Author: hcsYbOjXZv

by Bettye Ross

Just over two years ago an article appeared in the St. George & Sutherland Shire Leader titled “The Grave Mystery of Will and Eliza’s Death”.

I thought it was a pretty eye-catching headline and on reading through it, found that a headstone had been found in bushes in a backyard in Como which is the next suburb to Oyster Bay where I live. Now the headstone had been thrown over the fence of this property some years before, presumably as a party piece, and had ended up in the bushes. New occupants clearing the block had found it and wondered where it came from, why and whose was it?

Its inscription read:

“William Jonathon Johnson
Died, October 3, 1866, aged 55
This sweet remembrance of the
just shall flourish when he
sleeps in dust. Psm CXII.6″

underneath in smaller letters a smaller tribute stated:

“Eliza Harris who died on December 8, 1878, aged 65”

Eliza’s name and tribute had a pretty insignificant tone about it compared to William’s. Was Harris her surname? The Leader asked this as well as wondering whether the pair were sister and brother or “star-crossed lovers who thwarted convention by not marrying more than a century ago?”

This threw me into a mood of this has got to be solvable so I set to looking up newspapers of the time and found a nice long obituary to William and other notices of his occupations and abilities in various other articles, but so little about Eliza it amounted to nothing. But was she Eliza Harris or was she Eliza Johnson or was she Eliza the de facto of William Johnson or had she remarried after her husband William Johnson died? It didn’t matter what or where I looked she was not there. So if she wasn’t there, when and where had she come from? I was fairly certain of one thing – she had been “lying in state” wherever that headstone had originally stood – I hoped! There was not even a birth registration for an Eliza Harris or Johnson if she’d been related before marriage to William Johnson. There was only a marriage for a William Johnson to an Eliza Tompson. No way you wrote Harris could it look like Tompson!

There were two deaths registered who possibly could have been her, so I sent for both certificates, one didn’t fit because it was a death of an Eliza Johnson before the above date, but the other one did have a possibility although it was for a burial for 2 January 1879 – 25 days after she died! Not only that but between Eliza and Johnson was an H.! That certainly could stand for Harris. Naturally this death certificate didn’t have any more helpful details than that – no date of death, she was a female and she had been buried 2.1.1879 at Camperdown by Mrs. Kinsela & Sons of Sydney and witnesses were Henry Kinsela and William O’Dwyer. No date of death as I said, no age, no birthplace, no husband and no children!

Well I swung into research action – I eventually found where Kinsela’s burial registers were but they were scant and some years missing, but Eliza Johnson was there no date but round about 1879-80, no more details than I had. So I started looking around the date of burial instead of death, nothing. I was starting to get to know Eliza – she appeared in my mind as a pathetically lonely lady, living on her own, her children gone or estranged from her, alone since her husband’s death! Perhaps she’d fallen, lay injured on the floor with no one to hear her cries, no one to come and comfort or cover her emaciated body. Perhaps she’d died of thirst, exposure and loneliness! I knew she was emaciated because I’d now worked out how pathetic were her circumstances! If it wasn’t 120 years ago I’d probably have considered going and forcing her door open to find her!

I didn’t though – I went back to the old registers looking for more clues and decided to follow all the indexes of William Johnson marriages. The one that fitted was Eliza Tompson because the groom had the second initial of J. When hooked it up they had married 21 July 1838 at St. Philip’s, Sydney, her name given as Eliza Harris Tompson and the groom as William Jonathon Johnson. The witnesses were Charles Tompson, Richard Johnson, James Johnson, Jane Ann Armytage and Mary Ann Johnson.

A lot of Johnson’s to say the least and who was Jane Ann Armytage, was she a relation?

This took me back to the 1828 Census and I found Charles Tompson aged 44 who had arrived Free on the “Coromandel” in 1804, his wife Jane aged 34 and children Charles Jnr. 21, Frederick 14, Eliza H. 11, Edwin 9, Alfred 7, Emma 5, Ferdinand 3, and another Eliza H. aged 18 months, but how could wife Jane aged 34 years have a son aged 21? All except Charles Snr. had been born in the Colony.

Then when I looked under the Census for Armytage I found it stated Charles aged 12, George 9 and Jane Ann aged 10 months were the children of Mrs. C. Tompson and in the appendix it states “Children of Jane Morris by former husband”.

I now had two Eliza H.’s, two Charles’ and a Jane Ann Armytage – back to the drawing board and after a few more delvings into archives I came up with Eliza Harris Tompson daughter of Charles Tompson and Jane Armytage (nee Morris) marrying William Jonathon Johnson. I’d solved it!

My findings were sent off to the Leader a couple of months later and it was inserted under the heading “Mystery of Como Tombstone Known” BUT, wait till next week to find out how I fell on my face, and the stories and twists this riddle took me into!

This article was first published in the May 2002 edition of our magazine.

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by Molly McDonnell

In March of 1982, we celebrated the Golden Jubilee of St Francis Xavier’s Church, Arncliffe. The present beautiful edifice with its magnificent façade, round tower, and beautiful interior will forever stand as a monument to the great and untiring efforts of the late Monsignor Joseph Patrick Rafferty. With his great band of helpers he was responsible for the building of our present church which was opened in 1932 and only 4 years later being declared free of debt, was duly consecrated. Given that all this was achieved during the years of the “Great Depression”, this itself stands as a tribute to the generosity of parishioners and others and the hard work of all those who committed themselves wholeheartedly to this project.

Prior to this we had the original school-church, but the first of the ecclesiastical buildings was the convent, about which we shall talk.

The Convent

There was much speculation as to when the convent was actually built and by whom. But the first name to appear in Sands Directory was a Mr Parrish, in 1887, who lived there with his family until about 1900. In 1901, it became the property of a Mr Herd who died in 1909, leaving the property to his wife who remained in residence until 1911. There is letter extant in the Kogarah Parish archives written by the sisters of Charity saying that they could no longer staff the Kogarah Parish school. There would have been a reply and correspondence requesting help from the Sisters of St Joseph, North Sydney. These letters no longer exist, unfortunately. They would have given us definite dates. However, 1911 seems to be the year when things began to move. The convent at Arncliffe was purchased by the sisters of St Joseph. The Superiors at the time, of the Sydney Province of the Sisters of St Joseph, signed the Certificate of Title on 14 September 1911. Their names as they appear on the deeds were:- Mary Molloy, Bridget Howley, Veronica O’Brien, and Mary Meskill. It would have been shortly after this date that 4 sisters took up residence: They were Sisters Gerard, Conception, Ignatius, and an unknown postulant. From Arncliffe they travelled to Rockdale and Kogarah to teach in the parish schools. As at that time there was no school in Arncliffe, the first pupils about 12 in number, were taught in the convent until the church-school was completed in 1912.

Over the years there have been many alterations to the present convent, mainly interior. New additions were also added upstairs. What is now the chapel was once the music room and later the room adjoining it became the music room. In these days the chapel had to be upstairs in 2-storey type buildings. When our new church was built, the passageway leading to the sacristy and church was added, giving the sisters direct and easy access to the sacristy and their own chapel at the side of the High Altar, this later is no longer in use as a chapel. In recent years the small vestibule leading into the present music room has been considerably altered providing the sisters with a beautiful dining-room and access to a very modern kitchen

To the best of the writer’s recollection, sister Marcellus was the first music teacher, with pupils numbering over 90. Lessons were given at all hours including Saturday.

The Church School

The district stagnated during the 1850s as the lure of gold enticed many families to the goldfields but by the time Alexander Brodie Spark died at Tempe House in 1856, there was a well established village at Arncliffe, with an inn and several substantial buildings. As the population increased, the need for schools and churches was increasingly evident. There were other denominational churches and schools in the district but none for the Catholic population. About 1862, and due to the untiring efforts of Archbishop Polding, there were at least 2 schools in the Cook’s River district. One at Rocky Point Road Kogarah, and one at Cook’s River, Tempe.

In the early 1900s Hurstville appeared to be the central church for all the surrounding districts, including Kogarah. Pastors were Rev. Fathers O’Driscoll, Walsh, Peoples and Cusack. Then Kogarah became the parent church and Arncliffe was incorporated in it.

Before these parishes were established, the nearest church was St Benedict’s Broadway. It was nothing for families to travel a distance of 20 miles there and back to mass, sometimes on foot. With the establishment of St Peter and Paul’s, Tempe, some of the Arncliffe Catholics were able to attend Sunday Mass there. Later on some of these families were privileged to attend Mass at St Magdalene’s Retreat (on the former Tempe House estate) for some years until the number of people increased and the problem of accommodation arose, and the Rev. Mother was forced to revoke the privilege. From Arncliffe and Banksia nearly all went to Rockdale church which by now had been established. It was a normal sight to see several families grouped together going to and returning from Sunday Mass all on shanks’s pony (on foot / walking). Members of the Hardge, Stone, O’Keefe, Scott and other families used to walk to Rockdale to school and back, because trains were few and far between.

In 1904, Farther O’Driscoll was placed in charge of St Patrick’s Kogarah. He erected Catholic buildings in Rockdale, Arncliffe, Hurstville, Penshurst, Cronulla, and in later days completed St Patrick’s Kogarah which up to that time was an unpretentious stone church. The foundation stone of St Joseph’s, Rockdale, was laid in 1891, but even the establishment of Rockdale church did not suffice for the ever-increasing number of Catholics common in to the district; and on 5 February 1911, Fr. O’Driscoll presided over a meeting, held in the convent, Arncliffe, to discuss the desirability of erecting a school-church to meet the requirements of the Catholics of Arncliffe, and to relieve the congestion of Sunday morning at Rockdale. It was decided to erect a school-church at a cost not to exceed £600. As the sisters had acquired their convent on Forest Road, the site of the school was purchased from them at cost of £200.

