I I I '. I F I ,I I I I I I I I I I I • • • • • • • . WOOLtOMOOLOO BAY PTY L TO .' a subsidiary of PIVOT IIJIMH'fED • - • • • • • BERTHS 6,.7,8 & 9, WOOLLOOMOOLOO BAY History Arc4aeology and Documentation . . .' May 1989 : .. • • • . - PREPARED BY DON GODDEN, PATRICIA HOlT AND PETER SPEARRITT • • • -. • , \ " . • • • • • • • ! •
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PIVOT G~OlUJP IIJIMH'fED I '. I - University of Sydneynswaol.library.usyd.edu.au/data/pdfs/15451_ID_Godden1989...wallabies and kangaroos and the word 'Walla Mulla' has the same derivation
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. WOOLtOMOOLOO BAY PTY L TO .' a subsidiary of PIVOT G~OlUJP IIJIMH'fED
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BERTHS 6,.7,8 & 9, WOOLLOOMOOLOO BAY History Arc4aeology and Documentation . . .' May 1989 : ..
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PREPARED BY DON GODDEN, PATRICIA HOlT AND PETER SPEARRITT • • •
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WOOLLOOMOOLOO FINGER WHARF: HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND DOCUMENTATION .
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Don Godden, Patricia Holt & Peter Speanitt
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Don Godden & Associates
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Heritage Consultants
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Sydneyl989
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TABLE OF CONfENTS
1 WOOILOOMOOLOO'S ORIGINS
1.1 Early Settlement
1.2 From Fishing Village to Suburb
1.3 Reclamation and Deep Sea Wharfage
1.4 Home of the Sydney Fishing Fleet
1.5 Dockland Life in the 'Loo
2 TIIE FINGER WHARF
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2.1 The Sydney Harbour Trust: Rebuilding Sydney's Wharves
especially for the unloading of general merchandise and the
loading of wool. It was later extended along the eastern
side of the Bay. In the 1890s, the 'Coal Baron', John
Brown, mine owner, built Brown's Wharf on the western
side of the Bay.
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An official proposal was submitted to the Public Works
Committee in 1888 to erect a jetty in the centre of the Bay
as the old jetty by this time was in an "unsound condition ".
As a result of the work of this Committee, Admiralty
Wharf (of which there are some excellent photos taken by
the NSW Government Printers Office) was also built, in
1889-90. Some sources state that it was built by the
Imperial Government and was used for ships of war. I I Certainly its name suggests the same, and it is probable that
it was paid for by the Imperial Government This wharf I . was reconstructed and expanded in 1910-16.
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'In 1891, Captain John Jackson 'Manager and Collector of I
Public' Wharves' successfully negotiated with a syndicate
to occupy Admiralty Wharf as a loading wharf.' A wool-
dumping concern known as the Fitzroy Stevedoring
Company was also installed, this time on the east side of •
the purpose of loading the Bucknall Line of steamers.
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1.4 Home of the Sydney Fishing Fleet
When Cowper's Wharf was completed, the Bay was noted
for its function as a fishing port and for its traffic in timber •
and bluestone. Liners from San Francisco also used the
Bay. In fact, during the latter part of the nineteenth century
Woolloomooloo Bay was probably best known as the
home of the Sydney fishing fleet. (The fleet had been
previously stationed in Darling Harbour). Sydney's first •
government administered Municipal Fish Markets open in
1872 in a building at the corner of Forbes and Plunkett • • •
Streets. The building was extended in 1880, but
demolished in 1892 and the new building that opened in • •
1893 on the same site remained in use as the city's fish
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markets until new markets were opened in the Haymarket in 1910. The building was later occupied by Sungravure
Printing Works.
At this time, the fishing fleet transferred its base away frOm
I " Woolloomooloo Bay. Two reasons are advanced for this waning of influence of the fishing industry: one being that
with the development of deepwater wharfage the fishing
vessels became less important in the area, and the other that
it eventually was found to be more convenient to send fish
to Sydney by rail from fishing ports along the coast than to
bring them in" boats to W oolloomooloo. For this reason the
fish market was relocated to the Municipal Markets near the
railway goodsyard at Darling Harbour.
