The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney celebrated 200 years on Monday 13 June 2016. Yet, the site had been farmed since 1788 and under cultivation with scientific plants as well as agricultural farming before 1816, so why did they choose this date? It has to do with the completion of a road through the government domain that was planned by the wife of Governor Macquarie, Elizabeth Macquarie. The completion of this public road project was recorded for posterity on a sandstone outcrop at the end of the Domain, at Mrs Macquarie's favourite harbour vantage point. The Gadigal called the point Yurong. We now know it as Mrs Macquarie's Chair. When was the last time you went and visited it? The inscription is still legible, 200 years later. It reads:

BE THUS RECORDED THAT THE ROAD Round the inside of the Government Domain Called MRS MACQUARIE'S ROAD so named by the Governor on account of her having Originally Planned it Measuring 3 Miles, and 377 Yards Was finally Completed on the 13th Day of June 1816.

The road was officially opened on the 13th. Governor Macquarie particularly chose this 'auspicious' day, as he described it, to open the road for it was his wife's birthday. And it is this date that Joseph Henry Maiden (director of the gardens 1896-1924) later nominated as the foundation date of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. But the gardens were not at this stage widely open to the public. Sydney's respectable citizens could use the Outer Domain during the day, but the Inner Domain, especially the land around Government House and the Government Garden were for the Governor's Pleasure. A plan commissioned by the Governor in 1816 to celebrate the completion of improvements shows the gradual evolution of the garden. You can see the new road looping around Yurong / Mrs Macquarie's Chair, the Nursery, the Government Garden, and a cottage built for the gardener. By the 1850s the gardens were developed into a series of formal and informal gardens and areas of Woccanmagully or Farm Cove were being reclaimed. Mrs Macquarie's Chair had become a popular picnic spot on long weekends and celebrations, as this painting from 1855 shows.

Picnic at Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Sydney c1855. From the collection of the State Library of New South Wales [a1528104 / DG 265]

The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney has a fascinating history. You can find out more in the Dictionary of Sydney. Our entity listing for the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust has links to a number of entries in the Dictionary of Sydney, including the Domain, the director Joseph Maiden, the first female botanical illustrator Margaret Flockton. For a historic timeline as well as all the celebratory events happening this year, visit the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney website: https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/About-Us/History-and-Facts/Our-200-years Thanks Lisa for another great segment for the Dictionary. Remember to tune in next Wednesday at 8:15am to hear more great Sydney stories courtesy of the Dictionary of Sydney and 2SER. If you missed Lisa's segment you can catch up on the podcast here. --- [box]

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