With Bastille Day just gone, it was appropriate to chat all things French with Tim Higgins at 2SER this morning. Until the mid-nineteenth century, there were only about 400 French people living in Australia, 75% of which were based in Sydney. Numerically the French may not have been large, but they have made a striking contribution to Sydney's history. The Joubert Brothers are a shining example of the French entrepreneurial spirit in Sy dney. Didier and Jules Joubert arrived in Sydney in 1839 from the Bordeaux area of France. Didier Joubert was a wine and spirit merchant who set up business in the township of Sydney. In 1847 he purchased Figree Farm (owned by Mary Reiby) in Hunters Hills. His brother Jules was a builder and together from 1854 the brothers began building sandstone villas and subdividing Hunters Hill. It became known as the French village. Didier Joubert went on to become the first mayor of Hunters Hill. Another interesting fact about Didier Joubert, which I didn't have time to mention on 2SER this morning, was that he was one of Sydney's early amateur photographers using the daguerreotype process. In fact, one of the earliest documented photographs taken in Australia was of Didier Joubert's store in Sydney in 1841.

It was because of the Joubert borthers that Hunters Hill became the home of the influential teaching order, the Marist Brothers, who established St Joseph's school. You can read all about it in the Hunters Hill suburb entry by Beverley Sherry. Australian wool attracted French woolbuyers who moved to Sydney in the 1880s and 190s. They were the active core of the local French population in Sydney and dominated French cultural life in Sydney until the Second World War. In the 1890s this group helped establish the French Benevolent Society (1891), the French neswpaper Le Courrier Australien (1892), the French Chamber of Commerce and Allinace Francais (both 1899). All this and more is covered in the Dictionary's well illustrated entry on the French, written by Ivan Barko. The Dictionary's segment on 2SER is podcast, with thanks to Tim Higgins. Tune in next Wednesday morning as we once again dive into Sydney's history.