Earl Street

Centennial Park - Sydney - New South Wales

Centennial Park 

Centennial Park Was The brainchild of Sir Henry Parkes, Who At The Time Was Colonial Secretary For The Colony Of New South Wales. 

Randwick Had Turned Into A Flourishing Village And Was Connected To Randwick Road Which Ran Through The Government Domain Which Was Later Called Moore Park After Charles Moore, The Mayor Of Sydney At The Time. Randwick Road Was Later Called Anzac Parade After The Tragedies & Sacrifice From World War 1. 

Centennial Park Sculptures - Centennial Park - Sydney - New South Wales

Centennial Park 

Statues And Sculptures. 

The Original Design For Centennial Park Had A Total of 31 Statues Through The Park. Over The Years Due To Vandalism And Weathering Only 19 Remained In 1946 And Today There Are Only 9.




Charles Dickens Was A Renowned English born Novelist & Social Commentator. He Achieved Popular Acclaim In The Late 1830's, And His Fame Grew Until His Death In 1870.
Centennial Park Was Officially Opened By Sir Henry Parkes, On January 26th 1888 To Commemorate 100 Years Of European Settlement In Australia

The Marble Statue Of Charles Dickens Appears To Have Been 1 Of 11 Statues Acquired In 1889 As Decoration For The New Park. It Was Originally At The Junction Of Parkes And Hamilton Drive But Was Relocated To The Junction Of Dickens And Loch Avenue In 1897, To Make Way For The Statue Of Sir Henry Parkes. 

The Statue Is 1 Of Only 2 Known Life Size Representations Of Charles Dickens In The World; The Other Is A Bronze Statue  In Clark Park, Philadephia, USA

In 1972 Most Of The Remaining Statues In The Park Were Removed & Put In Storage. Then The Statue Was Lost, And Its Location Was Unknown For Over 40 Years. 

When Gaenor Vallack, A Volunteer At The NSW Library And A Member Of The Dickens Society, Was Flicking Through Edwin Wilson's Book The Wishing Tree A Picture Of Charles Dickens Statue Caught Her Eye. 

In November 2006, Sandra Wrote To The Sydney Morning Heralds Column 8 Asking If Anyone Had Any Idea If The Statue Still Existed And If So, Where Was It? 

in 2007, Column 8 published Saying That The Statue Was Placed In The Protective Custody By The Royal Botanic Gardens, And That The Charles Dickens Statue Had Lost Its Head. 

Moore Park Trust Legislation

THE CENTENNIAL PARK AND MOORE PARK TRUST 1983

The Orginial Deed Was Written And Given To The People Of New South Wales, On November 13th 1813, By  None Other Than Governor Lachlan Macquarie. 

In That Original Deed Governor Macquarie Set Out The Second SYDNEY COMMON. 

Later Sir Henry Parkes Put A The Centennial Celebrations Act 1887 To The New South Wales Legislative Council in Honour Of The Silver Jubilee Of Queen Victoria In1888.  Which Cemented The 2nd Sydney Common For The People Of New South Wales. 

There Were 3 MountAins Which Surrounded The Common Before It Was Officially Called Moore Park After Sir Charles Moore, Who Was The Head BotAnist Of The Royal BotAnic Gardens. 

Sir Charles Moore propagated up To 4,500 of The Sydney Fig Trees That We All Take for Granted Today,  To Make Tree Lined Avenues Starting From Government House,

PART 2 

SECTION 10

Subject to Section 20(2) The Trust Shall Not Sell, Mortgage Or Demise Or Otherwise Dispose of Any Of The Original Land As Set Out By Governor Macqaurie In The Original Trust Deed For The 2nd "SYDNEY COMMON".

