In 1873 photographers recorded Sydney’s civic core as banks, clubs, churches and government offices lined Macquarie, George and Pitt Streets. Drawn from the State Library of NSW digital collections, these plates move from Government House and Parliament through Circular Quay warehouses to the Domain, Farm Cove and even the Zig Zag Railway. This post gathers that 1873 photographic survey of Sydney and related views.
NEW SOUTH WALES.
[Royal coat of arms]
PHOTOGRAPHS.
1873.
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES AT CONFERENCE HELD IN SYDNEY 1873
[Royal coat of arms]
[Names under the portraits, top to bottom, left to right:]
THE HON: SAUL SAMUEL
THE HON: J. C. FRANCIS
THE HON: E. LANGTON
THE HON: JULIUS VOGEL C.M.G.
THE HON: HENRY PARKES CHAIRMAN
THE HON: A. H. PALMER
THE HON: SIR HENRY AYERS K.C.M.G.
THE HON: J. H. BARROW
THE HON: W. H. REYNOLDS
THE HON: F. M. INNES
THE HON: J. M. THOMPSON
THE HON: J. M. WILSON
THE HON: F. P. BARLEE
A. C. BUDGE ESQ SECRETARY
J. HUBERT NEWMAN
PHOTOR
S. H. ROAD
SYDNEY
N. S. W.
A COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
OF
Buildings and Views in New South Wales,
PRESENTED TO THE
DELEGATES REPRESENTING THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES, AND NEW ZEALAND,
AT
THE INTERCOLONIAL CONFERENCE HELD IN SYDNEY,
JANUARY—FEBRUARY, 1873.
[Library stamp: Public Library, Mitchell Library, N.S.W.]
SYDNEY: THOMAS RICHARDS, GOVERNMENT PRINTER.—1873.
CONTENTS.
SYDNEY IN 1803. Copied from M. Peron's "Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes."
Do. IN 1873.
THE PORT AND CITY OF SYDNEY IN 1872 (Descriptive remarks).
LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS.
1 GOVERNMENT HOUSE. (Showing Porch).
2 Do.
3 PARLIAMENTARY BUILDINGS, Macquarie-street North.
4 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY CHAMBER, Macquarie-street (Exterior).
5 COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, Bridge-street.
6 THE TREASURY, Macquarie-street North.
7 CUSTOM HOUSE, Circular Quay.
8 REGISTRAR GENERAL'S OFFICE, Elizabeth-street.
9 AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, College-street.
10 FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, Bent and Macquarie Streets.
11 POST OFFICE, George-street (taken from the Building).
12 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, Phillip and Bent Streets.
13 OBSERVATORY, Flagstaff Hill.
14 SYDNEY BRANCH ROYAL MINT, Macquarie-street.
15 VICTORIA BARRACKS (Men's Quarters).
16 BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES, George-street.
17 ORIENTAL BANK, Pitt-street.
18 UNION BANK, Pitt-street.
19 JOINT STOCK BANK, George-street.
20 ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, AND AUSTRALIAN CHARTERED BANK, George-street.
21 BANK OF AUSTRALASIA, George-street.
22 COMMERCIAL BANK, George-street.
23 LONDON CHARTERED BANK, George-street.
24 CITY BANK (New), Pitt-street.
25 UNION CLUB, Bent-street.
26 AUSTRALIAN CLUB, Bent-street.
27 VICTORIA CLUB, Castlereagh-street.
28 CIVIL SERVICE CLUB, Macquarie-street North.
29 MORT'S STORES, Circular Quay.
30 BLOCK OF BUILDINGS, New Pitt and Spring Streets.
31 EXCHANGE, Bridge-street.
32 SCHOOL OF ARTS, Pitt-street.
33 ST. ANDREW'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL, George-street.
34 INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHAPEL.
35 ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, Church Hill (Roman Catholic).
36 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, Pitt-street.
37 DR. LANG'S CHURCH, Jamieson-street (Presbyterian).
38 MARINERS' CHURCH, Circular Quay.
39 WESLEYAN CHAPEL, York-street.
40 ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, Castlereagh-street. (Presbyterian).
41 MORTUARY, Redfern. (Front View).
42 Do. Haslem Creek (South End).
43 UNIVERSITY.
44 OLD STONE PINE TREES, Bridge-street.
45 GEORGE STREET. (looking south). [pencil tick in margin]
46 ST. PAUL'S COLLEGE.
47 ARGYLE CUTTING, Argyle-street.
48 BOTANIC GARDENS, Sydney. (View.)
49 Do. do.
50 Do. do.
51 Do. do.
52 Do. do.
53 Do. do.
54 Do. do.
55 H.M.S. "GALATEA," in Farm Cove; Government House to the left.
56 COCKATOO ISLAND; H.M.S. "GALATEA" in Dock.
57 GOVERNOR BOURKE'S STATUE, Domain.
58 PRINCE ALBERT'S STATUE, Hyde Park.
59 EXHIBITION BUILDING, Prince Alfred Park (Front Entrance).
60 ZIG ZAG, Lithgow Valley.
61 Do. do.
62 DOMAIN AVENUE. (Rear of Mint).
63 VIEW IN DOMAIN.
Lesueur del. J. Milbert direx. Gravé à l'eau-forte par Pillement, terminé par Dupar[illegible]
NOUVELLE-HOLLANDE: NOUVELLE GALLES DU SUD.