In the Freemans’s Journal and Catholic Press of 7 December, 1911, the following article appeared: “New Church At Arncliffe, his Grace Archbishop Kelly, ceaseless in his efforts to provide for the spiritual wants of his flock, opened a new church at Arncliffe on Sunday, 3 December 1911. The rapid growth of that part of the Illawarra District has increased the religious responsibilities of the energetic Father O’Driscoll. During recent years he had his hand to the busy plough of Catholicity, furrowing a road that leads sons to their eternal home and, with the co-operation of generous parishioners, new schools and churches have studded the picturesque heights of the district.”

The new church will be of brick. The building will be 70-foot long and 30-foot wide, with walls 15-foot 6 inches in height, and will accommodate 400 persons. The windows will be of Gothic design and the church is to be well lighted and ventilated to the apex of the roof with patent cowl ventilator. The site is alongside the convent in Forest Road, and is convenient to the railway station. Architect is Mr J Frank White, 94 Pitt St Sydney, and the contractor Mr W J Symons, Forest Road, Arncliffe.

The school-church was eventually completed in 1912 with pupils numbering 72. By 1914, it had increased to 76. The 4 extra pupils could have included the writer’s 2 sisters and brother, whose family had arrived from England in April that same year. The writer also recalls Father O’Driscoll. In August, 1914, World War I broke out. It was a very sad and hard time for all concerned and, no doubt, raising money for the completion of the church must have been a problem.

The building was one long room with two long red curtains dividing the school from the sanctuary where the Blessed Sacrament was kept. The curtains were easily drawn aside for the altar to be exposed and for Mass to be celebrated. Large heavy desks were supported by adjustable brackets in such a way that they could be dropped perpendicularly on their hinges. Ink pots, of course, had to be removed from ink-wells! The front of the building did not reach the footpath alignment, as at present. There were a few steps leading into a porch and thence into the classroom.

By now the number of Catholics continued to increase; and in March 1916, the Rockdale-Arncliffe portion was divided from the parent Parish of Kogarah and made a separate parish under Father J P Hyland. A year later the parishioners of St Francis Xavier’s rejoiced to learn that the Archbishop had formed a separate parish in Arncliffe, with Rev. Father Andrew Mulvihill as its first pastor.

This article was first published in the April 1991 edition of our magazine.

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by Margaret Collister

John Bowmer, aged 25, arrived in Sydney on the “Irene” on 16th October 1852 with his wife, Eliza Maria aged 28 and their infant daughter Fanny, born in 1852, another child having died at sea on the way out.

John was a gardener and was born at Rephem in Lincolnshire, England where his father, Abraham, was a groom. His mother was born at Bully Gloucestershire.

John and Eliza Maria were married at Cottesmore in Rutlandshire (the smallest county in England) in 1849 and when they first arrived in Sydney they lived at Woolloomooloo before moving to Stanmore near where Newington College is now situated.

In 1862 John bought land in Rockdale at the corner of West Botany and Bryant Streets where he worked a market garden. He later sold some of this land to James Wilson who built the stone house still standing opposite Rockdale Park in West Botany Street which now belongs to Bayside Council and is known as “Wilson’s farmhouse”. The stone for this house was quarried nearby. The Bowmer house was in Bryant Street at the side of the Wilson farmhouse and the property stayed in the family for three generations until it was sold in 1968.

There were 10 children of this marriage and 17 grandchildren.

John played a leading role in municipal affairs. In the early days of the West Botany Council his work in West Botany Street had so impressed the Council that it decided to form a further 24 chains (482 metres) of road in the street at a cost of £30, he being employed almost full time by the Council as its first road construction contractor.

In 1876 John was elected to the Council. The only unfortunate incident on the Council that year occurred in April when some person with evil intent sent John a packet of black spiders through the post. In one of its very few unanimous decisions the Council recorded its “disgust at the unmanly conduct of the person or persons who sent the packet to the Mayor”. The reason for this was that Bowmer was a most gentlemanly and patriarchal figure and enjoyed enormous popularity both with the Council and the other residents.

During stormy protests and complaints during the years to 1880 only the steady hand of Alderman Bowmer (now in his third term as Mayor) kept the ship of state on an even keel. He presided at the luncheon on 15 October 1884 to celebrate the opening of the railway line as far as Hurstville. He was mayor for seven terms from 1878 to 1884. In 1884 he was appointed the first Returning Officer for the State electorate of St. George. To celebrate this fact he was given a medal by his fellow clerks to be hung on his watch chain.

He is mentioned in the Centennial history of N.S.W. in 1888.

He was one of the founders of the West Botany Wesleyan Church (now the Uniting Church in Bay Street, Rockdale). In those days it was known as the Rocky Point Chapel, attached to the Newtown circuit.

The movement towards municipal incorporation in Kogarah began at a public meeting held on Monday, April 7, 1884, at the Beavers’ Gardeners’ Arms Hotel, Kogarah at which there was an attendance of 40 persons and J. Bowmer, Mayor of West Botany presided.

He died on December 13, 1903 at Rockdale aged 76 and was buried in the Wesleyan cemetery at Sutherland.

As one of its pioneers John Bowmer made a significant contribution to the development of our district in the days when life was a very different proposition from what it is today.

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

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by Thelma Hayman

Included amongst the several large tracts of land bestowed on various people in the early days of the settlement that became known as Koggerah (now spelled as Kogarah) was a triangular shaped area which came into the possession of John Porter. Its boundaries were set by the western side of Rocky Point Road from its intersection with Kogarah Road (now portion of the Princes Highway) and along the eastern side of Kogarah Road to the vicinity of the intersection of Jubilee Avenue, a modern extension of the former Hector Street which left Rocky Point Road in a westerly direction for a short distance before terminating in a cul-de-sac. John Porter’s estate embraced the fertile low-lying lands at the head of Kogarah, or Townson’s Bay, and the western hill slopes of what is now known as Fitzgerald’s Hill. At the junction of Rocky Point Road and Kogarah Road a section was ceded to John Emerson at an early date whereon was built Prendergast’s Rocky Point Hotel, believed to have been a slab-sided structure with shingled roof and outside brick built chimneys.

It is evident that the Porter Estate was subdivided in the early 1850s, or thereabouts, and that a section lying on the northern slopes of Fitzgerald’s Hill and facing the western alignment of Rocky Point Road, came into the hands of Thomas Fitzgerald and was subsequently developed into a market garden and orchard. The southern boundary of the property would be today marked by Fitzgerald Avenue, the northern in the vicinity of Shaw Street, and the western by Ercildoune Avenue (on its eastern side). These boundaries as listed in this essay may only be approximate but they serve to give an idea of the extent of the orchard and farm enclosure.

Thomas Fitzgerald was a native of Ballangarry, a township in the Irish county of Limerick, where he was born in the year 1818. In due course he married a colleen named Sarah, whose surname has escaped us, but it is known that the lady was born in 1828 and hailed from the County of Monagham. The couple migrated to Australia and it has been stated that they settled on their land at Kogarah about 1855 where a brick double-fronted cottage, named “Springwood” was subsequently erected, facing towards Rocky Point Road.

“Springwood” had an end-gabled roof running the full length of the house and its centrally placed entrance hall was wide and capacious. It is possible that the original roof was shingled, as customary at this period to cover the few cottage homes existing in the area then known, somewhat loosely, as Rocky Point. A galvanised corrugated-iron roof was certainly noted in the early days of the present century, together with a full length front verandah, and short length side verandahs branching therefrom, the iron roofs of which were bent down at the outer edges to meet the guttering. Details are not to hand in reference to that important adjunct the kitchen and its culinary arrangements, likewise scant knowledge has been obtained at this late date of the location and design of the stables, packing sheds, and other farmyard appurtenances. When the system of street numbering came into force the number 221 was bestowed on “Springwood”, marking its precise location on Rocky Point Road. This cottage is still standing but has been “modernised” with a texture brick facade and additions made to the rear of the premises, the whole being covered., with a red-tiled roof of unusual design, a circumstance brought about by the need to incorporate the original roof structure in the new scheme of things. The cottage has been divided into two “semis” which, at July 1971, bore street numbers 75 and 77.

The Fitzgerald family carried on the business of market gardeners and orchardists, the main crops being sweet potatoes and chokos, whilst in the orchard a wide range of fruit trees were cultivated, including quinces, mulberries, loquats, figs, peaches, apricots etc. There are still many fruit-trees growing in the now subdivided property which may include some of the original trees, or possibly seedlings therefrom. Robust choko vines can also be noticed covering several of the dividing paling fences.

The family of Thomas and Sarah Fitzgerald comprised a daughter, also named Sarah, who was born in 1860, Thomas, born in 1864; Edward David, born in 1868, and William Henry, born in 1871. To complete the record of the family, which is now extinct, it must be mentioned that the father, Thomas Fitzgerald, died on November 30, 1900, in his 82nd year. His good wife Sarah, a resident of Kogarah for 66 years, died at the age of 93 years on November 26, 1921. The eldest child and only daughter, Sarah, died on August 24, 1942, at the age of 82 years. The eldest son, Thomas, died on July 17, 1936, in his 72nd year. The second son, Edward David, died on May 23, 1932, aged 64, and the third son, William Henry, died in August 1913, at the age of 42 years. The members of the family were interred in the Fitzgerald vault located in the Roman Catholic portion of the Woronora Cemetery at Sutherland. The latter group of melancholy details were kindly supplied by J. Kirby (nee Aileen Sippel) who was acquainted with this old established pioneering family in its latter years. It is passing strange that none of the four children saw fit to engage in the affairs of matrimonial bliss, although it has been ascertained that young Sarah may have had ideas in this direction as she kept company with Mr. Clarke who resided nearby in Wilson Street.

