Skip to main content

Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Subjects
Economy
Secondary industry
Import-Export

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Import-Export

Subject

Sydney's first ice

New South Wales Customs Regulation Act 1830

Customs House

AJ Riley & Co

Burns Philp

Caltex Australia

Campbell's of Calcutta

Commonwealth Oil Refineries

Cooper and Levey

Dalgety & Co

JC Howard

JH Williams & Co

John Frazer & Co

Joubert & Murphy

Kanematsu Australia

King Nam Jang

Motories Ltd

Myers & Solomon

Sang On Tiy

Smith Bros Trade and Transport Terminal

Tiy Sang Company

Tucker and Co

Albert, Michael

Callose, Bartolomeo

Campbell, John

Cullen, James

Port Botany

Contraband at Customs House, 11 July 1939

'I exports natives and imports exotics from Botany Bay' 1810s

Advertisement for Watkins and Sparrow, Ice Importers 22 March 1853

Artist's impression in the 1930s of the Lowell delivering ice at Circular Quay in 1855

Custom House and Circular Quay 1845

Custom House and part of Circular Wharf, Sydney NSW, 1845

Glebe Island car terminal 2006

Imports Supplement to the Illustrated Sydney News July 1882

Kanematsu flour bag label print c1935

Port Botany 2007

Wing Sang & Co Haymarket c1909

Search

Browse

Browse
- Artefacts
- Buildings
- Events
- Natural Features
- Organisations
- People
- Places
- Structures
- Entries
- Multimedia
- Subjects
- Roles
- Contributors

Connections

Broader Subjects

Secondary industry

Footer

Home
About
Copyright
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Import-Export

Sydney's first ice

Natural ice, imported from the lakes of the north-eastern United States, cooled the drinks of Sydneysiders for the first time in 1839. During the early 1850s, the trade provided relief during Sydney summers, as well as a spur to local engineers to improve ice manufacturing.

New South Wales Customs Regulation Act 1830

An Act to regulate the customs and trade within New South Wales and its dependencies.

full record »

Customs House

full record »

Public building on Alfred Street at Circular Quay where shipping was cleared and goods passing through the port of Sydney were taxed and cleared for sale or export. A number of Customs House buildings have stood on the site since since 1845 and it was designed and redesigned by three government architects Mortimer Lewis, James Barnet and Walter Liberty Vernon. When the port was busy the House was crowded and noisy, the scene of raised tempers, delays and disputed dealings. It was surrounded by public houses, shipping companies and general maritime activities.

In 1990 the building was closed as a customs departments and in 1994 was leased to the City of Sydney who refurbished the building for use as a multipurpose commercial space that opened in 1995. In 2005 Customs House reopened as the headquarters of the City of Sydney Library and function centre. In April 2019 the City of Sydney purchased the building from the Federal Government.

AJ Riley & Co

Drapery export business established by Alban Riley in 1878.

full record »

Burns Philp

Shipping and trading company that was headquartered in Sydney from 1876 and became a multinational enterprise across the South Pacific.

full record »

Caltex Australia

Oil importing company listed in Australia in the 1940s which became the largest refiner and marketer through merger with Ampol in 1995.

full record »

Campbell's of Calcutta

Scottish merchants trading from India who opened a branch in Sydney in 1800.

full record »

Commonwealth Oil Refineries

Oil company that operated between 1920 and 1952 as a joint venture of the Australian government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

full record »

Cooper and Levey

Shipping, trading and merchant company which achieved remarkable success given the emancipist origins of its owners. To expand its retail trade it traded across the Pacific and exported regularly to England.

full record »

Dalgety & Co

Mercantile, pastoral and financial company established in Melbourne in 1848 before expanding nationally and internationally to exploit the financial resources of Britain for the growing requirements of the Australian economy.

full record »

JC Howard

Import company for machinery and agricultural implement.

full record »

JH Williams & Co

Trade organisation of American consul James Hartwell Williams.

full record »

John Frazer & Co

Wholesale grocery business in York Street.

full record »

Joubert & Murphy

Importers of French wines and spirits established in Sydney in 1841 by Didier Joubert and Jeremiah Murphy

full record »

Kanematsu Australia

Australian office of Japanese merchant and trading business, Katematsu Corporation, that opened in Sydney in 1890 in an office at 99 Clarence Street before moving to 8 O'Connell Street in 1891. The company had been established by Fusajiro Kanematsu in Japan in 1889 in order to establish trade with Australia. It is one of the largest dealers in wool to Japan.

full record »

King Nam Jang

Importing business and ships' providores which operated at 85 George Street North in Chinatown for over a century.

full record »

Motories Ltd

Importer and retailer of European and English cars.

full record »

Myers & Solomon

Merchants who imported a range of goods to their Sydney warehouse.

full record »

Sang On Tiy

Wholesale fruiterers and commission agents who arranged assisted migration of Chinese labourers to Fiji as a means of expanding production and markets.

full record »

Smith Bros Trade and Transport Terminal

Shipping operator and freight container business at Botany.

full record »

Tiy Sang Company

Fruit and vegetable business that operated through the markets in Sydney. Bananas were a large part of their business and they had investments in Coffs Harbour, Fiji and elsewhere in the Pacific Islands.

full record »

Tucker and Co

Importing and customs agency.

full record »

Albert, Michael

Importer and businessman.

full record »

Callose, Bartolomeo

Manufacturer and importer of Italian food.

full record »

Campbell, John

Merchant who returned to Sydney after receiving his education in England, and became head of the family wharf, shipping and mercantile business.

full record »

Cullen, James

Importer who ran his business from 81 Clarence Street, Sydney. He lived at Sandgate Cottage in 1885, then known as 'Kilkerran'.

full record »

Port Botany

full record »

Commercial container and bulk liquids terminal on Botany Bay, which is Sydney's deepwater seaport, run by the Sydney Ports Corporation.

Contraband at Customs House, 11 July 1939

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[ON 388/Box 028/Item 143]

(Mitchell Library, Courtesy of ACP Magazines)

'I exports natives and imports exotics from Botany Bay' 1810s

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.pic-an6589641]

Advertisement for Watkins and Sparrow, Ice Importers 22 March 1853

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.news-article12944577]

(Sydney Morning Herald 22 March 1853, p.3)

Artist's impression in the 1930s of the Lowell delivering ice at Circular Quay in 1855

full record »

By

Edgar A Holloway

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[SPF-Circular Quay, 1855 (5)]

(Mitchell Library)

Custom House and Circular Quay 1845

full record »

By

George Edwards Peacock

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Dixson Galleries)

Custom House and part of Circular Wharf, Sydney NSW, 1845

full record »

By

George Edwards Peacock

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Dixon Galleries)

Glebe Island car terminal 2006

full record »

Image courtesy of

[0604-0201-79]

Imports Supplement to the Illustrated Sydney News July 1882

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Illustrated Sydney News, July 1882, Mitchell Library)

Kanematsu flour bag label print c1935

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

Port Botany 2007

full record »

Image courtesy of

[0508-0804-18]

Wing Sang & Co Haymarket c1909

full record »

Contributed By

City of Sydney Archives

[NSCA CRS 51/507]

Secondary industry