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Custom House and Circular Quay 1845

Custom House and Circular Quay 1845

By

George Edwards Peacock

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Dixson Galleries)

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Customs House

Subjects

Import-Export Labour Public building Shipping Taxation

Buildings

Customs House Government House

Places

Circular Quay

Natural features

Sydney Cove

Structures

Circular Quay

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Peacock, George Edwards

Lawyer who was transported for forgery, and as a 'gentleman convict' turned to painting to improve his circumstances.

State Library of New South Wales

Customs House

Designed and redesigned by three government architects, Customs House has presided over Circular Quay since 1845. It has always been a government building, although its functions have changed over time.

Taxation

Shipping

Labour

Public building

Import-Export

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.

Circular Quay

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Area of Sydney's central business district that surrounds the quays built on reclaimed land from the 1830s.

Government House

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Governor's residence commissioned by Governor Bourke and constructed of local sandstone between 1836 and 1843 in the Gothic Revival style.

Sydney Cove

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Small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson, which became the site for the European settlement in Sydney.

Circular Quay

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Quay built between 1837 and 1855 and originally known as Semi-circular Quay, because of the shape of the stoneworks built with convict labour to stabilise the new shoreline reclaimed from mudflats.