Premier Place to Live - North Sydney Council

A Premier Place to
Live
A walking tour of the homes and
haunts of North Sydney’s
politicians
Distance:
4.6 km
Approximate time: 3.3 hours
Grading:
medium to high
Introduction
A guided walking tour of the streets and
laneways of North Sydney focusing on our
State’s political history and political figures
who represented the area including the
former residences of Alexander Berry, Sir
George Dibbs, Bernard Holtermann, Edward
M. Sayers, William Tunks and Colonel
George Barney. On this walk we will also
view changes in the North Sydney
landscape over the past 150 years since the
people of NSW elected their first Parliament.
North Sydney has always been
unashamedly conservative but sometimes
independent in its political leanings
(especially in more recent times with Ted
Mack and Robyn Read). Labor members at
state and federal level have been rare,
unless they had a maverick past. William
Morris Hughes, for example, was a right
wing politician who represented North
Sydney but had started his political life on
the left.
By the 1880s the North Shore of the harbour
had become a desirable living area,
attracting professionals and businessmen
who worked in the city and commuted by
the steamers. A cluster of early political
representatives lived in the central portion of
North Sydney, yet others lived in Kirribilli
and Neutral Bay. Unfortunately some of the
homes of our politicians have been
demolished to make way for development in
the Central Business District and
construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
and Warringah Expressway.
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
Our walk begins at North Sydney
Railway Station
Take stairs near entrance to Centra
Hotel and cross over to Walker St.
Turn right into Mackenzie St
WANGAN, Mackenzie St
Wangan (originally with a slate roof) was erected
in 1870 by Mrs Catherine Dangar as the family
home. Her husband Thomas Dangar (1807–
1878) was a member of the Legislative
Assembly 1861-1864, a member for the Upper
Hunter 1861-1864, and was involved in many
government committees.
Apart from his political duties, he was a
storekeeper and postmaster. He first worked in
Sydney, then moved to West Maitland and
began business in 1834, becoming the first
postmaster in Scone, 1836-1840. He also
established the first Inn and store in Scone and
carried mail and stores beyond the Liverpool
Range before 1840. He also opened a store at
Muswellbrook. In 1860 he returned to Sydney,
and by 1864 listed as a squatter.
Thomas and Catherine Dangar sold the house to
Mrs Catherine Mackenzie (hence the name of
this street) in 1875, and the latter sold it to Mrs
Charlotte Smith about 1903. It was then
acquired by the Trustees of St. Francis Xavier’s
Church for a presbytery.
Walk along to end of Mackenzie St. Turn
left into Miller St then right again into
Lavender St. Cross over traffic lights and
walk along Union St to entrance of
Graythwaite (past entrance to SCEGS)
Page 2
GRAYTHWAITE, Union St
Graythwaite is a fine house surviving as an
example of the 19th Century residential
architecture of this area. The site is unusual in
that it retains its original large tract of land with
garden layout and historic plantings. Graythwaite
is a former c1823 residence which has been
altered and has grown during the 19th century to
a grand villa c. 1874/75, and then undergone
adaptation to a convalescent hospital and
nursing home after 1916.
In September 1832, Thomas Walker, public
official, paid 60 pounds 9 shillings for a 39-acre
land grant. On the 25 October 1833, Thomas
Walker conveyed 13 acres of his grant, to the
north and east of where Graythwaite was later
built, to William Miller, for 20 pounds thirteen
shillings. By 1837, Walker had built himself a
residence on his grant almost adjacent to Miller's
newly built house. An 1837 plan of the
Government Reserve on North Shore shows the
Walker and Miller houses. In January 1845
Walker drew up his Will bequeathing his house
Euroka and 16 acres to his wife. He died in
1850.
Three years after Walker’s death, the house and
remaining land was sold to George Tuting, a
mercer of Pitt St, Sydney for 1500 pounds, at
which time the grounds were described as
comprising 113 acres. Tuting held the land only
briefly, possibly for the purposes of speculation
at a time when land and house prices boomed in
the early 1850s after the discovery of gold. He
sold the house and land in 1853, for more than
double what he had bought it for. On the 23 July
1855, Tuting conveyed the house and land to
Edwin Sayers, Sydney for £3900 pounds.
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
The new owner, Edwin
Mawney Sayers (18181909), was a shipowner
who had arrived in Sydney
from Melbourne about
1850. He was mainly
interested in the coastal
shipping trade. Sayers
occupied Euroka and
remained there until 1868. As a merchant
seeking to utilise all of his available capital and
with the problems of unexpected calls being
made upon his resources, from unexpected
financial crises or due to the vagaries of bad
shipping weather, Sayers needed to use his
substantial house as security for loans at times.
