Rookwood Cemetery – Lidcombe – New South Wales

 

Rookwood Cemetery - Lidcombe NSW

Rookwood Cemetery, located in Lidcombe, New South Wales, is one of the largest and oldest cemeteries in Australia. Here's some information about Rookwood Cemetery:

1. History: Rookwood Cemetery was established in 1867 to address the shortage of burial space in Sydney. It was initially known as the Necropolis, meaning "city of the dead." The land was chosen for its size and distance from urban areas.

2. Size and Layout: Rookwood Cemetery covers an expansive area of approximately 314 hectares (777 acres). It is divided into denominational sections, reflecting the diverse religious and cultural backgrounds of the people buried there. These sections include Catholic, Anglican, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, and various other denominations.

3. Burial Ground: Rookwood Cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of thousands of individuals, including notable Australians and people from various walks of life. The cemetery has both monumental and lawn grave sections, as well as areas for cremation memorials.

4. Architectural Features: Rookwood Cemetery is known for its impressive architecture and funerary monuments. It features a wide range of tombstones, mausoleums, crypts, and memorials, showcasing various architectural styles such as Victorian, Gothic, Art Deco, and contemporary designs.

5. Cultural and Heritage Significance: Rookwood Cemetery holds cultural and historical significance due to its diverse range of burial practices and the stories of the people buried there. It reflects the multicultural nature of Australian society and provides insights into the social, religious, and cultural history of the region.

6. Facilities and Services: The cemetery offers a range of services, including burial plots, cremation facilities, memorial gardens, and chapel services. It also provides visitor amenities such as parking, maps, and guided tours.

7. Arboretum and Wildlife: Rookwood Cemetery is home to an arboretum, which features a collection of trees and plantings, creating a peaceful and serene environment. The cemetery also supports a variety of wildlife, including birds and native animals.

Rookwood Cemetery continues to serve as an important place for commemoration, remembrance, and reflection. It holds a significant place in Australian history and provides a tranquil space for visitors to pay their respects to loved ones and explore the rich cultural heritage preserved within its grounds.

Kings Cross Theatre – Junction of Darlinghurst Road & Victoria Street – Darlinghurst – New South Wales

If you know “the Cross,” you know the junction of Darlinghurst Road and Victoria Street — and for nearly fifty years the building that owned that corner was the Kings Cross Theatre. It opened 14 April 1916 on Frank Waddington’s picture-house circuit: a lavish suburban cinema seating about 2,000, with orchestra and (from 1928) a Wurlitzer organ. For half a century it was the landmark entertainment address at the top of William Street / Darlinghurst Road.

The cinema closed in 1963. After a brief nightclub turn (the Birdcage), John Harrigan’s Surf City beat venue occupied the stripped auditorium from 1963 to 1966 — short-lived, but a famous chapter in Australian popular music. The theatre came down in 1966 for the Scandinavian-style Crest Hotel (opened 1967), later partly remodelled; the multipurpose Omnia apartment and retail complex has held the corner since 2016 works. Kings Cross railway station infrastructure also remade the underground and streetscape around it.

Photographs here recall the theatre corner and its hotel-era replacements. The building is gone — caption Crest / Omnia as “on the former theatre site.”

Kings CrossTheatre - At The Junction Of Darlinghurst Road & Victoria Street

 

What A Wonderful Place This Would’ve Been. Way Before I Was Born. I’ve Stood There And Tried To Visualise How It Would’ve Been. So Sad. 

The Kings Cross Theatre sat on the corner of Darlinghurst Rd and Victoria St and opened in 1916. Part of Frank Waddington's chain of picture houses, the cinema seated over 2000 and was described as 'particularly lavish'.