Towards the latter period of his life Thomas Fitzgerald (Senior) often walked cross-country from his Kogarah residence to Parramatta, just for a jaunt. In order to offset the icy blasts of winter on these journeys he generally wore two overcoats. His son, Thomas (Junior), was distinguished by a “walrus” moustache, and also preferred to wear lace-up boots without laces, an arrangement which permitted the lower end of his trouser legs to be inserted, in wrapped fashion, into the upper portion of his boots. In its later years the Fitzgerald menage was well served by a dusky lady referred to, not unkindly, as “Black Annie”, who evidently had an Aboriginal background. She proved to be a devoted companion as well as a servant to Sarah Fitzgerald and officiated with some renown as a cook, specially in relation to her skill of cake making. By all accounts she resented her mistress dabbling in the cakemaking art and, so it has been said, that when Sarah placed her own admirable efforts in the oven Annie would wait until an opportunity occurred to open the oven door and close it with a bang, to the sad detriment of the “rising” of Sarah’s cake. It is understood that Sarah left Annie a sum of money and a cottage at Carlton in her will.

Apart from the agricultural interests the Fitzgerald family became concerned with the acquisition of real estate in and around the Kogarah district. They also owned a boot and shoe emporium at Newtown for some years and Sarah acted as manager. This shop was eventually sold to Messrs. John Hunter and Company, a firm which operated boot and shoe stores in many suburbs as well as in the city. When the James Beehag grant at Kogarah was subdivided in the 1880s the opportunity was taken by the Fitzgerald family to purchase several blocks of land ranged along the eastern side of Rocky Point Road (opposite “Springwood”) with a frontage of about 240 feet. This land occupied the area between the present Austral Street and Wilson Street. Four weatherboard cottages were built on these rather large blocks which were later further subdivided for additional housing purposes. The Endeavour Convalescent Hospital has recently been built on land formerly occupied by the two cottages nearest Wilson Street corner. At the Austral Street corner was a large weatherboard store which, in modern terminology, would be described as a split-level building as the corner portion was built at a slightly higher level than the section immediately adjacent. It is possible that two shops were originally incorporated within the building. One recalls a painted “tin” sign fixed to the outside wall advertising “Fry’s Chocolates By Appointment To Her Majesty Queen Victoria”. About 1939 the weatherboard shop was demolished and its occupier, George Fletcher, moved his grocery business across the road to one of a new group of brick-built shops and dwellings which had then been erected on the northern portion of the Fitzgerald property in what is now known as South Kogarah.

In addition to the above the family bought properties ranged along the Railway Parade at Kogarah and built weatherboard shops in front of the existing dwellings, thus helping to establish Railway Parade as the main shopping centre. They also owned property in Austral, Barton and South Streets at Kogarah.

The lower northern portion of the “Springwood” estate was sub-let to a Chinese gentleman known to the local inhabitants as “Giggly”, for the obvious reason that he was a merry soul and always giggling. He occupied a small hump near the present entrance to Hillpine Avenue and sold the produce from his vegetable garden to the neighbouring housewives. During the time that the area was farmed by the Fitzgerald family this portion of their land was given over to barley-crops.

With the elimination of their arduous farming activities the Fitzgerald family erected four large brick cottages, with cement rendered walls, two at either side of “Springwood”. A large semi-detached residence numbered now as 59 and 61 Rocky Point Road, was built on the second block southwards from the intersection of Hillpine Avenue, where members of the well known Sippel family have lived since 1907. It is possible that all five dwellings were erected prior to 1899, each having external characteristics common with the others. No. 69 of this group was occupied for many years by Miss Nagg. The house erected on the northern corner of Rocky Point Road and Fitzgerald Avenue has recently been demolished and at July 1971 the block was vacant. This cottage, formerly 117, No. 231, was tenanted by a family named Mutton. For many years there was a vacant block at the southern corner of Rocky Point Road and Hillpine Avenue and it is understood that Sarah Fitzgerald would not sell it as she always hoped that it would prove to be an advantageous site for a post office. It was a gesture typical of this far-seeing woman. Until the year that the block was subdivided, after Sarah Fitzgerald’s death, there was a magnificent peppercorn tree standing in the centre, a tree that seemed always to be an attraction to boys and sometimes girls who climbed along its out-spreading branches. The grassy block also proved convenient as a site for the bonfires and ear-splitting orgies of “cracker-night”. Nearby were numerous clumps of spiky-leaved Yucca plants which, on occasion displayed lengthy stalks of creamy coloured cup-shaped heavily perfumed flowers.

About 1923 the Fitzgerald family moved to a house named “Waratah” placed on the southern corner of the intersection of Fitzgerald Avenue and Rocky Point Road, their “Springwood” home being later occupied by Mrs. C. Phillips. The house “Waratah” was listed at 1899 under the occupancy of Mr. G. T. Lee and it was subsequently tenanted by numerous people. There were tennis courts at the rear of the property which were overshadowed by a magnificent pine-tree growing on the sidewalk of the adjacent Fitzgerald Avenue. On the long established adage, “If it moves – shoot it – if it doesn’t cut it down”, some minion of the Kogarah Municipal Council conceived the idea of selling the beautiful age-old tree to a match company, thereby enriching the Council’s coffers, so it has been said, to the extent of five pounds.

The stay at “Waratah” was of short duration and by 1926 the Fitzgerald family were ensconced in “Glendower”, a fine brick-built two-storied mansion which was then numbered as 237 Rocky Point Road. As far as can be gathered at this late date the house “Glendower” was built by Mr. Arthur Brown, an out-back squatter of more or less independent means, and who trained and raced trotting horses as a side line. It is even thought that the house name “Glendower” originated from that of a successful racehorse. Be this as it may, he house was certainly beautiful in its outward appearance and indoor appointments. The outer side of the brick walls were cement rendered, the plaster being scored to simulate stone jointing. A colour wash was added to the walls which gave a creamy-pink finish and looked very attractive. Bay windows of the semi-hexagonal shape served both the lower and the upper floors on the southern side of the facade, whilst the lower verandah and the upper balcony were entered from within the house by means of French windows, in addition to the lower main entrance doorway. Both the verandah and the balcony were continued for a short distance along the northern wall of the building. The servant’s quarters, and presumably the kitchen, were located at the rear of the premises, and a capacious ballroom occupied the space above. The blue-grey slate roof was topped by a “Captain’s Walk” from which an embracing view of Botany Bay and its opposing headlands could be obtained. To the south-east lay the sandhills of Cronulla whilst to the south-west the blue waters of Kogarah Bay, backed by the wooded hills of Blakehurst, made a most pleasant scene.

The house was built well back from the street frontage and, so it has been said, the foundations rested on a thick bed of asphalt, a substance not particularly edible to white-ants. The spacious grounds were entered from Rocky Point Road through a pair of wrought-iron gates, each being swung from stone pillars in which the name “Glendower” was cut, the letters being thrown into relief by black paint. The lower portion of the front fence was formed of cut sandstone with the top course half-rounded to support a row of round iron spikes some five feet in height. Privacy from the road was obtained by a dense hedge growing against the seemingly murderous spikes. From the entrance gates the drive led westwards to the rear of the house and its stables etc. A branch drive leading to the front of the house and its entrance doorway was circular in shape for the ready reversal of horse-drawn and later, motor vehicles. The grounds were plentifully dotted with trees, Norfolk Island Pines predominating. At the rear of the house was a small stone cottage, whose origin is somewhat of a mystery but it was charmingly named “Rose Cottage”. It is understood that prior to Sarah Fitzgerald purchasing “Glendower”, this mansion was occupied by Mr. A. Womsley about the 1924 period, this gentleman evidently taking over the property from Mrs. H. Brown, the widow of the former owner.

About this period Sarah Fitzgerald became the proud owner of an early model “Essex” sedan motor car in which she made numerous shopping excursions and short tours of the immediate district. “Black Annie” usually reclined in comfort on the back seat whilst the late Mrs. Simpson (Senior), a close friend of Miss Fitzgerald residing at No. 40 Ercildoune Avenue, occupied the front seat next to the driver. It has been related that on one auspicious occasion, Mrs. Simpson was scared out of her wits as she was sure Miss Fitzgerald had gone up Skidmore’s Hill (south of the Skidmore’s Bridge over Muddy Creek, Rockdale) at sixty miles an hour and all the time asking “Black Annie” to tell her “what was coming at the back”. Mrs. Simpson at the same time telling Miss Fitzgerald “to watch what was coming towards them and not to worry about what was behind them”. It must have been a most exhilarating journey made over the rough unsealed Rocky Point Road at that period.

A regular visitor to “Glendower” was a genial Irishman named Patrick Keiran, who resided nearby in the stable building associated with “Oak Hill”, the former residence of Sir Joseph Carruthers. Patrick was a character in his own way and had a quaint turn of speech and a wealth of expression. On one occasion, at the time of much bad weather, he credited the atmospheric upheaval as being caused “by the caustic rays from the masonic bomb”.

During the late 1920s, Sarah Fitzgerald subdivided the western portion of the “Springwood” property and Hillpine Avenue, serving the housing allotments, came into existence. The development of this area came to a standstill when the infamous bank-inspired depression hit Australia and it was not until 1933 that building operations recommenced. The steam tram system, running between Kogarah Railway Station and Sans Souci, first served the transport needs of the area at South Kogarah and on its replacement with trolley buses in 1937 the land sales on the Fitzgerald Estate fairly boomed.

The large number of Norfolk Island Pine trees growing so splendidly in the grounds of “Glendower” were cut down in the early years of the 1939-1945 War and their timber was donated by Miss Fitzgerald to the war effort for the manufacture of gun cases. Incidentally, it has been stated that there was a legend that the site of “Glendower”, together with that of the adjacent Simpson home, was, before the arrival of the white settlers, a camping ground for the local tribe of Aboriginals. Chosen so it has been claimed, because the hill was the warmest area in the immediate district and also one of the highest. I have been informed by a local resident, Mr. Simpson, that there is a marked difference in the temperature between his property and that on the lower lying areas. In 1970 when severe frosts affected the market and other gardens, even turning brown the foliage of such hardy shrubs as Hibiscus, the plant growth at the crest of Fitzgerald’s Hill was not touched by the hoary hand of winter.

