Progress Of The Suburbs In Sydney
Potts Point
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 1 November 1913, page 8
XVI. - POTTS POINT AND DARLINGHURST.
II.
Chief amongst the principal properties that were built at Potts Point was "Roslyn Hall," with its extensive and elaborately-finished frontage to Macleay-street. The house was a large, well-built mansion, with a spiral staircase, constructed of cast iron, leading to the first floor. The rooms were each spacious, well-finished, and elaborately-furnished apart ments. Each of the principal bedrooms had a bath of its own, built level with the floor, and a person wishing to bathe had to follow the Scriptural injunction and go down into the water instead of climbing up into the bath as is the present-day custom. This system of putting in baths to the main bedrooms and building them level with the floor was one adopted in most of the mansions around Syd-ney erected in the early days. At "The Rangers" at Mosman and other large dwell-
ings the remains of such a system of bath buildlng are still visible. For Roslyn Hall it may be claimed to have been at one time one of the most fashionable houses around Sydney. The land extended on the south-east to the site of what is now St. Canice's Church, with Roslyn Gardens and Roslyn-road on the east; while on the north the grounds ex-tended to Elizabeth Bay-road. In area there were 9 acres 1 rood to this property. It was a grant to a Mr. T. Barker, dated November 28, 1833. Mr. Barker built the house, and lived there for a time. Mr. Ambrose Hallen was the architect. Surrounding Roslyn Hall a number of other large and fashionable dwellings were erected. There was "Eaton",
with its old-fashioned wooden pump, which Mr. Dowling, in his description of the district, states was situated at the bottom of the pri-vate road, and served two cottages, which were erected by Mr. T. W. Smart next to "Eaton." Then there was "Cheverells," part of the Macleay grant, where Captain Deloitte and Mr. David Jones (of David Jones and Co.) respectively lived. Later the house was occupied by the Hon. W. R. Campbell. "Barncleuth," which adjoined Roslyn Hall, was occupied at one time by Mr. Henry Moore, who was the local agent for the P. and O. Company. It will he interesting to note that in those days the vessels of the P. and O. Company arrived here only once a month, and their arrival was generally noted by the firing of a gun from Fort Deni-son, and Barncleuth, Mr. Dowling states, was later purchased by Mr. Amos, a well-known railway contractor, and by him was named Kenneil. It Is now a boarding-house. Then there was that well-known residence, Green knowe, which Mr. John Gilchrist, senior part-ner in the well-known firm of Gilchrist, Watt, and Co., erected in 1846, under the super-vision of Mr. James Hume, one of Sydney's leading architects. Mr. Gilchrist occupied the house for a number of years. Finally it was purchased by Mr. F. H. Dangar, who still owns it. Larbert Lodge was built and occupied by Mr. C. D. Riddell, the then Co-
lonial Treasurer. Many other such well known properties of tho early days were, to
be found at Potts Point, and a large num-ber of them were built on what is known as "The Macleay Grant," which consisted of 51 acres, granted to Mr. Alexander Macleay by Governor Darling in 1828. The formal grant was in 1831. The Governor, in a despatch to the Right Hon. William Huskis-son, dated March 28, 1828, wrote thus:
"The land granted to Mr. Macleay at Elizabeth Bay, a mile and a half from Sydney, was for the purpose of erecting a family
house, and cultivating a garden. Mr. Mac-leay's knowledge as a horticulturist is likely
to prove beneficial to the colony. He has always spent a considerable sum in the im-provement and cultivation of his grounds, and in erecting a stable and ofllces, prepara-tory to building a house, which it is his in-tention shortly to commence. From the manner in which he has entered into this undertaking, and the scale upon which he has commenced to settle and stock the land he has received for agricultural purposes (the usual grant of 2500 acres), he will no doubt prove an important acquisition to the colony In this respect alone, the capital which he
has already vested in stock, and is still continuing to expend, is considerable.'"
Mr. James Arthur Dowling, in his paper be-fore the Historical Society, describes this property thus: "It took in all Elizabeth Bay and the western frontage of Rushcutter Bay as far as the eastern boundary of Roslyn Hall, and was approached by the Elizabeth Bay-road as at present." The residence which Mr. Macleay built is the present Elizabeth Bay House. It is a splendid example of the old style of erecting a family mansion. At a later date much of this grant of 54 acres was subdivided by Sir George Macleay, son of the original grantee, and by him was let out on long building leases. Upon this land, which to-day constitutes Elizabeth Bay, quite a number of beautiful homes have been
erected.
