Buckinghams Department Store - Oxford Street

Transcription:

[Rooftop sign, partly out of frame:] [?BUC]KINGHAM'S

[Image credit strip:] National Library of Australia · nla.pic-vn6343076-v

At a glance

• Site: corner of Oxford and Riley Streets, Darlinghurst, near Taylor Square (today the Oxford Square / Oxford Village site)
• Founder: draper William Buckingham, who opened his business in 1878; after several moves it was in Riley Street by 1895 and on the Oxford–Riley corner by 1904 (ADB)
• Known for: one of the first Sydney retailers to offer an easy-credit system, later copied by other stores (ADB; Dictionary of Sydney)
• Company: Buckingham's Ltd, registered as a public company in 1920 (ADB)
• Fate: the family sold the business in 1967; the Oxford Street building was destroyed by fire on Anzac Day, 25 April 1968 (City of Sydney)

Sources

• Dictionary of Sydney, “Buckingham's Department Store”: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/building/buckinghams_department_store
• Australian Dictionary of Biography, “Buckingham, Ashley James (1898–1962)”: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/buckingham-ashley-james-9613
• City of Sydney, “Oxford Street: a history from track to high street”: https://news.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/photos/oxford-street-darlinghurst-a-history-from-track-to-high-street
• City of Sydney Archives, “Fire damage of Buckinghams building, corner Oxford and Riley Streets Darlinghurst, 1968” [A-00050613]
• Photograph: National Library of Australia, nla.pic-vn6343076-v