Burdekin House - Macquarie Street - Western Side In Front Of StStephens Church

Burdekin House 
Macquarie Street  - Western Side - In Front Of St Stephens Church 

Here, Until 1933 Stood Burdekin House, &. Was Built In 1841 & Was Long Known as The “Most Handsome House In Sydney"

It's Owner, Thomas Burdekin, Was An Ironware Monger Merchant From England. He Died In 1844, After Which His Widow & Son, Sydney Burdekin (Mayor Of Sydney In 1890), Cared For The Home. 

On The 2nd April 1845 The German Explorer  Ludwig Leichardt, Overlandimg From Moreton Bay (Now Brisbane) To Port Essington, Noted In His Journal - 

"I Have Reached The Junction Of The Suttor With The New River Which I Called The Burdekin, In Appreciation Of The Assistance From Mrs Thomas Burdekin, In The Outfit Of My Expedition.” 

About This Time, An English Globe trotter Named J.C. Byrne Visited Sydney, Scooping Up Gossip To Be Used In His "Twelve Years Wandering The British Colonies" 

Said Byrne - 

“A Person Named Burdekin... Had Amassed By His Trade & Private Discounting..... A Vast Fortune. Whether True Or False, No Man In Sydney Was Both So Disliked On Account Of The Usurious Interest, As It Was Asserted, He Exacted From those Who Were So Unfortunate As To Fall Into His Hands, And So Much Feared On Account Of The Power Of His Wealth..... This Mr Burdekin Took It Into His Head To Purchase An Extensive Piece Of Ground.... In The Immediate vicinity Of The Club House New South Wales Aristocracy, Many Of The Members Which Had Particular Reasons For Not Being Attached To Then Discount Gentlemen.

The Land Once Purchased, The Erection Of A Pile Of Costly Magnificence WasProceeded  With...." 

Byrne's Story Ends With The Arrival Of A Stranger From England, Who Actually

held The Original Title Deeds That Burdekin Had Buult His Mansion On, Valued at £16,000. 

Legal Proceedings Followed & Burdekin Found That This Strangers Title Was Base. In

order To Make Best Of A Bad Situation Burdekin Agreed To Pay The Stranger The Sum Of £600 A Year For Life.

The Australain On 11th July 1840 Advertised "A Land Grant Ten Perches, Allotment No. 9 Of Section No. 41, Bounded On The East By Macquarie Street. This Allotment Was Advertised On The 16th October 1839, In The Name Of Christopher Crane, Who

now Requests The Deeds In Favour Of Mr Burdekin" 

The 1828 Census Lists "Chrostopher Crane, Age 27. Came Free In 1815, Shoemaker & Laundress Street.


Christopher Crane became licensee of the leather bottle in Castlereagh Street on 5 August 1831 and was still leasee in 1840 when he seated his block number 9 to Burdekin Street" 

Christopher Crane Became Licensee Of The Leather Bottle Inn In Castlereagh Street On 5th August 1831 & Was Still Lessee In 1840, When He Ended His Block No. 9 To Burdekin

On 17th September 1899 Sydney Burdekin, Son Of Thomas, Died at Rooty Jill, New Sputj Wales, Leaving An Estate Balued at £252,525 

IT WAS A CRIME THAT THIS BEAUTIFUL HOME WAS DEMOLISHED IN ITS 99TH YEAR, JUST Before Turning 100 In The 1920’s 
Burdekin House Had Stood The Test Of Time With All The Scandals & Legal Fights Over Who Owned The Land. 

One Could Say That Old Sydney Town Had Been Raped and Pillaged By The 1960’s. Just About Every Grand, Architectural Wonder Of Sydney Had Been Destroyed. 

Unfortunately Most Of The Beautiful Buildings In Macquarie Street Have Been Demolished For Less CHEAP, BESSA BLOCK, CONCRETE & GLASS. 

I Found This Story About Thomas Burdekon And Christopher  Crane Really

interesting. I Have never Heard of Anything Like It Before. 

I found out That this Stranger By The Name Of Christopher Crane From England with the Original Title

Deed Had Been In The Colony In The Very Early Days & Had Been Given A Land Grant. He Went Back To England. SydneyTown Was Just A Small Penal Colony But When he Returned It Had really Changed Totally. 

So Thomas Burdekin Thought He Had Bought & owned The Land He Built His Mansion On. It Went To Court And It Was Found that Christopher Crane Was The Real Title Owner. 

They Struck A Deal And Burdekin Has To Pay Him 600 Pounds A Year For The Rest Of His Life. 

This Was Apparently One Of The Grandest Houses In The Colony. All The Stress, Distress, Humiliation And Everything Else Ended Up Killing Thomas Burdekin Shortly Afterwards. 

It Stayed In The Family But Then

Sold & Bought By The Presbyterian church And They Demolished It & Built a Church. The House Was Already Over 100 Years Old By That Stage. 

Apparently All The Items In The House Were Truly Amazing & It Was Decked Out in Louis XIII Style. 

There Was Even A Great Exhibition Called "Burdekin House"  on the Lower Ground Was The Oak Furniture. ON the Ground Floor Was Walnut Furniture And Early Lacquer

In The Double Drawing Room There Were French Items And Richly Decorated Upholstered Silk. 

The Main Bedrooms On The 1st Floor  Was Mahogany Of The Period 1750-1800. 

Chippendale, Sheraton And Hepplewhite Antiques Drew Large Crowds. 

WOW. So There You Go. Another HISTORIC BUILDING THAT REALLY SHOULD'VE BEEN PRESERVED. 