Sayers was also a Member of the NSW
Legislative Assembly 17 Jun 1859 -17 Jun 1859;
and Member for St Leonards 17 Jun 1859 17 Jun 1859. He was a founder of North Sydney
School of Arts, Warden of St Thomas' Church of
England. He died in Mosman in 1909.
On 16 April 1860 Sayers conveyed the title to
Clark Irving and others as trustees for the benefit
of Sayers' creditors. On 20 April 1860 further
conveyance of all of Sayers property to trustees
was signed. Sayers’ financial difficulties
continued until 8 July 1867 when the property
was offered at auction by Richardson & Wrench,
on behalf of the mortgagee. There were no
buyers.
The property was later acquired by Thomas
Allwright Dibbs, manager of the Commercial
Banking Company of Sydney. He leased the
house from 1872-1880 to his brother Sir George
Richard Dibbs (1834-1904), who was Premier
of NSW and Colonial Secretary 1891-1894. He
was Premier in 1893 during the emergence of
the financial crisis which resulted in panic
concerning the colonial banks. 'When panic
Page 3
threatened the Savings Bank of New South
Wales he appeared at its doors and wrote in his
own hand a proclamation guaranteeing its
deposits' (Australian Dictionary of Biography).
Merchant and ship
owner, Dibbs was
educated at St
Philip's Church of
England School and
then the Australian
College under the
Reverend J. D.
Lang. He became
junior clerk with
William Brown &
Co., wine merchants
in 1848. He joined
his brother in Dibbs & Co., commission agents,
in c.1854; associated with father-in-law in
business ventures 1857-1859; then returned to
J.C. Dibbs & Company, as manager of
Newcastle branch and later the Sydney office.
He travelled to Valparaiso, Chile, as corn factor,
opening a branch of J.C. Dibbs & Company in
1865; he was bankrupted by the failure of the
Agra Bank 1866; he returned to Sydney in 1867
and by 1875 he had paid his creditors in full.
He appears to have left Euroka by 1880 when
he was gaoled for a year 1880 - 1881 for
refusing on principle to pay £2000 damages for
slander. He was a Member of Legislative
Assembly representing West Sydney 18741877, St Leonards 1882-1885, The
Murrumbidgee 1885-1894 and Tamworth 18941895.He was made Knight Commander of the
Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in
1892. Dibbs also moved into importing and ship
owning from 1869, becoming the Chairman of
the Australia Steam Navigation Co. and taking a
leading role during the 1878 seamen's strike
over use of Chinese labour. He announced
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
conversion from free trade to protection in July
1887, represented New South Wales at the 1891
Federal Convention and represented New South
Wales, Victoria, South Australia and New
Zealand on a financial mission in London in
1892. He was also managing trustee, Savings
Bank of New South Wales, 1896 - 1904.
Page 4
and liberty as a Convalescent Home for our Sick
and Wounded Soldiers and Sailors and when
not required for that purpose as a Convalescent
Home in perpetuity for distressed subjects of the
British Empire regardless of Sect or Creed.' An
official opening of Graythwaite was held on 1
March 1916. Dibbs presented the deeds of
Graythwaite to the Premier who handed the
property on to the NSW branch of the Red
Cross.
Alterations were made to Graythwaite to fit it out
as a convalescent home. The house was at first
used for less severely ill convalescents. In 1918,
the Red Cross decided that Graythwaite should
be converted into a Hostel for long-term cases of
disablement. A change in emphasis required
substantial changes to the building.
1897 view of the Graythwaite with widows walk
intact. (North Sydney Heritage Centre, PF 1773 )
His brother Thomas Allwright Dibbs had been
buying up many parcels of land on the North
Shore and by 1882 Euroka became the family
home of Thomas Dibbs who renamed it
Graythwaite. Dibbs' had a fine reputation as
an astute and skilful manager of the Commercial
Banking Company of Sydney. His management
of the Bank was generally credited with saving it
from the fate of other less fortunate banks in the
1890s Depression. Dibbs was apparently
shocked at the carnage taking place overseas
during the Great War and donated his home,
Graythwaite, to the state as a convalescent
home for soldiers returning from the front.
On 1 October 1915 the property was formally
transferred by Dibbs to the Crown, in
consideration of 'my admiration of and sincere
sympathy for those brave men who have so
unselfishly given their services and their lives
fighting for the Empire in the cause of Justice
Graythwaite was later used as a convalescent
home to 1977, when non-military cases were
referred by the Health Commission. The Red
Cross then decided to relinquish the Hospital to
enable it to be used as geriatric hospital by the
Home of Peace Hospitals, under the supervision
of the Health Commission. The buildings were
officially handed over in December 1980.
