Arthur Phillip - First Fleet - King George III's Instructions

Arthur Phillip Had Been Given A Royal Commission By King George III Before He Left Portsmouth In May 1787, Appointing HiM Liuetanant General, Or Commander In Chief Over The New Colony .

After Phillip And The Marines Had Finally Got All The Women Convicts Ashore At Circular Quay On February 6th 1788, A Mass Orgy Between the Male Convicts And The Female Convicts Occurred Through The Night. Judge Advocate David Collins Recorded In His

Journal That The Humidity Was Almost Unbearable, And There Was An Intense Storm And Lightning Struck A Tree And Killed 2 Sheep As They Were All Huddled In Their Tents They Could Hear The Howling Of The Dingoes As They Dug The Graves Of The People Who Had Been Freshly Buried At The Very First Sydney Burial Ground

located Near Dawes Point. 

George III. By The Grace Of God. King Of Great Britain, France & Ireland. To Our Trusty & Well Beloved Arthur Phillip Esq.  

We, Reposing A Special Trust In The Prudence, Courage & Loyalty Of You, The Said Arthur Phillip, Of Our Special Grace; Have Seen Fit To Constitute & Appoint You To Be Our Lieutenant General, Or Commander In Chief; In, & Over Our Territory Called New South Wales.  

Starting From The Northern Cape Or Coastal Extremity Known As Cape York, In Latitude 10 Degrees 37 Minutes To The Southern Cape Or Coastal Extremity In Latitude 43 Degrees 37 Minutes South. & All The Land Westward, To The 135th Degrre Of East Longtitude, Including All The Islands Adjacent In The Pacific Ocean, Within The Latitude Name. 

Our Will & Pleasure Is That You Take The Oath Of Office Of Luietenant General & Commander In Chief, For The Due & Impartial Administration Of Justice 

& We Hereby Authorise & Empower You To Keep & Use The Public Seal, For Sealing All Things Whatsoever That Shall Pass The Great Seal Of Our Said Territory, & It's Dependancies. 

Likewise, We Give You Full Power & Authority To Give Oaths;To Such Person, Or Persons As You Will Judge Fit. To Constitute & Appoint Justice's Of The Peace, Coroners, Constables & Other Such Necessary Officers, For The Better Administration Of Justice. 

To Pardon Offences; To Remit Fines & Forfeitures, To Levy, Arm, Muster & Command All Persons Whatsoever,  Civil & Military,  Residing In The Said Territory, For The Resisting Of All Enemies; Pirates & Rebels, At Sea & On Land. 

To Execute Mashall Law In Time Of Invasion, & At Other Times, When, By Law It May Be Executed 

To Constitute & Appoint Masters Of Ships, Lieutenants & Other Such Necessary Officers; To Punish & Execute  Convicts, At Sea, Or During Their Time  Of Abode At Ports Harbours & Bays. 

To Erect, Raise & Build As Many Platforms, Burrows, Cities, Castles & Towns:  & Other Fortifications As You Shall Judge Necessary 

We Also Give You Full Power & Authority To Grant Land, To Control Commerce, To Erect Fair Marts & Markets. 

& We Hereby Command All Citizens, Civil & Military; & All Other Inhabitants To Be Obedient, Aiding & Assisting, To You, The Said Arthur Phillip; In The Execution Of This; Our Royal Commission. 

& In The Event Of Your Absence Or Death From The Said Territory, & It's Dependances, All Inhabitants Are To Be Obedient Aiding & Assisting To Such Person That Will Be Appointed By Us To Be Lieutenant General Or Commander In Chief. 

Witnessed Ourselves At Westminster, On The 2nd Day Of April, In The 27th Year Of Our Reign. 

& For So Doing, This Shall Be Your Warrant; Given At Our Court At At James On The 22nd March 1787, In The 27th Year Of Our Reign 

GOD SAVE THE KING 

5. First Government House

First Government House

Bridge Street And Phillip Street South Western Corner.

Where The Museum Of Sydneyis Now, Is Where The Frst And Original Government

House Stood....

