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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Dictionary of Sydney staff writer

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Dictionary of Sydney staff writer

Author

AWA Tower as Author

Australian Hall as Author

Baha'i House of Worship as Author

Bank of New South Wales as Author

Barrenjoey lighthouse as Author

Bats as Author

Bodegas as Author

Bondi Pavilion as Author

Bradbury as Author

Busby's Bore as Author

Chifley Square as Author

Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd as Author

Commissariat Stores as Author

County of Cumberland Planning Scheme as Author

Darlinghurst Gaol as Author

Darlinghurst courthouse as Author

Day of Mourning 1938 as Author

Dictionary of Sydney Heuristos Production as Author

Dunbar shipwreck as Author

Endeavour as Author

Ermington as Author

Felix the cat as Author

Fishers Ghost Creek as Author

Gilead as Author

Glenfield as Author

Granville as Author

HMAS Sydney as Author

Harbour pilots as Author

Harris Park as Author

Hornby lighthouse as Author

Hotel Australia as Author

Kentlyn as Author

Lighthouses as Author

Macquarie, Lachlan as Author

Managing the Cooks River today as Author

Martin Place as Author

Minto as Author

Minto Heights as Author

Paris Theatre as Author

Rose Hill Packet as Author

Rosehill as Author

Rydalmere as Author

Shark Arm murder 1935 as Author

Simmos Beach as Author

Sydney Green Plaques as Author

Sydney punchbowl as Author

Sydney to Hobart yacht race as Author

Varroville as Author

Victa Mowers Pty Ltd as Author

Wylie's Baths as Author

test table as Author

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AWA Tower

Topping the Art Deco AWA building, the tower was modelled on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and once dominated Sydney's skyline.

Australian Hall

One of the few European buildings recognised as an Aboriginal heritage site, the Australian Hall was conserved because of its importance as the site for the 1938 Day of Mourning.

Baha'i House of Worship

Baha'i faith was brought to Australia in 1920 by Clara and Hyde Dunn. Sydney's Baha'i house of worship was designed by John Brogan and built on the highest point above the northern beaches of Sydney.

Bank of New South Wales

From the gold rush of the 1850s to the depression of the 1930s, Australia's oldest bank, now known as Westpac, has ridden the tide of the economy to serve Sydneysiders since the colony's infancy.

Barrenjoey lighthouse

Designed by colonial architect James Barnet, the Barrenjoey lighthouse has lit up the entrance to Broken Bay for over 120 years.

Bats

Sydney's evening skies contain flights of massed grey-headed flying foxes, the fruit bats that live in great numbers in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Gordon, Cabramatta and other pockets of bush across the city.

Bodegas

Founded by the Spanish and Portuguese residents of Darlinghurst in the late nineteenth century, bodegas operated as wine bars throughout the twentieth century, coming into their own as postwar migrants looked for food and wine from home.

Bondi Pavilion

Designed to hold 12,000 visitors, the Bondi Pavilion was part of an ambitious improvement scheme for Bondi Beach during the 1920s. Hugely popular and well used during the 1930s, the pavilion fell into decline by the 1960s and was only saved in the 1970s by the conversion of the ballroom into a theatre. Since then, the pavilion has found new functions and users.

Bradbury

Dharawal country until the 1810s, when settlers and soldiers moved in, leading to armed conflict, the Bradbury area was subsequently named for William Bradbury, a settler and pub owner. Tanneries and a flour mill were built, amid the dairy farms that dominated the landscape. In the 1960s new suburbs were built as Sydney expanded.

Busby's Bore

Part of the new water system designed by John Busby in the 1820s, Busby's Bore was a major piece of engineering infrastructure for the city, and supplied a population of 20,000 with 1.5 million litres of water per day.

Chifley Square

Created by successive city councils through resumptions and rebuilding, Chifley Square was a venue for anti-conscription demonstrations during the Vietnam War.

Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd

Founded in 1855, CSR had refineries in Canterbury, Chippendale, Pyrmont and later around Australia. It became a large and influential industrial company, with city offices and diversified business interests.

Commissariat Stores

The Commissariat held a strategic role in the economy of the early colony, supplying and storing foodstuffs and other necessities including 'liquor, hardware and other goods' for the population.

County of Cumberland Planning Scheme

Based on an initiative of the Labor state government of William McKell in 1945, the Scheme was designed to coordinate planning and growth between metropolitan Sydney's many councils, and preserve the 'green belt' that would prevent urban sprawl.

Darlinghurst Gaol

Planned from the 1820s, Darlinghurst Gaol was built in stages to designs that shifted with penal theories and government budgets. From 1841 prisoners were kept there, in increasingly overcrowded and unpleasant conditions. After Long Bay prison was opened in 1914 the buildings were used for a range of other purposes.

Darlinghurst courthouse

Darlinghurst Courthouse was an early purpose-built courthouse that inspired courthouse design throughout the colony for the rest of the nineteenth century. The building redefined the streetscape of Darlinghurst Hill, and played a large part in Sydney's legal history.

Day of Mourning 1938

Attended by Aboriginal activists from all over Australia, the Day of Mourning was the first national Aboriginal civil rights gathering.

Dictionary of Sydney Heuristos Production

New Heuristos - production page for the Dictionary of Sydney

Dunbar shipwreck

In stormy weather, in the dark, after 81 days at sea, the Dunbar hit the rocks below The Gap, breaking up immediately. All but one on board were drowned, in one of the worst disasters in Sydney's history.

Endeavour

Built as a collier, Captain James Cook's ship Endeavour carried him around the world and up the east coast of Australia in 1768-71, before becoming a coal ship again.

Ermington

Traditional country of the Barramattagal people, the land that became Ermington was granted by Governor Phillip to convicts and marines in the 1790s. It remained semi-rural well into the twentieth century, with orchards, poultry farms and nurseries only giving way to suburban development after World War II.

Felix the cat

Possibly the first animated celebrity, drawn by Pat Sullivan, born Patrick O'Sullivan in Sydney.

Fishers Ghost Creek

Murdered in 1826, Frederick Fisher is commemorated by Fisher's Ghost Creek, where legend has it that the ghost led the way to his own grave, thereby implicating his murderer, who was convicted and hanged.

Gilead

Named after an 1812 land grant, Gilead was to grow from an important dairy farming area to one of the largest suburbs in the Campbelltown district.

Glenfield

From a land grant to emancipist James Meehan, Glenfield was to become one of the fastest growing suburbs in the Campbelltown area.

Granville

A significant meeting place for the Cadigal people, Granville's forests gave way to heavy industry and housing for workers as industrialists were attracted by its road, rail and water access.

HMAS Sydney

Four Royal Australian Navy ships have been named HMAS Sydney over the last 100 years. Deployed all over the world, they have all maintained a special connection with the port of Sydney.

Harbour pilots

Though representing one of Sydney's least known professions, harbour pilots have kept Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay safe for commercial shipping from the earliest days of settlement.

Harris Park

Originally home of the Barramattagal, the Toongagal and the Bidjigal people, Harris Park evolved as land was granted to colonists which was eventually broken up for residential subdivisions when a railway station was established in 1880.

Hornby lighthouse

Constructed after two disastrous shipwrecks, Hornby lighthouse has offered safe passage into Sydney Harbour since 1858.

Hotel Australia

Combining an ornate nineteenth-century facade in Castlereagh Street, with an Art Deco fantasy of black marble and silver in Martin Place, the Hotel Australia was one of Sydney's most elegant until its demolition in 1972, when the MLC Centre was built.

Kentlyn

Part of the old Campbelltown common opened for selection in 1894, the area called Kent Farms was subdivided into 5-acre blocks in the 1920s and named Kentlyn in the 1930s. When neighbouring suburbs were densely developed after World War II, Kentlyn was still zoned for 5-acre blocks, and its bushland character remained.

