The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and the Domain – From Cadi and the First Farm at Farm Cove to Mrs Macquarie's Chair, the Garden Palace and the Calyx – 1788 to Today

There's no better free afternoon in Sydney than the walk from Macquarie Street, down through the Botanic Garden, around Farm Cove and out to Mrs Macquarie's Chair. On the way you pass the first farm in the country, a castle-looking stable that became a music school, the vice-regal residence and the empty lawns where the Garden Palace stood. And somewhere behind you, across the Cahill Expressway, are the Domain lawns where Sydney has argued with itself every Sunday since 1878.

I've written about bits of this before. There's my Sydney Royal Botanic Garden post, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Farm Cove and Wuganmagulyav Creek, and over on Historic Sydney Mansions, Royal Sydney Botanical Gardens – Government Domain. This page tries to pull the whole story together.

The Botanic Gardens photographed for the NSW Government Printing Office, 1872. Charles Percy Pickering, State Library of NSW, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Cadi and Farm Cove

Before any of it, this was Gadigal country. The Botanic Garden's own history opens with the words "Cadi Jam Ora – You are in Cadi!", and says the Cadigal were the traditional custodians and that this land "was integral to supporting the material and cultural life of the people". The cove itself was Woccanmagully (spellings vary; my older post calls the creek Wuganmagulyav). The Dictionary of Sydney says the Gadigal called the point at the end of the Domain Yurong, the place we now call Mrs Macquarie's Chair.

Government House's own history describes what happened in 1788. Within a few months of the First Fleet's arrival, the eucalypts, angophoras, banksias and acacias that had given the Gadigal food, tools and medicine were felled to plant nine acres of corn. The Garden says the crop failed "due to poor choice of season, low quality soil and predation by rats". It was the first European farm in Australia, and it nearly ruined the colony. The farming soon moved out to Rose Hill, which I've covered in my Parramatta page.

Farm Cove from the Botanic Gardens, around 1900. Powerhouse Museum Collection, via Wikimedia Commons (no known copyright restrictions).

Bligh's Domain and Mrs Macquarie's road

The Garden's history says that by 1807 Governor Bligh had declared the land "making part of the domain of the Governor's Residence", the first use of the name the Domain. Bligh cleared out the leases that had been granted over it and started blasting rock for an access road. A year later he was overthrown in the Rum Rebellion.

Lachlan Macquarie finished the job. The road round the Domain was planned by his wife, Elizabeth, and the Dictionary of Sydney quotes the inscription cut into the sandstone at Yurong. It is still readable: "Be thus recorded that the road round the inside of the Government Domain called Mrs Macquarie's Road so named by the Governor on account of her having originally planned it measuring 3 miles and 377 yards was finally completed on the 13th day of June 1816." Macquarie picked the day because it was Elizabeth's birthday. Decades later the director Joseph Maiden chose 13 June 1816 as the Garden's foundation date. The Garden celebrated its 200th birthday on that date in 2016.

The seat in the rock below is Mrs Macquarie's Chair, said to be her favourite spot for looking down the harbour. By the 1850s it was a popular picnic place on holidays, the Dictionary says.

Mrs Macquarie's Chair, sketched by Robert Russell in 1835. Robert Russell, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Mrs Macquarie's Chair, around 1870–75. American and Australasian Photographic Company, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Mrs Macquarie's Chair, early 1900s. William Henry Broadhurst, State Library of NSW, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The chair and its inscription today, 2013. Mitch Ames, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Charles Fraser, the soldier-gardener

The first man in charge was a Scot, Charles Fraser (his name is also spelt Frazer). The Australian Dictionary of Biography says he arrived as a soldier of the 56th Regiment in April 1816, and was appointed superintendent when the Botanic Garden was "formally dedicated in June 1816". He went out with John Oxley on the expeditions of 1817, 1818 and 1819, adding "near 700 new specimens" on one trip alone. Macquarie formally appointed him colonial botanist on 1 January 1821. The Garden's old fact sheet gives 1817 as the year he became the first Colonial Botanist, which is why you'll see both dates. By 1825 he reported that "nearly 3000 varieties" of plants had been introduced. He died in 1831.

The Cunninghams

Next came the Cunningham brothers, both trained at Kew. Richard Cunningham was appointed in 1833, the Museums of History NSW says. In March 1835 he went with Major Thomas Mitchell to the Bogan River, wandered off looking for specimens, and was killed in April by Aboriginal people who had first fed and sheltered him. His brother Allan, the explorer and King's Botanist, then took on the job. The Garden's history credits the brothers with John Busby's first vine cuttings in 1833, which it says makes the Garden the birthplace of Australia's wine industry.

