroughfares, a modern concrete or tarred road was then unknown. When the winds did blow, the dust nuisance was intense, much to the annoyance of the storekeepers, with their goods hanging on the walls outside. On such occasions Rockdale Council did its best by sending out water carts to spray the streets In order to minimise the dust nuisance in the business centre. One dusty day the water cart failed to arrive. Jack Barsby became annoyed, but would not be beaten. He sent a messenger down to Bay Street for a couple of Chinese market-gardeners to bring up to his shop some watering cans, which they used for watering their gardens. Barsby then set them to work. With poles across their shoulders, and a watering can at each end of the stick they marched up and down in front of his shop watering the street. The dust was eventually turned into mud and the draper was delighted. After that incident Rockdale Council’s staff was more prompt in sending out the watering cart on a windy day.

Arncliffe residents queuing for bread at White’s Bakery, Barden Street, Arncliffe during the 1919 General Strike. The house that can be seen on the right hand side of the photograph is “Rosslyn” in Forest Road, Arncliffe. (courtesy Bayside Library)

Very few people know that Rockdale had a steam mineral water works and cordial factory as far back as 1889. It was established by Mr. T.P. Swindale, who was a well-known chemist at Rockdale in those days. Cordials and various drinks were delivered free to any part of the district daily. Messrs. F. and A. Moir were the local timber merchants, but later on came the timber yards of Francis and Wardle, and also that of Mr. S.A. Burns. Mr. T.B. Eldridge conducted a timber yard at Kogarah. One of the oldest general stores at Kogarah was that conducted by South Bros. This business was established in 1866. Not only were they bakers, grocers and drapers, but also dealt in ironmongery and hardware. South’s Bakery at Kogarah, was a household word in the St. George district for much over half a century.

FOOTNOTE: The above article appeared in the Propeller newspaper in 1943 under the heading of “St. George 50 Years Ago“. It was reprinted in the April 1964 edition, adding the change in time as an item of interest for members.

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Two Early Pioneers: James Oatley & Hannah Laycock

James Oatley arrived in Sydney Town as a convict on January 27, 1815. Before his sentence, he had been a little-known watch and clockmaker living in Stafford, England.

Upon arrival, he was permitted to set up in business in George Street, on a site opposite the present Town Hall. He was soon commissioned by Governor Macquarie to make the turret clock in the prisoners’ barracks, a building now in use as law courts but then being constructed by fellow convict and architect Francis Greenway on the corner of King and Macquarie Streets.

Longcase clock by James Oatley, 1827 (courtesy The Australiana Fund)

While waiting for land grants offered for this service, he continued his trade and is reputed to have made at least six outstanding grandfather clocks.

In 1831, he settled on 175 acres of land in the Beverly Hills-Kingsgrove district. He subsequently acquired more land in the area,combined farming with his clock business until he died in 1839. He was buried on his farm, his grave being near the present Ponyara Road – Pallamana Pde. intersection.

James Oatley’s grave lay forgotten for many years, and his name stirred few memories.

However, in May, 1921, an anonymous report appeared in the Truth newspaper. It read:

“While out for a stroll yesterday, I came across an old grave, near what appears to have been a farm many years ago. This farm is situated in the country between Penshurst and Lakemba. On the slab of stone covering the grave is the following inscription: ‘Sacred to the memory of James Oatley. Obit. October 8th, 1839. Aetat 70 years. ”

In addition to the headstone (which is now in the Hurstville Historical Museum), and the general name for the suburb, James Oatley is also commemorated in the district by Oatley Bay and Oatley Park.


Hannah Laycock came to New South Wales as a free settler in 1791. She was the 32 year old wife of Quartermaster Thomas Laycock of the New South Wales Corps. However, she was able to make a highly successful career for herself in the new colony.

Hannah & Thomas Laycock (courtesy Bayside Library)

In 1804, she received a grant of land (500 acres) on the south side of Cook’s River, for which she was to pay a rent of 10 shillings a year. She called the property “King’s Grove Farm” after Governor King, who made the grant. The grant extended from Stoney Creek Road to William Street and from Kingsgrove Road to Bexley Road.

By 1814, Hannah Laycock was supplying 2000 lb of meat to the Government – a business venture which expanded rapidly.

In 1829, she sold the Kings Grove farm. However she did not live long after the sale, and died in Sydney Hospital on May 12, 1831, at the age of 73 years.

She was buried in the old Devonshire Street Cemetery. After the removal of this cemetery to make way for Central Railway, her remains were transferred to Botany in 1901. The headstone could be seen until a few years ago, but cannot be located now.

The suburb of Kingsgrove includes most of what was once Hannah Laycock’s farm. The railway line from Sydney bisects the original grant as it approaches Kingsgrove Station.

The family name survives in the district in Laycock Street, Bexley North, and also in Laycock Road, Penshurst.