The late Mrs. Simpson (Senior) was out driving with Sarah Fitzgerald when the latter became ill and just managed to get the car back to “Glendower” before she collapsed with a slight stroke. About two weeks later she suffered another stroke and was rushed to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney where she died on August 24, 1942. She was the last member of a very interesting, successful, and most charitable family.

The considerable estate was left to the Roman Catholic Church authorities and His Eminence Cardinal Sir Norman Gilroy was one of the trustees. It is said that Sarah Fitzgerald expressed the wish that a hospital catering for all denominations should be built on the site where “Glendower” stood, That wish was fulfilled when the Calvary Hospital was opened on March 7th, 1965. The hospital is under the jurisdiction of the “Sisters of the Little Company of Mary” of Lewisham Hospital.

It is strange that some time after the death of Miss Sarah Fitzgerald the front portion of “Glendower” was occupied as a meeting point of the American sect known as Jehovah’s Witnesses, and later, the fine old house became the target for stupid acts of vandalism, which, as usual, meant that the glass windows were smashed and internal fittings destroyed. It is remarkable what satisfaction these pea-brained louts get from smashing glass and destroying fine timber joinery work.

The culling of information dealing with the affairs of the pioneering Fitzgerald Family has been most pleasant and I am particularly grateful to Mrs. S. Hanlon, Mr. & Mrs. Jack Kirby, Mrs. Pearl Minehan, Mr. & Mrs. Moody, Mr. Les Sippel, and Mr. & Mrs. J. Simpson, amongst many other people too numerous to mention, for their kindly, assistance and interest in the preparation of this essay.

This article was first published in the September 1971 edition of our magazine.

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Although incorporated on 22nd December 1885, the history of the Municipality of Kogarah – an Aboriginal word meaning a “place of bulrushes” – commences in the time of Governor Macquarie, who made the first land grants in the district. Amongst these were 2,250 acres to Captain John Townson R.N. in 1810, 1,605 acres to his brother, Dr. Robert Townson, and shortly afterwards 100 acres to Captain Connelly. Dr. Townson built a house and established an orchard on his property, but sold in 1812 to Mr. Simeon Lord, and on the latter’s death the area passed to Mr. Michael Gannon. The name of Lord’s Bush gradually gave way to Cannon’s Bush or Gannon’s Forest.

The Townson grants were not entirely in Kogarah, however, for a large portion was in the present Municipality of Hurstville, whilst a considerable part of Mr. James Chandler’s grant of 1,200 acres, known as the Bexley Estate, is now in the Kogarah District, and includes the site of the Kogarah Railway Station. One of the first purchasers of land in the district was Mr. John B. Carroll, who bought 170 acres between Dr. Townson’s land and Kogarah Bay in 1848. William Blake Patrick English, James Derwent, William Maher, West, Justice, J.A. South, Biden, Murphy and others settled between 1853 and 1856, built houses, and established gardens and orchards. It is interesting to note the purchase of 87 acres at one pound per acre made by Archibald McNab in 1853, of the area now bounded by Princes Highway, Bowns Road, Hampton Court Road, Anglo Square and Westbourne Street, Carlton.

The first route from Kogarah to Sydney Town was by way of Punchbowl Road, through Enfield to Liverpool Road, and then over Thompson’s Bridge, which was later replaced by Undercliffe Bridge. Rocky Point Road was first cleared by order of Governor Gipps, who governed the Colony between 1838 and 1846, and following this early piece of roadmaking the first township of Kogarah was established, situated on the present Princes Highway, between Regent Street and Rocky Point Road. The first Post Office was conducted in South’s General Store established in 1884 near Hogben Street, and it was from this point that intending travellers caught the horse-drawn omnibus for Sydney. The area on the eastern side of the shopping centre consisted of a grant of 60 acres made in 1812 to Mr. Patrick Moore, and on which Mr. Peter Moore later established the Moorefield Racecourse.

In the 1880s great rivalry existed between Kogarah and Rockdale. After the railway was opened in 1884 and the shopping centre began to move to the Railway Station, it was decided to outdo Rockdale by constructing a wide boulevarde from the Station to the Beach. Mr. Moore, Mr. McRae, and the Cumberland Building Society each gave a strip of land to enable President Avenue to be constructed 100-ft. wide, intending that the boulevarde should terminate at the site of the present Kogarah Post Office, but land speculators moved in and subdivided Kensington Street, with the result that President Avenue now terminates at Princes Highway.

The original plan for the Railway envisaged a crossing of George’s River at Rocky Point, but the activities of the Holt Sutherland Land Company in demanding a high figure for their land forced the planners to steer the line away from their holdings. This accounts for the wide curve of the line between Kogarah and Carlton, and the resultant crossing of the River at Como.

The first church services were held in Mr. Berghoefer’s house, but churches soon began to appear, the Roman Catholic Church being built in 1865, St. Pauls Church of England in 1869, the Wesleyan in 1885 and the Baptist in 1889.

The growth of the district led to the establishment of a tramway from Kogarah Station to Sans Souci in 1887 and although tracks suitable for electrification were laid about 1930 no electric trams ever ran on them. The steam trains were eventually replaced by electric trolley buses which, in turn, gave way to diesel buses. Residents also felt the need of a Railway station between Kogarah and Hurstville and after much agitation, one was erected at Carlton in 1889. The station was built on condition that the land be given free, £400 paid in cash towards the cost of the platform, and a guarantee given that at least sixty first class tickets to Sydney would be purchased each year.

When Surveyor General Sir Thomas Mitchell was allotted the task of providing a road from Sydney to the South Coast in 1842, he made provision for a bridge across Georges River at Lugarno, and indeed this did become the principal crossing for a time. Residents of the Kogarah district, however, had need to cross lower down at Tom Ugly’s Point – so named after the Aboriginal leader in that area – and a service by punt was commenced in 1879. In time a larger punt was introduced and later two punts ran a joint service until the present bridge, built by Sutherland Shire Council, at a cost of £300,000, was opened in 1929.

Amenities were established in the district as soon as possible and gas mains were extended to the area in 1888. With the advent of electricity, the Councils of Hurstville, Kogarah, Rockdale and Bexley combined to form the St. George County Council, the first body of its kind in Australia. This instrumentality undertook the electrification of the district and first current was switched on in March, 1923. The health of the residents was also of prime concern and led to the establishment of St. George Cottage Hospital in 1894, the cost of the land and buildings amounting to £1,860. The records show that during the first year 80 patients were admitted and of these 53 left cured, 17 relieved, 2 unrelieved, and 5 died.

The Area of the Municipality now covers 7½ square miles and the growth of the district may be gauged from the increase in population, for in the year 1900 there were 3,400 residents; in 1921, 18,214; in 1934, 30,648, and in 1965; 47,600 – truly remarkable growth for the “place of bulrushes”.

This article was first published in the February 1966 edition of our magazine.

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Observations made by Mr. Charles C. Brown, Pymble (formerly Councillor and Hon. Treasurer of the Sydney Branch now in Suspense having operating in Sydney from 1912 to 1962) at the gathering held at Wunderlich Ltd. (Modelling Dept.) Redfern on 8th December 1965, arranged by James, Douglas and Associates, Sydney, as to whether he was real or merely a myth.

The Royal Society of St. George, Headquarters, London, many years ago reported that they were quite satisfied there was real evidence for the historical existence of St. George. Legends tended to grow up around all heroes and the essential facts were not in dispute. Europe was full of churches where right down the centuries “St. George has been revered as the epitome of chivalry and as a defender of patriotism and freedom . . . . We are quite content and quite happy about our Saint”. In 1912, one Alice Brewster produced a book entitled George of England our Patron Saint and dedicated this to The Royal Society of St. George.

Quoting from that book, we read “Although George is our Patron Saint, he was not born in England but at Lydda in Palestine about 10 miles from Jaffa or Joppa as it was called in Biblical days, one of the principal seaports of the Holy Land, situated on the Plain of Sharon, so celebrated for its roses, and as this fragrant and lovely flower was George’s favourite, it has become the national emblem of England. He was born A.D. 270 and came of a noble and distinguished family. George’s grandfather was Governor of Cappadocia and his father Governor of Mitylene both of which were districts in Asia Minor under the control of the mighty Emperor of Rome. George entered the Roman Army and by the time he was 20 became known as one of its smartest officers. When only 22, Diocletian, the Emperor of Rome sent him on a mission to England or Britain as then called. It was then through his instrumentality that the Empress Helena the British born wife of Constantius Chlorus was converted to Christianity, and through her, her son, Constantine the Great who later became King of Britain and Emperor of Rome. As the result the course of the whole Roman world in matters of religion was changed and Christianity began to take the place of Paganism. Constantine was born at York and later had the very great distinction of becoming Emperor of Rome and a Christian. George’s stay was not long and his mission completed he returned to Lydda. Shortly after his arrival there the Emperor Diocletian decreed that all professing the Christian religion should be utterly destroyed. At first George determined to stay at Lydda to encourage and strengthen the weak-hearted and timid to stand firm and hold fast to their faith but later decided that as he was well known and liked by Diocletian he would go and see him and intercede with him for the Christians.