Graythwaite's grounds contain one of the largest
and most significant collections of late 19th
century and early 20th century cultural plantings
in North Sydney. Moreton Bay and Port Jackson
figs dominate an eclectic mix of exotic and
Australian rainforest plantings including rare
historic and botanic examples.
Return back along Union St and turn
left into William St. Walk uphill and
turn left into grounds of SCEGS at
top of Blue St
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
Page 5
Sydney Church of England Grammar
School, Blue St
the School itself is quite secluded and
undisturbed by major roads or expressways.
In 1833 William Miller, Assistant CommissaryGeneral of Government Provisions in the
Colony, purchased some of the North Shore
land originally granted to Deputy Assistant
Commissary-General Thomas Walker. When
Miller was transferred to Hong Kong in 1844 his
home and land was passed on to his son (who
built Upton in Edward Street).
The Government passed the St. James' School
Compensation Trust Act of 1886. This provided
the funds for the foundation of a church school,
in order to perpetuate the original Crown grant
and its purpose. The School was founded with
the resultant 31,164 pounds. The official opening
took place on Saturday, 4 May 1889.
Bernard Holtermann eventually purchased the
property in 1873 whereupon he proceeded to
erect a grand Italianate mansion from which a
magnificent panorama of Sydney Harbour was
photographed from the tower in about 1878.
“The School is situated on the North Shore, on
the premises hitherto known as Holtermann‟s
Towers, near Lavender Bay Wharf” (Provisional
Prospectus, 1889).
Whilst Sydney Church of England
Grammar School is the School's official title,
Shore is widely used and recognised in the
community. "It was the boys themselves who
invented 'Shore' in the earliest days of the
School when...they had occasion to cheer their
representatives in traditional sports." Finding it
impossible to shout the full name and with
'Grammar' already in use by an older school,
they shortened the officially termed 'North Shore'
to the one-syllabled 'Shore'.
The Towers as seen from Union Street.
(Courtesy State Library of NSW )
The Towers was purchased by the Church of
England in 1888 after Holtermann’s death and
converted to the Sydney Church of England
Grammar School. The house was substantially
rebuilt in the 1930s
The School stands on a site of five and a half
hectares on a hilltop only two hundred metres
from North Sydney railway and bus station. It
has magnificent views of the Harbour and the
City of Sydney. In spite of this central position,
In 1934 the school engaged architect Rupert
Minnett to redesign the former Holtermann
mansion, now known as School House. The
building underwent dramatic modernisation and
alterations and whilst the foundations and
general outline of the original house and tower
remained, the old iron and lace and semi-gothic
tower was removed in favour of the present red
brick structure.
Bernard Holtermann
(1883-1885) left Germany
to avoid military service and
arrived in New South Wales
on 12 August 1858. He then
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
went to the goldfields from 1859-1860 but
supported himself with other jobs. By 1868 he
was a licensee of the All Nations Hotel.
Holtermann floated Star of Hope Gold Mining
Company in 1872 which found the largest known
specimen of reef gold.
He also invested in Sydney real estate and was
an advocate of construction of a North Shore
Bridge. His civil service includes a period as an
Alderman of Hill End Borough Council. Bernard
Holtermann married Harriett Emmett on 22
February 1868 at Bathurst and they had two
daughters and three sons.
Holtermann served as a Member of the NSW
Legislative Assembly 5 December 1882-29 April
1885, and was Member for St Leonards 5
December 1882-29 April 1885.
Return to William St and turn left and walk to
Mount St. Turn right in Mount St and then right
into Edward St. Walk to Riley St and cross over,
enter grounds via corner gates
Rockleigh Grange, No. 40 Edward St
The present Rockleigh Grange is very different
to the stone picturesque Victorian Rustic Gothic
villa that the colonial artist Conrad Martens
inhabited The trees in Riley St on the left are
relatively recent plantings on the old estate.
They recall the scrub that covered the landscape
behind Martens’ home. In 1867 he wrote that
„this place is much altered since we first took up
our residence here… the original forest is fast
receding and small steamers cross [the harbour]
every quarter of an hour‟.
The Martens had moved to the property with his
wife Jane Brackenbury Carter who had inherited
the property from her parents. They in turn had
bought it from the Berry’s in 1835. They lived
there with their children until his death in 1878.
Page 6
Martens designed the
first St Thomas’
Church of which
Alexander Berry was
a notable benefactor.
As the rigours of a
landscape painter's
life began to tell on
the ageing Martens,
his friend Alexander
Berry found a post for
him in 1863 as a parliamentary librarian. He died
on 21 August 1878 and was buried at St
Thomas's Cemetery, North Sydney, where the
rest of his family is also buried.