Governor Macquarie spoke kindly of Hannah Laycock as “the good old lady”. She has left her mark on the country as a pioneer settler and landholder, owner of a considerable number of cattle, and supplier of fresh meat for the early colonists of New South Wales.

This article was first published in the November 2000 edition of our magazine.

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ANZAC Day – 25 April 2023

To mark the time at which the first Australians waded ashore ANZAC Cove in 1915,  thousands of people will gather to watch an ANZAC Day Dawn Service.

ANZAC Day was established to honour those who served and gave their lives in the Great War. However, in the years since WWI, Australian troops have answered the call to serve in conflicts around the world. As a result, ANZAC Day has evolved into a day of remembrance for all who have served and sacrificed their lives in conflicts that Australia has participated in.

The Dawn Service is a period of quiet contemplation, accompanied by the bugle call of the Last Post and The Ode of Remembrance.

Plan your ANZAC Day commemoration with these guides:

Bayside LGA
Sunday 23/4: Mascot
Tuesday 25/4: Dawn Service – Botany, Arncliffe, Bexley, Brighton Le Sands, Bardwell Park, Kingsgrove, and Ramsgate
Visit the Bayside Council website for location and times.

Georges River LGA
Sunday 23/4: Mortdale, Oatley
Tuesday 25/4: Dawn Service: Kogarah, Hurstville, Penshurst

Martin Place
The ANZAC Day Dawn Service will be held at 4.20 am at the Cenotaph, Martin Place, Sydney, which was sculpted by Sir Bertram Mackennal and unveiled in 1929. The Dawn Service will be followed by the ANZAC Day March, which will take place along Elizabeth Street in the Sydney CBD at 9.00 am. There are many locations to view the March on both sides of Elizabeth Street.
The public is invited to attend and watch the Service and march in person, or will be able to watch the events from home on TV and online.

NRL ANZAC Round
4pm: St George Dragons vs. Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium

On Becoming a Saint

Have you ever wondered how some of the churches in our district were named? It is well documented that St. Phillip’s Anglican Church, Church Hill in Sydney was named in honour of our first Governor and a number of this district’s early pioneers also appear to have been immortalised in the same way.

St. David’s Anglican Church, Arncliffe originally stood on land given by Mrs. Mary Hannam In memory of her husband, David.

St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Kogarah (courtesy Bayside Library)

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church at Rockdale is on land donated by Joseph Walz, St. Patrick’s at Kogarah on land donated by Patrick Moore and St. Michael’s Church at Hurstville on land donated by Michael Cannon.

St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Kogarah (courtesy Bayside Library)

St. George’s Church at Hurstville has nothing to do with the fact that it is located in the St. George District. It stands on land given by early Hurstville pioneer, George Crew.

St George’s Church of England, Hurstville, circa 1898 (courtesy Bayside Library)

While none of these names are documented in the histories of these churches, I think you would agree, it is all too much of a coincidence for this pattern to be ignored.

This article was first published in the July 1990 edition of our magazine.

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The Royal Commission into Noxious and Offensive Trades of 1883

by R. W. Rathbone

At a time when protection of the environment is a burning political issue, it is interesting to note that we, in this country at least, have been trying to clean up our act for more than one hundred years.

In the early 1880’s, Sydney was one of the most polluted cities in the world with an infant mortality rate equalling some of the most over-crowded cities in Europe. Much of the blame for this, fairly or unfairly, was levelled at the unhygienic Glebe Island Abbattoirs where the blood and offal of more than 600,000 animals a year was discharged in partially treated or raw form into Rozelle Bay, White Bay and Blackwattle Bay. The stench of rotting organic matter washed up along the shores of fashionable suburbs like Balmain and Glebe Point gave rise to heated complaints from adjoining residents and the site of their fine water views regularly discoloured by the huge quantities of animal blood discharged into the harbour did nothing to assuage their injured feelings while schools of man-eating sharks attracted to the area to gorge on the untreated offal only compounded their outrage.

Killing and dressing sheep at Glebe Abbatoirs, Australian Town and Country Journal, 7 June 1879.

Added to this, the unregulated establishment of slaughterhouses, knackeries, blood boiling, bone crushing, fell mongering, soap boiling, tallow melting, glue making and tripe boiling factories together with tanneries and wool scouring works in the heavily populated suburbs of Redfern, Alexandria and Botany were blamed for the regular outbreaks of typhoid fever which took a heavy toll of life in these areas every year.

The Government was aware of the problem but reluctant to act because, not only were the operators of these lucrative establishments able to bring pressure to bear for no action to be taken, but it simply did not know what to do with all this waste matter if the factories which processed It were to be closed down.