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1.5 Dockland Life in the, 'Loo
, With the establishment of the wharves Woolloomooloo
developed more of a maritime character based on its
proximity to its docks and its growing population of wharf , I • workers and fishermen. Although many larger, elegant
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'boom style' terraces were built in the 1880s - particularly . '
those built along the crest of what was then known as
. Woolloomooloo Heights (now Victoria Street) - rack
renters introduced terraces of the more un salubrious
variety, and the area, by the turn of the century was largely
. a suburb for working class families. Many dockside hotels
opened, including 'The Little House Under the Hill', 'The
Ivy Leaf, 'The Blue Bell', 'The Firm Anchor' and 'The
Cottage of Content'. 'The Bells" rebuilt in the 1920's can
be seen in the background of the aforementioned photo of
Admiralty Wharf. Naturally these watering places became
the social centre for sailors and wharfies and this,
combined with the vision of sprawling streets of worker's
cottages may have given the appearance of disreputability.
The working class nature of the area was reinforced in the
1890swhen the name ofWoolloomooloo became gradually'
I synonymous with thedockside district in the vale at the head of the Bay.- The :flrst recorded use of the shortened
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term 'Loo was in a poem, published in 1893 by Daniel lIea1ey: .
Tim Bunyip was of Austral birth Born at the classic 'Loo.
At about this time the 'Loo was becoming notorious for its
gangs of'larrikins'. (The uniform of the larrikins has been
described as a "black suit with bell-bottom trousers, short
coat, flat-crown hat and high-heeled fancy boots").
. Although the area had a reputation for being a 'tough'
quarter until about 1930, at least some of its reputation
seems undeserved. During a lengthy debate carried in the
'letters to the editor' pages of the Sydney Morning Herald
in the early months of 1905, genteel concerned residents
argued for a name change for their ~uburb believing this
measure to be all that was necessary for. it to be rid of its
stigma. This concern was partly engendered by a fear of . faJIing rental and land values. •
. One resident wrote:
•... .Its narrow little lanes, nestling beneath the cliffs, and hiding away behind the principal streets as the surveyors aligned them and the people built along them, became in process of
• time a sort of Alsatia for the criminal, the unfortunate, and the very poor. The "Rocks" district was in the old days for the western and northern ends of Sydney what Woolloomooloo became for the eastern, and the new and evil fame it acquired in the short and simpl~ annals of the policy eclipsed. the respectable associations which had begun to grow up there, and now cling to it after the evils have been exterminated or have departed. The old name, with its multitudinous vowels, has become synonymous with the evil repute, and the modem resident craves for the final effacement of both with one pass of the sponge across the slate. :
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One resident provided a poem:
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What's in a name? There is much too much for you Or I who have a business in the Loo. . Call out mad dog, and everyone will try To beat the creature as he passes by, Although the cur is sound in sense and limb, Yet each and all will try to injure him.
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Woolloomooloo is one· of the healthiest parts of the city to live in. Except for a few lanes the streets are all of the regulation width. Bounded on the one side by the Domain and on another by the harbour, the place is always filled with the ever bracing and health-giving sea breezes. During the outbreak of plague in '90 this part of the city enjoyed almost perfect immunity from the dreaded disease. No plague-infected rodent has been discovered in this portion of the City. . ... B ut something must be done in order to remove the odium that is at present associated with the name.
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Popular suggestions for Woolloomooloo's new name
included Palmerton, Palmersham, East Sydney and St
Kilda (after an old house that was a landmark in the j
district). John Pa]mer's great grandson, R. H. Palmer, a
resident of AnnanOale, wrote in expressing his approval of
the name 'Palmersham' and suggesting that Palmer Street
be called 'Commissary-avenue'. Another suggestion was
that Woolloomooloo Street should have its name changed.
By the 1920s its name had been changed to Cathedral , •
Street, and Duke Street, which had been notorious as a
lively quarter had had its name changed to McElhone Street
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The Italian fishing community residing in the 'Loo added
an extra dimension in the area's colour and life. Italians
had been living in Woolloomooloo since the 1860s and
Cardinal Moran had the church of St Columbkille's built
for their benefit. St Columbkille's is now one of the few
remaining nineteenth century churches in the area. One
other remaining chl!l'Ch is the Palmer Street Uniting Church
(formerly Presbyterian). Even ID the 1960s, Italian fishing
trawlers were moored in the Bay and fishing nets could be
seen laid out in the streets for purposes of mending. In
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1960 there were approximately eighty Italian families as
well as 15 Italian boarding houses in the area. . Their •
presence was remarked upon in the 1920s:
In some of the still unimproved slum streets there reside swarthy foreigners, who go out daily'in small craft to test the harvest of the sea.' (Sydney Morning Herald, 21 June 1924).
Sydneysiders still benefit from this particular maritime ,
legacy as some of Sydney's best Italian restaurants are in
the W oolloomooloo, Darlinghurst and Kings Cross areas.
