In the late 1820s Governor Ralph Darling selected the ridge then called Woolloomooloo Hill (soon Darlinghurst, associated with Eliza Darling) for a belt of gentlemens villas overlooking the town. Between about 1828 and 1831 he issued roughly seventeen grants of eight to ten acres, mainly to senior officials and favoured free settlers. Conditions were strict: plans needed approval; each allotment was limited to a single substantial residence (commonly to a stated minimum value); houses were to face the town where practicable and sit in landscaped grounds - a deliberate display of colonial respectability on the eastern skyline. Among the houses raised on those grants were places still remembered in street and suburb names - Craigend (Sir Thomas Mitchell), Barham (Edward Deas Thomson), Springfield, Rosebank, Orwell, Tusculum, Rockwall, Grantham, Brougham, Kellett and others. Most were demolished from the 1890s onward for terraces and flats; only a handful survive (including Barham within SCEGGS Darlinghurst, and Tusculum and Rockwall on the Potts Point ridge). Elizabeth Bay House (Macleay) belongs to the same villa story, though on its own neighbouring estate. Images and notes here collect the vanished and surviving original villas of the Hill.
Transcription (Map, compiled by Norman Selfe, 1906, with handwritten library note)
POTT'S POINT AND DARLING POINT
SYDNEY
WITH THE ORIGINAL CROWN GRANTS AND EARLY HISTORIC MANSIONS
Compiled by NORMAN SELFE MEMB INST C.E.
1906.
To illustrate a Paper read before the AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY by Mr ARTHUR DOWLING on 25th Septr. 1906.
[Map: the land grants and houses from Woolloomooloo Bay to Rushcutter's Bay and Darling Point, each grant marked with the grantee's name and acreage (e.g. J. Wylde 11 ac., A. Macleay, T. West, J. Palmer).]
[Handwritten note below the map:]
The land grants shown in this map date back to the earliest times of the settlement since they include that of the Commissary-General John Palmer at Woolloomooloo, received in 1793. The map was compiled by Mr. Norman Selfe the well known engineer (see also nos. 7 & 156). It illustrates a paper read before the Historical Society in 1906 by Mr. James Arthur Dowling, grandson of Sir James Dowling, Chief Justice, who received in 1831 the grant shown at the corner of William and Forbes Streets. Mr. Dowling's paper can be seen in the Journal of the Historical Society, vol. 2 (with supp. in vol. 13)
POTT'S POINT AND DARLING POINT
SYDNEY
WITH THE ORIGINAL CROWN GRANTS AND EARLY HISTORIC MANSIONS
Compiled by NORMAN SELFE MEMB INST C.E.
1906.
To illustrate a Paper read before the AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY by Mr ARTHUR DOWLING on 25th Septr. 1906.
[Map: the land grants and houses from Woolloomooloo Bay to Rushcutter's Bay and Darling Point, each grant marked with the grantee's name and acreage (e.g. J. Wylde 11 ac., A. Macleay, T. West, J. Palmer).]
[Handwritten note below the map:]
The land grants shown in this map date back to the earliest times of the settlement since they include that of the Commissary-General John Palmer at Woolloomooloo, received in 1793. The map was compiled by Mr. Norman Selfe the well known engineer (see also nos. 7 & 156). It illustrates a paper read before the Historical Society in 1906 by Mr. James Arthur Dowling, grandson of Sir James Dowling, Chief Justice, who received in 1831 the grant shown at the corner of William and Forbes Streets. Mr. Dowling's paper can be seen in the Journal of the Historical Society, vol. 2 (with supp. in vol. 13)
It's Really Hard To Imagine What It was like in Kings Cross & Potts Point 150 years Ago, when Darlinghurst & Potts Point Were being built literally from the ground up. Every Time I walk through that area I try to imagine where the Houses had been, & what they looked like, & property Boundaries & the way the topography of the land is now.
There is very little left, next to nothing actually of the Grand Structures that used to be there, from stables, cottages, servants quarters, and carriageways.
In the early days the area had been named "Henrietta Town", named after Governor Macquarie's wifes First Name.