The house was bought by warehouse owner FB
Larke in 1878 and sold again to the Hon John
Hughes MLC (1857-1912) who altered it again
and built tennis courts.
When it was auctioned in 1913 Hardie and
Gorman noted that the „spacious grounds,
situated in Edward Street North Sydney [made it]
very convenient and suitable for a gentlemen-ofmeans, professional men, squatter and others‟.
Instead the Catholic Church bought the property.
As the premises for its Apostolic Delegation and
in 1970 it hosted Pope Paul VI.
Hughes was a lawyer
(solicitor) and property
owner. He journeyed
to England in 1870 for
education at
Stoneyhurst, Jesuit
College in Lancashire
and matriculated with
Honours at London
University in 1876.
Upon his return to
Sydney he was
articled to H.M Makinson of Ellis & Makinson in
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
1878; admitted as a solicitor in 1884 and
practised in partnership with his brother from
1887. He also owned considerable city property.
He was a shareholder in W.H Soul Pattinson &
Co. and in the Commercial Banking Company of
Sydney; Director of Australian Hotel Company
Ltd.; Chairman of Directors of Bannockburn
Estate Ltd.; Trustee of St Mary’s Cathedral;
Treasurer of St Vincents Hospital 1885-1912;
Trustee of Public Library 1898-1912; President
of Prisoners Aid Association 1901-1905.
Apart from his legal career, he was an Alderman
of the Sydney City Council for Fitzroy Ward from
1 December 1891-30 November 1894 and was a
Member of the Disposal of Refuse Committee
(1891-1894); the Electric Lighting Committee
(1892-1894); and the Height of Buildings
Committee (1894).
Hughes was a Member of the NSW Legislative
Council, (13 August 1895-13 August 1895);
Minister of Justice (3 July 1899-13 September
1899); Vice President of Executive Council and
Representative of Government (22 November
1898-3 September 1899); Vice President of
Executive Council and Representative of
Government (29 August 1904-20 October 1910).
He was created Knight Commander of the Order
of St. Gregory by Pope Leo XIII in 1894
Page 7
and the designer of the Victoria Barracks in
Paddington.
Colonel George
Barney was a
Member of the
NSW Legislative
Council 17 July
1843-29 February
1856. He was
commissioned as
a second
lieutenant in the
Royal Engineers in
July 1808 and
served in the
Peninsular War
and in the West Indies, where he took part in the
capture of Guadaloupe in 1815. He was a civil
engineer in Jamaica for several years. He was
promoted second captain in 1813 and captain in
1825. Barney arrived in Sydney with his wife and
three children in December 1825 with a
detachment of the Royal Engineers.
Barney bought the property five years later and
in the 1840s he leased the house back to
Alexander and Elizabeth Berry while they were
waiting for their new mansion, Crows Nest
House, to be completed. Elizabeth died here in
1845.
Proceed up Edward St to a small
laneway. Turn down the lane which
will take you into Priory Rd
The Priory, No. 5 Priory Rd
Originally a single storey villa this substantial
sandstone house and the large gardens that
once surrounded it were one the earliest
excisions on the Berry Estate. The land was
leased around 1835 by Lt Col George Barney,
first commander of the Royal Engineers in NSW
The Priory nestled amongst picturesque
gardens, 1871. (Couresy State Library of NSW)
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
Page 8
Part of the St Leonards Anglican gentry,
Barney’s son married the daughter of William
Branwhite Clarke. He leased The Priory for a
period to another notable Anglican and Member
of Parliament, Francis Lord. Barney died on 16
April1862 and was buried in the St Thomas’
Cemetery (now St Thomas’ Rest Park, 200 West
St, Crows Nest). After Barney’s death it was sold
to the Fisher family. Thomasina lived there until
her death in 1914
At this time the attics were converted to a full
floor in 1914. The estate was subdivided into 40
lots between 1915 and 1929 and many of those
cottages and flats still survive around ‘The
Priory’.
The building was subsequently converted to flats
and in the 1970s local historian and heritage
campaigner David Earle lived here and formed
the Priory Conservation Co-operative Society
which promoted a unique combination of urban
and heritage planning through co-operative
housing.
Proceed up Priory Rd and turn left
into Bay Rd. Cross over and stop
before Harriott St
Branthwaite
The land extending from here back up the hill to
McHatton Street was the site of the Rev. William
Branwhite Clarke’s estate and home,
Branthwaite. Clarke was the first rector of St
Thomas’ Church and a renowned geologist.