It was on this journey of love and devotion made for the sake of his friends and relations to the Court of the Emperor that he met with his celebrated adventure with the dragon and so rescued the maiden that the monster was about to devour. Legend and fairy tale have it that the good knight St. George killed a fabulous beast called a dragon. This could have been a gigantic lizard common in India and Egypt capable of devouring large animals also humans, or possibly a crocodile which could have drifted from New Guinea area (or possibly a Komodo dragon still in existence in the Java islands). Looking at it with our modern views in comparison with those days when there were no guns, it was terrible enough to fight such animals with only a lance and a short Roman sword.

By the town of Berytus (or Beirut as we know it today) is the lake where this animal had taken up its abode. It filled the people of the neighbourhood with terror and dismay as it carried off not only cattle and animals but also human beings. In their ignorance they looked upon it as having been sent by their heathen gods to devour them. Daily offerings of sheep and goats were made as sacrifices hoping to appease the anger of their gods but to no avail. The King of Berytus as headman of the area called the people together and suggested lots be drawn to see who should be given as a human sacrifice to the dragon. To his horror it fell to his daughter Princess Sadra. The people refused the King’s request that somebody else be offered up instead of his daughter as he had proposed the drawing of the lots and they thought, too, being heathens that it fell as it had done by the choice of the gods. The Princess was then dressed in her finest clothes, taken to the sand pit at the lake which was the haunt of the monster and left to her fate. It was whilst in this terrible plight that George rode up on his way to the Court of the Roman Emperor and was told the story. He said he would stay and fight the beast. As they were talking up it came expecting to have an easy prey as usual but George firmly sitting upon his white horse, made his sign of the Cross, charged and slew it. The father of the Princess Sadra wanted George to marry her and remain and live at Berytus but he refused, wanting to continue on to meet the Emperor Diocletian to plead the cause of the Christians. They built a church which they dedicated to Saint George after his martyrdom. George was received by Emperor Diocletian but he refused to spare the Christians and offered George every inducement to forsake his religion yet all in vain. George was put to the most dreadful torture to induce him to forsake his faith and as he refused to do so, he was put to death on 23rd April A.D. 303 at Nicomedeia. Friends and relations of George begged his body from Diocletian and took it back to Lydda for burial, as he had wished. In A.D. 306 Constantine became the first Christian Emperor of Rome. He put an end to the persecutions of the Christians, built a church at Lydda in memory of Saint George and named him patron saint of his own country, Britain, and thus it is that his red cross became a part of the English flag, and his favourite flower the rose, became the national emblem of Britain. Not only did he do this, but he erected over 20 churches to his memory. He also built the magnificent Cathedral of Saint Sophia (Hagia Sophia) at Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), the finest stained window of which is dedicated to Saint George.

Queen Helena built a church at Glastonbury, in Somerset, which she named after Saint George. Twenty-three years after his martyrdom in A.D. 326, she went to Jerusalem in search of the Holy Cross. Whilst there she caused another church to be erected, and called it also after Saint George, quite close to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is supposed that she succeeded in her quest of the True Cross, and brought a portion of it to England, as a fragment of it is said to be encased in the sceptre of King Edward the Confessor, which our Kings and Queens still use when they are crowned, and which is preserved with the rest of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.

This article was first published in the February 1966 edition of our magazine.

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An extract from Rising Damp: Sydney 1870-90 by Shirley Fitzgerald

To the south of the city, the Illawarra line, opened in 1884, generated a second set of new suburbs. Marrickville, south of Petersham did not lie on the railway line, but benefited from its position between the two lines. Its population, which rose from 3500 in 1881 to 13,500 in 1891 participated in the suburban boom both as consumers of new housing and makers of bricks. By 1890 some mechanised kilns were in operation, but had you gone there on one of the trams which had serviced this suburb from 1881, you would still have seen many brickmakers making bricks by hand in the time-honoured fashion.

Beyond this, in Rockdale, Hurstville and Kogarah, lived 10,000 people in 1891. Back in 1870, the Sands Sydney and Suburban Directory did not recognise the region as being suburban to Sydney, and as late as 1881 Kogarah was still recorded in its Country Directory. Before the coming of the railway, land communications were not always assured, as the crossing of the Cook’s River sometimes became difficult and the river flats around Canterbury and Marrickville could quickly turn to quagmire. An old dam at Tempe helped to prevent tidal flushing of the river and increased flooding problems upstream, while the clearing and settling of the land, especially in Marrickville, encouraged runoff. Most residential development was around the railway stations, and by far the most common form of construction was the small detached cottage, although there were some elegant houses and a few mansions in the elevated part of Hurstville, which was coming to be known as Bexley.

Many of the cottages were built of timber, although brick became more usual as settlement spread, and following the establishment of the Hurstville Steam Brick Company in 1884. The old wooden St George’s Church at Hurstville was replaced by brick in 1889, after a white ant problem had caused the disappearance of the clergyman through the floor of the pulpit, so the folklore goes, immediately after delivering a sermon on the text “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall”. Many investors and would-be land developers in this area were often uncertain as to whether their fortunes would rise or fall.

The railway had brought suburbs to Kogarah and Hurstville, but much of the intensification of land use in the area was for rural-urban purposes- orchards, poultry farms and the like. Development was not nearly as extensive as on the western line, and land prices did not go so high. Partly this was a result of timing, because although the opening of the Illawarra line in 1884 coincided with the height of the suburban boom, it had run its course within a few more years.

Partly though, the slower growth of this area was the result of an ambivalent relationship between this region and industrial Botany, to the north. Nowhere was this more evident than in West Botany. Some residents possessed a vision of the area as a major seaside resort, like Thomas Saywell, who constructed a private tramway at a cost of 15,000 pounds from Rockdale Station to Lady Robinson’s Beach, where seabaths, picnic grounds, an onion-domed pavilion and a grand 60-room hotel named “New Brighton” were all subsequently built although surrounding roads were unmade and houses few in number.

Other speculators persuaded the government to build a tramway to Sans Souci in 1887, and in that year the municipality changed its name to Rockdale, no doubt because it was felt that a would-be resort, or even an ordinary suburb could only be hindered by a name like West Botany, so firmly associated with industrial development.

On the other hand, some residents did want to develop Rockdale as an extension of Botany, and by 1890 there was a limited amount of noxious activity, especially around Arncliffe, on the Cook’s River estuary in the vicinity of Wolli Creek. Nearby on the spit of land jutting out from the head of Lady Robinson’s Beach into the river was the government sewage farm, which began taking the outfall of the southern sewerage line in 1889. The location of these activities in the north of Rockdale around the extensive mud flats and mangrove swamps at the mouth of the Cook’s River was crucial in discouraging Sydney’s residents from using the land beyond, either for residential or recreational purposes. Predictably, local council elections were often fought over the question of noxious trades, with the security of the local manufacturers waxing and waning with the changing factions in power.”

“The story of municipal government is a major study in itself, and varies from place to place, but from the newspapers and parliamentary reports of the period 1870-90, it is very difficult to concede that local government was for the good of the citizens of Sydney, and difficult to avoid concluding that the initial enthusiasm for forming municipalities was motivated by a desire to ensure that the incorporated areas were left to their own devices and developed in ways that most benefited the landholders, subdividers and manufacturers. The incorporation of Kogarah is a good case in point.

Kogarah was incorporated in 1886, after two years of protracted negotiations over the issue of whether it should be incorporated at all, and where the boundaries should be. There was no upsurge of civic pride in a well-defined area, but much toing and froing over which area would produce the greatest benefit to the interested parties. Incorporation was at the ‘will and initiation’ of the citizens, and the mechanics of becoming a municipality involved raising enough local interest, usually via public meetings, to put together a petition to the colonial government, which then considered the merits of the case, and normally granted incorporation if there was a strong local demand for it. Local interest was very freely defined, however. The population of semi-rural Kogarah in 1884 consisted of a few fishermen, a lot of market gardeners, several poultry farmers and nursery men and a number of tradesmen – stonemasons and a few labourers possibly associated with the small brickworks of Young and Cross on Hurstville Rd. There was also an Aboriginal settlement in Vista Street, off Rocky Point Road. Of the forty people who gathered at the Gardeners’ Arms, Montgomery Street, on Monday, 7th April 1884 to discuss a number of local issues, almost certainly none were women or Aborigines, and probably very few were gardeners, labourers or fishermen. People who spoke at this and subsequent meetings, however, included James Todd and John Whitehead of the city, and H.G. Swymy, of Randwick, all owners of freehold land in Kogarah.

This meeting was not specifically about incorporation, but at the end of it a committee was formed to “watch local matters and to take steps to ensure the progress of the district”. Motions were passed in favour of excluding noxious trades from the area, in protest over the disgraceful state of the main roads from the Cook’s River to George’s River and for a railway in the same area. The first issue, that of the noxious trades, was in response to the rumours that the Stuart government was possibly considering the George’s River area as a noxious trade site, while the interest in roads and the railway was summed up by Joseph Carruthers, one of the prime movers for incorporation, who observed at one meeting that, “they all knew that if they wished to induce people to build there they would require to show them roads and other conveniences of civilisation. They should not wait until there were two or three hundred houses in the district before taking any steps for the formation of a municipality.”

The motive for encouraging the rail to go all the way to the George’s River was to prod the government into keeping to schedule with the line, for there was widespread feeling that it had been too much delayed. When it was finally opened as far as Hurstville on 15 October, the Herald described the area as ‘a beautiful resort’, an ‘arcadia’, which would be of enormous benefit to the people of Sydney as a recreational area. Some men, however hoped that the railway would bring about the rapid metamorphosis of arcadia into suburbia. The first petition in favour of incorporation was followed by one against, and one meeting for an incorporated Kogarah was followed, within a fortnight, by another at Hurstville proposing a joint municipality with that area. Landholders (presumably with land in Kogarah), fearing that rates would be dissipated over the larger area, argued that small municipalities were always the most flourishing. Finally, when a petition for Kogarah, without Hurstville, was gazetted in July 1885, a dispute broke out over part of the boundary with West Botany (Rockdale) and after incorporation was finally granted, complicated and not very friendly negotiations continued with this municipality. for several years over boundaries. Clearly, suburbs were being made, not through the growth of ‘community’, but by individuals like Joseph Carruthers, who were angling for the deal most likely to benefit their own financial and landed interests. He was a young solicitor who ‘made investment in land a sideline’, and a few years later, in 1887, he went into parliament at the top of the poll for the seat of Canterbury. In his maiden speech he called for a tramway from Kogarah to Sans Souci, where he lived. In 1889, when he became Minister for Public Instruction, he immediately took steps to have a larger school built at Kogarah. Later, when he became Premier of New South Wales, he continued to be closely associated with the district – ‘he had a lot of sway, and could get anyone a job’, as one local resident recalled.

