Glass Negatives from the Holtermann Collection & Holtermann Mansion, North Sydney

Bernhardt Otto Holtermann’s North Sydney mansion became a vantage point for some of the most celebrated glass-plate views of colonial Sydney. The Holtermann Collection, now held by the State Library of NSW, preserves large-format negatives that document harbour defences, racecourses, streetscapes and panoramic harbour vistas. This post brings together mansion views, architectural plans and related Sydney subjects drawn from that glass-negative tradition.

Architectural plan for the Union Club, Bligh and Bent Streets, Sydney — Holtermann Collection glass negative.

Further architectural plan of the Union Club, Bent Street, Sydney — Holtermann Collection.

Street view at Cooper Street and Abercrombie Place, Redfern — Holtermann Collection glass negative.

Hansom cabs and buggies overlooking race day at Randwick Racecourse — Holtermann Collection.

Harbour defence works and fortifications at Middle Head, Sydney Harbour — Holtermann Collection.

The Holtermann Mansion, North Sydney — Bernhardt Otto Holtermann’s residence linked to the glass-plate collection.

View toward Middle Head gun emplacements from the harbour — Holtermann Collection.

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Another harbour view of Middle Head gun emplacements — Holtermann Collection.

Merton Lodge — Holtermann Collection glass negative.

Panorama of Sydney from the Holtermann residence, North Sydney (panel).

Panorama of Sydney from the Holtermann residence, North Sydney (panel).

Panorama of Sydney from the Holtermann mansion, North Sydney (panel).

Panorama of Sydney from the Holtermann mansion, North Sydney (panel).

Panorama of Sydney from the Holtermann mansion, North Sydney (panel).

Panorama of Sydney from the Holtermann mansion, North Sydney (panel).

Panorama of Sydney from the Holtermann mansion, North Sydney (panel).

Panorama of Sydney from the Holtermann mansion, North Sydney (panel).

Panorama of Sydney from the Holtermann mansion, North Sydney (panel).

Architectural plans for offices and stables on the Holtermann property, North Sydney.

Race day at Randwick Racecourse — Holtermann Collection glass negative.

Race day crowds and course at Randwick Racecourse — Holtermann Collection.

Further race-day scene at Randwick Racecourse — Holtermann Collection.

The Gap, ocean cliffs at South Head, Watsons Bay — Holtermann Collection.

Cocks Family Hotel, corner of New South Head Road and Ocean Street — Holtermann Collection.

Historic Sydney view from the Holtermann Collection (subject not labelled on the file).

State Library of NSW Holtermann Collection plate (subject not labelled in the post).

Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel – Mount Street – North Sydney – New South Wales

Mount Street, North Sydney, just off the Pacific Highway bustle, drops you into a quieter Josephite precinct. The Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel at 7–11 Mount Street sits inside Mary MacKillop Place, the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart campus. Mother Baptista Molloy had the Gothic Revival chapel built in 1913 as a memorial to Mary MacKillop — St Mary of the Cross, co-founder of the Josephites and later Australia’s first saint. Land was given in memory of the Daly family. Archbishop Michael Kelly dedicated the chapel on 18 January 1914.

Only days later, on 28 January 1914, Mary MacKillop’s remains were brought from Gore Hill Cemetery and reinterred in a vault before Our Lady’s altar (the vault associated with her friend Johanna Barr-Smith). On 20 December 1993 the remains were moved again into the former vestry so pilgrims could reach a more accessible shrine, ahead of beatification in 1995 and canonisation in 2010. The chapel remains a working place of prayer and the focus of Josephite memory on Mount Street.

Photographs here show the chapel’s stone exterior, pointed arches and tower profile, and aspects of the Mount Street setting.

 

Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel - Mount Street  North Sydney  

 
North Sydney Post Office And Courthouse - 92–94 Pacific Highway - North Sydney

That clock tower on the Pacific Highway at Mount Street is the civic punctuation mark of old St Leonards — the late-Victorian government precinct at 92–94 Pacific Highway. After a branch post and telegraph office opened in the district in the 1870s, the colonial government bought the triangular site in 1884 for a combined post office, courthouse and police station.

Colonial Architect James Barnet designed the group; James Reynolds was the principal builder. The courthouse portion was finished about 1886 and the post office was ready for occupation on 31 January 1889 (the office name shifting to “North Sydney” soon after). A clock tower went up over the entrance in 1895, in Walter Liberty Vernon’s time as Government Architect; the clock itself was installed in July 1900 after locals settled their share of the cost. Circular stairs and sandstone classical detail still give the corner its landmark weight.

The post office is on the NSW State Heritage Register. Postal counter functions have in recent years moved to other North Sydney premises, while heritage management of the vacant historic building and the separate state-owned courthouse/police components continues to evolve. Photographs here show the Pacific Highway frontage, the carved “COURT HOUSE” entrance, and the combined civic group.