Alexander Berry was a great benefactor of
Clarke’s church and a personal friend who
enjoyed discussing matters of science,
philosophy and religion. He gave Clarke five
acres of land on his estate shortly before Clarke
retired in 1870.
Branthwaite, home of „Wunny‟ (son of William
Branwhite Clarke) and Granny Clarke, 1880s.
(North Sydney Heritage Centre, PF 2327)
Harriott St is named after a woman who
married into Clarke’s family. The Branthwaite
Estate was completely subdivided by the 1930s.
Hovenden Hely died at Branthwaite in 1872, late
of Wyoming and eldest son of the late Frederick
Augustus Hely. Hely died at the comparatively
early age of 49 years.
Return back up Bay Rd and turn left
into Pacific Highway. Proceed to
traffic lights
North Sydney Demonstration School
Around the grounds of the North Sydney
Demonstration School is the large stone and iron
fence of Crows Nest House. Alexander Berry
completed the house in 1850 – the residential
centre of his still vast estate – it enjoyed
extensive views of the harbour and took the
name of its more modest predecessor Crows
Nest Cottage located further up the hill. The
fence was erected by Sir John Hay in 1890 after
he inherited the property in the 1880s. The
wrought iron gates feature a nest of crows.
The house was demolished in the early 1930s
and the North Sydney Demonstration School
opened here in 1934.
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
Alexander Berry was a
medical practitioner
(surgeon) and
businessman. He was
educated at Cupar
Grammar School and
studied medicine at the
St Andrews University
and Edinburgh
University. After
qualifying in medicine,
he joined ships trading with India and China as a
surgeon's mate but soon decided to pursue the
commercial side of shipping. In 1806 chartered
and later bought a ship in partnership with
Francis Short, speculating in goods. From 1808
he made several voyages to New South Wales
with cargos of goods and travelled to South
America returning to London in 1812, after losing
his ship.
Page 9
Berry was a member of the Philosophical
Society in 1821 and commissioned as a Justice
of the Peace in 1822. He was also a councillor
on the Australian Philosophical Society,
established in 1850. Berry was a Member of the
NSW Legislative Council 12 April 1828-5
January 1843, Member of the NSW Legislative
Council 17 July 1843-29 February 1856,
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 22 May
1856-10 May 1861.
Berry died at Crows Nest House on 17
September 1873 was buried below the pyramid
monument in St. Thomas’ Cemetery (now St
Thomas’ Rest Park) with his wife Elizabeth and
brother-in law Edward Wollstonecraft.
Cross over traffic lights and proceed
along McLaren St
Stormanston, No, 27 McLaren St
In 1819 he returned to Sydney establishing a
mercantile business in partnership with Edward
Wollstonecraft. In 1822, Berry and
Wollstonecraft applied for a grant of 10,000
acres on the Shoalhaven River in New South
Wales. In 1823 they exported coal to Rio de
Janiero. They closed their mercantile business in
1828. In 1830 a grant of land of 10, 000 acres
applied for on the Shoalhaven in 1822 was
approved. Between 1830 and 1840 Berry
purchased an additional 22,000 acres which
produced maize, tobacco, wheat, barley,
potatoes, pigs and cattle. Wollstonecraft died in
1832, and from 1836, Berry rarely visited the
Shoalhaven estate, leaving its management to
his brother David. In the 1850's Berry began to
let farms on the estate on clearing leases. By
1863 the estate comprised 40,000 acres. His
interests included aboriginal culture and
geology.
Occupies the site of an earlier house known as
Montrose (and even earlier as Church Hill
Cottage). Church Hill Cottage (so named
because of its proximity to St Thomas’ Church)
was built in the 1850s by Sir William Westbrooke
Burton. After he left Australia in disgust in 1861,
the house was purchased by merchant Robert
Napier and it was renamed Montrose Cottage.
Subsequently John Whitton, Engineer-in-Chief of
NSW Railways purchased the property in 1875
and he and his wife lived here until his death in
1898. The house was tenanted out until 1907,
when his widow sold the property and it was
subdivided and the house demolished. There
are two plaques affixed to the fence recording
the life of artist Adelaide Ironside and John
Whitton, Engineer in Chief of NSW Railways,
who once resided here.
Stormanston House was built in 1907. It was
acquired by the Sisters of Mercy and has been
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
used for student accommodation and also as a
convent. The house was refurbished in 2001.
Page 10
in Madras in 1844. He returned to Sydney in
1857.
He was member of the NSW Legislative Council
(11 August 1857-10 May 1861) and President of
the Legislative Council (9 February 1858-10 May
1861). Burton resigned from the Legislative
Council after the 'swamping' in 1861 and left
New South Wales in disgust.