Quoting from Mr. Dowilng's paper: "Eliza-beth Point was so named by Governor Mac-quarie, after his wife's second name. The native name was 'Yarrandabby.' That of Mac-
leay Point was "Jerrowan."
Another interesting portion of this aristo-cratic suburb was some 11 acres of land near the extreme Potts Point. This was a grant to Mr. Judge Advocate John Wyld, on Novem-ber 1, 1822. Mr. Wyld was the last Judge Advocate, and for a short time a Judge of the Supreme Court under the charter of 1824. It is evident that at the outset Mr. Wyld made no attempt to improve his property, and he nearly lost it for falling to comply with the conditions of the grant, and Governor Darling in his despatch of 1828, already men-tioned in connection with the Macleay grant, dealtalso with the Wyld grant in these words: "The allotment bearing Judge Wyld's name was granted to that gentleman by Gover-nor Macquarie several years since, and still remains unimproved. I purpose writing to inform the Judge that it will be resumed by the Government unless the conditions of the grant are speedlly fulfilled. It is quite evi-dent, however, that Mr. Wyld complied with the conditions at a later date, for Mr. Dowl-ing in his article points out that the Judge Advocate conveyed 61 acres of the land to Mr. J. H. Potts, who was one of the early officers of the Bnnk of New South Wales, which was first established in 1817. Hence, the name Potts Point, the native name of which is Carrageen. But it was also called Point Campbell, in a survey by Gover-nor Phillip in 1792. The street from the end of Macleay-street, opposite Grantham, is call-ed Wyld-street, and Mr. Dowling adds "evi-dently after the judge." On the north side of this street nnd built in the land once owned by the Judge Advocate, were the fine residen-ces, Bellevue, Clarens, Creelwood, Clifford, and Tarana. Some of these have been re-built or added to, and renamed, including the site of Mr. W. R. Hall's modern Wildfell, and opposite them Bomerah, belonging to the well known McQuade family, who occupied the extreme Potts Point. Bomerah 20 years ago was the home of the Admiral in charge of the station, and Mr. Dowling says, "near by was Grantham Villa, built on the remain-ing 4½ acres of John Wyld's grant. This land, on which the house was erected, be-came by purchase from the Judge, the pro-perty of Mr. Caleb Wilson, the father of Felix Wilson, who was the defendant in the celebrated Newtown ejectment suit, "Devine v Wilson." He built the first house in the property which he called Caleb Castle, and by reason of its turret it was, Mr. Dowling says, also known as the Pepper-pot. Later the name was changed to Grantham. It was done in this way: The property was pur-chased by Mr. P. Parbury. It then passed Into the hands of Mr. Henry Dangar, and Is now owned by his son, the Hon. H. C. Dangar, who almost wholly rebuilt it in 1870, and call-ed the house Grantham. Immediately opposite Grantham Ville, states Mr. Dowling, was Clarens, which was in 1847 purchased by Mr, George Richard Griffiths, father of Mr. F. G, Griffiths, who came out to Sydney as the general manager of the Bank of Australasia, and after resigning this appointment he conducted a merchant's business in Sydney under the style of Grif-fiths, Graham, and Co., and afterwards Grif-fiths, Fanning, and Co. He sold out, and went
to England in 1833. Later this property was occupied by Sir James Martin, the Chief Jus-tice. It is now under the name of "Wilga," and is owned by Dr. Faithfull.
Another important property In this district is one on the west side of Macleay-strcet, next to "Grantham,". It was a grant to Dr. Douglas in October, 1831. He sold It the fol-lowing year to Colonel Shadforth, who built a residence known as "Adelaide Cottage" upon the ground. The land, Mr. Dowling states, extended from Macleay-street down to the waters of Woolloomooloo Bay. The whole property came later into the possession of Mr. J. H. Challis, manager for Messrs. Flower, Salting, and Co., and later a partner in the business. Mr. Challis gave this pro-perty, along with others, as a magnificent be-quest, valued at £250,000, to the Sydney University. Hence we have Challis House in
Martin-place. Next to Challis' properly was the grant in 1831 to Mr. John Busby, of early Sydney water supply fame, "the Busby bore."