It's The House That Governor Bligh Was Supposedly Hiding Under the Bed When a The Red coats Of The New South Wales Army Corp Were Going to Put Him

under House Arrest. 

Be Chosen By Us To Be Liuetenant General Or Commander In Chief 

Construction Of The First Government House Was Commenced On May 15, 1788. Governor Phillip Moved In Ahortly Before June 4 1789. It Was The Residence of 8 Governors Until 1845

National Day Of The Australian Flag - September 3rd

On September 3rd 1901.... 8 Months After The Australian Constitution was Signed  ... the Australian Flag Was Flown For the First Time. Before That Each Colonial State had Its Own Version

National Wattle Day - September 1st

National Wattle Day 

National wattle day

Since Federation in 1901 When The Constitution Was Signed In Centennial Park Sydney, The Native Wattle Plant Came To Represent All The States Of The Commonwealth. This Is where The Colours Green & Gold Originated From.
In 1913 The Governor General Gazetted that September 1st, the First Day Of Spring Become A National Day Recognising The Wattle Bush, Which Grows In Every State Of The Commonwealth

The Rat Pit - Pitt Street Near King Street, Sydney

THE RAT PIT - 
Pitt Street, Western Side, Near King Street 

A Place Where Dog, Rat And Rooster Fighting Took Place In Sydney 1830's

   I Can Imagine A Group Of Wild Men Meeting In Someone's Cellar Or Somewhere Secret Holding The Dog Fights, And Rat Fights. I Imagime The Cock Fights Didn't Start Till Later When The Colony Of Sydney's Food Shortage Was Over. 

I Also Imagine There was Only Ever Going To Be One a Winner In These Fights To The Death. I Guess Rum Would've Been Wagered In The Beginning Until Governor Macquarie Started The Currency. 

Dog, Cock & Rat Fighting Were Popular "Sports" In Sydney's Early Days. 

In The Sydney Mail Of 31st July 1907, Mr Morris Asher, Describing His Arrival At Sydney Cove in 1838 Says

"I Saw A Dog Kill 60 Rats In One Minute. Horse Racing, Dog Fighting, Cock Fighting, Rat Fighting And Prize Fighting Were All The Rage. Scarcely Anything Else   Was Thought Of, And It a Was Hard For A Young Fellow To Settle Down."

Clancy Of The Overflow - Banjo Paterson

Clancy Of The Overflow - By Banjo Paterson...

This Was One Of The Banjo Paterson Poems That My Grandmother used to make me Recite Word For Word. 

I Went To Waverley Cemetery One day last year Looking for his Grave Site, but I had no Luck, and as No one is interested In the History Of This Country or It's People, there Obviously Wasn't Any Signage, or actually anyone there that could help me on my Quest That Day..... Disappointing. Absolutely No one Seemed to know. 

I'm Going to Go To The Auction Next Saturday Of Another Piece Of Heritage Given To Developers.... The Old Psychiatric Hospital Next To Darlinghurst Courthouse was Recently Pulled Down and All That Is Left Is The Old Residence Of The  Director General (If That Is The Right Title....)  Of St Vincents Hospital Back In it's Hey Day When It Was 2 - 3 Times The Size Of What It Is Now. So This 2 Storey Colonial Residence Which Is The Gardens Of The Psychiatric Part Has A Block Of Units Towering Over It. I Don't Know If I'd Want To live There now. 

The Reason I Mention this Is, Is Because Banjo Paterson Was A Regular Guest.....

Clancy Of The Overflow........

I had written him a letter which I had,
for want of better Knowledge,

sent to where I met him 

down the Lachlan, years ago,

He was shearing when I knew him, 

so I sent the letter to him,

Just `on spec', 

addressed as follows, 

`Clancy, of The Overflow'.

& an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,

(& I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)

'Twas his shearing mate who wrote it,

& verbatim I will quote it:

`Clancy's gone to Queensland droving,

& we don't know where he are.'

