Sydney Ferries and the Harbour – From the Rose Hill Packet to the Manly Ferry, the Greycliffe, the Rodney and the Kuttabul – 1789 to Today

If you grew up in Sydney you've probably got a ferry memory tucked away somewhere. The Manly ferry rolling through the swell at the Heads, the deckhands throwing the ropes at Circular Quay, a trip to Taronga Zoo when you were a kid. For most of Sydney's history the harbour wasn't something you looked at from a balcony. It was the main road, and ferries were the buses.

This page follows Sydney's ferries from a clumsy convict-built boat in 1789 to the catamarans of today. Along the way it stops at the big days on the harbour, good and bad: the wreck of the Dunbar, the Greycliffe and Rodney disasters, the night the Japanese midget submarines came in, the opening of the Bridge, the 1988 tall ships and the 2000 Olympics.

Ferries crowd Circular Quay around 1900, when the harbour was still Sydney's main road. J. W. Lindt, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Rose Hill Packet – "The Lump" – 1789

Sydney's first ferry was built about a year and a half after the First Fleet arrived. In 1789 the settlement at Sydney Cove needed a way to get people, stores and mail up the river to the new farming settlement at Rose Hill, which we now call Parramatta. Convicts laid her down in May 1789 near where Customs House stands today. The carpenter in charge was Robinson Reid from HMS Supply. Wikipedia's article on the boat says she was launched in September and commissioned on 5 October 1789.

She was meant to be called the Prince of Wales, but the convicts called her the Rose Hill Packet, and she ended up with the nickname "The Lump". The local timber was the problem. The red gum the builders had to work with split and warped as soon as it was cut, it blunted and broke their tools, and some of it sank like a stone. They had to use green timber and lots of it, and one account said she looked like "a mere bed of timber". She had a single mast and oars, and passengers sometimes had to help with the rowing. The Timeline of Sydney Harbour Ferries says a return trip to Parramatta could take a week. The packet service had stopped by 1800.

The Dictionary of Sydney says her passengers were mainly people from the colony's administration, local residents and merchants, and that she brought much-needed produce from the Parramatta farms back to Sydney Cove. I've written before about the plaque in Alfred Street that marks where she was built. The link is under My Earlier Posts at the bottom of the page.

The Watermen and Billy Blue

Once the packet was gone, getting across the water was left to small boats. Around 1800 a number of little passage boats, each rowed by one man, were carrying people about the harbour. Lighter sailing boats and rowing boats worked across to Manly Cove and up and down the river.

The best known of the early watermen was Billy Blue. The Dictionary of Sydney says he was a convict who came out on the Minorca in December 1801. In the first decade of the 1800s he was rowing passengers between the north and south sides of the harbour. He was later made a water bailiff and lived in a watch tower, keeping an eye on the boats on Port Jackson. Blues Point is named after him. Wikipedia says he was thought to be Jamaican and that by about 1830 he was running what is thought to be Sydney's first regular ferry service, from Dawes Point across to Blues Point.

In the 1830s a man called Barney Kearns ran a small sailing ketch between Balmoral and Balgowlah, which cut out part of the long bush track to Manly. From Balmoral, passengers still had to walk over to Milsons Point and get a waterman to row them across. That service didn't last long.

Steam Arrives – The Surprise and the Sophia Jane – 1831

Steam came to the harbour in 1831, and two boats can claim the honour. The Surprise was the first steamship built in Australia. Wikipedia's Sydney Ferries article says she was launched in 1831 and began regular, timetabled trips to Parramatta on 1 June 1831. She didn't make money, and she was sold to Hobart in 1832.

The other was the Sophia Jane, an English paddle steamer launched on the Thames in 1826. She arrived in Sydney on 13 May 1831 under Captain Edward Biddulph. She came out under sail with her paddle wheels stowed, but she got steaming before the Surprise did, and her Wikipedia article calls her "the first steamer to turn a paddle-wheel in Sydney Harbour". She was tried on the Parramatta run but her draught was too deep, so she ended up in the coastal trade to Newcastle and later Wollongong. On 12 June 1831 she towed the ship Lady Harewood down the harbour, the first time steam power had been used for that job in Australia.

The Sophia Jane, the first paddle steamer to work in Australian waters. She reached Sydney in May 1831. Unknown artist, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

After that the experiments kept coming. In October 1832 the Experiment ran to Parramatta driven by horses walking a treadmill. She lost money straight away and was sold. She came back in April 1835 with a 12 horsepower steam engine under the shipping man John Edye Manning. In 1833 the Australian Conveyance Company put the steamer Australia on the Parramatta run. It did well enough to pay a 38 per cent dividend in 1836, and with the Experiment it gave Sydney its first regular ferry service.

Across the Harbour – The North Shore Steamers

Cross-harbour steam took a while to settle down. The timeline lists a punt called the Princess working between Dawes and Blues Points from about 1841, which failed after fifteen months. In 1844 the Waterman's Company tried the paddle steamer Waterman on the Balmain run, but she wasn't reliable. In 1845 the brothers Thomas and James Gerrard put the little steamer Fairy Queen on between Windmill Street and Blues Point, and that's counted as the first reliable cross-harbour service.

The North Shore Ferry Company was formed in 1861, backed by James Milson and Francis Lord, and its first boat was the Kirribilli. The Dictionary of Sydney points out that fewer than 1,000 people lived on the north side then. The company became the North Shore Steam Ferry Company in 1873 and a limited company in 1878. In 1879 it brought out the Wallaby, Sydney's first double-ended screw ferry and the second in the world. A double-ender has a wheelhouse and propeller at each end, so it never has to turn around in the narrow bays. That basic design has stayed with Sydney ever since.

The Wallaby of 1879, Sydney's first double-ended screw ferry. She is shown before she was given enclosed wheelhouses. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The North Shore really took off once the transport links joined up. In 1886 a cable tram started running from Ridge Street in North Sydney down to Milsons Point. The main ferry wharf moved there, and it became the busiest wharf on the harbour. In 1893 the North Shore railway from Hornsby reached Milsons Point, so people from as far out as Hornsby could catch a train to Milsons Point and a ferry across to Circular Quay.

Out west, the Parramatta River Steam Company was formed in 1865 by Charles Edward Jeanneret, at first with Jules Joubert. Jeanneret had a monopoly on the Parramatta services by 1875. Building wharves cost a lot, so boatmen waited along the river and rowed passengers ashore for a fee. Over in Balmain the Perdriau family formed the Balmain Steam Ferry Company in 1882. In 1892 a rival, the Balmain New Ferry Company, brought out The Lady Mary, the first of the Walter Reeks designed "Lady" ferries.

The Manly Ferries – "Seven Miles from Sydney"

The Manly run has always been the one people love most. It started with Henry Gilbert Smith, who wanted to sell his land around The Corso and needed people to come over and see it. Wikipedia's Manly ferry article says that in 1853 he chartered the wooden paddle steamer Brothers to bring people over. The Sydney Ferries article gives the date as 1855 and the boat as the Huntress. The timeline says the paddle steamer Victoria began daily trips in 1856 and was the first regular Manly ferry. In 1859 the Phantom, the first big double-ended ferry on the run, was put on by a partnership of Smith and S. B. Skinner.

The Port Jackson Steamship Company Limited was formed on 23 January 1877 by a group including John Randal Carey, who later founded the Daily Telegraph. Its first purpose-built Manly ferry was the Fairlight of 1878, a paddle steamer rated for 950 passengers that worked the harbour until 1914. The 1883 paddle steamer Brighton was 67 metres long, the biggest ferry on the harbour at the time, and a favourite with passengers.

The paddle steamer Brighton at the Manly wharf at Circular Quay, around 1890. She was the biggest ferry on the harbour when she arrived in 1883. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1892 the company announced a fare rise, and some Manly people got so fed up that they started their own line. The Manly Co-operative Steam Ferry Company ran chartered steamers at sixpence a trip. The Port Jackson company dropped its fare to threepence and the Co-op matched it. Neither could make money at that price, and in 1896 they merged. The Co-op had ordered the Manly (II), designed by Walter Reeks. She was the first double-ended screw ferry on the Manly run and one of the fastest boats ever to work it. Reeks also designed the steel Kuring-gai of 1901, and she set the look of the Manly ferries for the rest of the century. In 1907 the company became the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company Limited. It coined the famous line about Manly being "Seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care".

The Kuring-gai at Circular Quay sometime between 1901 and 1923. Walter Reeks' design set the pattern for the big Manly ferries. William Joseph Macpherson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The company then built six similar steamers, the "Binngarra" type: Binngarra, Burra Bra (1908), Bellubera (1910), Balgowlah (1912), Barrenjoey (1913) and Baragoola (1922). Two Scottish-built ships, Curl Curl and Dee Why, came out in 1928 under their own steam. They were the biggest and fastest ferries on the harbour until 1938. On her trials Curl Curl reached 17.6 knots, and she's thought to be the fastest single-hulled ferry the harbour has had.

The Scottish-built Manly ferries Dee Why and Curl Curl on the harbour in the late 1930s. Henry King, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Then in 1938 came the South Steyne, built by Henry Robb at Leith in Scotland and launched on 1 April 1938. She's 67.23 metres long and could carry 1,781 passengers. Her Wikipedia article calls her the world's largest steam-powered passenger ferry. She took 64 days to steam out from Leith and arrived in Sydney at midday on 9 September 1938. Between 1938 and 1974 she crossed between Circular Quay and Manly more than 100,000 times and carried more than 92 million passengers. In the war her white paintwork was painted dark green so she'd be harder to see at night.

The South Steyne at Manly Wharf on 25 January 1952. Harry Freeman, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Baragoola, the last of the six Binngarra-type steamers, coming in to Manly in 1950. She worked the run until January 1983. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Manly boats had their own disasters. On 16 November 1936 fire destroyed the timber upper works of the Bellubera while she was moored at the company's Kurraba Point depot, and two crew members died. She was rebuilt at Cockatoo Island and was back in service in October 1937.