John Whitton employed a gardener to maintain
the extensive and beautiful landscaped grounds
of Montrose, 1890s. (North Sydney Heritage
Centre, PF 764)
Sir William
Westbrooke Burton
was a lawyer
(barrister). He was
educated at Daventry
Grammar School. He
was a retired Judge
when he was
appointed to the
Legislative Council. His early career was in the
Royal Navy, which he entered as a midshipman
in 1807. He sailed to Lisbon, Cadiz, the
Canaries, the Mediterranean, West Indies, China
and the East. Called to the Bar at the Inner
Temple in 1824, he was recorder at Daventry
and President of the Local Court of Quarter
Sessions 1826-1827 and Conveyancer and a
special pleader. He became a second puisine
judge at the Cape of Good Hope in 1828 and a
judge to the New South Wales Supreme Court in
1832. He took leave to travel to Great Britain in
1839-1841. He returned to New South Wales in
1842 and became a judge of the Supreme Court
Another well-known
tenant of Montrose
was pastoralist
Sir Terence Aubrey
Murray. He was
educated at the
school of Reverend
William White,
Church of England
clergyman, in
Ireland. He arrived in
New South Wales with his father in April 1827
and took up land grant at Lake George 1829. He
inherited an adjoining grant on his father's death
in 1835. He purchased other adjoining land and
called the consolidated property Winderradeen,
building a fine homestead there. With T. Walker
he bought Yarralumla near Queanbeyan in
1836, where he lived until 1855 when he moved
to Winderradeen. He also took up land at
Jingellec, Upper Murray and in 1846 he
announced that he had given up squatting in
unsettled districts, but continued to lease large
areas of Crown land in settled districts (42,680
acres in 1857). Murray settled Yarralumla and
part of Winderradeen on his wife and lost most
of the property to her family by her will when she
died in 1858. He was almost bankrupted in
1865.
He was Executive Commissioner for New South
Wales at the Paris Exhibition 1866-1867 and
active as the President of the Society for
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
Abolition of Capital Punishment. He advocated
importation of coolie labour from India in 1841.
Sir Terence Murray was probably the only
member of Parliament to oppose democracy but
supported John Robertson's Land Acts 1861. He
was also the Uncle of F.J. Gibbes, Member of
the Legislative Assembly.
He was elected as a Member of the old
Legislative Council from 1843-1856, where he
fought ardently against capital punishment. From
1856 he was the Member for the Southern
Boroughs in the Legislative Assembly until he
successfully contested the seat of Argyle in
1859. Throughout 1856 Murray held the
positions of Chairman of Committees, Secretary
for Lands and Works and Auditor-General. He
was also the Secretary for Lands and Works
1857-1858. Murray was elected Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly 1860-1862 when he was
appointed to the reconstituted Legislative
Council. Upon entering the upper house he was
immediately appointed President of the
Legislative Council, holding that office until 1873.
In October 1862, when Murray ruled that the
Council should not attempt to amend money bills
he was in fact attempting to persuade the
Legislative Council to adopt the traditions of the
English House of Lords. However, his decision
met with great opposition and the Council
continued to amend money bills. He died on 22
June 1873 at Darlinghurst in New South Wales.
After the loss of his property to his wife’s family
and in an attempt to economise, they came to
live here for three years. “As the North Shore
was not easily accessible. Murray saw less of
his friends…this was a real sacrifice for him, but
it made it easier to manage on a stringent
budget”. (Murray of Yarrolumla)
Proceed to Miller St and turn right,
follow brick fence to main gates
Page 11
Monte Sant’ Angelo, Miller St
In the centre of the grounds of Monte Sant’
Angelo Convent is the original building, Ma-SaLou, the 1855 home of Hon. Francis Lord,
M.L.C. (son of wealthy emancipist Simeon Lord).
Francis named it after his daughters Mary,
Sarah and Louisa.
MaSaLou (1890s) is used as the
administration/offices for Monte Sant‟ Angelo.
(North Sydney Heritage Centre, PF 763)
In 1873, the Sisters of Mercy started a school in
a nearby cottage. Outgrowing this, Ma-Sa-Lou
was purchased by the Sisters of Mercy in 1878
and the girls' college opened in 1879. The Hall
was built in 1906 and a magnificent Chapel in
1915, designed by architect Joseph Sheerin
(noted for his St. Patrick's College, Manly).
Ma-Sa-Lou was the
former home of
pastoralist Francis Lord
(1812-1897). He opened
a store at Bathurst and
in 1839 and described
himself as a merchant.