Alfred R Fremlin 1880 (courtesy State Library of NSW)

In the Summer of 1382 a severe outbreak of typhoid fever in the suburb of Redfern which resulted in the deaths of over one hundred people caused the district’s parliamentary representative, Alfred Reginald Fremlin M.L.A., to demand that an area of land, within easy access of Sydney should be set aside to accommodate the activities of all persons engaged In noxious and offensive trades. The Legislative Assembly went even further. It set up a Royal Commission under the Chairmanship of Hon. John Stewart M.L.C., a man of independent liberal principles, a noted veterinary surgeon and a former Professor of Veterinary Science at the University of Glasgow before he emigrated to Australia.

The Commission invited submissions from all interested parties and toured extensively those establishments on which it was required to report. Its description of the conditions which prevailed at the Glebe Island Abattoirs is lurid in the extreme and suitable reading only for those with a very strong stomach and it will suffice to say that as a result of the report of this Royal Commission, the Glebe Island Abattoir was eventually closed and its operations moved to Homebush Bay.

The Commission’s comments on the establishments it visited at Redfern, Alexandria and Botany also make colourful reading but are beyond the scope of this essay.

Boiling down establishments, knackeries, slaughterhouses and fertilizer works also dotted the landscape of the infant Municipality of West Botany, particularly along the courses of Cook’s River and Wolli Creek, Muddy Creek and Patmore’s Swamp and had been a persistent source of complaint ever since the Council had been incorporated. As early as March 1872, Mr. William Bucknell complained about the activities of Messrs. Garden, Staples and Nelson in Arncliffe and the following month a complaint was received about the boiling down works and slaughteryard conducted by Mr. Joseph Davis which was described as “a common nuisance and decidedly injurious to the health of local Inhabitants”. But as three of the six aldermen of the Council also conducted boiling down works as profitable sidelines to their other activities, it was, perhaps, a little optimistic to expect any concerted action to be taken to suppress them.

Mr. William Bucknell, however, was not a man to be put off and in November 1872, he not only demanded that Mr. Garden’s boiling down works be closed but produced a doctor’s certificate which stated categorically that “the effluvia arising from decaying animal matter on these premises is highly injurious to health”. In the face of this evidence, the Council decided to ask Mr. Garden to desist. It was February 1874 before Mr. Bucknell again approached the Council this time complaining about “the small from offal at Morrissey’s”. The Mayor, Alderman Elias Godfrey, took it upon himself to personally investigate the complaint. His subsequent report to the Council that Mr. Morrissey’s piggery, boiling down works and slaughterhouse were remarkably clean considering the state of the weather and that he had found no offensive small arising there from and considered great praise was due to the owner for the clean state in which he kept his premises was, perhaps, a little too emphatic as the Mayor himself operated the largest and most offensive establishment of this kind in the Municipality. Throughout 1875, 1876, 1877 and 1878 the Council received numerous complaints “calling attention to the stenches arising from the piggeries and boiling down works in the neighbourhood of Arncliffe” and ultimately, in 1879, it decided to appoint Mr. David Hannam Jnr. as its first Inspector of Nuisances.

It was then, little wonder that the Royal Commission on Noxious and Offensive Trades decided to include an Inspection of the Municipality of West Botany in its investigations. The Commission visited this area in February 1883. It first inspected Mr. Barden’s boiling down works on the edge of Patmore’s Swamp at Kogarah where there were five boilers, one digester and a bone mill driven by steam. It was described as generally clean with the buildings in fair repair supporting 16 pigs and 100 head of poultry. It processed six tons of offal a week producing 15 hundredweight of tallow and one ton of bone dust.

Mr. William Humphries’s poultry farm off James Street also passed the scrutiny of the Commission. Here there were three boilers that worked continuously processing 7 tons of offal to support 1,500 ducks which in turn produced I47 dozen eggs per week. These premises also produced three hundredweight of tallow. The buildings were described as primitive but in fair repair and passably clean as a result of which very little stock was lost by disease.

Mr. Robert Beehag’s poultry farm near the intersection of Bay Street and Rocky Point Road was also inspected. It, too, was described as “generally clean” and the buildings in good repair. The Commission appeared to be more interested in the fact that with the coming of the railway, land occupied by George Francis’s duck farm near Lady Robinson’s Beach, had increased in value from £100 to £1,500 in a matter of months though it did mention that he raised one thousand head of better class fancy fowl, game, Spanish, bantam and brahms, edible pigeons and superior ducks. He also had twenty pigs which, in the above company, we must assume to have been of above average quality as well.

It was, however, when the Commission arrived in Arncliffe that its visit to the Municipality of West Botany really became worthwhile. Mr. D. Chappelow’s poultry farm In Arncliffe Street was described as “dilapidated and not very clean” and the methods employed as “primitive”. This farm had the highest mortality among its fowls of any premises the Commission had seen and the four boilers gave off a most offensive odour while Mr. David Tuck’s establishment on the banks of Wolli Creek “stunk as bad as anything (the Commission) had yet seen” and was the filthiest they had ever witnessed. The Chairman reported “the fumes from this place adhered to my clothes for many hours, beyond a doubt and I brought the abominable stench with me some 10 or 12 miles back to Sydney”.

