The Story of Old George Street - Charlies Bertie -

 

The Story of Old George Street  - Charles Bertie

Charles Henry Bertie (1875–1952) was the Sydneysider who made the city’s memory his day job. From 1909 he was the first librarian of the new Sydney Municipal Library, the man who turned a tired lending branch into an open-access civic library and, in 1918, opened Australia’s first public children’s lending library. By night and on weekends he was the Royal Australian Historical Society’s tireless lecturer and collector — the sort of enthusiast other enthusiasts wrote fan mail to.

His books and picture histories — Story of Old George Street, Old Colonial By-Ways, The Story of Sydney and related titles — taught generations to see vanished street walls and marketplaces. Editions and plate sources differ; the gallery below gathers historic Sydney views in the Bertie spirit rather than a page-for-page reprint of a single volume.

What Bertie gave Sydney was permission to care about the fine grain: the stocks on York Street, the old George Street shops, the by-ways before the wrecking ball. Scroll the pictures slowly. For the longer librarian biography, see the ADB entry.

 

The Story of Sydney - Charles Bertie

I find it very interesting when you start to read some of the accounts of Sydney & how it was begun & the people involved. From Bennelong & Barangaroo, Bugarabee, Pemulwuy, Cora Gooseberry, Just to name a few. 

It was a Hard Existence in the Beginning, These were Prisoners & Criminals who had been forced to sail halfway round the world to a Prison colony. Most would never see their Families or England or their home countries ever again.