He later became a
pastoralist at Cumnock,
having land in both settled and unsettled
districts. Lord signed a petition to import coolies
in 1842. He was a Member of the NSW
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
Legislative Council (June 1843-June 1848),
Member of the NSW Legislative Council (May
1856-May 1861) and Member of the NSW
Legislative Council (October 1864-January
1893).
Return back uphill in Miller St and
cross over at McLaren St traffic lights
The Lodge, corner Miller and McLaren Sts
The home of Francis Lord (see above) from
1878 to 1892 when the property was sold to a
John Carter who leased it out immediately to
banker W C B Tiley. Lord died at Rydal in 1897.
The house was demolished in the mid-1960s to
make way for the then 2UE radio broadcasting
station. This two storey offices was subsequently
sold to developers in 1989, and with adjoining
site Nos. 37-39 McLaren St was redeveloped
with the present apartment building.
Proceed downhill in McLaren St and
cross over at end to Walker St
No. 189 Walker St
This is the site of Fereneeze the grand
Victorian gothic home of William Tunks, (18161883), alderman and
parliamentarian, was
born at the Nepean
River, NSW son of John
Tunks and his wife
Esther, nee Arndell. He
worked first as a
carpenter and joiner but
had retired from business
before entering
parliament.
Tunks was a retired contractor of independent
means. Apprenticed as a carpenter and joiner to
James Bynes at Parramatta, and in 1838
described himself as a carpenter. By 1851 he
Page 12
was a licensee of the Curriers' Arms Inn at
Sydney. Later he was a contractor for supply of
blue metal to Sydney Municipal Council and
taking a telegraph line to Albury. He retired from
business before entering the Legislative
Assembly and lived at Ryde, and later at St
Leonards. He was a member of first cricket
eleven to play Victoria. He worked for the
Municipality of St Leonards and for the North
Shore generally. Tunks was the first Mayor of St
Leonards, NSW (1867-1883) and was re-elected
15 times and was elected member of the NSW
Legislative Assembly for the seat of St Leonards
(1864-1874).
Tunks is also considered to be the father of
public parks in North Sydney. Ald. Tunks'
personal interest in St. Leonards Park was
legendary. He is said to have walked there
nearly every day supervise the positioning of the
paths and the planting of trees and shrubs,
many which came from his own garden. A public
subscription memorial fund was established after
his death. As testament to his public works the
Tunks Memorial Fountain was erected in St.
Leonards Park in 1885. Tunks Park and Tunks
Street commemorate his name.
He died here at Fereneeze in 1883 and was
buried in Gore Hill Cemetery, Artarmon. The
house was owned by the Tunks family until the
early 1920s. It was eventually sold to property
developers in 1960 and demolished for the
present block of flats. Architect George Matcham
Pitt was tenant here briefly around 1911-13.
Proceed up the hill in Walker St and
turn right into Ridge St
No. 73 Ridge St
This house was built on lot 28 of Lords Paddock
Estate by North Sydney grocer John W Challand
in 1899. Edward Mann Clark (1854-1933) lived
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
in this house from 1908-1913 and at various
North Sydney addresses before and after this
time. He was a timber merchant. He was
educated at Oldfield's Commercial Academy in
Hobart until the age of 12 and when his father
died he moved to Sydney. He became manager
of a brick company when he was elected to the
Legislative Assembly. Initially employed with N
Dawson, watchmaker, he then worked for timber
merchants, Miller and Harrison, then Goodlet
and Smith, and by 1882 was a member of Clark
and Priestman, timber merchants. Clark was
also commissioned as a Justice of the Peace,
member of the Ku-ring-gai Chase Trust and
assisted in establishing the Taronga Zoological
Park.
Clark stood as a Labor member in 1891; free
trade in 1894; Liberal Reform in 1901 and
Independent in 1907. He was a member of the
Single Tax League and Member of the NSW
Legislative Assembly (17 June 1891-14
September 1910), Member for St Leonards
(1891-June 1894), Member for Willoughby
(November 1894-July 1895), Member for St
Leonards (July 1895-July 1898, July 1898-June
1901, July 1901-July 1904 and September 1907September 1910).
Apart from his state political life, he was also
heavily involved in local government politics in
North Sydney, serving as an Alderman for East
St Leonards from 1884-1890 and was its Mayor.
He served as an Alderman for North Sydney
from 1890-1928 and served two terms as Mayor
of North Sydney, 1892-1893 and 1918-1919.
Proceed to end of Ridge St
Page 13
moved to Newington College in 1888 and let the
house to various tenants, including John Mitchell
Purves. The house remained in the Kelynack
family until 1900 when it is sold to Edwin Batt,
who renamed it St. Malo. Gertrude Walker, a
nurse, leased the property after Purves and
started a private hospital here. Eventually the
house was acquired as part of the St. Ives
Church of England Hospital, in conjunction with
adjoining properties, Nos. 93 and 95A Ridge St.