The Bellubera burning at the Kurraba Point depot on 16 November 1936. She was rebuilt at Cockatoo Island and ran again from 1937. N. Herfort, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sydney Ferries Limited and the 1920s Peak

On 14 December 1899 the North Shore company was incorporated as Sydney Ferries Limited, and in the new century it swallowed nearly everyone else. It took over the Parramatta River company in 1901, the Balmain New Ferry Company in 1917 and the Watsons Bay company in 1920. Wikipedia's article on the company says it commissioned 27 large ferries of its own between 1900 and 1922. Most were the "K-class", named with Aboriginal words beginning with K: Kookooburra, Kirrule, Kubu, Kanangra and the rest. By the 1920s it had a near monopoly on the harbour, except for the Manly run and a few small launch services. Several sources call it the largest ferry operator in the world by fleet size and passengers.

K-class ferries of Sydney Ferries Limited at Circular Quay early in the twentieth century. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Dictionary of Sydney says that by the late 1920s more than 50 ferries were working the inner harbour runs, with eight bigger boats on the Manly run. The busiest route by far was Circular Quay to Milsons Point. Before the Bridge, according to the Wikipedia article on the Kuttabul, fully loaded ferries were leaving each side of the harbour every six minutes in peak hour. In 1922 Sydney Ferries Limited brought out the two biggest ferries the inner harbour has ever had, the steel twins Kuttabul and Koompartoo, built at Walsh Island in Newcastle. The Kuttabul was rated for 2,250 passengers, which is still a record for a Sydney ferry. Because they had 18 watertight compartments they were considered unsinkable, and they didn't have to carry life-saving equipment.

The Kuttabul when new in 1922. Twenty years later she would be sunk by a Japanese torpedo. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

There were vehicular ferries too, carrying carts and cars across from Dawes Point to Blues Point and from the point where the Opera House now stands across to Milsons Point. On 24 September 1916 the vehicular ferry Kedumba took Jessie the elephant across the harbour from the old Moore Park Zoo to the new Taronga Zoo, and regular ferries to the zoo started after that. The company also went into the day-trip business. In 1906 it bought the Thompson estate at Clifton Gardens, with its hotel, dancing pavilion and skating rink, and built a swimming enclosure with room for 3,000 spectators.

Jessie the elephant coming off the vehicular ferry on her way to the new Taronga Zoo in 1916. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The vehicular ferry Kalang coming in to Jeffrey Street Wharf at Kirribilli on 2 January 1930. The Koompartoo and Kuramia are behind her. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Greycliffe Disaster – 3 November 1927

The worst day the harbour has ever had came on a calm, clear Thursday afternoon. The little wooden Watsons Bay ferry Greycliffe, built at Balmain in 1911, left Circular Quay at 4.15pm on 3 November 1927 with 120 passengers. Many of them were schoolchildren going home. She called at Garden Island to pick up dockyard workers and headed off for Nielsen Park, Parsley Bay and Watsons Bay. On roughly the same course was the Union Steamship Company's 7,585-ton mail liner Tahiti, outward bound across the Pacific.

About halfway between Garden Island and Bradleys Head the Tahiti's bow hit the Greycliffe on her port side. The ferry was pushed along, rolled over and broke in two, and the liner went straight through her. People sitting outside had a better chance. Those inside the two cabins were trapped. Forty people died, and Wikipedia calls it the deadliest incident ever on Sydney Harbour. Seven of the dead were under twenty. One was Millicent Bryant, who only months earlier had become the first Australian woman to get a pilot's licence.

The Watsons Bay ferry Greycliffe in the 1920s. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Debris on the water after the Greycliffe was run down by the Tahiti in November 1927. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The inquiries went on for years. Witnesses, including other ferry captains, mostly agreed that the Tahiti was going too fast and that the Greycliffe had turned sharply left into her path. The final appeal in 1931 found both masters had contributed, and that the Greycliffe's navigator was twice as much to blame as the Tahiti's pilot. I've written a full page on the Greycliffe, with the victims, the rescue and the long court fight. The link is at the bottom of this page.

What was left of the Greycliffe after it was towed to Whiting Beach near Taronga Zoo, November 1927. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Bridge Opens – 19 March 1932

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened on Saturday 19 March 1932. Just as the Premier, Jack Lang, was about to cut the ribbon at the southern end, Francis de Groot rode up on a horse and slashed it with his sword, declaring the bridge open in the name of the people of New South Wales. He was arrested, the ribbon was tied back together, and Lang opened it properly. The celebrations included a procession of passenger ships sailing under the bridge. Estimates of the crowd that day run from 300,000 to a million people.

Opening day of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 19 March 1932. Hall and Co., public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Manly ferry Bellubera out on the harbour for the Bridge opening, 19 March 1932. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

For the ferries it was a body blow. Commuters from the North Shore could now get into town by train or tram without changing to a boat. The Dictionary of Sydney says patronage dropped to 14 million passenger journeys a year and the fleet was halved within twelve months. The vehicular ferry services stopped less than two weeks after the opening. The big Milsons Point boats, Kuttabul and Koompartoo, were suddenly redundant. They were laid up and later used for concert and showboat cruises. The vehicular ferries Koondooloo and Kalang were fitted out as showboats too, and the Kalang ended up with three decks.

The Koompartoo, with her sister Kuttabul behind, at McMahons Point on Bridge opening day. Both boats were made redundant overnight. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Depression and then the war helped the ferries hang on. People couldn't afford cars, and in the war petrol was rationed while coal for the steamers was relatively cheap. In the 1930s the varnished timber of the Sydney Ferries Limited boats was painted over in green and gold, and some of the steamers were converted to diesel.

The Rodney Capsizes – 13 February 1938

In February 1938 the American heavy cruiser USS Louisville was in Sydney for the 150th anniversary of the First Fleet. On the afternoon she left, Sunday 13 February according to Wikipedia's article on the disaster, thousands of Sydneysiders turned out to wave her off. Scores of small boats followed her down the harbour. One of them was the Rodney, a new wooden ferry built in 1937 for Charles Rosman's fleet, with Rosman himself at the wheel. His passengers had paid a shilling each.

The Rodney had 150 people aboard, within her licence of 211. But as she drew alongside the cruiser, people rushed up to the top deck, which was only meant to take 60. About 100 were up there. Between Garden Island and Bradleys Head the ferry turned to pass behind the Louisville's stern, the crowd rushed across to the other side, and in the cruiser's wash she rolled over and sank in a couple of minutes in 15 metres of water.

The Rodney, top deck crowded, moments before she capsized. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The police launch Cambrai had the police band aboard, and sixteen of the bandsmen jumped into the water to pull people out. The Manly ferry Barrenjoey and about 20 launches came to help, and seven sailors dived off the Louisville. Survivors were landed at the Man O'War Steps. Nineteen people died: 17 women, one man and a seven-year-old boy. Seven of them were trapped inside the cabin and weren't recovered until the ferry was raised. In May 1939 the High Court found she had capsized through negligence, and Rosman lost his master's ticket for three years. The Rodney was refitted and renamed Regis, then Regalia, and kept working for decades.

Ferries and small boats rescue the Rodney's passengers, 13 February 1938. Sydney Morning Herald staff photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Rodney being raised from the harbour floor in February 1938. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Midget Submarines and the Kuttabul – 31 May and 1 June 1942

The old Kuttabul was taken over by the Royal Australian Navy on 7 November 1940 and moored at Garden Island as floating accommodation for sailors waiting to join their ships. On the night of 31 May 1942 three Japanese midget submarines, M-14, M-21 and M-24, came into the harbour. Each had a crew of two. The anti-submarine boom net between Georges Head and Laing Point was only half built, with 400-metre gaps either side.

M-14 got caught in the net and her crew blew her up. M-24 got in, and Wikipedia's article on the attack says that at about 10pm she followed a Manly ferry through the net. Just before 11pm a searchlight on the American cruiser USS Chicago picked her up and the Chicago opened fire, but she slipped away. The Garden Island floodlights stayed on until 12.25am in spite of a blackout order, and about five minutes later M-24 fired her two torpedoes at the Chicago. Both missed. One ran aground on Garden Island without going off. The other went under the Dutch submarine K-IX and exploded against the breakwater where the Kuttabul was moored.

The old ferry broke in two and sank. Nineteen Australian and two British sailors asleep aboard were killed, and ten were wounded. Because the torpedo hit after midnight, the men are recorded as dying on 1 June. M-21 was found in Taylors Bay and depth-charged by the patrol boats, and her crew took their own lives. M-24 vanished. Her fate was a mystery until November 2006, when a group of amateur divers found her on the sea floor off Bungan Head on the Northern Beaches.

The wreck of HMAS Kuttabul at Garden Island, photographed on 10 June 1942. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On 1 January 1943 the naval base at Garden Island was commissioned as HMAS Kuttabul, in memory of the ferry and the men who died in her. One of her wheelhouses was saved and is now at the Australian War Memorial, alongside a midget submarine pieced together from the wrecks of M-14 and M-21. Before it went to Canberra, the centre section of that submarine was taken on tour through southern New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia to raise money for the Naval Relief Fund and other charities.

School children and service personnel look over part of one of the midget submarines on display in Melbourne in November 1942. Unknown photographer, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

After the War – The 1951 Government Takeover

After the war the slide sped up. The timeline says Sydney Ferries Limited's patronage fell from 17.2 million in 1945 to 8.9 million in 1951. That year the company told the state government it was going to stop running ferries altogether. On 1 July 1951 the government bought fifteen ferries and the Balmain workshops for a nominal sum, £25,000 according to the timeline. They went to a new Sydney Harbour Transport Board, which contracted the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company to run them. Most of the big old timber K-class steamers were broken up within a few years. The company kept going in the lighterage and showboat business with the Kalang.

The Manly company lasted longer. Its best year was 1946, with 13.5 million passengers, but after that better roads, the upgraded Spit Bridge and the family car kept eating into its trade. The Barrenjoey was rebuilt with diesel-electric engines as the North Head in 1951, and the job nearly broke the company. The last coal-fired steamer on the harbour, the Kubu, was retired in 1959.