Harry's Cafe de Wheels is another dockside institution. It
has been situated at various intervals around the Cowpers
Wharf Roadway over the last decades, and although Harry
died in 1979, a cafe of the same name still survives.
Harry's Cafe de Wheels, as it was when he died, has been
preserved by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
Snippets of life in thej'Loo can also. be gleaned from a
number of famous novels that have been set there, •• • · . including: Christina Stead's Seven Poor Men of Sydney
(1'934); Kylie Tennant's Tell Morning This (1967;
abrldgedversion, 1953); M. Barnard Eldershaw's
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (censored 1947;
uncensored, 1983); an,d Patricia Wrlghtson's Down to Earth (1965).
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• 2. THE FINGER WHARF
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2.1 The Sydney Harbour Trust: • Rebuilding
Sydney's Wharves : • , I
The establishment of the Sydney Harbour Trust in 1901
was one 'of the most significant events in the history of
and in that same year, a wharf on the south side (leased by •
McArthur & Co.) was reconstructed and enlarged and
alterations were also made to the roadway. (Sydney
Harbour Trust Annual Reports 1901, 1903).
Early in 1911, work began on the remodelling of the 1890s
wharves 1 to 3. They were combined, widened and
raised. Rock and clay, excavated from the hill-behind, was
used for some reclamation and thus the east side was again
dramatically redeveloped. Of the Trust's works here, the
Daily Telegraph reported, in29 August 1912, that:
An .80ft roadway is to run round behind the wharves. Just above the cliff face stands Bomerah, that the Trust had to resume; and just below it two half-built wharf-structures, with earth and stones being pushed out and filled in between them. ••. the wharf. will stretch on piles for 40ft Along one side will be a "Black Gennan" berth, and across the end will be the Port Iackson Ferry Company's cargo-boats. That will remove the need for the little wharf at Fort Macquarie, from which the Manly cargo all comes now. The Fort Macquarie, picnic • steamers will have more room, too, and the
• small cargo-boats will find plenty off Potts Point .
'Bomerah' was the large residence nearest the wharves.
Actually spelt 'Bomera', it was once a grand Italianate
house with separate stables and servants qu'arters to the
rear and grounds that extended to W oolloomooloo Bay,
encompassing a tennis court, swimming baths. and terraces
fronting the Bay. These waterfront terraces must have
'gone' with the wharf construction of the 1890s and yet
more of Bomera's frontage was resumed in 1911 to allow
the wharves to be widened and extended to the north
eastern point where land was also resumed for the Manly
descriptions had this to say about the structures:
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A new shed was constructed in 1903 at the rear of No. 2 Berth (this shed was later removed to No. 4 Berth, Woolloomooloo). In 1912-1916 the premises were completed reconstructed. The existing wharf was raised on blocks and widened and extended in a northerly direction, ·the piles and headstocks of the old wharf being incorporated in the remodelled structure. The old Nos. 1 and 2 sheds were demolished and No. 2A shed was removed to No. 4 Berth. The present Nos. 1, lA and 2/3 sheds and the brick office block were- erected and machinery installed in the sheds. No. 2/3 shed is doubledecked. The seawall behind the old wharf was raised and a trestle wall constructed behind the new wharf.
Nos 2 and 3 wharf structures were agam renovated in 1933-4 (MSB Sydney Habour Wharves 1954, State Archives 7n526.2).
At this time, other works in W oolloomooloo Bay included
those undertaken at Berths 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12. At Berth
No. 4, the original wharf and sheds were demolished in
1916. A new wharf was built and the demolished sheds
were moved and re-erected, one at No. 5 Berth and the
other: to form part of No. 4B shed. The new shed on No.
4 was moved from the rear of the old No. 2 wharf, and it
was single storey of timber construction. Also in 1916,
the original shed on No. 5 was moved to No. 4B and the .
new shed, that was brought from No. 4, was erected. In •
1903, Berth No. 10 was widened and improvements were made to the shed and seawall.
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Iri 1911-12, No. 11 was widened and the shed from No. 6
(i.e. the old shed built prior to 1901 that was on the central
jetty) was erected on it. No. 11 was renovated again in
1920-21 when the whatf was extended at its north end and
a new cargo shed was erected.
No. 12 wharf, known as the Blue Metal Wharf, was
constructed in 1902 and consisted of sheet piling with
fi)]jng behind. Consequent upon the extension of No. 11
wharf in 1920-1, No. 12 was extended approximately 90ft
at the north end. This involved the removal of the
explosives landing (State Archives MSB Special Bundles
7nS27 andMSB Sydney Harbour Wharves 7nS26.2).