A 'junior' nightclub called the Birdcage, run by radio compere Peter Bergin was open briefly in the venue in 1963 after the theatre closed, and was soon replaced by John Harrigan's Surf City, that occupied the building from 1963 until 1966 when the building was demolished, to be replaced by the Crest Hotel.\

The Crest Hotel was a Scandinavian style 14 storey hotel and it had the famous "Goldfish" bar at street level. The building was partially demolished in 2016 and remodelled as the multipurpose apartment building Omnia, which houses 131 apartments, a new commercial offering at ground and first floor, including a supermarket and associated parking within the existing building basement.

Historic Harbourside Homes Doomed Mansions Of Potts Point - The Sydney Sun - Saturday 4th January 1941

 

Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Saturday 4 January 1941, page 5

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HISTORIC HARBORSIDE HOMES

DOOMED MANSIONS OF POTTS POINT

Memory Of Fireworks On Queen's Birthday
By WALTER E. BETHEL
With the demolition of the fine old mansions of Potts Point to make room for the new naval dockyard will disappear memorials to some of Sydney's happiest and most prosperous years.
The Harbor view from Potts Point was marred many years ago when the Stuart Government handed over Garden Island to the Navy, and now Potts Point itself is doomed.
The area to be resumed, we are told, is part of 11 acres originally granted to Judge-Advocate John Wylde in November, 1822. Six acres were conveyed by Wylde to J. H. Potts, one of the early officers of the Bank of New South Wales, estab-lished in 1817. Governor Phillip called the point Point Campbell — the native name being Carrageen — but the common place name of Potts prevailed. This, however, did not prevent the locality for years being regarded as Sydney's most aristocratic area. Darlinghurst was originally a wide locality, and was shown in J. S. Roe's map of Sydney as Henrietta Town — so called after the first Christian name of Governor Macquarie's wife. This part of old Sydney was in the first instance set apart as a reserve for blacks, but as the town grew the aborigines had to move on. The first house of note in this lo-cality was "Craigend," a palatial home built by the late Sir Thomas Mitchell in the thirties. Many of us remember this fine home, facing as it did Upper William-street South (now Woolcott-street) . Became Boarding-House The home was built on a Crown grant dated October 19, 1831, com-prising over nine acres. Sir Thomas lived there for a time; then tenants followed. The first was G. J. Rogers, solicitor, and then came Henry Prince, of the great dry goods firm of Prince, Ogg and Company, whose city warehouse stretched from George-street to Pitt-street. "Craigend" served later as a pri-vate hospital, and then as the in-evitable boarding-house. Just behind it, on Mill Hill, was a fine specimen of a typical mill of the period. Hynde's Mill, it was called. Between "Craigend" and the Potts Point waterfront many fine homes were built. "Craigend" has long been demolished, and terraces and flats now occupy the site. Some short distance further north stood the famous "Roslyn Hall," fronting Macleay-street. It was a large, well-built mansion, with a spiral iron staircase to the upper story. "Roslyn Hall" was regarded as one of the gayest houses in old Sydney. Its spacious grounds ex-tended on the south-east to St. Canice's Church, and to Roslyn-road on the east, and on the north to "Barncleuth," now "Kinneil." and part of the Elizabeth Bay-road. Its area consisted of nine acres and one rood, and was granted to Mr. T. Barker on November 28. 