PART 5 - MISCEALANEOUS

SECTION 1 

RESUMPTION OF ORIGINAL LAND REQUIRES AN ACT OF PARLIAMENT

SUBSECTION 1 (19)

(2) NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING CONTAINED IN ANY OTHER ACT, AND SUBJECT TO THIS ACT, THE ORIGINAL LAND SHALL NOT BE APPROPRIATED OR RESUMED BY GOVERNMENT OR PRIVATE ENTERPRISE EXCEPT THROUGH AN OFFICIAL ACT OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES PARLIAMENT. 

THEREFORE THE NEW SOUTH WALES GOVERNMENT AND THE COMPANY WHO OWNS THE

The Centennial Park Eel

The Centennial Park Eel 

THE CENTENNIAL PARK EEL

In the Ponds Of Centennial Park Lives The Eastern (???? ) Eel. And To The Normal Park Goer They Look Like An Ugly Animal Swimming Around In The Murky Waters Of The Parklands. 

But The Centennial Park Eels Hold A Remarkable Story For Those In The Know. 

Male Eels Mature Around 10- 30 years and Female Eels Mature Around 8 Years. When They Reach Adult Stage & Feel The Need Spawn & AmazingThing Happens.

The eels Hop From Pond To Pond and then crawl Through a drain Underneath Alison Road and into Randwick Racecourse. They then follow the Natural Watercourse Through To The Moore Park Golf Course and then Follow it Through To Botany Bay Coming Out Where The Third Sydney Runway Comes Out at Kingsford Smith Airport.  

While Making This Journey some Amazing Changes Happen To Their Bodies...... 

- their Dorsal Fin Becomes bigger  So They Are Able To Swim Better In Ocean Currents. 

- their  stomach shrinks

- Their Eyes Also Change SizeThat They Can See In The Seawater

- their anus Restricts and Any Orifice To Reduce Water Loss

- Their Gills 

 From Freshwater To Saltwater. They Can Also Out In Fresh Air, And If There Is No Watercourse For Them To Make It To Botany Bay They Can travel Across Land for short distances. 

The Eels Then Make A 3,500 Mile Journey through The Ocean To Somewhere Near New Caledonia, where They Spawn Their Young & Die. 

These Young Eels Then Male Their Way The 3,500 Miles Back To Centennial Park Where They Live In The Ponds Until They Mature 

Busby's Bore - A Tunnel From The Lachlan Swamps To Hyde Park - Sydney - NSW

Busby's Bore - A Tunnel From The Lachlan Swamps To Hyde Park - Sydney - New South Wales

Busby's Bore

Park Street, northern Side, Near Elizabeth Street, outside Women's Amnities Centre 

In March 1823 John Busby Was Engaged In England By Lord Bathurst To Visit Sydey In The Capacity Of Mineral
surveyor & Civil Engineer. 
It Was 1827 When John Busby Began The Tunnel To Convey Water From The Lachlan Swamp (Centennial Park) To Sydney. 


Busby's Bore Was Completed In June 1837. It Continued To Be Sydney Towns Main Water Supply Until 1849. 

John Busby Was Engaged In England By Lord Bathurst. One Suggestion Was To Pump Water From Centennial Park To. Reservoir In Hyde Park Either By Steam
engine, But The Government Preferred The Convict Treadmill Scheme, Until Busby Suggested Buildong. A Tunnel 12,000 Feet Long And 5 Feet High






With His Bore Completed Busby Retired On 30th June 1837. 

Cost of The Bore Was £22,971

The Project Took 10 Years To

complete. 

The runner Stretched 3.6km Underground And Varied From 1.2 Metres To 1.8 Metres. 

By the Early 1800's The Tank Stream Was Nowhere Big Enough or Clean Enough to Sustain The Growing Colony Of Sydney. 

Busby Waa Commissioned to Build A Tunnel From The Start Of The Tank Stream At Hyde Park Through to the Ponds At Centenial Park.  

It Was Also Mentioned In Some Of The Early Journals That Busby's Bore quite Often Got Blocked By Dead Eels Which Swam Through The Tunnel

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