2.2 From Central Jetty to 'Cathedral of Commerce'
Work began on the massive central jetty, referred to early
on by the Trust as No. 6 Wharf, on 14 August 1910. The
progress of its construction was followed with interest by I
the press, as it was the Trust's most ambitious undertaking
to date and was (and siill is) the largest whatf in Australia.
By mid 1912, when the jetty structure itself was essentially
completed press reports (including that of the Daily
Telegraph of 29 August 1912) summed. up rather
succinctly the increasing pressure for whatf space and the , . ,
Sydney Harbour Trust's achievements to that date:
The more whatfage improvements the Harbour . Trust makes, the less wharves we have. So that, after the ~xpenditure of hundreds of thousands of po rinds, there are now actually 34 fewer berths than when the trust first took office.
'That may sound like an attack on the Harbour Trust. It isn't. The new ones are much bigger berths for the increasingly bigger ocean-going vessels. ... since the vessels grow in size quite
. as fast as they' increase in number it becomes just as necessary to add to the length of the old wharVes as to make new ones. ... Just at present we are in the midst of change, with all its worries. Half-built or nearly-ready wharves and sheds are scattered everywhere, and great undeveloped bays near the city hold out their
• arms for wharves. They will all have to be filled in time.
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The 'Cathedral9f Commerce - in the galvanised iron gothic
style', as it was referred to in 1914 (Daily Telegraph 25
June 1914, was to be 1040 feet long and 203 feet wide. It
was to consist of a 'concrete roadw~y 53 feet wide and
sunken 4 feet below the 75 feet wide timber wharves so as
to assist in the loading of the vehicles. Sheds of 40 feet
wide were to be constructed on each wharf and the most
modern of cargo handling equipment was to be •
incorporated. •
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2.3 A Tour of the Wharf
By mid year of 1912, the central jetty's timber work was
almost complete and the centre reinforced concrete ,
roadway was compl~te save for 900 square metres of its
surface. A delay i!1 the supply of iron girder~ from •
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'~ngland caused the erection of temporary sheds on the two
shore-end berths. Increasing shipping demand was such
that the new wharf was in use years before its finishing
touches were completed. In October 1912, it was reported that: I
Woolloomooloo Bay during the last few days has been the scene of much activity, so far as , shipping is concerned. The accommodation for overseas cargo. carriers has been fully taxed, and gives promise of continuing for some time.
The new jetty ~hich is to accommodate big ships, though not yet completed, was utilised and four steamers ... were taken alongside.
. This quartette fllled up, the space, and for the time being it was difficult to discriminate between the jetty and the bay. More pronounced than ever was this little problem, when' a look round at the other wharves disclosed the fact that (four other ships) were at separate berths.
This fleet represented over 50,000 tons, while several thousand men found employment
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It is claimed by the Harbour Trust that when the jetty is open for regular berthing a good deal of congestion, so far as deepset shipping in the season is concerned, will be relieved.
•.• while the water space has been curtailed the berthing room has been increased, and W oolloomooloo Bay will probably be known in the future as "Woolloomooloo Wharves".(Evening News 23 October 1912).
The approaches to the jetty were completed in August 1912 .
and erection of the four double-decked cargo sheds was
commenced on 30 July 1912. By mid 1914, the sheds on
Nos 7 and 9 berths, at the northern end, were completed
and by the end of that year the two berths at the southern
end (Nos. 6 & 9) were also finished. An ambulance room
was provided in shed No. 8 for the benefit of wharf
labourers and others. By mid 1915, four 3-ton goods lifts,
eight 3-ton travelling bridge cranes and eight pairs of
freight conveyors (each capable of handling 2 tons
continuously) had all been installed and haq been used •
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,'satisfactorily' during the year. (Sydney Harbour Trust •
Annual Reports 1912, 1914, 1915) • . •
In 1916, work was completed with the widening of the
wood-blocked approach to the jetty and the erection of a
new iron fence.
The sunken road has proved a great success at the big jetty built by the Commissioners in the centre of Woolloomooloo Bay. This jetty has
. been in full swing for some time, and the convenience of the loading bays off the sunken . road has facilitated the dispatch of wagons from the wharf. The wharf is now one of the busiest in Port J ackson. The gear for disposing of goods is of the most up-to-date pattern." (Evening News 1 September 1915).
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There is nothing to beat this new shed and the appliances in any part of Australia" said Mr H.D. Walsh, engineer-in-chief of the :fruste (Sydney Morning Herald 9 September 1915).