The 1910 Lady Chelmsford near Cremorne Point in 1970. The timber Lady boats ran on for decades after the government took over. John Ward, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Hydrofoils – 1965 to 1991

In the 1960s the Manly company went looking for something new. It put profits from offshore oil-rig supply work into a hydrofoil service, and on 7 January 1965 the Japanese-built Manly, a 75-seat PT20, started running. She did Circular Quay to Manly in 15 minutes, against 35 for the big ferries, at a higher fare. Bigger Italian-built Rodriguez PT50s followed: Fairlight in 1966, Dee Why in 1970 and Curl Curl in 1973. Palm Beach came second-hand from Macau in 1975 and Long Reef arrived from Italy in 1978. Two 235-seat boats, Manly (IV) and Sydney, came in 1984 and 1985.

The hydrofoils were popular, but they didn't add many new passengers. Mostly they took people off the old ferries, and they kept breaking down. In March 1973 the Curl Curl was even tried on a run up the river to Gladesville, but it didn't last because the wash damaged the river banks. The last hydrofoil service ran on 18 March 1991.

The hydrofoil Curl Curl up on her foils between Manly and Circular Quay in 1979. Graeme Andrews, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Brambles, Public Outrage and the Freshwaters

By the early 1970s the Manly service was at its lowest point. Brambles bought the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company, mostly for its share of an offshore supply business. Fares went up and services were cut, and in February 1974 Brambles announced plans to drop the big Manly ferries. There was a public uproar. In August 1974 the South Steyne was damaged by fire while waiting to be surveyed, and she never ran for the government. The state's Public Transport Commission took over the Manly service at the end of 1974. Manly patronage sank to about five million a year in 1976.

The fix was the Freshwater class. The first, Freshwater, was launched on 27 March 1982 and went into service in December 1982, followed by Queenscliff (1983), Narrabeen (1984) and Collaroy (1988). They're 70 metres long, carry 1,100 people and displace 1,140 tonnes, which makes them the largest ferries ever to run on the harbour. The old Baragoola made her last trip on 8 January 1983, and the North Head, built as the Barrenjoey in 1913, finished in 1985.

A Freshwater class Manly ferry on the harbour in 2019. MDRX, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Freshwaters have had their moments. In March 1983 the Freshwater ran aground at Manly after a computer failure. On 30 March 1985 a man hijacked her and threatened to shoot passengers unless the captain took her out through the Heads. A police officer boarded and fired three warning shots, and it turned out the "gun" was an empty vodka bottle under his jacket. In February 2001 the Collaroy ran aground on Manly Point, which kept her out of service for months and cost $2 million to repair.

The Collaroy aground at Manly on 26 February 2001, with an anti-pollution boom laid around her. Robert Fildes, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Catamarans – First Fleets, JetCats, RiverCats and Emeralds

The inner harbour got new boats too. From 1968 a modern series of Lady-class ferries arrived, starting with the Lady Cutler. Apart from the unpopular Kooleen of 1956, they were the first significant new ferries on the harbour since the early 1920s. Then in 1984 came the First Fleet class, nine 400-seat catamarans built at Carrington Slipways at Tomago near Newcastle and named after the ships of the First Fleet: Sirius, Supply, Alexander, Borrowdale, Charlotte, Fishburn, Friendship, Golden Grove and Scarborough. They were meant for the Parramatta River but made too much wash, so they ended up on the harbour runs. They're still working, after a life-extension rebuild that started in 2020.

The First Fleet class catamaran Supply. Coolsoap8, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The wooden boats' time ran out in a hurry. On 22 January 1984 the Karrabee, built in 1913, came third in the Great Ferry Race and then sank at Circular Quay. Everyone got off moments before she went down. The pumps had been blocked with rubbish left over from maintenance. Her sinking led to the last of the old wooden ferries being retired.

The 1913 Karrabee sunk at Circular Quay after the January 1984 ferry race. Unknown photographer, City of Sydney Archives, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Three JetCats replaced the hydrofoils on the Manly fast run. The 268-seat boats were built by NQEA in Cairns and delivered in 1990 and 1991. They were dear to run and not very reliable, and the last JetCat service ran on 31 December 2008. A private operator, Manly Fast Ferry, took over the fast run on 10 February 2009.

The JetCat Sea Eagle on her way to Manly in 1991. Graeme Andrews collection, City of Sydney Archives, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On the river, the RiverCats took over. Six were ordered from NQEA in 1991, named after famous Australian sportswomen, and the first was delivered in early 1992. They took over the Circular Quay to Meadowbank run on 7 May 1992 and started running all the way to Parramatta in December 1993. Passenger ferries hadn't run past Gladesville since 1928. A seventh boat arrived in 1995. The last RiverCat, the Dawn Fraser, was retired on 9 March 2026, replaced by the new Parramatta River class. Four SuperCats came in 2000 and 2001, mainly for the eastern suburbs runs, and smaller HarbourCats such as the Pam Burridge worked alongside them.

The RiverCat Shane Gould, built in 1993, heading down the river near Homebush in 2025. She was retired that September. Coolsoap8, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Emerald class came next, built by Incat. The first, the Fred Hollows, started on 26 June 2017, and the Emeralds let the last two Lady-class ferries, Lady Northcott and Lady Herron, retire in October 2017. The sixth boat was going to be named "Ferry McFerryface" after a supposed public vote. The Maritime Union refused to crew her under that name, and in January 2018 she became the May Gibbs. A second batch with wave-piercing hulls, the Fairlight, Clontarf and Balmoral, went on the Manly run from October 2021 to replace the Freshwaters. They had a rough start, with steering failures, a smashed window in big seas and trouble berthing at Manly at low tide. In September 2022 they were pulled out of service and the old Freshwater and Collaroy were brought back. After the 2023 state election the new government decided to bring the Freshwaters back to full-time work. Queenscliff returned in November 2023 and Narrabeen in October 2025, while Collaroy is to be scrapped.

The Clontarf, one of the three second-generation Emerald class ferries built for the Manly run in 2021. Kayden Rayward, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Private Operators – Harbour City Ferries and Transdev

Ferries had moved through a string of government bodies: the Public Transport Commission, the Urban Transit Authority from 1980, the State Transit Authority from 1989 and the Sydney Ferries Corporation from 2004. In April 2007 the government appointed the barrister Bret Walker to inquire into how the ferries were run. His report that November was scathing about the management, industrial relations and government meddling. He recommended replacing the whole ageing fleet and handing day-to-day operations to a private operator, while the government kept the boats.

The first attempt in 2008 came to nothing. After the change of government in 2011 the plan went ahead, and on 28 July 2012 Harbour City Ferries started running the network. It was a 50/50 joint venture between Transfield Services (later Broadspectrum) and Veolia Transdev. Transdev bought out the other half in December 2016, and when a new contract started in July 2019 the operator was renamed Transdev Sydney Ferries. Its contract runs to June 2028. The ferries and the Balmain shipyard still belong to the government and are leased to the operator.

The Merinda and the Pam Burridge – 28 March 2007

Just before 11pm on Wednesday 28 March 2007 the HarbourCat Pam Burridge collided with a nine-metre private cruiser, the Merinda, near the Harbour Bridge. The people on the Merinda were from Australia's figure skating community, out on a sightseeing trip after the World Championships the week before. Four of them died: fourteen-year-old skater Morgan Innes, the judges Simone Moore and Alan Blinn, and James Engert, a 45-year-old Sydney man. Morgan Innes's coach, Elizabeth Cain, who had skated for Australia at the 1980 Winter Olympics, lost a leg. Morgan's body wasn't found for five days.

The Office of Transport Safety Investigations found the Merinda wasn't showing the required navigation lights and hadn't kept a proper lookout. The coroner's summary said it was the failure to turn on the lights that let the other causes line up into the collision. Earlier that same year, in January, a man was killed when the RiverCat Dawn Fraser hit a dinghy on the river.

The HarbourCat Pam Burridge in 2015. She was retired in July 2023. Mertie, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Wreck of the Dunbar – 20 August 1857

Long before the ferries had their troubles, the harbour's worst shipwreck happened right at its doorway. The Dunbar was a big timber full-rigged ship built at Sunderland in England for the London shipowner Duncan Dunbar, coming out to Sydney with passengers and cargo. On the night of 20 August 1857 she reached the coast in heavy rain and a strong gale. Captain James Green either thought he'd already passed South Head or mistook The Gap for the harbour entrance, and he drove her onto the cliffs. She broke up fast.

There were 59 crew and 63 passengers aboard, and only one survived: able seaman James Johnson, who clung to the cliff face until he was rescued. Bodies and wreckage filled the harbour. Sydney shut down for the funeral, flags flew at half mast, and the victims recovered were buried in a single big tomb at Camperdown Cemetery. The loss of the Dunbar, and of the Catherine Adamson on North Head nine weeks later, pushed the colony to build the Hornby Lighthouse at the actual harbour entrance. One of the Dunbar's anchors now sits at The Gap. I've got a full page on the Dunbar too.

The wreck of the Dunbar off Sydney Heads. The title says September, but "Aug 20/57", the real date of the wreck, is pencilled on the back. Unknown artist, State Library of New South Wales, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

James Johnson, the only survivor of the Dunbar, in a hand-coloured ambrotype taken in Sydney in 1857 and attributed to Thomas Glaister. State Library of New South Wales collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Dunbar anchor at The Gap. It was recovered in 1910 and put there in 1930. Peter George Christopher, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Lady Hopetoun and the Heritage Fleet

Some of the old boats are still with us. The Lady Hopetoun is a VIP steam launch built for the Sydney Harbour Trust and launched at W. M. Ford's yard at Berrys Bay on 10 April 1902. She was named after the wife of Lord Hopetoun, the first Governor-General, designed by Walter Reeks and built for £4,500. The Sydney Heritage Fleet says she's probably carried more famous people than any other boat in Australia, including the future King George VI when he was Duke of York, the Duke of Windsor, and the King and Queen of Thailand. Her everyday work was humbler. She was a relief pay boat, did small towing jobs and took the children who lived on Fort Denison to school each day.

