North Shore Historical Society Inc.
PO Box 399 North Sydney NSW 2059
Email: [email protected]
ABN 58 742 490 986
Secretary ph: 9929 6637
President ph: 9450 1552
BULLETIN for AUGUST 2015
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Society will be held on Thursday 13th August,
2nd floor Conference Room, Stanton Library, Miller Street, North Sydney. Light
refreshments are served from 6.30pm prior to the meeting which commences at 7pm.
Speaker: Alan Maclean
Professional career in advertising and marketing in the Asia-Pacific area. A bibliophile, Alan’s
lifetime collection of antiquarian books on “Typography” was purchased by the University of
Technology Sydney Library. He was personal Lieutenant for Asia-Pacific to Baron Maoidh (pron.
“Moy”), Chief of Clan Maclean of Lochbuie, Mull, Scotland. Now in part retirement, he is an
occasional guest speaker on various historical subjects at community groups.
Topic:
The Lights of Cobb & Co
This talk brings to life the human side of Cobb & Co – the powerful families who ran the empire,
their larger-than-life personalities, private tragedies, the drivers who made the firm famous and
the incredible hardships endured by passengers journeying into Australia’s heartland. Cobb and Co
provided the best-of–the-best travel and one of the world’s most extensive coaching networks.
Cobb & Co Coach at Yuleba railway yards Queensland – midway between Brisbane and Charleville
Welcome new members
-
Brenda Morrey and David Healy
July 2015 Meeting Report
-
Talk by Dr Perry McIntyre
"“Remembering and commemorating in Australia the Great Irish Famine”
Dr. Perry McIntyre, who has for many years been involved in the Irish Famine Commemoration Society,
provided a fascinating explanation of the circumstances of the famine which devastated Ireland in the
1840’s, and of some ways in which Australian history was impacted by this.
Continual subdivision of land in Ireland into smaller and smaller plots resulted in increasingly non-viable
farming. While living conditions were harsh, the use of the potato as a food staple, and the plentiful supply
of peat for fuel, maintained the health of the Irish peasants. However, partial failure of the potato crop in
1845, and complete failure from 1847, resulted in enormous personal suffering, eviction, and deaths from
hunger. At times, entire villages were forced to leave, and many of these emigrated, chiefly to the US, but
also to Canada and Australia. Statues and monuments commemorating this disaster are still widespread
throughout Ireland.
In the 1990’s the Irish President. Mary Robinson, called on those with Irish ancestry in countries to which
the migrants relocated to also commemorate this disaster. In 1999 a memorial was constructed at Hyde
Park Barracks, where many of these migrants had commenced their life in Australia. Other monuments
were also constructed across Australia, including the “Famine rock” in Williamstown, Victoria.
Dr McIntyre has been researching the lives of the “workhouse orphans” – young women of respectable
character, good health and willingness to emigrate, who arrived in Australia in 20 ships between 1848 and
1850. 11 of these ships, carrying 2253 girls, arrived in Sydney. The girls were initially housed at the Hyde
Park Barracks (which due to lack of convicts had recently been set up as an immigration barracks). From
there the girls were hired out as indentured servants to married men and their families within the colony. A
further 6 ships docked in Phillip Bay with 1255 girls, and 3 in Adelaide (606 girls). These girls had been
offered free passage by the government. Their clothing and transport to Plymouth for embarkation was
funded by the workhouses. These workhouse girls were not all illiterate – so far Dr McIntyre has identified
that the majority could read, and many could also write. Some had relatives already in Australia, and many
came in substantial groups from the same workhouse, which would have provided support to them in once
in Australia.
We were shown details and photos of a number of these women. Most had pride in building a new life in a
new land and, for most, “their legacy was their families”. Obituaries from newspapers many years later tell
some wonderful stories of the subsequent lives of these girls. Many have well-known descendants here.
Included amongst these are Mike Baird, Barnaby Joyce and Gary Lyons.
One girl, Mary Mullins, who arrived in 1850, aged 17 years, married, had 11 children, and ended her days in
North Sydney, dying in 1905 in West Street.
At the end of August each year the Commemoration Society holds a gathering at the Hyde Barracks
Memorial. This year, to increase awareness of this period of history, they also marched in the Sydney St
Patricks Day Parade.
Gaynor Austen
Left- the Memorial:
The 420 names etched in the glass panels of the
memorial represent all 4114 workhouse emigrants.
By extension the names reflect all those people who
died or fled the Famine. As this is an artwork it is not
possible to add or remove any of the names. These
names were put there at the request of relatives
following replies to advertisements in various
newspapers when the Memorial was being
designed. The fading is part of the memorial - as their
names fade on the glass so does the memory of some
of
these
young
female
immigrants.