The First House Of Note Was "Craigend" Fronting Upper William St South, now Wollcott St, built by Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor General .
Just behind "Craigend" was the last of old Darlinghurst Windmills, known as Hynde's Windmill. Originally there were 3, one near the goal, 2 were made of wood & required Manual labour but the third was mechanical.
Across Upper William St at its junction with Darlinghurst Rd, formerly Woolloomooloo Rd, was the property of the Hon Richard Jones MC known as "Merchant Jones" which extended into, & along Darlinghurst Rd. The property was built on a portion of land 3 acres 2 rods & 8 perches in extent, formerly granted on 19th October 1831 to Mr S.A. Perry. The land extending between it & Roslyn Hall was afterwards the site of Alberto Terrace, built & owned by John Solomon.
Next going east was a grant dated 23rd September 1839, of 4 acres 2 rods & 24 Perches, to Thomas McQuoid mentioned before.
"Kellett House" was built on it by Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson, the first Premier in 1856 under Responsible Government; he lived there for some years & it was afterwards owned by Mr W.F. Buchanan, who pulled down the house, & built a terrace there known as "Bayswater Terrace"
Then there came "Sevenoaks" & "Eaton" where Mr Edward Knox, & afterwards Captain Martindale, then occupied by Mr Edward Fosbery, the late Inspector General of Police
On the opposite side of Princes Road (Off Bayswater Road) & in front of "Sevenoaks" which also had a frontage to that road, were 2 cottages, one known as "Lara" was occupied by Mr James Norton - Solicitor, before he went to Double Bay. The other house was pulled down & it has been occupied by Lady Dowling, when she vacated "Brougham Lodge" on the death of Sir James Dowling, & after her Sir Henry Parkes & Mr W.H. Piddington.
Then to the east of Upper William St North came 2 cottages next to "Eaton" with an old fashioned wooden pump at the bottom of the private road between them, belonging to Mr T.W. Smart. Then there was Vacant Land round & along the gate of Roslyn Hall, owned by Mr Thomas Barker; he built the house, Mr Ambrose Hallen being the architect, living there for a time. St Canice Roman Catholic Church Stands on the site of the exit gate of the property
"It is hardly Visible to the eye from the South Head Road, being surrounded by Advertisement Boardings. Opposite was West's Bush, densely timbered, where the black used to camp.
Just to the north of "Craigend" is "Goderich Lodge" which was built & lived in by Mr T McQuoid, the then Sheriff in the 1830's until he died in 1841. The Bishop of Sydney (Dr William Grant Broughton was also a tenant, also Mr S.A. Perry, the Deputy Surveyor General, Mr William Carr Solicitor in 1848, Mr Charles Scott - Ironmonger, & Mr Frederick Tooth Sold it to Captain Charles Smith of the firm Mcdonald Smith & Co, & was occupied by his widow. At one time its gardens extended to the Junction of Upper William Street (North) now Bayswater Road, & Upper William Street (South) where the Waratah Hotel is now. Subsequently "Waratah" was built next to & on the East side of "Goderich Lodge"
Just a little below these to the east was a later built house, owned by Mr John Williams, the Crown Solicitor, now "Kurragheen"; next thereto was "Hillside" now the site of a large building to be used as dwelling flats, & next to that was a small cottage...
Behind "Hillside" was a house in which the Late Mr Justice Hargrave resided. The land on which it was built was a portion of 70 Acres granted on 30th May 1844 to Mr T West. Roslyn St had not been formed but the Southern boundary of the property ran along to the Junction of Macleay St with the site of its present junction with Roslyn St, close there were 2 Windmills owned by Mr T Barker.
The "Roslyn Hall" property fronted Macleay St, & the second iron lattice entrance gate at the entrance was in Darlinghurst Rd, nearly opposite "Springfield".The house was a large well built mansion, with a spiral iron staircase to the upper storey; the rooms were large, with a bath fixed in most of the bedrooms level with the floor, so that one had to step down, not up, to get into it.