She was retired in February 1965 and replaced by a diesel launch. That December a group of enthusiasts formed the Lady Hopetoun and Port Jackson Marine Steam Museum to save her. She was handed over in early 1966, restored, and recommissioned in 1970 in time for the Captain Cook bicentenary. That little museum grew into the Sydney Heritage Fleet, which also looks after the 1874 barque James Craig and the 1912 ferry Kanangra. Her hull is still mostly the original New Zealand kauri, and she still has her original triple-expansion steam engine.

The Lady Hopetoun at the Commissioners Steps, Circular Quay, between 1904 and 1908. Unknown photographer, Graeme Andrews Working Harbour Collection, City of Sydney Archives, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Lady Hopetoun at Circular Quay in 1960, a few years before she was retired. Unknown photographer, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The South Steyne survived too. After the 1974 fire, Manly residents started a "Save Our Steyne" campaign and stopped her being towed to Hong Kong for scrap. She went through several owners and became a restaurant ship. During the 2000 Olympics she was moored in Darling Harbour as the Olympic Information Centre. She was added to the State Heritage Register in 1999.

Big Days on the Harbour

The 1988 Bicentenary and the Tall Ships

On Australia Day 1988 the harbour was covered in boats. A re-enactment voyage of the First Fleet arrived. The Hawke government had refused to pay for it, thinking it might offend Aboriginal Australians, so radio station 2GB ran an appeal to keep it going. The government funded a separate display of tall ships instead, which sailed up the east coast and into the harbour on the day. The same day more than 40,000 people, including Aboriginal people from all over the country, marched through Sydney for land rights. It was the biggest march in the city since the Vietnam Moratorium.

Spectator boats crowd the harbour to see the tall ships for the Bicentenary in 1988. Australian Overseas Information Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The 2000 Olympics

On 15 September 2000 the Manly ferry Collaroy carried the Olympic flame across Sydney Harbour. On the night of the closing ceremony, 1 October 2000, fireworks poured off the Harbour Bridge.

Fireworks on the Harbour Bridge for the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics, 1 October 2000. David Shapinsky, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Great Ferry Race

In 1980 the Festival of Sydney held the first Great Ferry Race, with six ferries taking part. The Lady Woodward won. The maritime writer Graeme Andrews said the event showed Sydney "had finally rediscovered its ferries". It has been run every year since and is now held on Australia Day.

Timeline

• May 1789 – Convicts lay down the Rose Hill Packet at Sydney Cove. She is commissioned on 5 October 1789.
• By 1800 – The packet service has ended. Small one-man passage boats work the harbour.
• December 1801 – Billy Blue arrives on the Minorca. He is later rowing passengers across the harbour.
• 1831 – The Sophia Jane arrives on 13 May. The Australian-built Surprise starts regular trips to Parramatta on 1 June.
• 1845 – The Gerrard brothers' Fairy Queen starts the first reliable cross-harbour steam service.
• 1853 to 1856 – Henry Gilbert Smith starts the Manly steamers. The Victoria begins daily trips in 1856.
• 20 August 1857 – The Dunbar is wrecked at South Head. 121 die and one man survives.
• 1859 – The Phantom, the first big double-ended Manly ferry, goes into service.
• 1861 – The North Shore Ferry Company is formed.
• 23 January 1877 – The Port Jackson Steamship Company Limited is formed.
• 1879 – The Wallaby, Sydney's first double-ended screw ferry, starts running.
• 1883 – The 67-metre paddle steamer Brighton joins the Manly run.
• 1886 and 1893 – A cable tram, then the railway from Hornsby, reach Milsons Point.
• 1896 – The Manly companies merge. The Manly (II) is the first double-ended screw ferry on the Manly run.
• 14 December 1899 – Sydney Ferries Limited is incorporated.
• 10 April 1902 – The Lady Hopetoun is launched at Berrys Bay.
• 1907 – The Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company Limited is formed.
• 24 September 1916 – Jessie the elephant crosses to Taronga Zoo on the vehicular ferry Kedumba.
• 1922 – The Kuttabul and Koompartoo, the biggest inner-harbour ferries ever, enter service.
• 3 November 1927 – The Greycliffe is run down by the Tahiti. 40 die.
• 1928 – The Curl Curl and Dee Why arrive from Scotland.
• 19 March 1932 – The Sydney Harbour Bridge opens and ferry patronage collapses.
• 16 November 1936 – Fire guts the Bellubera at Kurraba Point. Two crew die.
• 13 February 1938 – The Rodney capsizes while farewelling the USS Louisville. 19 die.
• 9 September 1938 – The South Steyne arrives in Sydney.
• 31 May and 1 June 1942 – The Japanese midget submarine attack. The Kuttabul is sunk and 21 sailors are killed.
• 1 July 1951 – The government buys the Sydney Ferries Limited fleet.
• 7 January 1965 – The first Manly hydrofoil starts running.
• December 1974 – The Public Transport Commission takes over the Manly service.
• 1980 – The first Great Ferry Race is held.
• December 1982 – The Freshwater goes into service on the Manly run.
• 22 January 1984 – The Karrabee sinks at Circular Quay.
• 1984 to 1986 – The nine First Fleet class catamarans arrive.
• 26 January 1988 – The Bicentenary. The First Fleet re-enactment and the tall ships sail into the harbour.
• 18 March 1991 – The last hydrofoil service runs. The JetCats take over.
• 7 May 1992 – The RiverCats start running to Meadowbank, and to Parramatta from December 1993.
• 15 September 2000 – The Collaroy carries the Olympic flame across the harbour.
• 28 March 2007 – The Pam Burridge and the Merinda collide. Four die.
• 31 December 2008 – The last JetCat service runs.
• 28 July 2012 – Harbour City Ferries takes over running the network.
• 26 June 2017 – The first Emerald class ferry enters service.
• July 2019 – Harbour City Ferries becomes Transdev Sydney Ferries.
• October 2021 – The Emerald class ferries start on the Manly run.
• 9 March 2026 – The last RiverCat, the Dawn Fraser, is retired.

Where the Sources Disagree

• Sydney's first steam ferry. Wikipedia's Sydney Ferries article and the Timeline of Sydney Harbour Ferries give the honour to the Australian-built Surprise, which started regular Parramatta trips on 1 June 1831. Wikipedia's Sophia Jane article says the English-built Sophia Jane was steaming before the Surprise and was "the first steamer to turn a paddle-wheel in Sydney Harbour", though she was mostly used on coastal runs.
• The Rose Hill Packet's size and dates. The Dictionary of Sydney calls her a twelve-ton ship. Wikipedia says her builder called her a 20-ton launch, while other accounts at the time put her at 10 or 12 tons. Wikipedia says she was launched in September and commissioned on 5 October 1789. The timeline just says she was launched in October 1789.
• When Billy Blue started rowing. The Dictionary of Sydney has him ferrying passengers in the first decade of the 1800s. Wikipedia's Sydney Ferries article and timeline put his regular Dawes Point to Blues Point service at about 1830.
• The first Manly ferry. Wikipedia's Manly ferry article says Henry Gilbert Smith chartered the Brothers in 1853. The Sydney Ferries article says it was the Huntress, in 1855. The timeline says the Victoria, from 1856, was the first regular Manly ferry.
• The Manly company's beginnings. Wikipedia's company article says the Port Jackson Steamship Company Limited was formed on 23 January 1877 and became the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company in 1907. The Manly ferry article says the Port Jackson Steamboat Company was formed in 1876. The Dictionary of Sydney simply says the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company was formed in 1907.
• The first Binngarra. The Sydney Ferries and Manly ferry articles date the Binngarra to 1905. The timeline says she entered service in 1906.
• How hard the Bridge hit. Wikipedia's Sydney Ferries Limited and Rodney articles say yearly patronage fell from 40 million to 15 million. The timeline and the Dictionary of Sydney say it fell to 14 million. Wikipedia's Sydney Ferries article says it went from 44 million to 20 million.
• The date of the Rodney disaster. Wikipedia's Rodney article gives Sunday 13 February 1938. The timeline and some of the Wikimedia Commons photo captions say 12 February. The 13th was a Sunday, which matches the newspaper photos dated the 13th.
• Brambles and the Manly takeover. The timeline and the South Steyne article say Brambles took over the Manly service in 1971. Wikipedia's company article dates the sale to 19 April 1972, and the Manly ferry article says April 1972. For the government takeover, the Freshwater class article says February 1974, the company article says 1 December 1974, and the timeline says December 1974.
• When the hydrofoils finished. The Manly ferry and Sydney Ferries articles say the JetCats replaced the hydrofoils in 1990. The Sydney hydrofoils article says the last hydrofoil ran on 18 March 1991, and the timeline gives 1991.
• The Dunbar's death toll. The heritage listing and Wikipedia say 121 died out of 122 on board. Mark Twain, in Following the Equator, gave the toll as 200 and called the ship the Duncan Dunbar, which Wikipedia notes is wrong. Wikipedia also gives conflicting build dates, built 1852 to 1853 but launched on 30 November 1854. The State Library painting is titled 20 September 1857, but the real date of 20 August is pencilled on the back.
• The Kuttabul date. The attack is usually dated 31 May 1942. The Australian War Memorial and Wikipedia say the submarines came in that night, but the torpedo was fired about 12.30am, so the sailors died on 1 June.
• The Merinda skaters. Wikipedia's article on the collision says the skaters were celebrating the "2009" World Championships, which can't be right for a 2007 crash. The Sydney Ferries article says it was the 2007 World Championships, held the week before.
• Lady Hopetoun's retirement. The Sydney Heritage Fleet says she retired in February 1965. A Museum of Sydney Harbour page says the early 1960s.