1833. Notable Tenants To the north on the Elizabeth Bay-road was "Cheverells," part of the original Macleay grant. It had many notable tenants in-cluding Captain Deloitte, David Jones (the founder of the great firm), and the Hon. W. R. Campbell. On the corner of Macleay-street and the Elizabeth Bay-road, stood a spacious cottage called "Myrtle" cottage. Tenants were Mr. Arthur Hodgson, Mr. Hugh Gordon, grazier, the Hon. J. B. Watt and the Hon. S. A. Joseph and Mr. J. H. Challis. The cottage was then bought by Mr. Sparke, wine and spirit mer-chant. It was greatly enlarged by him and re-named "Maranamah." Mr. Hollander followed Mr.Sparke as tenant. "Barncleuth," a bit farther down the Elizabeth Bay-road, was occu-pied in turn by Mr. John Brown, wine and spirit merchant, then by Mr. Henry Moore, agent for the P. & O. S.S. Company. It was later purchased by Mr. Amos, railway con-tractor. and called "Kinneil." "Greenknowe" was built on part of the Macleay grant, and John Gilchrist, senior, partner of the ship-ping firm of Gilchrist, Watt '& Co., lived there. He built the house in 1846. The property was ultimately bought by Mr. F. H. Dangar. Still further north came Larbert Lodge, the home of Mr. C, D. Rid-dell Colonial Treasurer in his day. Captain Lamb followed as tenant.
On the most beautiful site of all stood Elizabeth Bay House, with Its 52 acres of grounds and beach fac-ing the bay. The Macleays were a great horti-cultural family and their spacious grounds were the finest in Aus-tralia. The grant took in all Eliza-beth Bay and the western frontage of Rushcutters Bay. The property descended from Alex-ander Macleay to William Sharp Macleay, and then to Sir George Macleay, who started to cut it up Into building leases when serious land taxation was threatened. To-day all that Is left of this grand manor is a solitary old house, shorn of all its gardens and lawns and waiting the last chapter in its history— transformation Into flats. "The Pepper Pot" On the north side of Wylde-street stand some of the now doomed build-ings.. Originally, these comprised, with others, "Bellevue," "Clarens," "Creelwood," "Tarana," Walter Hall's "Wildfell" and "Bomerah" (the house right on the point, the home of the McQuades, at one time also leased as a home for the admiral of the naval station). "Cintra" and "Campbell Lodge" were adjacent homes, and opposite was a most notable building, "Gran-tham," or "Grantham Ville." Before the house occupied its site, Caleb Wilson, a defendant in the great Newtown ejectment suit of Devine versus Wilson, built a quaint struc-ture, which he called "Caleb Castle." It was surmounted by turrets and soon got the name of "the Pepper Pot." The property passed to the Parbury family and then to the Dangars. It was Mr. H. C. Dangar who ultimately built the castle known as "Grantham" on the site. For some years past Potts Point had begun to shed its charms as an exclusive and picturesque locality. Effacement of old homes and the instrusions of others belonging to a different order was noticeable. To follow the old-time paths to-day one passes under the shadow of a large number of lofty flats that somewhat arrogantly occupy or jostle the sites of old-time homes once the pride of vanished days. Whaling Fleets The solid homes of our merchant princes, pastoralists, and other wealthy types, formerly stood in spa-cious. well-kept gardens, and gave out a dignity and sense of repose lamentably absent in the Point of to-day. My memories of "Bomerah," the home of the McQuades, go back 60 years or more. Every May 24, the
birthday of Queen Victoria, the Mc-Quades gave a display of fireworks from their grounds, and great crowds from all parts of old Sydney used to throng the eastern side of Mrs. Mac-quarie's Chair., from which they got a fine view of the spectacle. It is about 100 years ago since the first attempt to desecrate the lower Harbor was contemplated, and failed. Mosman and Neutral Bay, in those days, suffered a temporary inroad through the whaling fleets of Archi-bald Mosman and Ben Boyd, and it was proposed to create a dock in the lovely land-locked Mosman Bay. But this project failed, as also did the sinking of a coal shaft at Brad-ley's Head. What did not fail, was the thin edge of the wedge, the handing over of Garden Island to the Navy for a depot.
"Bomerah," the old home of the McQuade family. The grounds of this fine mansion originally took up most of the actual point.

Old Sydney – The Truth Newspaper Perth – Saturday 12th September 1914 – Page 3

 

Old Sydney - From The Truth Newspaper Perth - Saturday 12th September 1914

This page from Perth's Truth newspaper, dated Saturday 12 September 1914, presents a feature on old Sydney. The illustrated list highlights historic places and notable buildings across the city, including Christ Church St Lawrence and the old Burrangong Inn. It offers a contemporary newspaper snapshot of Sydney's changing streetscape and heritage.