Martin Place – Sir James Martin – Sydney – New South Wales

Martin Place 

  
Everyone Who Lives In Sydney Knows Martin Place
But As With All Our Australian Heritage No one Can Remember Or Care Why. 
The Story Of Sir James Martin Is Such An Inspiring Story Its  a Real Shame His Story Hasn't Been Told To The Generation Of Today 
Sir James Martin was Born To Poor Parents Who Lives At Parramatta
He Was Very Smart And Was Accepted Into The Sydney School On College Street Which Later Became Sydney Grammar. 
He Walked From Parramatta To School And Back Everyday 



Sir James Martin Was Also The Only Person In Australian History To Be Premier If New South Wales, 3 times in Fact,  Attorney General Of New South Wales, And Chief Justice Of NSW

The G.P.O (General Post Office)

The City Council Had Designed & Planned This Long Pedestrian Thoroughfare as "The Financial & Insurance Centre" Of Sydney. The Widening & Extension Through To Macquarie treet Began In 1923 But Didn't Finish Until 1935.

The initiasl Martin P;lace was the section between George Street and Pitt Street, and it was offically opened in 1892, and was named in honour of Sir James Martin, the three time Premier of New South Waleds, asnf the Chief justice of The Supreme Court of New South Wales. 


Today's Martin Place was built in several stages. Until the 19th Century ponly the section between Pitt Street & Castlereagh Street existed in anything rresembling thre present form, as a short street named Moore Street. Between Pitt Street 7 George Street there wass only a small laneway 
In 1863, construction begabn on the present General Post Office building on the South Side of the Laneway. The bvyuilding was constructed in stages,7 when the design  changed to provide  for a main faczaade on the longer nothern stages , there were commitments  proposals to widen the existing laneway into a street connnected to Moore Street. 



Martin Place has a large collecrtion of buildings in various styles, from neo classical ro contemporary 

The Sydney General post Office - number 1 Martin Place id located at the Western end of Martin Place between george Street 7 Pitt Streets. Designed by thre Architect James Barnet, the building was constructed in stages from 1866 to 18891. 
Barnet's building features Neo- Classical sandstone facade, with a colonade running arou nd the building ast street level,. Above the centre  of the 100 metre Martibn Place Facade is the Clocktower.This building was the Headquarters Of the NSW postal sysrtem until 1996 ,, when it was sold off and refurbuished. 

- the Bank Of Australiadsia Building - Number 2 Martin place - in a RFomanesque building standing on the corner of George Street & Martin Place. This bank merged into ANZ in 1951. 

- Challis House - Number 4 Martin Place - It stands on land bought in 1906 for 500 Pounds per square foot by the University of Syxdney from the University Endowment DFunds. 
The Building was designed by W. L. Vernpon, Government Architect and Robertson 7 Marks, Architects and was completed in 1907. The Building was named after Henry Challis, who in 1880 hasd bequesathed his estate valued at 276,000 Pounds (Over $30 - $50 Million Today) to the university. 

This art deco building is adorned with the Sydney University crest above the doo, and forms one of the most  important parts of the university's property portfolio. 

The Commonwealth Trading Bank Building - Number 5 Martin Place - Is on the Corner of Martin Place & Pitt Street. Built in 1916, this 12 Storey building was designed & project Managed by the Sydney Architectural FirmJ & H Kirkpatrick. The building was the first large scale all steel framed "skyscraper" in Australia. 

known as the "Sydney Bank" within the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, it was built to be the Headquarters of the Commonwealth bank of Australia. 

The MLC Centre - Number 9 Martin Place - It sits upon the Old Site of the Australia Hotel. which wqas demolished tgo make way for this 228 metre reinforced concrete skyscraper, designed by Harry Seidler. At the time when it was opened it was the tallest reinforced concrete officre building in the world, 7 was the tallest building outside North America. 

Construction of the building was controversial bevause it caused the demolityion of several historic landmark buildings. 

The Henry Davis York Building -0 number 38 - 46 Martin Place -  It is an 11 Storey Art Deco builfing on the corner of Castlereagh Street And Martin Place. It was the former Headquarters of MLC, and was taken over by the national Australia bank i n2000. 

The State Savings Bank Building - Number 48 Martin Place - Later also owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It was built as the Headquarters of the Government Savings Bank of NSW & was opened in 1928.  the Interior features Large Scagliola Columns, Extensive use of marble and a plaster and pressed metal ceiling. The buildings square Trading Hall was orignally one of the lasrgest in the world. A stately Vault in Housed in the Basement. 

