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The Dictionary of Sydney
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Custom House and part of Circular Wharf, Sydney...

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

By

George Edwards Peacock

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Dixon Galleries)

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Customs House

Subjects

Import-Export Public building Shipping

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Circular Quay East Circular Quay

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Circular Quay

Buildings

Customs House

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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.

Shipping

Public building

Import-Export

Circular Quay

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

Circular Quay

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.

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East Circular Quay

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Area on the eastern shore of Sydney Cove to Bennelong Point.

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.