The Gothic sandstone canopy opposite Sydney Grammar on College Street is the Frazer Fountain — with a z, not an s. Live captions that say Fraser are wrong. John Frazer, merchant, philanthropist and MLC, presented it to his fellow citizens. City Architect Thomas M. Sapsford designed the canopy; Mittagong sculptor Lawrence Beveridge carved the Pyrmont stone. Inscriptions credit the gift under Mayor John Hardie in the 1881–82 mayoralty; the City dates the commission to 1881 and the install to 1882.
It is the first of two Frazer drinking fountains. The Italian Renaissance twin went up in 1884 on Prince Albert Road by the Domain — keep the pair distinct. This Hyde Park piece started at the south-east entrance near today’s Whitlam Square, shifted in 1917 to make way for the Emden Gun, then moved again in 1934 to its present Grammar-facing spot when Hyde Park South was remodelled. That second move swapped communal cups for a bubbler. Caption the set as one fountain on a journey around the park, not three different monuments.
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