Allan Cunningham, by Andrew Picken. Andrew Picken, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Charles Moore's 48 years

Charles Moore was appointed in 1848 and ran the Garden until 1896. The Museums of History NSW says his instructions were to make it a place of botanical study and also "a pleasant place of resort to the inhabitants of Sydney". He brought in soil from Rose Bay, planted the azaleas of the Spring Walk in 1856, and in 1858 banned "all persons of reputed bad character", along with dogs, goats and poultry.

He also made the Garden bigger by reclaiming Farm Cove. The Garden's history says the seawall was begun in 1846. The Museums of History NSW says 1848, partly using stone from the old Government House on Bridge Street, and says the fill included silt from the Tank Stream and blue clay dredged from Darling Harbour. Either way, it took about 30 years. Sydney's first zoo opened in the Garden in 1862 and moved to Moore Park in 1883 (see my Moore Park Zoo post). Palm Grove dates from 1879, and the Palm House from 1876. The Garden says it is the oldest glasshouse in NSW.

Charles Moore, director from 1848 to 1896. Photographer unknown, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The Botanic Gardens, 1885. Australian National Maritime Museum, via Wikimedia Commons (no known copyright restrictions).

Palm Grove, late 1800s. Powerhouse Museum collection, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The 1876 Palm House today, 2024. Ymblanter, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Greenway's stables: the Conservatorium

The building that looks like a castle at the top of the Garden was built for horses. The State Heritage Register entry says Macquarie got Francis Greenway, the former convict, to draw up plans for offices and stables on 4 July 1817. Work started on 9 August, and Macquarie laid the foundation stone on 16 December 1817, before London had approved it. According to Greenway, Mrs Macquarie told him how many rooms were needed, and he named Thornbury Castle as his model. The stables held 30 horses, with the stallions in the octagonal towers. The Governor's website says they were finished in 1821. Between 1913 and 1915 they were turned into the Conservatorium of Music. My Conservatorium post has more pictures.

The Government House stables in 1872, with photographer Charles Pickering's wagon outside. Charles Percy Pickering, State Library of NSW, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The Conservatorium today, 2012. sv1ambo, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).

Government House

The stables were so grand that the house had to catch up. The Governor's history says construction finally began in 1836 (the Dictionary of Sydney says 1837), to a Tudor-Gothic design by Edward Blore, architect to William IV, who had worked on Buckingham Palace. It deliberately echoed the stables. Governor Gipps moved in in 1845, though the Dictionary says the work wasn't completely finished for another two years. The NSW Government says 28 governors lived there between 1845 and 1996, along with Australia's first five Governors-General from 1901 to 1914. The Government House history also says the five-acre nursery and kitchen garden had become part of the Botanic Garden by 1870. My posts: Government House – Royal Botanic Gardens, Government House – The People's Domain, and on Historic Sydney Mansions, Government House – Macquarie Street / Conservatorium Road. The first Government House site is in my Museum of Sydney post.

The new Government House under construction, painted by Conrad Martens in 1841. Conrad Martens, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The old Government House on Bridge Street, painted by Conrad Martens in 1842. Conrad Martens, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Government House from the Botanical Gardens, around 1900. Powerhouse Museum Collection, via Wikimedia Commons (no known copyright restrictions).

The Garden Palace, 1879–1882

For three years the biggest building in Sydney stood on the slope above the Garden. The Garden Palace was built for the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879. The Garden says it was twice the size of the Queen Victoria Building and stretched almost from the Conservatorium to the State Library. On the night of 22 September 1882 it burned to the ground. With it went the Aboriginal artefacts, government records and the 1881 Census. The rumours blamed all sorts of people, from wealthy citizens with convict pasts to neighbours who wanted their harbour views back. The Garden thinks faulty electric wiring is the likeliest cause.

I've written a lot about it: The Garden Palace – the 1879 Exhibition and the Great Fire, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 6, Part 7, Construction, After the Fire, Photos, In Pictures (and more), plus on Historic Sydney Mansions the International Exhibition post and my own sketches.

The Garden Palace from Mrs Macquarie's Point, around 1879, photographed by Tronier. State Library of NSW, via Wikimedia Commons (no known copyright restrictions).

The International Exhibition building, as the Illustrated London News showed it, 1879. Illustrated London News, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Inside the Garden Palace, 1879. Photographer unknown, Powerhouse Museum, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The ruins after the fire of 22 September 1882. Photographer unknown, Powerhouse Museum, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The Domain: a people's park and a soapbox

The Dictionary of Sydney says the Domain was set aside as part of the Governor's demesne by Phillip and formalised by Macquarie in 1816. Since then it has been "a people's park, cultural precinct and the scene of political action and dissent". Charles Moore was happy to see it used for military, sporting and ceremonial events, the Garden says, as long as they stayed out of his garden. The Art Gallery of NSW went up on the Domain too (see my Art Gallery post).