Henry Nelson’s establishment nearby, which contained five boilers was also described as “very dilapidated and dirty” whilst Henry Latham’s piggery and boiling down works adjacent to the Illawarra Railway works was described as “being in such a filthy state as to be scarcely expressible with an abominable stench produced by an accumulation of slush and dirt”.

It was not until they got to Godfrey and Moon’s Boiling Down Works just off Rocky Point Road that the Commission was really able to give full vent to its collective outrage. This dreadful establishment, which processed the offal from some 50 of Sydney’s butchers shops produced 5 tons of tallow and 100 tons of bone dust a week. It also boiled down on Instructions from the police, most of Sydney’s unwanted dogs, goats and other discarded domestic animals, their skins going to the nearby tanneries at Botany while their fat was used to dress leather and to make candles. The stench from this enterprise was described as “abominable and foul beyond description”. The Commission concluded that boiling down works were natural, necessary and profitable and a major health hazard would be created if they were closed down as the 362 tons of offal generated each week in Sydney could not be disposed of except at great public expense. It recommended that a suitable area of land a moderate distance from the city and accessible to a railway line should be set aside as a site for all Sydney’s noxious and offensive trades.

The Industries were to be located “where they might be guaranteed against disturbance and where space around them can be provided so that they might give no offence to any existing population”. The site also required a position where a prevailing north east wind carried any odours over uninhabited land.

Sites at Long Bay and Botany were ruled out because the land was too valuable. An area on the southern side of Botany Bay was excluded because it was too inaccessible. The Commission therefore plumped for a site on the Port Hacking River adjacent to the National Park.

This site involved the construction of 12 miles of railway tracks to link it with the main Illawarra Railway Line and a jetty into Port Hacking itself. That was enough to make the Government lose interest and instead it resolved to set aside 432 acres of the Sans Souci Peninsula which the Commission hadn’t recommended as the site for all of Sydney’s noxious and offensive trades. The decision created uproar in the Municipality of West Botany, even those aldermen who stood to gain financially condemning it in the strongest terms.

But all the protestations of the Council would not have saved the day had It not been for the fact that Hon. Thomas Holt M.L.C. owned practically all the land that was to be resumed. Holt not only had many influential friends In high places but had bailed out the impecunious Premier, Sir Henry Parkes, on a number of occasions when that eminent gentleman was facing bankruptcy and in the spirit now well entrenched in N.S.W. politics, he decided to return his friend’s favours by officially abandoning the proposition in April 1887.

Thus, no site was ever set aside. The Glebe Island Abattoirs continued to pollute the waters of Sydney Harbour for another thirty years and only improved technology eventually made the stinking old boilers redundant.

This article was first published in the July 1990 edition of our magazine.

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Kingsgrove Gasometer Demolished

by B. J. Madden

Mid-November 1979, saw the demolition and removal of a landmark in Kingsgrove – the Gas Holder in Kingsgrove Road opposite Omnibus Road. The Gas Holder was built during 1926-27 in order to improve the gas supply in that area, which was then undergoing rapid expansion.

The Holder had a diameter of 164 feet and fully inflated was approximately 114 feet in height.

At 6am on 15 February 1956, the early morning quiet was shattered by ‘a muffled roar’, a ‘great flame shot into the air’ and residents thought that a bomb had exploded. The ‘muffled’ sound was the roar of flaming gas escaping from a major leak at the top of the container. Four residents suffered superficial burns. The Australian Gas Light Co., explanation of the incident was that it was not an explosion in the true sense of the word but was caused by failure of the crown. A ring of corrosion had formed around the periphery of the crown, causing the metal to part and the crown to open up in much the same fashion as the lid of a jam tin. The escaping gas ignited in the atmosphere causing very little damage. The Holder, without the support of the containing gas simply fell into the underground tank.

The Company decommissioned the holder early in 1979 when it began to pump processed natural gas into the Kingsgrove area from the Holders at Chullora. There is a photograph of the framework of the Gas Holder being demolished in the St. George and Sutherland Shire Leader of 21 November 1979.

I was able to obtain some photographs on 15 November 1979, just after demolition had commenced. The Australian Gas Light Company has been unable to locate old photographs, and I wonder whether there are any photographs of the Gas Holder or of that part of Kingsgrove on the northern side of the Tempe-East Hills railway line, which would give an indication of the size of the Gas Holder. It would be particularly interesting to see photographs taken before World War II and I would appreciate the opportunity to copy any such photographs.

This article was first published in the February 1981 edition of our magazine.

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