"Roslyn Hall" was one of the gayest houses of the time. The land extended on the South East to the site of St Canice Church, taking in Roslyn Gardens & Roslyn Road to the East, & on the north "Barnclueth" now called "Kinneil" & part of Elizabeth Bay Road.
To the north is "Chevverals" on part of the Macleay grant, next came a large substantial cottage or low built house at the corner of Macleay Street.
SPACIOUS DAYS OF LONG AGO.
New Flats for Old Mansions.
A LEGACY OF ILL.
By W. G. B. Cassidy.
Almost daily references appear in the newspapers to inconvenient and narrow streets at King's Cross, Potts Point, and Elizabeth Bay. Eighty or ninety years ago allotments in this district were measured, not by frontages of so many feet, but in acres.
On them stood mansions which almost without exception were white. Their green venetian blinds protected the french polish and brocade within from the colonial sun. Grounds were laid out as gardens with broad lawns and plantations not only of native trees and shrubs, but of exotic flowers, vines, and fruit trees. One early writer called it the "west end" of Sydney, and added that, as might have been expected in the Antipodes, it lay to the east of the town.
A visiting missioner commented on the "splendour and haughtiness behind the thick walls of these secure and comfortable dwellings." Tallest of the buildings then was Craigend Mill, one of several that stood along the ridge of the Woolloomooloo (Darlinghurst) Hill. Built of stone, it was nearly ninety feet high.
In these mansions with their broad pleasure grounds, orchards, and rabbit warrens one finds the cause of the "haphazard planning" and "piecemeal ubdivision [sic]" which are now troubling our City Council. As land became more valuable the owners gradually sold portions of their estates. Invariably the original mansion was left standing and surrounded with narrow streets or lanes to provide access to it and to make the greatest possible amount of frontages for subdivision purposes.
Most helpful in tracing what has happened is a plan in the Mitchell Library, dated about 1856, of allotments at Potts Point. It shows roads, original grants of land, some subdivisions and sites of the homes. North of Bayswater Road were 25 houses. Of these eight at least are still standing, and four have been demolished only recently. Of those four, Roslyn Hall, Larbert Lodge, and Granthamville (Dangar Castle) are being replaced by many flats, and Orwell by a theatre. The eight are Springfield, Tusculum, Rockwall, Tarmons, Barncleuth (Kinneil), Maranamah, Cheverells, and Elizabeth Bay House.
The Macleay Estate.
Barncleuth, Maranamah and Cheverells were built on portions of the Macleay Estate. The story of this property is [illegible] good illustration of the process of change from mansion and garden to flatland. It was given to Alexander Macleay, Colonial Secretary, by a formal grant dated Ocober [sic] 19, 1831, although possession of it had been permit[illegible] to him earlier than that. Its approximate boundaries were, on the north what [illegible] now the northern boundary of Jenner, on the west Macleay Street, on the south Barncleuth Square, and a line produced from it to the original high water mark of Rushcutter Bay, and from that point along the shores back to Jenner.
Thoroughly characteristic of the times was the description of this as being fifty-four acres, when in fact, as a later survey disclosed, it was fifty-six acres thirty-seven perches. Macleay was learned in natural science. Horticulture, it was anticipated, would benefit from his knowledge and experiments. Within a short time he built Elizabeth Bay House, and made about it a garden in which flourished the trees and shrubs already growing there as well as others from every possible part of the world. Visitors were enthusiastic about the "little paradise." The great lawn in front of the house alone, it is said, cost £3,000 to make. Most pleasingly remote touch, however, was that Mr. Macleay did not go to live in his house until he had retired from his official position in the town!
His entrance gates were at the end of the "private road past the new gaol"—Woolloomooloo or Windmill Road, now Darlinghurst Road. From the gate to the house was a carriageway which later became Elizabeth Bay Road and Onslow Avenue. The stables stood near the present Holdsworth Avenue.
Spacious Days.