In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy Gone a-droving 

`down the Cooper' where the Western drovers go;

As the stock are slowly stringing, 

Clancy rides behind them singing,

For the drover's life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

& the bush hath friends to meet him, 

& their kindly voices greet him

In the murmur of the breezes & the river on its bars,

& he sees the vision splendid 

of the sunlit plains extended,

& at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars.

I am sitting in my dingy little office,

where a stingy ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,

& the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city

Through the open window floating, 

spreads its foulness over all

& in place of lowing cattle,

I can hear the fiendish rattle of the tramways & the 'buses making hurry down the street,

& the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,

Comes fitfully & faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.

& the hurrying people daunt me, 

& their pallid faces haunt me

As they shoulder one another in their rush & nervous haste,

With their eager eyes & greedy,

& their stunted forms & weedy,

For townsfolk have no time to grow,

they have no time to waste.

& I somehow rather fancy that I'd like to change with Clancy,

Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come & go,

While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the journal

--But I doubt he'd suit the office, 

Clancy, of `The Overflow'

Advance Australia Fair - National Anthem - Including Original Version

Advance Australia Fair

Australians All Let Us Rejoice, 
For We Are Young & Free
We've Golden Soil & Wealth For Toil
Our Home Is Girt By Sea
Our Land Abounds In Nature's Gifts
Of Beauty Rich & Rare;
In History's Page, Let Every Stage
Advance Australia Fair
In Joyful Strains Then Let Us Sing....
 Advance Australia Fair
Beneath Our Radiant Southern Cross,
We'll Toil With Hearts & Hands;
To Make This Commonwealth Of Ours 
Renowned Of All The Lands;
For Those Who've Come Across The Sea
We've Boundless Plains To Share;
With Courage Let Us All Combine
To Advance Australia Fair......
In Joyful Strains Then Let Us Sing..... Advance Australia Fair...

The Original 1879 Of Advance Australia Fair
 Verse 1
Australia's Sons Let Us Rejoice, 
For We Are Young & Free;
We've Golden Soil & Wealth For Toil, 
Our Home Is Girt By Sea;
Our Land Abounds In Nature's Gifts Of Beauty Rich & Rare;
In History's Page, Let Every Stage, Advance Australia Fair.....
In Joyful Strains Then Let Us Sing.......... Advance Australia Fair

Verse 2
When Gallant Cook From Albion Sailed,
To Trace Wide Ocean's O'er,
True British Courage Bore Him On, 
Till He Landed On Our Shore. 
Then Here He Raised Old England's Flag, The Standard Of The Brave;
"With All Her Faults We Love Her Still"
"Britannia Rules The Wave"
In Joyful Strains Then Let Us Sing...... Advance Australia Fair
Verse 3 
While Other Nations Of The Globe Behold Us From Afar, 
We'll Rise To High Renown & Shine Like Our Glorious Southern Star;
From England Soil & Fatherland, Scotia & Erin Fair
Let All Combine With Heart & Hand To Advance Australia Fair
In Joyful Strains Then Let Us Sing...... Advance Australia Fair
Verse 4 
Should Foreign Foe E'er Sight Our Coast Or Dare a Foot To Land
We'll Rouse To Arms Like Sires Of Yore, To Guard Our Native Strand;
Britannia Then Shall Surely Know, Though Ocean's Roll Between, 
Her Son's In Fair Australia's Land Still Keep Their Courage Green
In Joyful Strains Then Let us Sing...... 
Advance Australia Fair.........

The Queen Victoria Building – George Street – Sydney – New South Wales

April 4

On this day in 1820 the foundation stone was laid for the building that would eventually became the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) on George, Market, York and Druitt Streets in Sydney. The site has a long history as a fresh produce market and was also at one time the Central Police Court. The Romanesque architecture of the QVB as we now know it was designed by George McRae and completed in 1898.

Photo ( Old Police Court (now site of the Queen Victoria Building), George Street, Sydney (NSW)

The Queen Victoria Building

The Queen  Victoria Building Designed by City Architect George McRae, Was Sydney's  Central Markets, Was Constructed between 1893 & 1898,. 