My Earlier Posts

• The Greycliffe Ferry Disaster – Sydney Harbour – 3 November 1927
• The Wreck of the Dunbar – South Head – Watsons Bay – 20 August 1857
• Manly – From Kai'ymay and Phillip's 'Manly Cove' of 1788 to the Ferries, the Quarantine Station and the Surf
• First Boat Built At Sydney Cove – Alfred St In Front Of Customs House
• Billy Blue – The Old Commodore of Blues Point
• Fort Denison – Pinchgut Island – Sydney Harbour – From 1788 to Today
• The Man O'War Steps – Farm Cove – The Navy's Landing
• The Sydney Opera House – From Cattle Point to Utzon's Sails
• The Amazing Islands of Sydney Harbour
• Robert Campbell – Campbell's Cove – Campbell's Stores – The Rocks
• Semi-Circular Quay – Port Jackson – Sydney Harbour
• The Government Wharf – Circular Quay
• Cadman's Cottage – The Coxswains' Barracks – Circular Quay West
• Garden Island – Sydney Harbour
• Cockatoo Island – Port Jackson
• Luna Park Sydney – Milsons Point
• Neutral Bay – Its Beginnings
• The Old Moore Park Zoo – Sydney's First Zoo
• Bradfield – The Harbour Bridge – The Trains
• Sydney Harbour Bridge 80th Anniversary (2012)
• Australian Maritime Museum – Darling Harbour
• The Wreck of the Malabar – Long Bay – 2 April 1931
• Entrance to Sydney Harbour – North Head

Sources

• Garry Wotherspoon, "Ferries", Dictionary of Sydney, 2008 – https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/ferries
• Wikipedia, "Timeline of Sydney Harbour ferries" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Sydney_Harbour_ferries
• Wikipedia, "Sydney Ferries" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Ferries
• Wikipedia, "Rose Hill Packet" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Hill_Packet
• Wikipedia, "Sophia Jane" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Jane
• Wikipedia, "Sydney Ferries Limited" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Ferries_Limited
• Wikipedia, "Manly ferry service" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manly_ferry_service
• Wikipedia, "Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Jackson_and_Manly_Steamship_Company
• Wikipedia, "SS South Steyne" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_South_Steyne
• Wikipedia, "HMAS Kuttabul (ship)" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Kuttabul_(ship)
• Wikipedia, "Greycliffe disaster" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greycliffe_disaster
• Wikipedia, "Rodney disaster" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_disaster
• Wikipedia, "Attack on Sydney Harbour" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Sydney_Harbour
• Australian War Memorial, "Japanese Midget Submarine" (encyclopedia) – https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/midgetsub
• Wikipedia, "Sydney Harbour Bridge" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Harbour_Bridge
• Wikipedia, "Sydney hydrofoils" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_hydrofoils
• Wikipedia, "Sydney JetCats" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_JetCats
• Wikipedia, "Sydney RiverCat" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_RiverCat
• Wikipedia, "First Fleet-class ferry" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet-class_ferry
• Wikipedia, "Freshwater-class ferry" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater-class_ferry
• Wikipedia, "Emerald-class ferry" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald-class_ferry
• Wikipedia, "Transdev Sydney Ferries" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transdev_Sydney_Ferries
• Wikipedia, "Merinda–Pam Burridge collision" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merinda%E2%80%93Pam_Burridge_collision
• Wikipedia, "Dunbar (1853 ship)" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar_(1853_ship)
• Wikipedia, "Australian Bicentenary" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Bicentenary
• Wikipedia, "Sydney Heritage Fleet" – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Heritage_Fleet
• Sydney Heritage Fleet, "Lady Hopetoun, History" – https://shfmember.org.au/explore-the-fleet/our-operational-vessels/lady-hopetoun-1902-steam-launch/history/
• Museum of Sydney Harbour, "Meet the Fleet / Lady Hopetoun" – https://www.museumofsydneyharbour.org/blog/blog-post-title-one-a62t5-xb4ar-a6klb
• Wikimedia Commons file pages for each picture (linked from the pictures above) – https://commons.wikimedia.org/

Royal Randwick Racecourse – From the Sandy Course of 1833 to Popes, Queens and The Everest – Randwick – NSW

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this page contains the names of people who have died.

Say "Randwick" to most Sydneysiders and they'll think of the races before they think of the suburb. For generations the radio callers opened with "They're racing at Randwick", and the course has been sitting there off Alison Road since before the Eastern Suburbs were much more than sandhills and scrub. But the racecourse has been a lot more than a racetrack. It's been an army camp twice, a flu hospital, a testing ground for early flyers, a concert ground, and the place where three popes said Mass in front of crowds the size of a country town. The Queen came more than once, and she's the reason it gets to call itself Royal Randwick. This is the story of the place, from the old Sandy Course of 1833 to The Everest.

Royal Randwick Racecourse with the city skyline behind it, December 2005. Witty Iama, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Before the Racecourse – Gadigal and Bidjigal Country

Long before anyone laid out a track, this was Aboriginal country. Today the Randwick area is remembered as the land of both the Bidjigal and the Gadigal people. Wikipedia's Bidjigal article notes that Randwick City Council and the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council have held the Koojay Corroboree on Coogee Beach since 2015 to commemorate "the Bidjigal and Gadigal people, who both inhabited the land". The names aren't completely settled, though. The same article says the historian Kohen has suggested there may have been some confusion between two separate groups, the Bidjigal of the Baulkham Hills area and the Bediagal around Botany Bay.

Wikipedia's Gadigal article describes the Gadigal as coastal people whose country, "Gadi", ran south of Port Jackson from South Head across to Marrickville and Petersham, with part of its southern edge on the Cooks River. The ground under Randwick still holds the evidence of that older life. When the light rail was built, more than 22,000 artefacts, including spearheads and cutting tools, turned up in a 100-metre-square area around the tram stabling yard in Randwick, and Bidjigal Elders fought to have the site protected. Construction went ahead, and over 21,000 artefacts were excavated and kept.

I couldn't find a source that says what the racecourse ground itself was used for before 1833, so I won't guess.

Randwick Racecourse seen from High Street, Randwick, at dusk in September 2020. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Sandy Course – 1833

Sydney's racing started in Hyde Park. The Australian Turf Club's own history timeline says the first approved race meeting was held there in October 1810, with officers of the 73rd Regiment racing their horses. The ATC also passes on the old story that the ladies' grandstand was placed so Mrs Macquarie wouldn't get the sun in her eyes, and that's why New South Wales still races clockwise. It's a lovely yarn, and the ATC tells it as one ("the story goes").

By the early 1830s the gentlemen of the colony wanted a proper course. Mark Dunn's entry in the Dictionary of Sydney says that in December 1832 a group of them, including Sir John Jamison, asked Governor Richard Bourke to set aside land near the Botany Road. The Surveyor-General, Thomas Mitchell, went out with Edward Deas Thomson to look at the ground and saw no problem with it. Convicts laid out the track to a plan by the Assistant Surveyor, Mortimer Lewis. Wikipedia says Bourke designated the land in January 1833, and the ATC says the reserve covered 202 acres.

Everyone called it the "Sandy Course", which tells you all you need to know about the ground. Wikipedia says the first race there was a private one in June 1833. Randwick Council's Our Story site, quoting Joan Lawrence's Pictorial History Randwick, says that first race was a match between horses owned by Edward Fagan and Thomas Smithers, and Fagan won. The same source says the first registered race at the course, the Governor's Cup, was won in 1833 by Henry Bayley's imported horse Whisker.

It didn't last. Dunn says Randwick was too far out and the meetings got too rowdy, so Sydney's elite stopped coming and the course closed. The ATC says the track had become dangerous for the horses by 1838. Racing moved to Homebush, on William Charles Wentworth's land, and the old Sandy Course was left for training.

The Australian Jockey Club and the Return to Randwick – 1842 to 1860

The club that would run Randwick for the next 170 years began as the Australian Race Committee in 1840. The ATC timeline says the committee turned itself into the Australian Jockey Club, which met for the first time on 5 January 1842, with the Governor, Sir Maurice O'Connell, as patron. For its first years the AJC raced at Homebush.

Homebush had its problems. The ATC says the track was poor and the rent kept going up, so in 1858 the club settled on Randwick. The secretary, George Rowley, asked members to stand liable for £50 each to fix the track and build a grandstand, and fifteen of them put their hands up. Deas Thomson, who had helped choose the site back in the 1830s, was now the AJC's president. Dunn says the club cleared the scrub, laid turf, put up new running rails and built a timber grandstand for 700 people.

The first meeting at the new Randwick ran from 29 to 31 May 1860, and more than 6,000 people turned up on the first day. Paul Roberts and Isabelle Taylor, writing on racecourse architecture for Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, quote Bell's Life as saying the meeting "passed off without a hitch". That first grandstand, built of American timber, was meant to be temporary. Wikipedia credits it to the architect John Frederick Hilly, and it ended up standing for 15 years.

Randwick Racecourse in 1863, three years after the AJC came back to the old Sandy Course. Unknown photographer, State Library of NSW, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Spectators at Randwick Racecourse, about 1875. State Library of NSW, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Crown Land and a Peppercorn Rent

Here's something a lot of people don't know. The AJC never owned Randwick. Wikipedia describes the racecourse today as "Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club". The ATC timeline says that in 1863 the NSW Government granted the land to trustees for the AJC at an annual rent of "one black peppercorn payable on demand", and adds that nobody has ever come to collect it. Dunn says the AJC held a lease over 202 acres (81.7 hectares) by 1863, and that the Australian Jockey Club Act of 1873 stretched its seven-year lease to 21 years. Much later, as part of the 2008 World Youth Day deal, Wikipedia says the AJC's lease was extended by another 50 years.

The Grandstands – From Timber Shed to the QEII and the Winx Stand

Randwick has rebuilt itself again and again. Dunn lists the Derby Stand of 1865 and the St Leger Stand of 1867, then a bigger grandstand in 1875 that replaced the old 700-seater and came with private boxes, a reporters' room and a telegraph office. Between 1880 and 1886 the two 1860s stands were pulled down and replaced by a new St Leger Stand in 1882 and a new Official Stand in 1886.

That 1886 building is still there. Roberts and Taylor describe the Members' or Official Stand as brick, 33 metres long, with 450 seats upstairs and a bar, telegraph office and refreshment rooms underneath. Wikipedia says it was extended in 1907, 1914 and 1920. Randwick Council dates an "ornate Members Stand" to 1910, designed by Robertson and Marks, and says it's listed by the National Trust.