Even before the jetty's completion the Sydney Harbour Trust's works were receiving rave reviews, and a certain
amount of national pride was also engendered by the Bay and its Wharf:
... ships like the P&O "Benalla" constantly land a thousand passengers at a time, and enormous cargoes of all kinds come in and go out
Sydney sits enthroned with her heads to the sea, the great centre of a great country, and it is because her people, alive to their opportunities, are determined to spare neither foresight nor effort that she will remain the best as well as the most interesting port in the Southern Hemisphere. (Evening News 13 June 1913).
2.4 The Wharf and the Bay
The Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners had advised
the Sydney Council of the need for an extra approach to
Cowper's Wharf and by 1913 a smart new avenue was
anticipated to run from Woolloomooloo along Lincoln and j •
Sir JOM Young Crescents across Phillip, Cook and Hyde
.. ParkS into Park Street at the College Street intersecdon.
Who shall say that visitors entering Sydney by this magnificent park-bound avenue will not be more impressed than they are from the Cove itself. (Evening News 13 June 1913).
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At the same time land on the western side of the Bay was
vested in the Commissioners for the formation of a road of access to wharves to be constructed there. •
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The decrepit condition of housing and roads in the 'Loo
continued to be a matter of debate. In a letter of the editor
of the Sydney Morning Herald in June 1914 a
correspondent by the pen name of "Progress" quoted a
cartoonist who had written of housing in the Rocks area: • • • • Fourteen feet from door to door,
But I do not know what the same writer would have said had he viewed the lower portion of .Woo - where some of the houses measure ten and twelve feet from door to door.
Mr or Ms Progress then went on to advocate the demolition
of houses for road-widening purposes (Sydney Morning
Herald 11 June 1914).
The new road from College Street was completed in early
1915, its opening, however, was delayed considerably by
the fact that the laying of tram lines had not been finished. (Sydney Morning Herald 8 June 1915).
The delay in having the tram lines installed, along with
their planned sudden termination at the west side of the
I . Bay caused a deal more controversy amongst residents and
civic-minded visitors to the area, and another campaign of
I letters and press articles was begun. A good example is
• the 'Tram to Nowhere' article: . •
Several highly-placed officers .of the Australian Army Medical Corps were discussing the 'tram to nowhere', which runs from 'the Domain to
I somewhere by the City Bowling Green', as one of them put it. ..•
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In a short time we shall have thousands of
I wounded Australian soldiers returning here, and by a little extra expenditure, the line could ! be run round Woolloomooloo Bay. When the wounded begin to return we must have an
I ambulance station on one of the new wharfs, and a tram car could be fitted up as an ambulance car in a couple of days. With the •
I line run round the, bay we could take the wounded straight from the ship into the ambulance car, and run them via Darlinghurst
• • direct to the Randwick Institute, where our •
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biggest base 'will be. The sooner the I • Government finishes this line round the wharfs •
I the sooner can we 'Complete arrangements to handle the wounded. We want to save Australian lives, and if the suggestion herein
thrown out is acted up to, both the Government and City Council will be doing a good work of which they may be justly proud (Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 1915).
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The City Council pre-empted this suggestion at a meeting
where a motion was carried that representations be made to
the government to have the tram line continued, 'so that it
may be of some service to thosefor whose convenience the
construction of the road was designed (Sydney Morning Herald 3 June 1915).
A certain amount of satisfaction was derived when, some
months later, the Minister for Public Works announced that
.1. . the tramway, that had opened for traffic in August, would
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be extended to the steps leading down from Victoria Street
(Sydney Morning Herald 20 October 1915).
2.5 Passenger Ships and Troop Ships
With the completion to adequate deep-sea wharfage, the
Bay was transformed from a port that handled the overflow
from Sydney Cove into a major terminal catering for ever • •
,. increasing overseas goods and passengers • •
Woolloomooloo also became one of the major wool
. dispatch points and the terminal for some of the larger ships.
! To the western side of the Bay, Brown's Wharf was
dredged in 1913 to provide sufficient depth for P&O
steamers being regularly berthed there (Sunday Sun 5
January 1913). Even before Berth No. 7 became an
overseas passenger terminal, the central finger jetty took
much of the passenger trade; for instance, the P&O liners
used various Berths of 6 to 9 during the 1930's (MSB Annual Report 30 June 1938).
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: During the Boer War and both the first and second World
Wars, Woolloomooloo was an embarkation and arrival • i
• . point for troops who had been posted to foreign countries
on converted passenger liners.· The 'Moravian' left the •
'Loo in 1902, while troops of the first AIF marched from
Moore park and the Showground to their transports in the B~ .