Carruthers worked for Kogarah and Kogarah worked for Carruthers. This story of incorporation could be repeated over and over for other districts and would-be districts of Sydney.”

This extract was from Rising Damp: Sydney 1870-90 by Shirley Fitzgerald, Oxford University Press, 1987. Purchase at AbeBooks.

(Images courtesy of Bayside Library Service Local History Collection)

by Margaret Dunsmore

John Andrews
William Berghofer
John Iliffe
William Anthony de Jean Iliffe
The Rosevale Nurseries – Rocky Point Road, Cook’s River
Thomas & Mary Morse

John Andrews, born in London in 1828, came to Sydney as a young man of 21 years of age and to live at the place later to be called Rockdale. For fifty five years he was a member of the Wesleyan, later Methodist Church in Bay Street, holding high offices in that church. Mr C W Napper, who remembers Mr Andrews as an old man, recalls that he lived in a two storied house in what is now Princes Highway, opposite the present ambulance station and that his wife conducted a drapery shop in adjoining premises.

This pioneer made a significant contribution to public life in that for a period of twenty three years he successfully conducted the school in Bay Street under the old denominational school regime, and until public school education became available to all children. At the time of his death in 1904 it was written:-

“There are hundreds of people scattered over the state who as boys or girls were taught by the good old veteran and who cherish for his memory a reverent and affectionate regard.” (The Methodist of 29th October 1904, page 2)

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William Berghofer, a native of Germany, came to N.S.W. in 1852 when he was 44 years of age, accompanied by his wife Anna and their six children, the eldest of whom was 12 years of age. He was a farmer and acquired land in Rocky Point Road in what is now known as Kogarah (on his death certificate called Scarboro). P.Geeves and J.Jervis in their book Rockdale – Its Beginning and Development – p.53, say he told how he first came to take possession of his land in his wagon, but was forced to detour through the bush at Cobblers Pinch (now Arncliffe Hill) and suffered the capsizing of the vehicle with all his possessions.

William Berghofer no doubt prospered in the alien environment – three more children were born to him in N.S.W. and we read of him as the head of the committee which was formed to organise the building of St. Paul’s Church of England Kogarah in 1869, and that prior to this there was a small Church of England Community in the Rocky Point area who met at his home for divine services. (Centenary Booklet published September, 1969.) He died on 31st May, 1890 and was buried in the Cemetery Kogarah (no doubt St. Paul’s Churchyard).

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John Iliffe, nurseryman, was born at Guilsborough, Northampton, England in or about the year 1840, and when a child of about ten years of age, came to Sydney N.S.W. His father was William Iliffe and mother Rebecca, whose maiden name was Smith. He came to live in Rocky Point Road at what is now Rockdale and when 22 years of age married Sarah Morse, who lived with her parents, Thomas and Mary Morse, on the opposite side of Rocky Point Road.

John Iliffe worked with great skill and zeal to establish and maintain a nursery of extensive proportions in the area between the present day Bestic and Bryant Streets and built a very fine stone villa which he called “Rosevale”. By 1884 “Rosevale” had gained the reputation as “the most extensive nursery and plant establishment in the Colony” – (The Illustrated Sydney News 7th June 1884)

In addition to “Rosevale” John Iliffe held 44 acres of land “at Hurstville in the centre of Gannons Forrest” (as referred to in the above publication), where the business of tree propogation was carried on.

This pioneer died on 3rd September 1910 at “Rosevale” and was survived by two daughters, a son and two daughters having pre-deceased him. In due course of time the two nurseries ceased and the land they occupied was subdivided. Part of the above 44 acres was incorporated in the Bexley Golf Links and part in the residential areas in Ada, Hancock, Rose and Iliffe Streets of Bexley. “Rosevale” remained standing until 1962, when it was demolished and the stones which formed the beautiful facade of the home were given to the Rockdale Municipal Council in the hope that they might be incorporated in some significant structure.

William Iliffe, son of John Iliffe a coachman, was born in Northampton, England in or about the year 1811 and at 36 years of age married Harriett Randall in London. Within two or three years after his marriage i.e. some time in 1850 or thereabouts he came to Sydney N.S.W. and took up residence in Crown Street, Woolloomooloo. Waugh & Cox’s Sydney Directory of 1855, lists William Iliffe as a grocer at 19 Crown Street.

In the list of persons qualified to vote for Members of the Legislative Assembly for the Canterbury Electoral District 1859 – 60 appears “William Iliffe Residence Woolloomooloo, Freeholder – Rocky Point Road – House and Land”, so we may assume that he had acquired land and built a residence in that place, but he died at 61 Crown Street, Wooloomooloo on 12th October 1868 survived by his wife Harriett, two sons and two daughters, one son having predeceased him. His wife continued the business at Woolloomooloo until at least 1882 (as appears in Sands Sydney and Suburban Directory) and she died on 31st December 1888.

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William Anthony de Jean Iliffe, son of the above, was born in Sydney (presumably Woolloomooloo) in 1851 and married Martha Denning McGill at Balmain when 19 years of age. Sands Directory of 1880 includes William Iliffe a nurserymen at 3/7 Stephen Street and in the directory of 1892, Iliffe & Co., nurserymen appear in Rocky Point Road and William Iliffe on the western side of that road. He took up residence in a stone cottage set in very extensive grounds situated on the western side of the railway line and very close to the present Banksia station. Here he grew many rare plants – importing gerberas from South Africa – streletzias, guava and loquat fruits. He attended Sydney University and especially studied the works of William Shakespeare and arranged the acting of his plays. His was a very attractive character and he was loved by his family. He lived until 30th August 1933, dying in his home in Bowmer Street, Banksia, survived by two daughters and three sons. His grandchildren recall the delight of his garden and home, alas long since gone from scene and taken over by suburban residential development.

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The Rosevale Nurseries – Rocky Point Road, Cook’s River.

The Illustrated Sydney News, Saturday June 7, 1884.

About a mile and a half from Cook’s River Dam, and about ten minutes walk from Mrs Clune’s West Botany Hotel, Mr Iliffe’s Nurseries will be seen on the left. The exact spot is indicated by the exquisitely ornate villa facing the road, for beyond this there is no sign of any kind to show that the most extensive nursery and plant establishment in the colony is near at hand.

In point of fact Mr Iliffe does not seem to court the custom of the casual purchaser, but lays himself out to supply whole-sale buyers – the nurserymen of this and the adjacent colonies. Victoria, which has attained such a lead in horticultural matters, is a most extensive customer; for, though there are large plant establishments in that colony, many varieties are propagated in this climate with greater facility – notably, the camellia, and the whole race of the citrus or orange tribe, and these are, in season, sent to Melbourne in enormous quantities, the supply last year being quite inadequate to the demand.

And then, the growing demand for ornamental plants and fruit-yielding trees as this colony is settled, is very apparent. Every purchaser of land designed for his future home likes to surround it with a wealth of shrubberies and a garden; and, to meet this, the business of the nurseryman must yearly extend in almost geometrical progression. Mr. Iliffe seems to have realised this, and, with the foresight and sagacity of a thoroughly business man, has placed himself in the very foremost position to meet the emergencies of the future. Figures will but faintly convey to the reader the extent to which this probably demand has been provided for; and nothing but a personal visit will realise the enormous work carried on at Rosevale Nurseries and at the Hurstville establishment alluded briefly to at the close of this article. Those who have seen the Jardins de Ville of Paris, where all the plants for the decoration of the reserves of that city are propagated, may form some idea of Mr Iliffe’s place, and the busy work of layering, budding, grafting, insertion of cuttings, re-potting and other processes.

Entering the grounds, the arrangement of which have recently been made to suit the requirements of the new residence, the visitor is first introduced to the plant-houses, of which there are more than a dozen. These are extensive structures, with bamboo wicker work sides, and covered with tea-tree spray, just sufficiently close to break the too free rays of the sun and heavy rains, but to admit of the free circulation of the air. The contents of these houses it is a treat to inspect. Every plant is in the most perfect health, having that deep green foliage and compact habit so rarely witnessed in plant-houses. Camellias in thousands, and of all varieties, first greet the eye; Schinus molle, that ever popular and graceful tree, which seems to revel in all temperate climates; guavas, of several kinds; a splendid collection of pittosporums, embracing Eugenoides nigrescens, Ralphia bicolor, Tobira revolutum, and others; Hibiscus, of varieties; and veronicas. Another house is marked by the presence of a large collection of the tuberous-rooted begonias of popular varieties, and especially so by a large number of seedlings raised by Mr Iliffe, many of which are striking departures from the ordinary type, and will assuredly make their mark in the future. Another house is devoted to the Coleus, and to the specimen plants of Hydrangea, etc. The many varieties of coleus at the time of our visit were beautifully coloured, and like all other plants, in the most robust health. The collection in another house consists chiefly of magnolias, of which Grandiflora fuscata, Glauca purpurea, are the chief favourites, and there are daphnes of several kinds. Climbing and trailing plants occupy another house, where all the popular kinds are represented.