 At the Height Of the Reign Of Queen Victoria It Was Named in Her Honour & In Celebration of Her Golden Jubilee In 1887 & her Diamond Jubilee In 1897


The Plan Of the Buildings Is Direct & Simple; A Long Rectangle To Which Entry Was Provioded At Each End & At The Centre Of Each Long Side. The Markets Occupied The Basement & Were Serviuced by Stairs & Four Hydraulic Lifts. There Were Apartments & Shops on the Ground 7 First Floors, Warehouses, showrooms & An Art Gallery On The 2nd Floor, & Further Apartments & A Photographic Gallery On The Thirds.

At The Northern End Of the Building, Extending through Several Storeys, Was A Large Hall Used For Concerts & Balls.

in 1910 The City Markets Were Transferred Southwards to The Area Still Referred to As Haymarket & the Queen Victoria Building Was Subject to An Unfortunate Succession of Alterations Which Drastically Changed Its Architectural Chracter.


Major Transformation of The Interior of the Building Resulted From Alterations Made in 1917 a 1930. Heavy concrete Floors & Bridging The entire Space to provide For Council Offices & The city Library Completely Destroyed the Origianl Gallery Concerpt & robbed The Building Of Its Splendid open Interior.

The Glass Roof No Longer Used For Lighting Purposes, Was Replaced by galvonized iron. The Building Being Expensive To maintain Fell into A State Of Depression & Neglect. in The 1950's The City Council, Seeing no Viable Commercial Future Contemplated Its Destruction... & There Was Little Evidence Of Public opposition.

In 1980 The council Decided to Invite International proposals for the restoration & Use of the Building, & in 1981 Accepted That Advanced byu A Malaysian Based Company, Ipoh Garden Berhad. The Comopany Undertook To Restore The Structure & Fabvric of The Building To Its Original Form And DevelopIt  As A Retail Centre With restaurants, Exhibition & Entertainment Areas. There Would Also Be Underground Pedestrian Accessways To The Town Hall Railway Station & Several Adjacent Commercial Centres. The Council Would in Return Grant To The Company A 99 Yearlease 

The Queen Victoria Building Was So Named To Celebrate Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee in 1887, & Her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

American Romanesque -   It Is A Real Shame A Building Of Such Standing & Grandeur Is Surrounded By Buildings Of No Consequences Of Glass & Concrete. It Was Designed George McRae. The Original Ceiling Was Made Of Glass.


Can You Imagine How Beautiful It Would've Been To Enter The Heads Of Sydney Harbour.... Past Pinchgut Island.... ( Fort Denison)

In The Early Days They Used To Hang The Dead Bodies Up To Warn & Convicts Coming To The Penal Colonty Of New South Wales....  To Sydney Town.... That Is You Played Up... You Would End Up There....


Sydney Town Would've Been Amazing As You Alighted From The Ship At Circular Quay... Dolphin... Fish..... Sharks And One Of The Most Perfect Quays In The World....  Although They Do Say That You Could Smell Sydney Town Three Miles Away From The Stench.

All Those Makeshift Shanties, Inns And Hotels Of The Notorious "Rocks" - A Place Not To Go After Dark.



The Site Is Bounded By York And George Street And Druitt Street. The Plan Of The Building Is Direct & Simple, A Long Rectangle And Entry At Each End. At The Northern End Of The Building, extending Through Several Storeys, There Was A Large Hall Which Was Used For Concerts And Balls.


in 1910 The City Markets Were Transferred Southward To The Area Still Known As Haymarket, And The Queen Victoria Building Underwent  An Unfortunate Succession Of Alterations, Which Has Drasticaly Changed Its Architectural Character. Major Interior Alterations Were Made Between 1917 & 1930.

The Glass Roof Was Replaced With Glavanised Iron...  Imagine Being In There In The Daytime With The Market Atmosphere, and A Glass Roof So There Were Streams Of Sunlight Shining Throughout The Building... Wow. What A Difference That Would've Been To How It Is Now.

The Building, Being Expensive To Maintain Fell Into A State Of Depression. In The 1950's The City Council Contemplated Its Destruction, &There Was Little Public Opposition.