While overseas, many of the Australians' songs
immortalised the name of W oolloomooloo. The following
parody was allegedly sung by a group of disabled soldiers as their transport carried them from England's shores at the
end of World War I (Sydney Morning Herald 21 June . 1924):
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It's a long way to Woolloomooloo, It's a long way to go . It's a long way to Woolloomooloo, And lots of good, old girls we know Farewell, bully beef-o, Farewell, cobbers square, It's a long way to Woolloomooloo, But we're going back there.
An ironic aspect of life in the Bay during World War I was
that German steamers continued to dock there. On one
particular day in August 1914, there were five German •
ships in Port, three of which had not been given clearances
and were under detention and berthed in W oolloomooloo
Bay (Daily Telegraph 6 August 1914). In the same month
of that year, much was made of the fact that it was a
German steamer, Elsass that crashed into the Municipal
Baths when it was moving out from the jetty, headed for
Bremen. It was reported th'at a fair amount of damage was
done but that there was no one in the pool at the time of the
accident (Evening News 4 August 1914).
! In 1921, relatives, of troops who had departed Australia
from the Finger Wharf and ~ho had subsequently lo~t their • •
lives, erected a Memorial drinking fountain on a rock close
to the gates of the docks (probably the iron gates to the
central Jetty) 'The me~orial was dedicated by. the
Archbishop .of Sydney, in ;the presence of the Govemor-. .
General. ne fountain, the work of Messrs Budden and I • ,
Greenwell, ~hitects, is beautifully kept and the dazzling
brass plaque contains in its design a rosemary bush' •
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The novel, Say No to Death (1951) by Dymphna Cusack,
opens with a World War IT troopship returning to berth at
the central jetty in Woolloomooloo Bay. During World
War n, the 'Aquitania', the 'Queen Mary' and the 'Queen
Elizabeth' berthed at the jetty for the purposes of taking on •
troops.
The Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf was, for many 'new
Australians', their fIrst experience of Australia. Refugees,
and later, immigrants in the post-war period arrived in
the commercial redevelopment eventually fell through and
the election of a State Labor Government in 1976, a •
government committed to greater spending on public rental
housing, ensured that a substantial part of W oolloomooloo
would continue to be reserved for its traditional residents,
low income tenants. The NSW Housing Commission was
charged with rehabilitating existing dwellings and building
new structures to a similar. scale. This rehabilitation and
rebuilding, that is predominantly located between Palmer,
Cathedral, Dowling and Plunkett Streets, is widely
regarded as one of the best examples of inner city low-rise
housing in Australia. III the 1980 City of Sydney Strategic
Plan the Council commented:
The· environment of Woolloomooloo . has already been enhanced immeasurably .... however •.. the Woolloomooloo Bay Foreshore Project ... should be implemented in 1982 to coincide with the completion of the Woolloomooloo Housing Project. By realigning Cowper Wharf Road so as to reduce its width, a substantial amount of additional foreshore open space can be provided as foreshore recreation space and as. a pedestrian promenade. (1980, 215). .
While the Sydney City Council and the NSW Housing
Commission were busily rehabilitating much of the
Woolloomooloo's housing stock the wharf area was also
changing, chiefly at the instigation of'the Navy, which
took over wharves 2, 3, 4 and 5. Between 1981 and 1983
the Navy removed the 'old sheds' to 'allow new views of
the harbour to open up', realigned. Cowper Wharf •
Roadway and built a car park to accommodate 1150
vehicles against the cliff face. The roof of the car park was
to be 'landscaped as a recreation area for the local
community (Department of Defence-Navy, Modernisation
of Garden Island, no date, c. 1981). ~t the time of the
construction of this car park the Navy assumed that •
Sydney would remain its fleet headqu~ers and Garden
Island its premier dockyard. In 1985 it was announced
that the Navy's headquarters would be transferred to Jervis
Bay but the higher echelons of the service have shown little
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I inclination to abandon their numerous and spectacular holdings on Sydney Harbour. • •
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5.2 Workers, Residents and Dwellings
I It is difficult to get accurate historical data on workers,
residents and dwellings in Woolloomooloo because the , area is subsumed within the ambit of the City Council. •
I I Nonetheless from a variety of sources we know that I Woolloomooloo was predominantly composed of rental • ;
I housing tenanted by blue collar workers and their families. , • I • • • I From the 1860s to the 1960s a considerable proportion of I •
I W oolloomooloo's adult population found employment on
the wharves or with government employers such as the •
I Maritime Services Board (and before that the Sydney
Harbour Trust) and the Navy. The state and status of the •
• suburb in 1945 is delightfully summed up by Commander I
I I H. C. Brewster, R.D., R.N.R. ,
From Victoria Street is a sheer drop of rock •
I wall t9 the Loo, which is reached by steps from I I
the higher strata. Lately there has been an •
• attempt to blot out any stigma which is attached .