The early 1900s were Randwick's building boom. According to Roberts and Taylor, the grandstand and Members' Stand were extended between 1907 and 1914 until they were "unrecognisable". A Ladies' Stand went up in 1910 and a new St Leger Stand in 1911. In 1914 came the Tea House, 50 metres long and two storeys high, with room for more than 1,000 racegoers. Every one of those buildings was designed by the Sydney firm Robertson & Marks. One of its founding partners, Theodore Marks, was a keen punter and a long-time AJC member, which can't have hurt. Wikipedia adds that the Tea House burnt down in 1917 and was rebuilt to the same plans straight away.

The Lawn at Randwick Racecourse, from a glass plate negative in the Tyrrell Collection. Powerhouse Museum, Tyrrell Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Randwick Racecourse, trackside and grandstand. State Records NSW hasn't been able to date this one. State Records NSW, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Tea House at Randwick Racecourse in November 2011, the year before it was knocked down. JohnsonL623, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1917 – The Tote Comes to Randwick

The most unusual buildings on the course went up in 1917. A state law of 1916 allowed betting on the totalisator, and the AJC built a home for a Julius Totalisator, the machine invented by Sir George Julius that worked out odds and dividends mechanically. Roberts and Taylor say Robertson & Marks built two matching tote buildings behind the St Leger and Members' Stands, each with an octagon at either end topped by a little domed lantern. They were the fourth automatic totalisators installed anywhere in the world. One still stands. Wikipedia calls it the Saddling Paddock Tote Building, and these days it's a bar known as the Octagonal.

The Members' Stand and enclosure at Randwick in 1952. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Queen Elizabeth II Stand and the Big Rebuild

Roberts and Taylor say the hard years of the 1920s, the drought of the 1930s and the military occupation of the 1940s left Randwick run down. The modern era started in 1969 with the Queen Elizabeth II Stand, built between the old Grandstand and the Members' Stand. They describe it as utilitarian, and say it did "nothing to complement" the older buildings. In the 1980s the tired St Leger Stand and the old Grandstand were demolished. Wikipedia says the old Grandstand came down in 1988 to make way for a long, low, two-storey Paddock Stand, which the Queen opened in 1992.

The Paddock Stand only lasted 20 years. In 2012 it was demolished, the Tea House went with it, and the QEII Stand was stripped back to its bare frame. What reopened in 2013 was a single grandstand 110 metres long and six storeys high, with a new parade ring behind it called the Theatre of the Horse, which holds 4,500 people. Not everyone was happy. Roberts and Taylor say many people mourned the Tea House, the costs blew out, and the grandstand was only half finished on opening day in the 2013 autumn carnival.

The newest addition is named after a horse. Racing NSW says the two-level, $46.6 million WINX Stand was built for general admission racegoers and opened to racegoers on Villiers Stakes Day, 11 December. The announcement talks about bookings "throughout 2022", which puts the opening in December 2021. Wikipedia's Winx article, written earlier, said it would open in early 2022. It holds 7,500 people across both levels, and the upstairs bar is named after Happy Clapper, the horse that ran second to Winx five times.

The rebuilt Queen Elizabeth II Grandstand in February 2018. Simon_sees, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Getting There – The Racecourse Trams

For most of its life you didn't drive to Randwick, you caught the tram. Dunn says the line from the city to the racecourse gates on Alison Road was the first extension of Sydney's tramway beyond the city boundary. It opened in time for the 1880 spring carnival, and by 1900 a separate loop station had been built just for the racecourse. On one day in 1934 the trams carried a record 117,480 passengers in 664 cars.

The ATC timeline adds a few more details. The last steam tram ran to the course in September 1910, and after that the electric trams could do the round trip from Central in 45 minutes. At the 1922 autumn carnival a crowd of about 90,000 turned up, and 498 trams were put on to carry them. On the same day the beer strike hit. The last tram to the racecourse, No. 1937, ran on 1 February 1960. Rail came back in 2019, when the light rail opened beside Royal Randwick.

Racegoers crossing the overhead bridge to the tram platform below, Randwick, about 1914. State Library of NSW, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Trams and cars waiting at Randwick Racecourse, 14 February 1922. State Records NSW, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Traffic coming home from the races at Anzac Parade, Alison Road and Dacey Avenue. The file's title dates it to about 1925, but its Commons date field says about 1930. Unknown photographer, State Library of NSW, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

The tramway exit bridge at Randwick Racecourse in 1952. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Big Races

The AJC Derby

Wikipedia says the Derby was first run in 1861 as the AJC Randwick Derby Stakes, won by Kyogle. It was called the AJC Derby from 1873 to 1993 and officially became the Australian Derby in 1994, though most people still say AJC Derby. It was a spring race for more than a century. The ATC says the last spring winner was Belmura Lad in 1977, and the race moved to autumn, with Dulcify the first autumn winner in 1979. Phar Lap, Tulloch and Kingston Town all won it.

It's had its scandals too. Wikipedia says the official 1928 winner, Prince Humphrey, wasn't actually in the race. The horse that won was a ring-in called Cragsman, by the same sire but out of a different mare. It came out when Dick Tate of Toowoomba saw a photo of the winner and noticed the markings were wrong.

Derby Day at Randwick, 2 October 1937, photographed by Sam Hood. Sam Hood, State Library of NSW, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Doncaster and the Epsom

The two big mile races came along in the 1860s. According to Wikipedia, the Epsom Handicap was run at Randwick from 1865 and the Doncaster Handicap was first run in 1866. The Epsom is the spring mile and the Doncaster the autumn one, and Super Impose is the only horse to have won both of them twice. Wikipedia has a couple of great Epsom stories. In 1897 Jim McHugh, aged 11 years and 4 months and weighing 27 kilos, won it on Robin Hood in only his second ride. Donald Nicholson won it five years running from 1880 to 1884.

Kiaree winning the AJC Epsom Handicap at Randwick, 16 October 1943. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Poitrel, ridden by Ken Bracken, in the AJC Randwick Plate on 9 October 1920. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Sydney Cup, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and The Championships

The ATC says the first Sydney Cup was run in May 1866, possibly as an answer to the young Melbourne Cup, and was won by Yattendon. The gold cup the owners took home was the first gold cup ever given as a racing prize in Sydney, and it still exists. The Queen Elizabeth Stakes goes back even further. Wikipedia traces it to the Queen's Plate, first run in 1851 in honour of Queen Victoria.

These days the autumn carnival finishes with The Championships, two big days at Randwick with the Doncaster, the Derby, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Sydney Cup. Wikipedia says Randwick has held them since 2014, while the ATC timeline puts the start in 2015.

"Champions of the Past" – Beauford, Eurythmic, Cetigne, Poitrel and Gloaming at Randwick, 1918–1922, by Hall & Co. Hall & Co - Sydney, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Everest – 2017

The newcomer is the richest of the lot. The Everest was first run at Royal Randwick on 14 October 2017. The ATC says 33,000 people saw the sprinter Redzel win it. Wikipedia explains how it works. Twelve slots in the starting gate are sold for $700,000 each, and each slot holder then finds a horse to run. Wikipedia's Everest article says prize money went up to $15 million in 2018 and to $20 million in 2023, making it the richest turf race in the world. It became a Group 1 race in 2024. The race hasn't always been popular. In 2018 there were protests and a petition with more than 300,000 signatures when the barrier draw was projected onto the sails of the Opera House. The ATC says Everest Day 2024 was the first sell-out in the race's history, with a record 49,117 people on course.

The Champions

Phar Lap

Phar Lap was nothing much at first. Wikipedia says he finished last in his first race and didn't place in his next three. His first win came at Rosehill on 27 April 1929. Then he ran second in the Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick on 14 September 1929, and people started taking notice. The ATC says that in the spring of 1929 he won the AJC Derby in record time.

Phar Lap with Jim Pike up at Flemington, about 1930, photographed by Charles Daniel Pratt. Charles Daniel Pratt, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Bernborough

Bernborough's story is half racing and half mystery. The Victoria Racing Club's history piece says that because of shady dealings over his ownership, he was only allowed to race at Clifford Park in Toowoomba until he was five. After he was sold in Sydney to the restaurateur Azzalin Romano and sent to the trainer Harry Plant, he won 15 races in a row, all with Athol Mulley up. The VRC says the first three of those wins were at Randwick. He took the Chelmsford Stakes there in September 1946 as well.

Bernborough and Athol Mulley after winning the Tatts Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick, 14 September 1946. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tulloch and Kingston Town

Both were trained by Tommy Smith. Wikipedia says that when Tulloch won the 1957 AJC Derby by six lengths from Prince Darius, he broke the track record Phar Lap had held since 1929 by 2.1 seconds. Kingston Town won the AJC Derby and the Sydney Cup in the autumn of 1980. Wikipedia says that between June 1979 and August 1982 he won 21 races from 21 starts in Sydney.

Shannon with the jockey Darby Munro at Randwick, about 1944. Unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Black Caviar and Winx

Randwick has also seen the end of two unbeaten runs. The ATC says Black Caviar ran her last race in the T. J. Smith Stakes at Royal Randwick in 2013, which made it 25 wins from 25 starts. Six years later it was Winx's turn. On 13 April 2019 she won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes for the third time, her 33rd win in a row. Racing NSW puts the sold-out crowd that day at 43,833, and the ATC says over 43,000.

Winx, photographed on 17 September 2016, the day she won the George Main Stakes. Cherry He, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Royal Visits

The royal connection goes back a long way. Randwick Council says Queen Victoria's son, the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the racecourse during his royal tour in 1868.

6 February 1954 – The Queen at Randwick

The Queen's first visit was during her big 1954 tour, soon after her coronation. Wikipedia says she was at Randwick on 6 February 1954, and the AJC named a new race in her honour, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. The winner was a 33-to-1 outsider, Blue Ocean, who set a track record of 2 minutes 27¾ seconds for the mile and a half. The ATC says Blue Ocean was ridden by Arthur Podmore and beat some of the best horses of the day, and his connections got their trophies from the Queen herself.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Sydney on 3 February 1954, three days before their day at Randwick. State Records NSW, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

The cover of the AJC racebook for 6 February 1954, the day of the first Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Ross Brothers - Sydney, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

1970 and 1992 – A Stand and a Title

Randwick Council says the new stand finished in 1969 was named the Queen Elizabeth grandstand, and that the Queen came back in 1970 and again in 1992.