The Architectural Style Chosen by George McRae For His Makrets Buiklding Gas Become Known As AMERICAN ROMANESQUE.  One Other Building Still Stabnds In Hay Street


The Design & erection of The Queen victoria Building Was A Major Architectural Achievement, The more So When Considered in Relation To The Depressed State of the Australian Economy At the Tmie.

Its Regrettable That A Building of Such grandeur Should Be Almost Submerged Within A Forest Of Characterless Modern Piles Of Concrete And Glass.

By Good Fortune The Queen Victoria Buiklding Is Happily Groups With Its Victorian Fellows - The Sydney Town Hall & St Andrews Cathedral,. Romanesque, Neo-Classic & Gothic Styles merge Harmoniously Under the Mellow influence Of Decorative Sandstone,.

Had Sydney Been Designed in the Grand Spanish Or Italian manner, With The Generous Open Places &Linking Boulevards, The Queen Victoria Buiklding Would Have Fitted Aptly.

It's Very Sad.... the High Rises/.... The Skyscrapers... Those Characterless buildings Of Concrete & Glass.I Will Never Know & Neither Will Any Other Sydneysider, Apart From the Old Pictures, How Beautiful thecity   Was, Now Its Just A cold clinical, Symetrical mindfuck It's Not Progressive, Sophisticated or Advanced. We're A City of Strangers. I Wouldn't Even Know Who My Neighbours Are. I Don't Know What's Right &^ What's Real Anynore. It's All Cars & Plasic &Cursing Each other. We're now just Weapons Of Mass Consumoption. It's How I've Been Programmed to function

The Architectural Style Chosen  By George McRae For His and Sydney Markets Buiklding Has Become Known As American Romanesque. Only One Other Building Remains That Was Designed By McRae And That Is In Hay Street, Across From The State Theatre, There Is Strangely Designed Building. Well Worth Looking At And When Noticed It's Hard To Miss.


The Queen Victoria Building Is Notable For The Employment Of Expansive Barrel Form Roof Engineering Which Weere Very Advanced At The Time It Was Constructed. The Lightweight Steel Trusses Supporting The Roof And Those Forming The Structure Of The Huge Central Dome Weeew Anything  But Conventional. The Indicate That George McRae Was Aware Of The Revolutionary Engineering Methods Being Applied At This Time For Covering Railway Stations And For A Large  Public Covered Areas Through America And Europe.

The Design And The Erection Of The Queen Victoria Building Was A Major Architectural Achievement, And Even More So When Considered In Realtion To The Depression In The Australian Economy.


It's Such A Tragedy That A Building Of Such Grandeur Is Now Submerged Within A Forest Of  Chracterless Modeern Piles Of Concrete And Glass.




By Good Fortune, The Queen Victoria Buiding Is Grouped With The Sydney Town Hall And St Andrews Cathedral, Romanesque, Neo Classic And Gothic Styles.... Had Sydney Been Designed In The Grand SPanish Or Italian Manner, With Generous Open Places And Boulevards, The QVB Would've Fitted Int.o A Position Of Dominance.


It's Very Sad. The High Rises, The Skyscrapers, The Glass And Concrete. I Will Never Know, Apart From Old Picutres, How Beautiful The City Of Sydney Was. It's Now A Cold City, Clinical, A Symetrical MindFuck. It's Not Progressive, Sophisticated, Advanced. We Are A City Of Strangers. I Don't Know What's Right And What's Real Anymore. It's All Fast Cars & Plastic. We're Now Like Weapons Of Mass Consumption. It's How We've Been Programmed To Fucntion In This Day And Age.

First General Hospital – George Street North, in Front of Police Station – The Rocks

There Is A Small Plaque On The Wall Of The Police Station.... Which Reads.....

"The Site Of The First General Hospital In Australia - 1788 - 1816"

"The Marines , Their Wives and Children, Together With All The Convicts Were Landed. The Laboratory And Sick Tents Were Erected, And I Am Sorry To Say, Were Soon Filled with Sick Patients Afflicted With The True Camp Dysentery And The Scurvy"