Six wells with an abundant supply of water, and worked by pumps, furnish the tanks from which, by gravitation, the beds are watered, Indeed, it is to this abundant and never-failing source that the stock is kept in a constantly progressive state, and never allowed to flag or wither. The labour of watering, the contents of the sheds and frames during excessive, heat may be better imagined than described. Attached to these bush-houses, and made to do special duty, are several ranges of frames which are covered by calico fixed on rollers. These are devoted to bringing forward the recently struck cuttings for acclimatisation to the open beds; indeed the rationale of the system is: cuttings struck in heat, removal to frame, thence to the bush-house, and from there to the open ground.

In the hot house, on the one hand, are some fine specimens, in perfect health, of the tropical and semi-tropical ferns, a detailed notice of which would extend this article beyond our available space; on the other side is a great collection of cuttings of every choice plant requiring heat; bouvardias, stephanotis, and other plants, being features.

An important department of the Rosevale Nursery is the extensive stool grounds for the camellias, magnolias, daphnes, gardenias etc. Each parent plant is surrounded by scores of layers, which, at the time of our Visit, from their vigorous and erect growth had evidently started life on their own account, and only required to be cut away from the mother plant to form independent members of their respective races.

It should be mentioned that the soil at Rosevale is a good one, yet conducive to fibrous habit in the stock; and it is this feature which probably has given such popularity to the stock raised there.

Perhaps some of the finest examples of holly in the colony are to be seen at Rosevale. Two specimens of the Chines holly (cornuta) are fully 16 feet high, and of compact habit; these annually are cut for their foliage and berries, and seem to stand such treatment well. Other examples are the English, and several variegated varieties, which though thriving, do not equal in vigour the kind above mentioned.

Apart from the mere commercial aspect of the place, Mr Iliffe finds great interest in a botanical and scientific point of view. Engaged as he is in raising plants from seed, he is interested in critically observing the singular departures from the normal type of special plants in a group of seedlings. For example, in raising a lot of seedlings, from the pretty Raphiolipus he noticed one plant of quite phenomenal type, and taking care of this, he was able to announce it was Raphiolipus intermedia a variety of most distinct character, partaking of the form of ovata and indica – a most interesting and desirable shrub, by which an English nurseryman would, have made a fortune.

Recently, too in a batch of seedlings of Pittosphorum Ralphidii, he found a variegated plant, which he has since propagated, and this must prove a most desirable novelty for our nurserymen.

There are at Rosevale some grand specimens of pines, cypresses, grevilleas, and other trees, which only a visit can convey any adequate idea of. Altogether, the visit will be one of unalloyed pleasure to those who care for the beautiful in the vegetable kingdom. Certainly, the collection of dahlias is far and away the best in the colony; the soil, shelter, and degree of moisture seeming exactly to suit them; for, though our visit was the day after a scorching hot wind, with a temperature of over 1000 the flowers were uninjured, and the plants were literally vigorous in growth, and covered with a wealth of bloom, which one is accustomed to associate only with the dahlias of England, when the cool of the declining Autumn makes every blossom a “show flower”. A large trade is done in supplying the Sydney bouquetiers with flowers of all kinds from Rosevale.

About two miles from the old nursery Mr Iliffe has a farm of 44 acres of purchased land. This is situate at Hurstville, in the centre of Gannon’s Forest. A large portion of this has been some years cleared and devoted to nursery purposes. It is here that the business of fruit tree propagation is carried on, under the intelligent direction of Mr Mascord, and to give our readers some faint notion of the extent of the work there, the following figures may be noted: on one bed are 14,000 non-blighting apple-stocks for budding this season; there are stocks of Majetin, or Northern Spy, and these are raised from cuttings of the root. On several other beds of immense stocks of apples of all the best varieties of last season’s grafting; and on another, is the stock of trained trees for the approaching planting season. Throughout the whole collection (and we critically examined it) not a particle of blight is perceptible. One portion of the nursery is devoted to proved varieties of apples, from which scions for the young stock are taken.

But the marvels of the place are the young orange, lemon, and peach collections. Of the first named there are fully 10,000 grafted on the seedling lemon; of the lemon about 5,000; while of peaches there are plants for this next season numbering about 5,000 and one bed of seedlings for budding this year, of fully 15,000. This bed fully illustrates the peculiarly suitable conditions offered by the locality for the growth of the peach; it presents one evenly, dark green mass, as uniform in growth as a field of oats, and there can be no doubt that, on the first fall of rain, the process of budding must be as uniformly successful as was that of last season.

There are also extensive divisions of the place devoted to the plum, apricot, nectarine, mulberry, pear, vine, and a few other fruit-yielding trees; the exceptions being raspberry, gooseberry and currants for which the Sydney district is known to be unsuitable.

In addition to the fruit tree propagation, advantage is taken of this land for the extensive propagation of roses, of which about 500 varieties form the collection. The draughty season and the prevalence of hot winds during the budding season, and especially during the early part of January, has given but poor success to this operation, but still the stock is a very large one from the autumn-struck cuttings. The varieties propagated are simply those which have been found to give general satisfaction; and a visit during the trying months of January and February will show the sorts which resist and bloom well under such adverse conditions. One bed, devoted to recently imported varieties, is extremely interesting, as many display quite a departure from the ordinary type. These have been extensively propagated, and will be offered this season.

We must close this notice of the “Farm Garden” by alluding briefly to the collection of forest trees, camellias, pinus and cypress family, double and single tiger lily, to which large spaces are devoted. But, perhaps, the most noticeable feature, as pointing to future extension, is that of the enormous number of seedling lemon, which are literally as thick as mustard and cress in the seed beds. Many acres will be required for the mere pricking out or transplanting of these seedlings, preparatory to undergoing the grafting process. To those who take an interest in plant propagation a visit to Mr Iliffe’s Hurstville Farm Nursery cannot fail to be highly interesting and instructive. As regards facilities of communication with the Rosevale Nurseries, the Kogarah omnibuses pass the place several times a day, and it is a pleasant walk of twenty minutes from the Cook’s River bus stand, to and from which the vehicles run every half hour from Wynyard Square. It is expected that in a few months the railway will be completed, when the Rockdale station will be within 3 minutes’ walk of Rosevale.

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Thomas & Mary Morse

The information to compile this account has been given by Mrs Major of Narwee, a great grand daughter of Thomas and Mary Morse.

It was some time between 1856 and 1859 when Thomas Morse and his wife Mary came to the place now known as Rockdale and took up residence there. Their family was a large one. Their tenth child, James, was born at Pyrmont on the 20th July 1856 and Richard, their eleventh child was born in 1859 at the home they made in Rocky Point Road.

The land they acquired lay between the present site of St. John’s Church of England and the storm water drain south of the present Banksia railway station. It stretched toward the west beyond the railway line which some twenty odd years later was to be laid at the back of their house.

Thomas Morse came from Gloucestershire, England, where he was born on 7th August, 1807. On 20th September 1837 he married Mary Neale, who was born at Denham Court near Liverpool on 12th July 1821. They both had long lives – Thomas died on 13th March 1886 and his wife on 23rd April 1903. They were buried in the church yard of St. Paul’s Church of England, Kogarah.

Mary’s father, John Neale, was one of three men who started the “Fitzroy Iron Mines” near Mittagong, and before coming to Rocky Point Road, Mary and Thomas lived at “Mandemar” and later near the mine.

Mary acquired considerable wealth and she was of a very kindly disposition. It was usual for her to buy provisions such as flour, tea, sugar etc. in large quantities, which she kept in the front rooms of her home. She engaged a maid, who was told to give any tramp who called at the home a good meal and to tell her when he was about to leave. She would then walk to the gate with him, shake hands and slip a sovereign into his hand. Frequently people would call to borrow supplies, as no doubt the nearest shop would be at Newtown, and she would let them have what they asked for, but she did not actually conduct a business.

After the railway was laid, Thomas Morse subdivided his land and named Gloucester Street after his home county in England. He made gifts of blocks to his children and grand children.

There were twelve children in the Morse family. Sarah, who was born on 23rd September 1839, married John Iliffe, whose nursery property was situated on the Other side of Rocky Point Road.. John, who was born in 1841 was of a particularly happy and carefree disposition, but could not settle down. He wandered about the country from place to place, often sleeping in the open air. His younger brothers, James and Arthur, built homes in Rocky Point Road, near their parents’ home. Thomas Jnr. acquired considerable wealth and bought from the builder, Mr. McLeod, the large property in Harrow Road, Bexley, which he called “Esrom”. It is now the Lucy Gullett Hospital. Rev. Richard Morse, the eleventh child, was a well-known resident of Rockdale and Hurstville. He was ordained a minister in America in 1919 and founded the General Church of the New Jerusalem. He had a church erected next to his home in Dudley Street, Hurstville, where he conducted services in an honorary capacity. He lived to be 85 years of age and was survived by his brother Arthur, who then lived at Roseville.

Mary’s grand daughter, Alma, a daughter of James Morse, remembered riding as a child with her grandmother in her coach and pair in Rockdale, and being told she must wear her gloves and be a lady. In spite of her considerable wealth and social position, Mary Morse was always eager to speak to all she met and to be kind and gracious.

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

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(Images courtesy of Bayside Library Service Local History Collection)

by Gifford and Eileen Eardley

Prior to the advent of surf-bathing it was customary for the citizens of Sydney and the metropolis generally to spend their weekends at one of the many watering places, as they were termed, located around the foreshores of Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay. At Botany, adjacent to the Cooks River entrance, was the famous Sir Joseph Banks Hotel and its adjoining pleasure grounds, which attracted vast crowds of holiday makers to splash and swim in the shallow waters of the northern section of Botany Bay, to picnic in the bush surrounded grounds, to ride on the miniature steam train, to patronise its hotel bars, to inspect its zoo and the elephant, and generally make merry.