Lighthouses

Sydney's 14 lighthouses guide shipping through the Heads of the harbour, into Botany Bay, and into Broken Bay, as well as around the harbour.

Macquarie, Lachlan

Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, Macquarie shaped Sydney's built environment, social structure, financial development and public morals.

Managing the Cooks River today

Formed in 2011 to address the complex needs of the Cooks River today, the Alliance includes representatives from Ashfield, Bankstown, Canterbury, City of Sydney, Hurstville, Marrickville, Rockdale and Strathfield councils

Martin Place

A pedestrian street created in stages from the 1980s to the 1970s, Martin Place has been called the heart of the city.

Minto

Built on the land granted to William Redfern by Governor Macquarie, Minto was a dairying and farming village for many decades, until post-World War II development began to encroach on Sydney's rural fringe. New suburban development in the 1980s led to an influx of young families, and Minto was transformed.

Minto Heights

Minto Heights is a new suburb based on the old village of East Minto, which was based on small mixed and dairy farms in the nineteenth century, though most were gone by the 1950s. Zoned as regional open space, the area has not been densely developed, and has become an elite suburb in Campbelltown.

Paris Theatre

The long and varied cultural history of the Paris Theatre, home to movies, vaudeville, cabaret, 'revues' and drama, gives an insight into the ups and downs of theatre and cinema life in Sydney over the twentieth century.

Rose Hill Packet

Built in 1789 and quickly known as 'The Lump', the Rose Hill Packet was the first ship built in Sydney Cove, and transported convicts, passengers and freight along the Parramatta River to Rose Hill.

Rosehill

Where the Parramatta and Duck rivers meet was also a meeting place for the Cadigal and the Wategora, Barramattagal and Bidjigal clans of the Dharug, before Europeans arrived and took the land. John Macarthur established Elizabeth Farm which remained intact until it was subdivided as Rosehill in 1880. The railway and river frontage made the area attractive for industry, some of which remains.

Rydalmere

Originally Burramattagal country, the area that became Rydalmere was granted to Philip Schaeffer, who planted vines, and the land was later acquired by Hannibal Macarthur who built a grand house, later a Catholic girls' school. The area was named Rydalmere in 1886 when it was subdivided, but remained semi-rural, with orchards and poultry farms until industry moved in from the 1940s.

Shark Arm murder 1935

One of Sydney's most sensational crimes, the Shark Arm murder was never solved.

Simmos Beach

Badly affected by sandmining during the 1950s and 1960s, this Georges River beach was rehabilitated by the council in the 1970s and a public reserve created.

Sydney Green Plaques

Between 1984 and 1988, commemorative plaques were installed on buildings around the city to mark 101 sites of historical interest. The project was a cooperative venture initiated by the State Bank of New South Wales in association with the Royal Australian Historical Society and the City of Sydney, and was undertaken as part of the organisations' joint contributions to the national Bicentennial celebrations in 1988.

Sydney punchbowl

Painted in the 1810s, from a drawing by John Lewin, the Sydney punchbowl, and others like it, recorded the appearance of the new colony in a durable way.

Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Held every year since 1945, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race is one of the highlights of Sydney sailing, and one of the great races in the world.

Varroville

Named for Varro Ville, the country estate of Robert Townson, Varroville remained a rural retreat well into the twentieth century, with dairy farming the main economic activity.

Victa Mowers Pty Ltd

Invented in Sydney, and adapted by the founder of Victa, the rotary lawnmower made a neat lawn easy to maintain, just in time for Sydney's postwar suburban expansion.

Wylie's Baths

Ocean baths were established south of Coogee beach in 1907 by Henry Wylie, father of Australia's first champion woman swimmer, Mina Wylie. They have been inspirational to swimmers, painters and filmmakers, and are still open.

test table

this is a test of a table