John Mitchell Purves
(1847-1915) was a
founder of the real
estate business, Batt,
Rodd & Purves. He
served as Member of
the Legislative
Assembly (1880-1887),
and Member for the
Clarence (1880-1887).
He also served as
Mayor of North Sydney 1897-1898, was esquire
bedell of the University of Sydney and a founder
of the Sydney Lancers. He lived at St Malo from
1894-1902, dying at Woollahra in 1915.
Cross over to St Leonards Park and
visit the Tunks Fountain a short
distance along the main pathway
from the North Sydney War Memorial
Continue along path toward cricket
nets and turn left, walk to Miller St.
Cross over traffic lights. Walk along
Carlow St to end and turn right into
West St. Cross over pedestrian
crossing and walk along and turn left
into Hayberry St
St Malo, No. 97 Ridge St
St. Malo was erected in 1883 by the Reverend
Doctor Kelynack and it was then named
Lamorna. Dr Kelynack, a Methodist clergyman,
St. Leonards Lodge is located on what
became lots 11-14 in Section 2. It is presumed
that the house was demolished by 1887 when
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
Alfred Walker built the present houses known as
Nos. 61-67 Hayberry St.
William Lithgow retired from the office of AuditorGeneral in 1852 and moved across the Harbour
to St. Leonards Lodge. He died in 1864 and is
buried in St. Thomas’ Cemetery (now Rest
Park). Nos. 61-67 Hayberry St occupies the site
of the former St. Leonards Lodge after which the
land subdivision is named and encompasses
West, Emmett, David, Hayberry and Falcon
Streets. The exact date of construction of house
is not known, but was most certainly built by
William Lithgow in the early 1850s as his private
residence. Lithgow was born in Scotland in 1784
and was educated at Edinburgh University,
graduating as a licentiate of the Church of
Scotland. Arriving in the Colony in 1820,
Lithgow's first position was as Assistant
Commissary-General. He was to hold a variety
of other administrative positions in the Colony
including Auditor-General for the Colony’s
accounts under Governor Brisbane and private
secretary to Governor Darling. Lithgow was
appointed as a member of the Legislative
Council under Governor Darling and served as
the government nominee to the 1843
Parliament, retiring from Parliament in 1856 with
the introduction of Responsible Government.
“On Saturday last, Mr William Lithgow, formerly
Auditor-general of this Colony) died at his
residence St Leonard‟s Lodge, North Shore, in
his eightieth year of his age. The deceased, who
was much respected, accumulated a
considerable amount of property during his long
and honorable career, and has left some
considerable bequests to public charities and
other colonial institutions”. His entire estate was
auctioned including: “Lot 3 - St Leonards cottage
and grounds-the residence of the late proprietor.
All that highly improved parcel of land containing
18 acres3 roods 13 perches, beautifully situated
Page 14
on the heights of St, Leonards, and laid out as
ornamental grounds, garden, orchard, vineyard
and grass paddock, together with the well-known
villa St. Leonards Cottage”.
Conrad Martens sketch of William Lithgow‟s St
Leonards Lodge, 1844-1860. (Courtesy State
Library of NSW)
Sydney merchant Henry Herron Beauchamp
(partner/brother-in-law of Frederick Lassetter,
who founded the Sydney retail and wholesale
empire Lassetter and Company) purchased St
Leonards Lodge at the sale in 1864 from William
Lithgow’s estate, although he never lived here.
Holtermann family at St Leonards Lodge, 1860s.
(Courtesy State Library of NSW)
North Sydney History Walk : A Premier Place to Live
He subsequently sold the house and grounds to
Bernard Otto Holtermann in 1872. The
Holtermann family lived here until they built the
grand mansion (The Towers) which became
S.C.E.G.S. Shore School.
Bernard Holtermann died on the 29 April 1885
and is buried in the St. Thomas’ Cemetery (now
St Thomas’ Rest Park, 200 West St, Crows
Nest) and the last portion of the estate
comprising St Leonards Lodge and grounds was
auctioned in December that year. Several
streets in the vicinity of St Leonards Lodge are
named after Bernard Holtermann and his family.
Our A Premier Place to Live walking tour
ends here at Hayberry St. You can
continue this walk along West St to St.
Thomas’ Rest Park and thence to Tarella
(No. 3 Amherst St), home of Sir Joseph
Palmer Abbott.
These walking tour notes were compiled
by the Historical Services team in History
Week 2006 from resources held in the
North Sydney Heritage Centre, Stanton
Library. Ph: 99368400
Page 15