This land was divided into two parts . On
one was erected Rockwall, the residence of Mr H. C. Sempill, and afterwards of Mr .
Arthur Little, a wealthy resident, who died
there in 1852. The house afterwards became
a "college for young ladles". On the other block was elected Tarmong, the residence of Sir Maurice O'Connell, the commandant of the forces, who died there in 1848. After-wards Tarmong was occupied by Dr Nichol-son (late Sir Charles) who in 1852 was a member of the Legislative Council and a Vice Chancellor of the University of Sydney. The house has now become absorbed in St Vincent's Convent
Not far away was the grant to Mr. Justice John Stephen of 11 acres 17 perches. Mr Stephen was the first Puisne Judge of the colony after the Charter of Justice and was the father of the
late Sir Alfred Stephen and upon this property
Orwell was erected. It was occupied at various times by such personages as Mr
James Raymond (Postmaster-General), Co-lonel H. C. Wilson (police magistrate), and
Mr Justice Milford. In 1846 Mr G R Griffiths lived there before he purchased Clarens,
and Mr F Parbury lived there in 1847. The property was subsequently owned by Sir Wil-liam Manning. The original house still stands. The adjoining property, Mr Dowling states was a grant, dated October 19th 1831, to Mr Alexander Baxter, the second Attorn-Generall under the Charter, who later went to Van Diemen's Land. Upon this land Spring-field was erected, and occupied by Mr Robert Campbell of Campbells Wharf and later by
Mr Robert Fitzgerald, of Windsor. It is now a boarding-house. A grant, dated October 11
1841, to Mr Edward Hallen, would appear to have been originally granted to Mr Bal-combe, the Colonial Treasuer, but it must have been revoked. Mr Hallen built a house upon it, which he called Telford Place his widow was a daughter of Lieutenant Lawson, and she died there only a few years ago.
Mention could be made of many other grants in this aristociatic part of old Sydney, including one to Mr Edward Deas Thomson (afterwards Sir Edward) in 1835, on which he erected Barham, and resided there until his
death; but there is one grant to the west of
the Deas Thomson grant which should be mentioned. It was 100 acres of land, which Mr Dowling desrcibes as lying at the head of Garden island Cove, known as Garden Cove, but marked in Roe's map of 1822 as Palmer's
Cove. The land was on the east side of the line laid down as a boundary for the
common ground, appropriated for the town of Sydney, which was to be known as
'Wallamooloo Farm'. This 100 acres was
granted to John Palmer, the Commissary General, hy his Honor Mr. FrancÃs Grose,
Lieutenent-Goveneor of the colony, on Feb-ruary 25, 1793. But Palmer sold the pro-pcrty to the Riley family on May 3, 1882, for the sum of £2290 and since then it has been known as the Riley estate, heing all the land bounded on the eastby the whole of the grants already mentioned and on the south by as near as possible Albion-street, Surry Hills, and on the west by Hyde Park, and on the north by the waters of Woolloomooloo
Bay. Hence Palmer and Riley streets. This proved to be one of the most valuable
grants in the city.
It will thus be seen that Potts Point, Eliza-beth Bay, and Darlinghurst formed at one time the principal residential areas for the
well-to-do people of Sydney .They still do, so, but look at the remarkable change which has taken place in any portion of this dis-trict. Instead of spacious mansions, sur-
rounded by large and picturesque grounds, that .. were once to be seen and thoroughly enjoyed at Potts Point and the adjacent district, we now have terrace after terrace of large and
fashionable boarding-houses, private hospi-
tals, and such like semi-public residences. The commercial element has got a hold of the district, and is entirely transforming it. Values have, in consequence, risen enormously, and they are likely to continue to do so. In fact, it is most difficult to secure a property
at the present time in this district, and if one does appear in the market it is quickly snapped up. Its close proximity to the city gives to it a somewhat abnormal commercial value, and it is likely to continue to increase in value,, until some day it will be swallowed up in the commercial advance-ment of the city proper. Residences will then disappear, and commercial houses will occupy
the once famous aristocratic Potts Point