September Outing
Tour of Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College- Thursday 24th September 2015
Masalou was the Convent occupied by
the Sisters for over 100 years. The
original property was the home of the
Hon Francis Lord MLA and was named
after his daughters – Mary, Sarah and
Louisa. It was a large house set in
extensive grounds.
When the original property was
purchased, the owner, Francis Lord,
refused to sell to the Church. However,
the Sisters called on a great friend, Mr
George Whiting (featured in our July
Bulletin) who acted on their behalf. Mr
Whiting’s wished to remain anonymous.
The initials GRW and LMW (Mrs Louisa
Whiting) are on one pair of windows -the
windows of St John the Evangelist and St
Joseph standing opposite each other halfway up the nave include the design of a small fish – a whiting.
They have always been known as ‘the Whiting windows’, commemorating their wonderful friend and
benefactor.
Tour cost: FREE. Please book with Barvara Hush no later than September 10th Annual General Meeting.
Meet at Monte front gate, 128 Miller Street North Sydney in time for tour to commence at 10.00am.
Contact:
Barvara Hush - Ph 9929 8675
Email - [email protected]
Above sketch: Masalou pre-1879 - courtesy of Stanton Library
- Book –
Of Flutes and Foghorns - Growing up in Neutral Bay in the 1950s
by Peter Austin
Peter Austin, son of former NSHS Editor the late Barbara Austin, has written a memoir about growing up in
Neutral Bay in the 1950s. The book, entitled “Of Flutes and Foghorns” will be launched Thursday, 8th
October at 5pm in the crypt of St Augustine’s Church, Neutral Bay, where the guest of honour will be the
former Governor, Professor The Honourable Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO.
The book, which runs to 16 chapters (240 pages plus photos) deals with life in Neutral Bay as it was in the
couple of decades after the Second World War. Peter was born in 1946 and grew up in a house in Guthrie
Avenue, near the border of Neutral Bay and Cremorne. At the end of school he pursued a rural career and
ended as a journalist for The Land Newspaper; which he edited for eight years.
Although the book is obviously autobiographical to some extent, it was written also as a historical
“window” into a very different time. It talks about socio-economic changes that have moulded the suburb
(and the wider Lower North Shore) over the past half-century, and describes in some detail how people
used to live in an earlier era. Different chapters deal with such aspects as schooling, church, shops,
entertainments, harbour shipping, transport, food and holidays.
Interested person are welcome to attend the book launch and should advise Peter Austin on
0409 046 675, or email [email protected].
If you wish to purchase a copy of his book, the cost
is $29.95 + postage/handling (less if purchased at the book launch).
A Spoonful of History ©
Geoff Huntington
The Horse Ferry - Crossing the Harbour
Each year millions of people
cross the Sydney Harbour
Bridge, but few stop to consider
how people crossed the
Harbour before the Bridge was
built, let alone how people
moved their vehicles from one
side to the other.
Before the Bridges construction
there were two ways of
conveying horse-drawn vehicles
(and later motor vehicles) to
the opposite shore. One was to
go inland to Bedlam Point1
where a punt crossed a
relatively small distance of
water. The other was to catch the "horse" ferry either from Blues Point to the southern shore at
Dawes Point or from Milsons Point to Bennelong Point. The Milsons Point landing moved eastward
to Jeffery Street in 1925 during Bridge construction.
The steam punt Princess was the first vehicular ferry in Australia and came into operation in 1842.
It departed from the western side of Dawes Point at the end of Lower Fort Street, but she was
plagued with problems and only lasted a matter of months on the route.
At Bennelong Point, two docks were used; the first was constructed in 1883 where the Sydney
Opera House now stands. The "new" Dawes Point horse ferry wharf was built around 1900 and the
route operated to Blue's Point. The remains of the Dawes Point ramp can still be seen today near
the south-eastern Bridge Pylon beside Hickson Road.
By 1926 the horse punts were required to carry huge amounts of traffic and three big new car
vessels arrived from England and Newcastle to compliment the ageing fleet.
To give some idea of the importance of the vehicle ferries- in 1928 the ferries carried 378,500
vehicles; 43,800 horsemen and five million passengers; their typical capacity being 84 passengers
and 37 vehicles.
However, time was running out - the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge would see an end to
90 years of the horse punts that had begun with the small and not very successful Princess. On the
30th April 1931, the wooden paddlewheel steamers Barangaroo, Benelon, Kedumba and Killara
ran their last service. The final two departed in the evening and a blast of sirens from all vessels in
the vicinity marked their passing. The wooden steamer service was no more and the last of the
paddle wheelers were gone forever. All other vehicle services ceased 12 months later, after the
Bridge was opened.
Photo: Jeffrey Street Vehicular Ferry Docks and Approach, 1925 courtesy State Records NSW
1
Bedlam Point over to Abbotsford is the narrowest point of the Parramatta River below Homebush Bay.