I to this district by changing the name to East Sydney. This. I think is a pity, not only because of the historical associations of the
I place, but also because the name is one of the I • I best known in Australia. The stigma lies not • I • with this soft-sounding name with all its double f O's, but with landlords who place humans in • ,
I habitations not fit for pigs. Changing the name will not improve the housing (Kings Cross
, Calling 1945, p.122). I I I Brewster painted a bleak picture of the 'Loo as a 'mining I
town whose mines are closed', replete with hotels. Some •
I like The Bell (it still stands) rebuilt in 1922 on the tide of , • • • post-war OptiIDlsm.
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Between 1920 and 1960 many oithe 'Loo's so-called • ,
• 'slums' were demolished to make way for factories, •
• warehouses and garages, the latter catering more to city •
• . businessmen than to locals, few of whom could afford a I I car. Under the threat of demolition, both by the state
government and private entrepreneurs, Woolloomooloo
· '. The Sydney Morning Herald: 11/q/14; 1!l/15; 3/6/15; 8/6/15; 9/9/15; 20/10/15; 16/11/15; 11n/49; 14/11/56
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7.7 NEW SOUTIIWALES STATE ARCffiVES
MSB Special Bundles 7 n527
. MSB Sydney Harbour Wharves 7 n526.2
MSBX2032
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Public Works, Woolloomooloo Bay Reclamation 1864-6, 2/892
7.8 UNPUBLISHED REPORTS •
Chesterman,D.,Spearritt,P and Thorp,W., CBD Heritage Study, Stage I, report to Department of Planning and theSydney City Council, 1988 (includes thematic history of Central Sydney)
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National Trust of Australia (NSW) National Estate Program 1985-6, Heritage Study of 19th and early 20th century trading wharves in Sydney Harbour, by A. Brassil -
7.9 WOOILOOMOOLOO BAY - MAPS I I I I I
01 ML ZM4811.18112/1865/1 NSW Dept of Lands 1 fuch = 40 feet. Phin of Woolloomooloo Bay as reclaimed, ~hewing the allotments to be,offered. (This shows the ..
. curve of Cowper's Wharf but not the' 'sides' of the bay).
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. 02 ML Parish Map 1871 County of Cumberland Parish Alexandria, (wharf only)
03 ML ZM2811.17/1876/1 Anonymous ca 1:10-000. Shows streets, public buildings, wharves. Map appears to De the same as that in Australian Handbook for 1876. (Wharf, 3 baths western side)
04 ML Parish Map 1880 County of Cumberland Parish Alexandria, 2nd edition (Wharf and baths) !
09 ML ZM381l.16gph/1910/2 Compiled by 1:1,440 City of Sydney (Central) D. S. Cameron for Roberts & Moffat Ltd, Sydney .
10 ML ZM3811.15/1911/1 Sydney Har~urTrust.
ca 1:6 000. Map of part of the water frontage of the Port of Sydney showing parts of the land and wharfage vested in the SHT Commissioners. H. D Walsh, Engineer-in-Chief; S. E. Perdriau, Chief Surveyor. Shows vested area buildings and wharfs proposed erected altered and demolished and names of wharves and streets opened and widened, rat proof wall.
11 Parish Map 1913 County of Cumberland Parish Alexandria 1: 15,840, 3rd edition
12 ML ZM3811.15/1913/2 Sydney Harbour Trust 1:6 000. Description as for Map 10. Shows schedule of improvements effected by the SHT Commissioners between 1.7.12 and 10.6.13.
13ML ZM3811.1729/1914/1 ~nonymous 1:467. Plan for embarkation of troops, Woolloomooloo Bay 1914. (Stamped SHT - Drawing office No. 1039/1). Shows base outline of buildings of wharves positions of ships
· positions, positions of troops,· horses, police and with names of embarking officers and dates of embarkation:.
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Arrows indicate route of each unit . • •
14 ML ZM3811.15gmfs/1919/1 : Sydney Harbour . Trust 1 inch = 495 feet Description as for Map 10
15 ML ZM3811.15gmfs/1921/1 Sydney Harbour Trust 1 inch = 530 feet Description as for Map 10.
16 ML Parish Map 1928 County of Cumberland Parish of Alexandria. 1:3,168, 4th edition. I
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17 ML Parish Map 1930 County of Cumberland Parish St James 1:3,168
18 MLM2811.17/1874/1 NatWestAustBank. Sydney, A Bird's Eye View. Coloured l reproduction of the engraving issued with The Illustrated News and The Town and Country Journal, 1 Janu¥y, 1876.