In 1841, Macleay sold a number of allotments along Macleay Street and along the carriage way. Barncleuth (Kinneil), Cheverells, Maranamah, Greenknowe, Larbert Lodge, and two small houses were built. The first three are still standing, although with considerable renovations and additions. Kinneil's grounds are not as spacious as they were once. Originally, they extended to Barncleuth Square. Later, when the boundary had been moved further north, Amos Lane was formed. It provided access to the coach-house and kitchen yard. Incidentally, by a description in 1891, the grounds at the rear comprised "stable and fowl yards, cow paddock, playground, with swings and several picturesque walks and shrubberies."
Greenknowe stood in a large block of land facing Macleay Street. When it was demolished about 20 years ago and the land subdivided, Greenknowe Avenue was formed. Similarly, after the recent sale of the Larbert Estate Larbert Avenue was formed. Both are short dead-end streets, serving only the allotments of the subdivisions for which they were made.
Subdivision of another part of the Macleay Estate took place in 1875, owing, as Sir George Macleay put it, to the taxation imposed by Parkes on large estates with purpose of "bursting them up." The drive to the stables was extended towards Macleay Point, so completing Elizabeth Bay Road. Rushcutter Bay Road (Roslyn Gardens) and Ithaca Avenue were formed. From time to time, other portions of the estate were built upon. Onslow and Billyard Avenues were formed. The last remaining portion of the estate was sold in 1927. An extension of Onslow Avenue encircled the house and isolated it from what was left of the garden.
Austerely classic Tusculum still has a fragment of its garden. The property had frontages to Manning, Tusculum, and Hughes Streets when sold about 1927. Dignified Rockwall, honoured by Hardy Wilson with a sketch in his "Old Colonial Architecture," seems to be hiding in shame between Rockwall Crescent and Rockwall Place. Behind the walls of St. Vincent's Convent is Tarmons, once the home of Sir Maurice C'Connell [sic], commander of the forces.
The Pepper Pot.
Granthamville (Dangar Castle) was pulled down last year. The original home, Caleb Castle, was built by Caleb Wilson on four and a half acres of land bought from Mr. Judge Advocate Wylde. Irreverent people, looking at the towers, named it The Pepper Pot. It was almost wholly rebuilt after it had passed into possession of the Dangar family.
About its site is a curious tangle of unsatisfactory streets. How did McDonald Street, McDonald Lane and Grantham Lane come to be as they are? If one takes a modern map and draws a line from Woolloomooloo Bay to Elizabeth Bay, across the end of Macleay Street, making it parallel with St. Neot Avenue, one realises the answer. That line is the southern boundary of the land granted to Mr. Judge Advocate Wylde. Grantham Lane and McDonald Street touch it. Obviously, the explanation is that Grantham Street, Grantham Lane, and St. Neot Avenue were made for subdivisions of the Granthamville property, and lay wholly within its boundaries. No thought was taken of anything outside. McDonald Street and McDonald Lane were made similarly for subdivision of the next grant. It is an explanation that applies to many streets on the Woolloomooloo Heights.
Spacious Days Of Long Ago - New Flats For Old Mansions - A Legacy of Ill - Sydney Morning Herald - Saturday 23rd July 1938 - Page 13
This cottage was purchased and considerably added to & converted into a house by Mr Sparke, who named it "Maranamah", & his family lived there for a time. Located at 64 Macleay Street.
Fitzroy Gardens wasn't always a public Space & Park. There used to be 3 Exclusively Beautiful Homes on the land.
"Maramanah" was built in the 1840's for the shipping Merchant Deloitte. The house was then sold to Anna Challis.....
From There it went through many owners, including the Hollander Family Who featured in Robin Dalton's 1965 Memoir Aunts Up The Cross"
During the Second World War, "Maranamah" became a recreational centre for the USA Navy & then a Royal Navy Canteen. When the War was over, several returned Servicemen & their families Squatted in the 20 Room Mansion, demanding they be allowed to live in it. There was a lack of Post War Housing, & the Community supported them but the Mood Changed when it was alleged that Communist Party Meetings were taking Place inside.
"Maranamah" was taken over by the City Of Sydney, & operated as a Hostel until the Mansion & its Grounds were added to The Parcel of land from which Fitzroy Gardens was created and demolished in 1954.
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