Vue de la partie méridionale de la Ville de SYDNEY Capitale des Colonies Anglaises aux Terres Australes, et de l'Embouchure de la rivière de Parramatta (1803.)
De l'Imprimerie de Langlois.
[Album caption:] Sydney in 1803.
[Upper photograph:] Sydney in 1873.
[Lower photograph:] Circular Quay, Sydney Cove, 1873.
SYDNEY.
SYDNEY is the Metropolis of New South Wales. Gifted by Nature with all the physical requirements of a great Mercantile and Manufacturing Town—the emporium of a Country profusely endowed with Mineral wealth, and rich in Pastoral and Agricultural resources—she has so greatly increased in importance as to entitle her to rank amongst the principal Cities of the World. Port Jackson, on the southern shore of which Sydney is built, if equalled, is certainly not surpassed, by any other natural harbour in the World, not even by the magnificent haven of Rio Janeiro. The bold coast fronting the Pacific is suddenly broken, and the giant cliffs form a portal to an estuary about a mile in width, with an enormous perimeter, capacious enough to shelter the Navies of the World. A vessel making the Port sails in a few moments out of the long swell of the Ocean into calm deep water, protected on every side by high lands. On entering, a splendid vista is presented to the voyager, the elevated shore being broken into innumerable bays and inlets, and the central expanse of water relieved by many a picturesque islet. The rocky shore on each side stretches from heights of above 200 feet down to the water's edge, disclosing at intervals in the distance the white sandy beach of a bay which Stanfield, or Copley Fielding, would have loved to paint. The well-wooded hills, clothed in the bright garb of Spring, or in the russet of Summer, and bathed in the glorious light of an Australian atmosphere, form a charming margin to the bright blue waters they enclose. As the City is approached, pretty villas and imposing mansions, surrounded with gardens and orchards, crown the heights, or extend along the shore.
About 4 miles from the entrance to the Port, and at a point where the southern shore presents several prominent headlands, leading to capacious land-locked basins, the City rises into view. It occupies an area of more than 2,000 acres, and is bounded on the north and west by water. Its greatest length, north and south, is 3⅜ miles; and its greatest breadth, east and west, 2⅞ miles. It has 115 miles of streets, irrespective of minor thoroughfares, and about 15,000 houses. The population of the City and Suburbs, by the Census taken in 1871, was 136,483.
The site was originally fixed at the head of Sydney Cove, and in the neighbourhood there are still traces of the primitive architecture. In a right line, extending from this point to the south, the land is the lowest; rising gently to the south, and to the east by easy acclivities, and more abruptly to the west; the highest point in the latter direction being occupied by the Observatory and Signal Station. Towards the south the variations of level are less strongly marked; but eastward the gradual ascent reaches to the heights of Darlinghurst, and still more elevated suburbs of Paddington, Woollahra, and Waverley. The City is flanked on the west by a large arm of Darling Harbour. The streets of the main part of the City have been laid out to the cardinal points of the compass, and therefore intersect each other at right angles.
Government House, the official residence of Her Majesty's Representative, is a building, in the Tudor style, on a slight eminence, near to and overlooking the Harbour, and is surrounded by gardens and ornamental grounds. Its length is 152 feet; width, 82 feet. The private residences in the neighbourhood of Sydney are of a superior character. The fashionable quarter par excellence is the east end of the City, and the localities stretching thence along the shore. Here are most of those splendid mansions of which glimpses are caught from the Harbour, which they overlook. Many of them have been erected at great cost, and, for extent, tastefulness of internal decoration, and beauty of their grounds and gardens, are perhaps unequalled by any private residences on this side of the Equator.
There are upwards of one hundred and twenty Churches, Chapels, and other places of worship, in the City and Suburbs. Architecturally, the edifices of the English and Roman Churches are the most prominent, although the chief place of worship of the Congregational body, in Pitt-street, and those of the Wesleyan Methodists, in York-street and at Chippendale, are fine spacious buildings, of striking outline, and with finely-finished interiors. The Anglican Cathedral Church of St. Andrew, in George-street, has occupied many years in erection, and although not thoroughly finished, has been for some time used for public worship; it has a remarkably fine site in the most elevated part of the central district of the City, but is of comparatively small dimensions, being, within the walls, 160 feet long by 62 feet in breadth; the transept is 110 feet by only 14 feet; it is a Gothic building, in what is usually known as the Later Decorated Style, approaching in some of its exterior details to the Perpendicular; it has stained-glass windows in the highest form of modern art, nearly all being the gifts of private individuals; elaborate marble and encaustic tile-work covers the floor of the choir and the steps leading thereto. The Roman Catholic community are proceeding with the erection of what is to be a highly decorated and very large Gothic Cathedral, near the site of the one burnt down a few years ago.
Although Sydney has few reserves analagous [sic] to the Squares of London, it has excellent Parks and Gardens within its boundaries, easily accessible to the citizens. Hyde Park is a beautiful plateau of 40 acres, nearly in the centre of the City; it has a fine avenue, about half a mile long, and is surrounded by …
[The text continues on the next page of the album, which is not in this post.]