ML 339.7/N Sydney Harbour Trust Official Handbook 1913. Map, wharf accommodation, Port of Sydney. 8 chains to an inch. Including wharves and jetties proposed to be constructed. Mc Carron, Stewart & Co. Printers and Lithographers.. :
. ML 339.7/N SydneY Harbour Trust Official Handbook 1919. Bird's Eye View of the Port of Sydney.' Map, wharf accommodation, Port of Sydney. 8 chains to an inch. Including wharves and· jetties proposed to be constructed. Revised 1919.
ML Q627.3/N Sydney Harbour Trust Annual Reports 1901-1935 (excluding years 1911 and 1912 which were unavailable or not held by ML). .
The reports for years 1908, 1909, 1913-23, 1929 and 1930 contain maps described as 'Map of part of the water frontage of the Port of Sydney showing parts of the land and wharfage vested in the Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners' and the year.
7.10 WOOLLOOMOOLOO BAY -, PICTORIAL MA1ERIAL
The Mitchell Library small pictures file contains paintings and sketches of the Bay from 1835-53. These show only the natural bay. The first to show an indicatiion of structure or 'industry' is Elyard in 1862.
. MLSPF
1862 S. Elyard. Darlinghurst Wharf from the low land. 1862 watercolour
1865 John Vine Hall, watercolour
1868 S. Elyard, watercolour • • j
1868 Photograph or photograph of sketch • ,
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1869 Photograph
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1870-80 Photograph
18721 Panorama
1877 Photograph
1878 J. Flynn, pen and ink •
1879 Newspaper illustration possibly The Illustrated News .
1890 Four photographs
1894 Photograph
1911 Panorama. Photograph from H. Phillip's Sydney and Surroundings, 1911
c.1925 Photograph of damage caused by storm to retaining wall opposite No.1 wharf which collapsed as result of rain.
• There are also a number of undated photographs including a reasonably early one that shows houses and wharf but no protruding wharf. .
ML Q627.3/N Sydney Harbour Trust Annual Reports 1901-1935, excluding 1911 and 1912. (photographs at back of reports) .
1902 East side ofWoolloomooloo Bay
1914 Sea end of central jetty, berths 6, 7, 8 and 9. . Looking south down central roadway jetty, berths 6, 7, 8
and 9
1915 1 and 2 berths showing cargo shed 580 ft by 60 ft
1915 No. 3 berth showing large double-decked cargo shed 580 ft by 120 ft
1916. Lower floor of shed Nos 2 and 3,' 580 ft by 120 ft. Upper floor of shed Nos 2 and 3, 580 ft by 120 ft
1922 Aeroplane photograph of private wharfage.
1925 No. 1 berth showing 2-ton electric semi-portal luffmg jib crane. Interior of cargo shed showing type of 30 cwt eJectric trayelling bridge crane, used for stacking cargo.
, • ,1926 Central Jetty showing recent extension of lOO' and additional shed accommodation
1929 View taken above Double Bay looking west.
ML 339.7/N Sydney Harbour Trust Official Handbook 1913., Nywjetty 1,200' long. Double decked sheds to be erected
ML 339.7/N Sydney Harbour Trust Official Handbook 1919. Woolloomooloo Bay from Potts Point, 1887 (p.28)
ML Q627.3/N The Shipping and Commerce of Australia, 1 November 1911. Some of the deep-sea wharves, Woolloomooloo Bay, Sydney. The new wharf now under construction is shown.
7.11 ARCID'IECTURAL DRAWINGS HELD BY THE MARITIME SERVICES BOARD
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Detail of roof truss new shed no.7 jetty
Alterations to shed at north end of no.7 berth •
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Date MSB Ref.
5.3.1926 H4/87
, 19.3.1926
22.7.1942 H4/118
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Plan of change and mess room for obnoxious cargo workers. North end no.7 berth shed.
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INTERNAL CRANES
. Stancheons for carrying floor girders and cranes
Runways for 3 ton electric travelling cranes no.6 jetty warf . buildings
Method of fixing live wire guards and supports
CONVEYORS
Outline,plan,showing,arrangement of· doorways, cartdocks, hatches, lifts and conveyors np,6 jetty
Details of attachments to delivery ends of cargo conveyors, centraIjetty, berths 6,7,8 and9