The 1992 visit is the one that counts. Wikipedia says that on 22 February 1992 the Queen opened the new Paddock Stand and, at the club's request, gave the course permission to call itself Royal Randwick. The ATC says the AJC had been writing letters and making direct appeals for years. Wikipedia quotes a letter to the club from Kenneth Scott, the Queen's Deputy Private Secretary, written that day. He said the Queen "was particularly glad that she was able, on this occasion, to legitimise your traditional title of 'Royal' and to open a very handsome new Grandstand." The ATC puts the crowd at 25,790, and the Deseret News reported "nearly 26,000". The champion miler Super Impose raced that day too.

So Randwick has been officially "Royal" since February 1992. Every source I found agrees on that. What happened in 2011 was the merger that created the Australian Turf Club, which I come to below.

Papal Masses on the Racecourse

Randwick has hosted papal Masses in 1970, 1986, 1995 and 2008. The crowds were huge, and the estimates always got argued over, so I've put each figure next to the source that gave it.

Pope Paul VI – 1 and 2 December 1970

Paul VI was the first pope ever to visit Australia, and he spent all four days of his visit in Sydney. Totus2us, which publishes his speeches, has him celebrating Mass at Randwick on Tuesday 1 December 1970. In his homily he spoke of Captain Cook's arrival at Botany Bay 200 years earlier and said that "Australia was already inhabited at that time, and We are pleased to greet the representatives of those inhabitants".

Nobody could agree on the crowd. Writing in Christianity Today in 1971, Leon Morris called it "a funny sort of numbers game". He said one estimate for the Randwick Mass was 250,000, another 200,000 and another 150,000. The next day the Pope came back to the track for a special youth Mass. A United Press report, printed in the University of Notre Dame's student paper The Observer, called it "the Pope's second appearance at the track in 15 hours" and said he spoke to 150,000 young people in 80-degree heat.

Pope John Paul II – 26 November 1986

John Paul II came on his whirlwind 1986 tour. The Sydney Morning Herald, looking back in 2005, says almost a million people saw him in Sydney on 26 November that year, and that he celebrated an evening Mass at Randwick racecourse "in front of about 250,000 people". The ATC says an altar was set up in the middle of the course, and the crowd filled the grandstands and every bit of open ground.

Pope John Paul II speaking at Brisbane City Hall on 25 November 1986, the day before his Randwick Mass. Queensland State Archives, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Mary MacKillop's Beatification – January 1995

John Paul II came back to Randwick to beatify Mary MacKillop. Wikipedia gives the date as 19 January 1995. The Herald says Aboriginal people welcomed him at the racecourse, among them Aden Ridgeway, later a senator, and the late Mum Shirl, and gave him a smoking ceremony. He told the crowd, "In Mary MacKillop, all Australians have the sign of the flowering of holiness in their midst."

Pope Benedict XVI – World Youth Day, 19 and 20 July 2008

The biggest of them all was World Youth Day 2008. Wikipedia says around 235,000 pilgrims walked 10 kilometres on Saturday 19 July, from the Mary MacKillop Chapel in North Sydney, over the Harbour Bridge and across the city, to an all-night vigil at Randwick. About 250,000 slept out on the course that night.

The figures for the final Mass on Sunday 20 July depend on who you ask. Wikipedia gives 300,000 to 400,000. It says Reuters reported up to 300,000, while World Youth Day's chief operating officer, Danny Casey, and other media said more than 400,000. Randwick Council says "over 400 000". The ATC says some 400,000 people filled both the racecourse and Centennial Parklands. At the end of the Mass, Pope Benedict announced that the next World Youth Day would be in Madrid.

Not everyone wanted the Pope at Randwick. Wikipedia says the racing industry fought the choice of venue and argued that Sydney Olympic Park would be better. In the end the federal and state governments stepped in with compensation, and racing moved to Warwick Farm and Rosehill for a few weeks. Wikipedia's World Youth Day article puts the compensation at $42 million, and its Randwick Racecourse article says $40 million. The track survived. An AJC spokesman said it "seems to have held up well".

Pope Benedict XVI in the Popemobile on a Sydney street, 18 July 2008. mugley, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Panorama of the crowd at the Saturday night vigil, 19 July 2008, before the final Mass. Jmaxxz, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The main stage in the Southern Cross Precinct during the evening vigil, 19 July 2008. Johannes Müller, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Another panorama of the World Youth Day vigil at Randwick, 2008. RaminusFalcon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Soldiers, Flu and Flying Machines

Both world wars came to Randwick. Dunn says the army used the racecourse as a camp for soldiers waiting to sail in World War I and again in World War II, with tents in the infield and temporary buildings on parts of the site. Racing carried on, and the AJC gave some of its profits to patriotic funds. The ATC says its World War I donations came to more than £80,000. The money went to the Bluebirds, a group of nurses working in France outside the official medical units, as well as the French government, the Red Cross and relief funds for Poland and Belgium. Randwick Council says land at both Randwick and the nearby Kensington Racecourse was handed to the military for training and barracks, and that during World War II racing at Randwick was cut back to one meeting a month. The ATC says Randwick was partly occupied in 1944 and some meetings moved to Rosehill. The council also says the Big Stable at Newmarket, just down the road, was used as a detention barracks during that war.

Straight after the first war came the Spanish flu. The ATC says the Tea House was handed over to the Ministry for Public Health and used as a flu hospital for five months in 1919.

The open ground was handy for flying, too. The ATC notes that Harry Hawker used Randwick for a trial flight in February 1914. Dunn says the course was used in 1928 for the landing in Sydney of Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm in the Southern Cross after their flight across the Pacific. Wikipedia's article on the plane tells it differently. It says they landed at Eagle Farm in Brisbane on 9 June, flew on to Sydney the next day, and were met by a big crowd at Mascot.

Early morning gallops at Randwick, about 1934, by Sam Hood. Sam Hood, State Library of NSW, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A woman studying the form at the Sydney Cup meeting, Randwick, March 1937, by Sam Hood. Sam Hood, State Library of NSW, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Spring Meeting at Randwick, October 1938, by Sam Hood. Sam Hood, State Library of NSW, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Banjo, Film Crews and Future Music

Banjo Paterson was a regular at Randwick. Dunn says he rode in steeplechases, wrote a weekly racing column for the Sydney Mail and wrote at least one poem about the Randwick races, "The Oracle", in 1917. Women had to wait a long time for their place on the course. The ATC says Lesley Bellden became the first woman to ride a winner at Randwick, on Mystic Mahal in April 1983.

The course has had plenty of other uses. Wikipedia says it turns up in films, including Mission: Impossible 2, and the University of New South Wales uses it as an exam hall. The Future Music Festival started there in 2006 as a one-day event and was held at the racecourse until it was scrapped after 2015 because of poor ticket sales.

Equine Flu and COVID – 2007 to 2021

Twice this century, racing at Randwick has been shut down or emptied out. The ATC says equine influenza reached thoroughbreds in August 2007, and the NSW spring carnival was cancelled. Racing came back in Sydney on 1 December, with more than 20,000 people there.

Then came COVID-19. The ATC says racing kept going in 2020 under strict biosecurity rules, and both the Golden Slipper and The Championships were run without a crowd for the first time. In 2021 the ABC reported that The Everest on 16 October 2021 was the state's first major event out of lockdown. After the ATC lobbied the government, the crowd limit was doubled from 5,000 to 10,000 double-vaccinated racegoers, who had to check in, show their vaccination certificates and wear masks. The racing minister, Kevin Anderson, called it "the race breaking hibernation".

2011 – The Australian Turf Club

After almost 170 years, the AJC disappeared in a merger. Wikipedia says an Ernst & Young report in June 2009 recommended combining the AJC and the Sydney Turf Club to save Sydney racing. AJC members voted for the merger, and STC members voted against it, but the STC board went ahead anyway. The Australian Jockey and Sydney Turf Clubs Merger Act 2010 created the Australian Turf Club, which came into being on 7 February 2011. Races.com.au reported that the first race day under the new club would be at Royal Randwick on Wednesday 9 February 2011. It also reported that the government had put together a $174 million package for Sydney racing, and that the ATC was about to start a $150 million redevelopment of Randwick.

Wikipedia says the ATC now runs Randwick, Rosehill Gardens, Canterbury Park and Warwick Farm, has its offices at Randwick, and still keeps the Australian Stud Book that the AJC started. Randwick itself is still Crown land leased to the club.

The Royal Randwick light rail stop, April 2019. Rail returned to the racecourse 59 years after the last tram. MDRX1, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Big Stable at Newmarket, Randwick, in 2022. It's a heritage-listed relic of the racing industry that grew up around the course. Collywolly, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Randwick Racecourse, April 2021. Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Timeline