The Australian Provincial Assurance Building - Number 53 - 63 Martin Place - Is A 14 Storey art Deco building on the Corner of Elizabeth Street & Martin Place

The Colonial Building was the headquzaarters of The NSW State Bank - This 1986 post modern Building with its dark glass facade featurres a 36 storey tower atop a 2 storey Atrium.  

The Reserve Bank Of Australia Building - Located beteen Phillip & Macquarie Streets

Its the Headquarters for the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australia's Central bank, including a money museum. 

The Westpac Building - Number 60 Martin Place - Between Phillip & Macquarie street, is iteself a non descript 28 Storey 1960's Office Block but is currently planned to be de,molished to make way for al argew new develop,ment/. 

ADJACENT BUILDINGS 

* At the Macquarie Street End - The Sydney Hospital

* At the George Street End, the historic Westpac Building and the Commercial banking Company of Australia 

* on Elizabeth Stree, The Sun Building was formerlyu the Headquarters Of The sun, The Afternoon paper that ceased publication in the 1980's. This skyscraper Gothic buiklding is one of only three buildings in Sydney in this style 

* On George Street Societe Generale House is American Romanesque in Style and originaally housed the Equitable Life Assurance Sociaety of Americas

OTHER FEATURES OF MARTIN PLACE INCLUDE 

 - The Cenotaph, Located between the GPO and Challis House. It Commemorates the ANZAC forces who served in WW1 and Australians who gave their lives in subsequent conflicts/. 

- A water fountain is located on the East side of Pitt Street, Near the Commonwealth bank Of Australia Building. Behind this foumntain is an Amphoitheatre which featyures a stage that can be mechanically raised when required for perforamcnes. 

- Entrancres to the Underground Railway Station 

- A Commando Memorial is Located in the Centre oif Martin  Place near the Eastern end. 

SOME REGUALR CIVIC EVENTS THAT OCCUR AT MARTIN PLACE. 

- An ANZAC Day Dawn Service is held at the Cenotaph  every year on April 25th 

- Sydney's Largest Christmas tree stands in Martin Place every Year. 

- Martin Place is a major site for the Annual Sydney Festivsl 

- outdoor Concerts are held there throughout the year

The Judges House – Kent Street – Sydney

Walk Kent Street past the towers and you still get a jolt: a single-storey Colonial Georgian bungalow sitting in its own garden like it refused to leave the 1820s. The Judges House at 529–531 Kent Street was built about 1827 for surveyor William Harper (likely also the designer) on a town allotment that then ran toward Sussex Street, on the semi-rural fringe with views to Cockle Bay. In 1828 new Supreme Court judge James Dowling leased the finished house. He only stayed about three years before moving to his Woolloomooloo grant, but the Dowling link stuck — “Judge’s House” forever after.

From 1868 the property served the City Night Refuge and Soup Kitchen (later under Sydney City Mission), sheltering and feeding destitute people for roughly a century. That use, ironically, helped keep the cottage standing while commercial towers rose around it. After sale in the early 1970s, heritage campaigners fought demolition; the house was retained, restored for office use, and protected under the NSW Heritage Act. A Japanese restaurant garden (Suntory, later Tetsuya’s) occupied the rear subdivision for decades. It is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register (SHR 00060).

Centre the post on Harper, Dowling, the Refuge years and survival as a freestanding city bungalow — not on Kent Street naming dates.

Kent Street - named 6th October 1810

                   - Proclaimed 31st December 1834



The Judges House is a historic Sydney building on Kent Street, associated with the city’s early legal history. This post records that Kent Street was named on 6 October 1810 and proclaimed on 31 December 1834.

First Fleet House – Cathedral Street – East Sydney

Duck down Cathedral Street off the Domain / Crown Street edge of Woolloomooloo and you hit a modest two-storey building that punches above its weight in commemorative meaning. First Fleet House at 105 Cathedral Street is the headquarters of the Fellowship of First Fleeters — the volunteer organisation of descendants of people who arrived at Sydney Cove with the First Fleet in January 1788. The Fellowship formed in 1968; it bought the house in May 1988 and opened it that July with then Governor Sir James Rowland as Patron.

The Fellowship likes to note that the ground sits on land once tied to First Fleeter Commissary John Palmer’s Woolloomooloo Hill grant — landscape memory, not a claim that this brick building dates from 1788. Inside are the library and research rooms members use when chasing family lines. It is volunteer-run, so opening hours and temporary closures change; check fellowshipfirstfleeters.org before you turn up expecting a walk-in museum.

Keep the distinction clear: this post is about the Fellowship’s house and its commemorative purpose, not a First Fleet–era cottage on Cathedral Street.

First Fleet House - Cathedral Street, East Sydney 

The house stands in East Sydney, an area shaped by the growth of the colonial town beyond the original settlement. Cathedral Street forms part of the historic street network around central Sydney.