Speakers' Corner began in 1878. The Dictionary of Sydney says Hyde Park had been closed to public speaking in 1874 after violent clashes over Irish Home Rule, and in 1878 the Baptist pastor Daniel Allen took his message to the Domain. Soon a dozen congregations were preaching at once. The Herald's 1888 Centennial supplement described them arguing "with the greatest good humour, until tea time". In 1916, during the conscription fight, the Domain was packed every Sunday. The largest crowd, an estimated 100,000 people, came to hear Queensland Premier T.J. Ryan speak against conscription. When the Chief Secretary, George Black, stopped anti-conscription speakers in September 1916, the Barrier Miner reported a protest meeting in the Domain itself. The regulars over the years included William Chidley, who preached "the simple life" in his tunic, and Bea Miles.

The Domain entrance from Macquarie Street, around 1900. Powerhouse Museum Collection, via Wikimedia Commons (no known copyright restrictions).

Governor Bourke's statue in the Domain, around 1900. Powerhouse Museum Collection, via Wikimedia Commons (no known copyright restrictions).

The Domain and the harbour, 1900. Australian National Maritime Museum, via Wikimedia Commons (no known copyright restrictions).

Maiden and the scientists

Joseph Henry Maiden took over in 1896. The Garden calls him "the first Director who was also a professional scientist". Under him the National Herbarium of NSW opened in 1901. The Garden says it now holds more than 1.4 million specimens, including Banks and Solander's specimens from 1770. Maiden was also the first director to employ women. Margaret Flockton was his botanical illustrator from 1901 to 1927. The Garden's centenary celebrations began at 10:30am on 13 June 1916, in the middle of the Great War, with an address by Maiden.

J.H. Maiden in the Herbarium, around 1895. Alexander Grant, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The Botanic Gardens, 1898. Powerhouse Museum collection, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The Botanical Gardens, early 1900s. William Henry Broadhurst, State Library of NSW, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The Botanic Gardens, 1908. Royal Australian Historical Society, via Wikimedia Commons (no known copyright restrictions).

The Montefiore memorial fountain, around 1900. Powerhouse Museum Collection, via Wikimedia Commons (no known copyright restrictions).

The Wishing Tree, the expressway and the Royal title

The Garden's 1900s history tells the story of the Wishing Tree, a Norfolk Island pine that Elizabeth Macquarie had moved out of the Governor's garden. Sydneysiders made wishes at it for generations. A replacement was planted nearby in 1935, and the old tree finally failed in 1945. In 1958–59 the Cahill Expressway cut the Garden off from the Domain, and three historic gates had to be moved. The Garden says the "Royal" was added to its name in 1959, linked to the Queen's first visit to Australia, when she first set foot on Australian soil in the Domain in 1954. In the 1960s the Garden's plant scientists helped police solve the Graeme Thorne kidnapping.

Spring flowers in the Botanic Gardens, 13 September 1934. Sam Hood, State Library of NSW, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

The Botanic Gardens gates, January 1937. Sam Hood, State Library of NSW, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Macquarie Street, the Domain and the Gardens from the air, around 1935. Milton Kent, State Library of NSW, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

Mrs Macquarie's Chair, 1968. wilford peloquin, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).

The Calyx and today

For the bicentenary on 13 June 2016, the Garden opened the Calyx, a $17 million exhibition space that the ABC said had the largest living green wall in the southern hemisphere. The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust has run the Garden and the Domain under a 1980 Act, the Dictionary of Sydney says, along with the sister gardens at Mount Annan and Mount Tomah. The Sydney Open program says the Herbarium has since moved out of its old Brutalist building in the Garden to a new purpose-built facility. The Domain still hosts open-air concerts and protests, and Speakers' Corner is still going on Sunday afternoons.

The Calyx, 2017. Wpcpey, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The Royal Botanic Garden, October 2019. Dietmar Rabich, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The Domain and the Gardens, December 2022. Xyxyzyz, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

Looking east from Mrs Macquarie's Chair, 2023. DXR, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Next time you're sitting on the grass by Farm Cove, remember it was once nine acres of failed corn. Before that it was Gadigal country.

Where this came from

• Botanic Gardens of Sydney: "Digging into our history – 1800s" and "– 1900s"; Palm House venue page.
• Royal Botanic Gardens Trust: Fast Facts (2009, archived).
• Dictionary of Sydney: "The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney" (blog); The Domain; Speakers Corner; William Chidley at Speakers Corner; Government House.
• Australian Dictionary of Biography: Charles Frazer.
• Museums of History NSW: Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.
• Governor of NSW: Government House history; "From Garden to Plate". NSW Government: Government House Sydney.
• Heritage NSW, State Heritage Register: Conservatorium of Music.
• ABC News, 13 June 2016 (the Calyx). Barrier Miner, 4 September 1916 (via Trove). Sydney Open program (MHNSW).
• Photos: Wikimedia Commons (State Library of NSW, Powerhouse Museum, RAHS, ANMM and others), with licences as captioned.