• Oct 1810 – First approved race meeting in Hyde Park.
• Dec 1832 – Sir John Jamison and others ask Governor Bourke for a racecourse near the Botany Road.
• 1833 – The Sandy Course is laid out at Randwick. First race (a private match) in June.
• 1838 – Racing stops. The track is too dangerous (ATC). Wikipedia says 1840.
• 5 Jan 1842 – The Australian Jockey Club meets for the first time.
• 1858 – The AJC picks Randwick to replace Homebush.
• 29–31 May 1860 – First AJC meeting at Randwick. More than 6,000 come on the first day.
• 1861 – First AJC Derby (as the AJC Randwick Derby Stakes).
• 1863 – The Crown land is granted to AJC trustees for one peppercorn a year.
• 1865–66 – First Epsom, Doncaster and Sydney Cup.
• 1868 – The Duke of Edinburgh visits.
• 1873 – The Australian Jockey Club Act extends the lease to 21 years.
• 1880 – The tramway reaches the racecourse.
• 1886 – The Official (Members') Stand is built.
• 1910–1914 – The Ladies' Stand, St Leger Stand and Tea House go up, all by Robertson & Marks.
• 1914–18 – Military camp, and more than £80,000 donated to war charities.
• 1917 – The Julius tote buildings open, fourth in the world.
• 1919 – The Tea House becomes a flu hospital.
• 1929 – Phar Lap wins the AJC Derby.
• 1934 – Record day of 117,480 tram passengers.
• 1939–45 – Military occupation, and one meeting a month.
• 6 Feb 1954 – The Queen at Randwick for the first Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
• 1957 – Tulloch breaks Phar Lap's Derby record.
• 1 Feb 1960 – The last tram to the racecourse.
• 1969 – The Queen Elizabeth II Stand opens.
• 1 Dec 1970 – Pope Paul VI's Mass, then a youth Mass the next day.
• 1979 – The Derby moves to autumn.
• 1980 – Kingston Town wins the Derby and Sydney Cup.
• 26 Nov 1986 – Pope John Paul II's evening Mass.
• 22 Feb 1992 – The Queen opens the Paddock Stand and grants the title "Royal Randwick".
• 19 Jan 1995 – Mary MacKillop is beatified at Randwick.
• 2006 – The first Future Music Festival.
• 2007 – Equine influenza cancels the spring carnival.
• 19–20 Jul 2008 – World Youth Day vigil and final Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.
• 7 Feb 2011 – The AJC and STC merge into the Australian Turf Club.
• 2012–13 – The Paddock Stand and Tea House are demolished, and the QEII Grandstand is rebuilt.
• 2013 – Black Caviar's last race makes it 25 from 25.
• 2014 or 2015 – The Championships begin.
• 14 Oct 2017 – The first Everest, won by Redzel.
• 2019 – Winx's 33rd straight win. The light rail opens.
• 2020 – The Championships are run without a crowd.
• 16 Oct 2021 – The Everest is NSW's first major event out of lockdown.
• Dec 2021 – The WINX Stand opens.
• 2024 – The Everest becomes Group 1 and draws a record 49,117.

Where the Sources Disagree

• When the Sandy Course closed: the Dictionary of Sydney, the ATC and Randwick Council say 1838. Wikipedia says racing stopped in 1840.
• When racing came back: Dunn writes "Racing returned to Randwick in 1858" but gives the first meeting as 29–31 May 1860. The ATC says 1858 was when the AJC chose Randwick. Everyone agrees on the May 1860 meeting.
• Granted or leased? Wikipedia's Randwick Racecourse article says the land was "officially granted" to the AJC in 1863. The same article calls it "Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club", the ATC talks of a peppercorn rent on Crown land, and Dunn describes a lease that was extended by Act of Parliament in 1873.
• The Members' Stand: Wikipedia and Roberts and Taylor date it to 1886 with later extensions, and Randwick Council says 1910. I couldn't find any source that dates the Members' Stand to 1917. The 1917 date belongs to the totalisator buildings beside it.
• The 1992 grandstand: Wikipedia and Roberts and Taylor say the Queen opened the Paddock Stand in 1992. Randwick Council says she opened "the new grandstand named in her honour", and the QEII Stand had already been built in 1969.
• When it got its royal nickname: the Deseret News (1992) said it was nicknamed "Royal Randwick" after the Queen "dedicated a grandstand in 1954". Roberts and Taylor date the QEII Stand to 1969. Everyone agrees the title became official in February 1992, not 2011.
• Crowds on 22 February 1992: the ATC says 25,790, and the Deseret News said "nearly 26,000".
• How many papal Masses: Dunn writes of three papal Masses, in 1970, 1987 and 2008. The Herald, the ATC and Randwick Council put John Paul II's Mass in 1986 and add the 1995 beatification Mass as well.
• Paul VI's crowd, 1970: 250,000, 200,000 or 150,000, according to the three estimates quoted by Leon Morris. A UPI report gave 150,000 for the separate youth Mass the next day. Dunn says each papal Mass drew more than 200,000.
• John Paul II's crowd, 1986: about 250,000 (Sydney Morning Herald, 2005). Dunn says more than 200,000.
• The final Mass, 2008: 300,000 to 400,000 (Wikipedia). Reuters said up to 300,000. Danny Casey of World Youth Day said more than 400,000. Randwick Council says over 400,000. The ATC says some 400,000 across the racecourse and Centennial Parklands.
• The 2008 compensation: $42 million (Wikipedia, "World Youth Day 2008") or $40 million (Wikipedia, "Randwick Racecourse").
• Tulloch's record: Wikipedia's Tulloch article says he took "2 seconds" off Phar Lap's Derby record in one place and "2.1 seconds" in another.
• The Everest prize money: Wikipedia's Everest article says prize money went up to $15 million in 2018. Wikipedia's Randwick Racecourse article and the ATC both give $15 million for the first running in 2017.
• Winx's last crowd: 43,833 (Racing NSW) or "over 43,000" (ATC).
• The Championships: held since 2014 (Wikipedia) or since 2015 (ATC).
• The Southern Cross in 1928: Dunn says the racecourse was used for Kingsford Smith and Ulm's landing in Sydney. Wikipedia's Southern Cross article has them landing at Eagle Farm in Brisbane and being welcomed by a crowd at Mascot when they reached Sydney.
• Bidjigal or Bediagal: Wikipedia's Bidjigal article says Kohen has suggested two separate groups may have been confused.

My Earlier Posts

• Randwick – How Simeon Pearce's Village Began – From Bidjigal Country to the Steam Trams
• Newmarket Precinct – Young Street – Randwick
• Newmarket House – 7 Young Street – Randwick
• Sherbrooke House – 20 Coogee Bay Road – Randwick
• Montepellier – Randwick
• Swan Aisle – 87 Darley Road – Randwick
• St Jude's Cemetery – Avoca Street – Randwick
• Frenchmans Road – Randwick
• Sacred Heart Monastery – 1 Roma Avenue – Kensington
• Sydney Trams – From Horse Trams to Light Rail
• The Coogee Pier – 1928–1934
• The Old Moore Park Zoo
• The Sydney Common – Moore Parklands
• The Centennial Park Eel
• Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel – Mount Street – North Sydney
• St Mary's Cathedral – College Street
• Historic Sydney Mansions: Newmarket House – 7 Young Street – Randwick
• Historic Sydney Mansions: Normanhurst House – Alison Road & Cowper Street – Randwick
• Historic Sydney Mansions: Sherbrooke House – Randwick
• Historic Sydney Mansions: Montpellier – Randwick
• Historic Sydney Mansions: Earlswood – 54 Dutruc Street – Randwick
• Historic Sydney Mansions: Nugal Hall – Milford Street – Randwick
• Historic Sydney Mansions: Cliffbrook – Coogee

Sources

• Mark Dunn, "Randwick racecourse", Dictionary of Sydney, 2008: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/randwick_racecourse
• Australian Turf Club, "History Timeline": https://devappcdn.australianturfclub.com.au/history-timeline/
• Paul Roberts and Isabelle Taylor, "Racecourse architecture: Royal Randwick", Thoroughbred Racing Commentary: https://www.thoroughbredracing.com/articles/2181/racecourse-architecture-royal-randwick/
• Randwick City Council, Our Story, "Royal Randwick Racecourse": https://ourstory.randwick.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/10530
• Randwick City Council, Our Story, "Horse Racing" (quoting Joan Lawrence, Pictorial History Randwick, 2001): https://ourstory.randwick.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/3590
• Wikipedia, "Randwick Racecourse": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randwick_Racecourse
• Wikipedia, "Australian Turf Club": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Turf_Club
• Wikipedia, "Bidjigal": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidjigal
• Wikipedia, "Gadigal": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadigal
• Wikipedia, "Australian Derby": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Derby
• Wikipedia, "Doncaster Handicap": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doncaster_Handicap
• Wikipedia, "Epsom Handicap": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epsom_Handicap
• Wikipedia, "The Everest": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Everest
• Wikipedia, "Queen Elizabeth Stakes (ATC)": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_Stakes_(ATC)
• Wikipedia, "Phar Lap": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phar_Lap
• Wikipedia, "Tulloch (horse)": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulloch_(horse)
• Wikipedia, "Kingston Town (horse)": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Town_(horse)
• Wikipedia, "Winx (horse)": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winx_(horse)
• Wikipedia, "World Youth Day 2008": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Youth_Day_2008
• Wikipedia, "Mary MacKillop": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_MacKillop
• Wikipedia, "Southern Cross (aircraft)": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cross_(aircraft)
• Wikipedia, "Future Music Festival": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Music_Festival
• Victoria Racing Club, "Brilliant Bernborough": https://www.vrc.com.au/latest-news/brilliant-bernborough/
• Racing NSW, "Australian Turf Club and Racing NSW unveil new Winx Stand at Royal Randwick": https://www.racingnsw.com.au/news/latest-racing-news/australian-turf-club-and-racing-nsw-unveil-new-winx-stand-at-royal-randwick/
• Races.com.au, "AJC and STC merge finalised – Australian Turf Club to start Monday", 5 February 2011: https://www.races.com.au/2011/02/05/ajc-and-stc-merge-finalised-australian-turf-club-to-start-monday/
• Deseret News, "Racetrack officially 'Royal'", 23 February 1992: https://www.deseret.com/1992/2/23/18969261/racetrack-officially-royal/
• Totus2us, "St Paul VI's 1970 Pilgrimage to Australia" (itinerary and Randwick homily): http://www.totus2us.co.uk/universal/australia/st-pvi-pilgrim-visit-1970/
• Leon Morris, "The Protestants and the Pope", Christianity Today, February 1971: https://www.christianitytoday.com/1971/02/current-religious-thought-protestants-and-pope/
• "Pope addresses Australian youth" (UPI), The Observer, University of Notre Dame, 3 December 1970: https://archives.nd.edu/observer/1970-12-03_v05_055.pdf
• "Warmth that touched a nation", Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April 2005: https://www.smh.com.au/world/warmth-that-touched-a-nation-20050403-gdl1ya.html
• ABC News, "Race day NSW's first big event out of lockdown...", 16 October 2021: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-16/spring-racing-carnival-crowd-size-increased-double-vaccinated/100544720
• Wikimedia Commons file pages for each picture (dates and descriptions from the State Library of NSW, State Records NSW and Powerhouse Museum): https://commons.wikimedia.org/