And That Was In 1933

Macquarie Street And Associated Landmarks

            In 1792, Governor Arthur Phillip Proclaimed The Open Space Which Became The Botanical Gardens, Domain, Hyde Park, And Macquarie Street For Government Use.

            The Street Itself Was Proclaimed In 1810 By Governor Lachlan Macquarie. At First It Only Ran From Hyde Park To Bent Street, But In 1845 it was Extended In Both Directions.

CENTRE OF SOCIETY –

CENTRE OF MEDICINE – Being Macquarie Street Specialist Became A Prestigious Title

CENTRE OF CEREMONY - Ceremonial=al Tradition Began With The Waterloo Ball Of 1816 (Commemorating Wellington’s Victory Seven Months Late As The Colony Had Only Just Received The News)

1 Hyde Park – Part Of Governor Phillip’s 1792 Common, Renamed Hyde Park By Governor Macquarie. The Archibald Fountain Was Added In The 1920’a

2. Queens Square – The Centerpiece Of The Macquarie Town Plan Prince Albert’s Statue Arrived In 1866

3. Hyde Park Barracks – It Housed Convict Gangs Overnight. Above The Entrance Is The Oldest Clock In Australia. The Barracks Survived Several Plans For Demolition

4. The Mint – Completed in 1816 – As Part Of the Rum Hospital. Restored In the 1970’s

5. Sydney Hospital – 

Known As the Rum Hospital. The Builders Were Paid With 3 Years/45,000 Gallons Of Rum. I 

I Have Read That Francis Greenway i

Didn't Actually Design "THE RUM HOSPITAL"

And That In Actual Fact It Was Lady Macquarie Behind The Design Of The Original Building. In 1810 - 1815 Lady Macquarie And Elizabeth MacArthur Were About The Only Two Ladies That Would've Been Fully Literate In The New Colony. 

One Of The Main Reasons It Would Not Have Been Public Knowledge That Lady Macquarie Designed The Rum Hospital Building Was Tjat It Was Unacceptable For A Female To Do That Sort Of Thing.   

6. Martin Place – Named After the 19^th Century Premier Sir James MARTIN. Most Significant Is The Reserve Bank And Museum If Australian Currency

7. St Stephen’s Church –

8. Parliament House –

9. The State Library –

10. Wyoming – One Of The Sky Scrapers Of Macquarie Street In 1909, It Was Designed By W. Burcham Clamp -

11. Horbury House – These Are Two Survivors Of A Terrace Of Seven Built In 1845 As Gentleman’s’ Residences. Early Occupants Include Robert Lowe (Later Viscount Sherbrooke), Conrad Martens

12. The Royal Botanical Gardens – The First Farm Was Started Here. Later, Governor Bligh’s Daughter, Mary, Had More Success With Gardening. The Initial Collection Was Restricted But The Enlarged Gardens Were Opened To The Public In 1831, And The Basis Of The Present Gardens Established By Charles Moore From 1848 – 1896. The Garden Palace Was In These Grounds.

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13. The Royal College Of Physicians – No 145 Was The Home Of John Fairfax.

14. BMA House – The British Medical Association House Was Built In 1929, as Medical Chambers With A Lecture Hall On The Ground Floor.

15. History House (Royal Australian Historical Society) - Another Remnant Of A Gentleman’s Residency. This Was By Architect George Mansfield Housed The 1870’s Reform Club. As The Middle Classes Moved Away From The City It Became A Boarding House And Then Homes And Rooms of Medical Practitioners And Acquired By The RAHS in 1969

16. The Astor – in 1914 John O’Brien Built The Exclusive 13 Storey Astor Apartments Designed With A Basement Restaurant Linked By Service Lifts To Each Apartment, Enabling Dinner Deliveries To Residents. The roof Garden Included A Glasshouse, Fernery And Dance Floor.

17. Chief Secretary’s Building – The Fine Interior Of This French Second Empire Style Government Office Designed By Architect James Barnet .

18. Treasury Building – Now Included In The Intercontinental Hotel This Was Built IN two stages, Beginning With Te Treasury (The Bridge Street Corner) In 1849 In a Classical Revival Style And Bridge Street By W L Vernon To Include The Premier’s Officer

19. Conservatorium Of Music – Beyond The Equestrian statue Of Edward VII This Stable Could Accommodate 30 Horses Plus Servants

20. Government House – Beyond The Gatehouse And Down the Roadway To The North Of The Former Stables In The Gothic Castle Style Government House. Still Used By The State Governor. The house Is Open To Te Public on Certain Days Designed In England By Edward Blore And Constructed Under Mortimer Lewis’s Supervision 1837-45

21. Transport House (1938) and Sir Stamford Hotel (1896)

22. Royal Automobile Club

23. Bennelong Point -

QUOTE

1857 - by John Askew

"Tiers Of Fine Buildings Seem To Rise Once Above The Other, Like The Seats In An Amphitheatre, And Towering Above Them All Is The Tall Spire Of St James Church"

1857 - by John Askew

"The Best Thing In This Neighbourhoods In All It's Glory Is On A Summer's Evening, About An Hour After Sunset, When The Drawing Rooms Are In A Blaze Of Light. Then The Rich Tones Of A Piano Or Some Other Musical Instrument Are Heard Gushing Fourth From The Open Windows, Accompanied By The Sweet Melody Of Female Voices. Beautiful Ladies, Dressed In White May Be Seen Sitting Upon The Verandahs, or Lounging On Magnificent Couches, Partially Concealed By The Folds Of Rich Crimson Curtains."