All these things were keenly observed by Mr. Thomas Saywell who saw a good financial return was to be had in catering for the entertainment of the populace. To this end he commenced to develop the sand dune country at Lady Robinson’s Beach, adjacent to the eastern extremity of Ocean (later Bay) Street, Rockdale. Here a palatial hotel was built, also large swimming baths with separate palisade enclosures to divide the sexes, evidently to protect the defenceless males from the wiles of the designing females, and a most spacious picnic ground where people could loll under the shade of the native trees. This area was aptly named Shady Nook, and its fame spread far and wide. It quickly became popular, specially so with mothers with young children to watch. There were swings, and somewhat ponderous seesaws, made from a heavy plank suspended in the centre of its length between two upright ex-tramway sleepers, an arrangement which called for the careful balancing of the opposing loads of youngsters, as broken arms and legs were not altogether unknown amongst its patrons.

The Shady Nook enclosure was located at the southern side of Bay Street and its eastern fence line, formed of short stubby lengths of indigenous tea-tree packed tightly between parallel wires, strung between posts, in an endeavour to halt the inroads of wind blown sand, followed the western verge of the present Grand Parade for some little distance. For a portion of its length the southern fence boundary was occupied by a shelter shed, replete with high ungainly seats, more solid than comfortable, and substantial picnic tables of a strength calculated to withstand the assaults of the vandalistic larrikin element which has always existed in our midst. The remaining portion of the southern boundary, together with the western fence line, was enclosed by a rough hewn post and rail fence which prevented livestock from entering the enclosed grounds. At the time it was common practice to permit cattle and horses to roam at will, seeking agistment wherever it could be found.

The western section of Shady Nook was left, to a large extent, in its virgin state as far as the larger trees were concerned. This growth was intermixed with small-leafed coastal Banksia trees, and gnarled, grotesque shaped Saw-leafed Honeysuckles (Banksia Serrata), which were once so common to the sand dune district bordering the western shore of Botany Bay. There were the bright green Geebungs (Persoonia), the Woody-pears (Xylomelum Pyriforme), and a host of other wildlings which have fascinated generations of naturalists.

To cater for the ice-cream, lolly buying, and tea and scone needs of the picnic crowds a small shop was erected at the north-eastern corner of Shady Nook. This was housed in a long weatherboard building, a single room in width, and extended for some distance along the eastern frontage of Shady Nook in a southerly direction from Bay Street, the tea-room and buy shop being located at the northern end and a separate post office, together with the single room which formed living accommodation for Miss Ward, the post mistress, were placed at the southern end. On the western side of this building, running for its full length, was a narrow side verandah sheltering the various doorways and also a series of attractive bay windows which displayed an excellent wealth of ferns and exotic pot plants.

The northern facade of the shop premises, abutting on to Bay Street, was largely devoted to window space, the lower section of the wall being divided into three glazed sections for confectionery display purposes. Immediately above these windows was an intricate panel made up of small panes of coloured glass, reds, greens, and yellows, said to be of German manufacture, This panel looked most attractive at night when illuminated from within by the mellow gleams of the gaslight. The separate lettering of “CADBURY’S CHOCOLATE”, in white glass, now a historic feature of advertising, was affixed in semi-circular fashion, across the three panels of the display window. Beneath the eaves the upper section of the facade was enclosed with redwood shingles painted an ochraceous shade of green, a covering which looked most attractive. The fascia boards were decorated at their ends by semi-circular drops and also midway in their length. The roof was of corrugated iron, painted Indian Red, as a protection against the inroads of sea air and rust. Surmounted above the ridging was a crest board of pierced metal as an ornamentation, the sharp upper edges of which were not appreciated as a potential landing place by the local sea-gull population.

The tea-room was a friendly little place given over to dainty morning and afternoon teas served at small round tables with polished marble tops, around each of which were can-seated “Austrian” chairs. Behind the counter were shelves displaying a wondrous array of chocolate boxes depicting scenes from the Swiss Alps, or flowering gems such as roses, corn-flowers, or red poppies, each box being tied with rich coloured ribbon, the products of old established firms such as Cadburys, Frys, Kailers, MacRobertson, and Nestles, amongst others. For the younger clientele with a penny to spend the stock in trade ranged from gingerbread rabbits to pink and also white sugar pigs, plus a tremendous variety of sticky toffees, milk-poles, licorice telephone wires, also straps, and blocks (at four a penny) of the same black laxative material. There were pink musk sticks, sherbet bags with a licorice tube to suck up the contents, fizzoes (round balls of sherbet encased in white toffee) at half-penny each, and many other tempting comestibles for the juvenile palate.

The post office catered for the then rather limited postal needs of Brighton- le-Sands and had the usual counter, stamp drawers, and delicate brass letter weighing scales. Letters in New South Wales needed one penny stamps, red in colour and issued by the New South Wales Government, and interstate letters were two-pence, a blue stamp. Newspapers, irrespective of their destination were sent at one half-penny each, the stamps of this denomination being green in colour. It may be of interest to give details appertaining to the furnishing of the bedsitting room occupied by the postmistress. The dividing walls of the room were of vertically fixed match-boarding and the ceiling, of the same material, followed the apex shape of the roof timbers. A large table, fully covered with a cloth of elaborate floral design, occupied the central position, whilst a sideboard, with a longitudinal mirror and shelves loaded with vases, ornaments, and trinkets, lay against a wall. There was a natty single bed of iron construction, adorned with spherical brass knobs, one on top of each bed-post, together with a multitude of brass and china fittings. Framed pictures added colour and interest to each wall, and at night a golden glow was shed by an ornate centrally hung gas bracket which, per medium of a pair of oval-shaped brass-sheathed balance weights dangling at the end of chains, could be raised or lowered at will. It was certainly a wonderful cosy little room.

The eastern half of the fence along the Bay Street frontage of Shady Nook was formed with white-painted pickets, a double gate being placed therein to admit vehicular traffic. The main pedestrian entrance was adjacent to the tea-room verandah where a number of vertical posts, each about four feet in height, arranged in two alternatively positioned rows, afforded a maximum of discomfort to obese persons and a wonderment to members of the canine family. Side by side, to admit perambulators and go-carts, was another entrance protected by a revolving cross-bar arrangement, pivoted in a central round post. These protective facilities effectually kept out the roving larger animals, and the revolving cross-bar gave endless pleasure to the smaller children as they were pushed round and round, hanging on for dear life, by their excited mates. The long verandah was paved with brown glazed bricks and the children spent much time gazing at the ferns displayed in the several bay windows and trying to pry through the fronds into the rooms beyond. The grassy sward of the eastern portion of the enclosed grounds was planted, at about twenty foot intervals, with Norfolk Island Pines, each tree being protected by rectangular shaped guards of wooden palings and several guards had seats arranged around their outer sides.

Perhaps the principal feature of Shady Nook was the large ornate Merry-Go- Round, placed near the north-eastern corner of the pleasure ground. This appurtenance was constructed about the beginning of the present century by Messrs. Stewart and Cropp, a local firm of contractors, and was electrically driven per medium of a winch, several idling pulleys, and an endless rope, the latter, after leaving the winch, being coiled around and immediately below the rotating wooden floor of the machine. A circular single railed track, concentric with the main pivot, was traversed by railway type wheels, each revolving on separate radiating axles. A large electrically operated organ played strident “mechanical” music which was clearly audible more than half a mile away, amongst which one vividly remembers the rendition of the “Blue Danube” in particular. The Merry-Go-Round was housed in a many-sided wooden building with a conical roof, above which a small cupola gave a sense of adornment. The entrance doorways were closed with wooden shutters When the machine was not in use to prevent unauthorised intrusion and acts of vandalism. The wooden horses, three abreast, moved up and down on vertical brass covered rods, each dappled steed bore a distinctive name on its neck relative to some well known racehorse of the period. There were at least four wheel-less chariots, equally spaced, which gave a measure of comfort to the younger children who were too frightened to ride the bouncing nags ahead. There was also a razzle-dazzle nearby. This contrivance consisted of a large diameter circular seat, suspended by stout iron rods from a metal cap mounted on top of a high and stout post. By the strenuous efforts of the more able participants, the circular seat rotated around its post in a rising and falling fashion. As this machine was on the free list it was a prime favourite with its many and often shrieking patrons.

About the period of 1908 a couple of discarded de-wheeled tramcar bodies, complete with glazed windows, were placed in Shady Nook west of and in the vicinity of the Merry-Go-Round. These erstwhile vehicles had end doors and side seats facing inwards and were popular with picnic parties. They also provided shelter should a thunder-storm arise. Another arrival about the same period was a “Dummy” (or driving) cable car formerly in use on the then abandoned King Street Cable Tramway in Sydney. This open-sided vehicle, minus its wheels, had seats facing outwards and towards each end, the space between the raised backs of the seats once provided standage for the former tram-car “Grip-man” where he manipulated his control levers. This unit found great favour with boys playing at “Trammies” but did not remain at Shady Nook for very long. Its ultimate fate is not known.

With the expiration in 1914 of the thirty years franchise granted to Thomas Saywell by the original Act of Parliament, a move was made by the Rockdale Municipal Council to acquire Shady Nook as a public park. Two years later the Government was urged to purchase the area for recreation purposes, but to no avail. In 1920 the local Council had the option of taking over the property at a cost of £10,000 but could not arrange the finance, and as late as 1928 agitation for its purchase was still proceeding. However, the developers took over and, after the ruthless destruction of the lovely trees had taken its course, they erected the row of shops which face Bay Street and Grand Parade. Trafalgar Street, The Boulevarde, and Duke Street were eventually constructed to serve the needs of the residential area spread over the southern and western portion of the once so beautiful and popular Shady Nook.

This article was first published in the August 1971 edition of our magazine.

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(Images courtesy of Bayside Library Service Local History Collection)