We're very excited here at Dictionary HQ this week as Dr Lisa Murray (our former chair, Dictionary contributor, City of Sydney Historian, renowned taphophile and absolute all-round legend) has just launched her book Sydney Cemeteries: A Field Guide (published by NewSouth Books and available online here). This week on 2SER Breakfast she talked to Nic about two of Sydney's earliest cemeteries which have now disappeared.   Listen now

Cemetery and the active gallows, detail from 'Plan de la ville de Sydney' 1802 Courtesy Dixon Map Collection, State Library of NSW (a4204001 / Z/Ce 82/2 detail)

People think of cemeteries as a permanent address, and that they'll be there forever, but in fact Sydney, being the rampantly developing city that it is, has from its early days been moving its cemeteries. Two of our earliest cemeteries no longer exist. The first of these, the Old Sydney Burial Ground opened in 1792, where Sydney Town Hall stands today, and was the town's first official European Christian burial ground. Little is known about burials prior to the opening of the cemetery but there were a number of informal burial grounds around the township. The colony's earliest official Christian cemetery, St John's Anglican cemetery opened further west in the township of Parramatta in 1790, and you can still visit it today. The Old Burial Ground was extended in 1812, but by 1820 it was full, and had to be closed. When the City of Sydney Council formed in the 1840s, they thought the site would be a prime location for a Town Hall. The government of the time turned down their request, offering them land in Bridge Street instead, but the councillors rejected this and kept meeting in other places like pubs and meeting rooms, until finally in the 1860s the land was granted to the Council and plans were made to build.

St Andrew's cathedral, corner of George and Bathurst Streets, January 1858 by Henry Grant Lloyd Courtesy Dixson Library, State Library of NSW (a5894025 / DL PX 42)

The Council exhumed the remains of people buried there and transferred them to the Rookwood Necropolis, which had opened in 1867. Some were missed unfortunately, so archaeological remains underneath the Sydney Town Hall are still found from time to time. After the Burial Ground was closed, a new official cemetery was established further down George Street in what was then considered the outskirts of the City. The Devonshire Street Cemetery opened in 1820 and was particularly interesting in that it had separate denominational burial grounds (the Old Burial Ground had only allowed for Church of England burials). It too was full to overflowing by 1845 but wasn't closed until the 1860s when Rookwood was opened. In Lisa's essay on Death and Dying in Sydney in the Nineteenth Century she describes the public recoiling at "images of jam-packed cemeteries, with coffins breaking the surface and emanating effluvia. Complaints centred around 'unpleasant', 'offensive' and 'noxious' smells that were said to be at their worst in Sydney's hot humid summer weather and after rain. Pauper graves which were left open for several days to receive numerous bodies attracted 'nasty greenish-blue' blowflies. The disgorging of maggots after heavy rain was a stark reminder of the underworld of corruption – an image which contrasted dramatically with the idealisation of the cemetery as 'God's acre' and religious beliefs in a physical resurrection."

Old cemetery Devonshire Street c1900 Courtesy State Library of Victoria (H13953 p15 (detail))

By the 1890s then, the cemetery was no longer in use. There was also increasing demand to extend the railway from Redfern further into the city and after considering various sites, once again an old closed cemetery was resumed and Central Railway Station was built where the Devonshire Street Cemetery had been. This time however, the Government exhumed the remains. People could claim headstones and the government would pay for their loved ones to be removed to another cemetery, meaning that Devonshire Street headstones are still dotted all around other Sydney cemeteries and beyond, while most of the other exhumed remains were reinterred at Botany Cemetery When you're walking through Devonshire Street Tunnel you're right in the heart of the old cemetery!       Sydney Cemeteries: A Field Guide is designed to take you on self guided tours through 101 cemeteries in the greater Sydney area. With gorgeous contemporary photographs from another Dictionary author, Dr Mark Dunn, beautifully indexed by our very own Dr Neil Radford, and launched by Associate Professor Grace Karkens, this is a project close to the Dictionary's heart and we strongly recommend you race to your nearest bookstore and buy multiple copies for yourself and Christmas presents for all! You can also read Lisa's entries on Death and Dying in Sydney on the Dictionary here: Death and Dying in Nineteenth Century Sydney Death and Dying in Twentieth Century Sydney The First State Funeral   Listen to Lisa & Nic here and tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:15-8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.

This week on 2SER Breakfast, Nic talked to a special guest of the Dictionary. Peter Hobbins is an historian of science, technology and medicine at the University of Sydney (who has recently written an entry for the Dictionary on naturalist JS Bray - stay tuned for that one!). For the last three years, he has been part of the team working on the University's Quarantine Project which has been recording the many carvings and paintings made in the rock by people held at the Manly Quarantine Station at North Head over its history. The book Peter has written with archaeologist colleagues Ursula Frederick and Annie Clark about the stories they've uncovered during the project, Stories from the Sandstone: Quarantine Inscriptions from Australia's Immigrant Past,  has just been released and Peter came in to the studio to talk to Nic about the project and the history of the Quarantine Station.   Listen now The Quarantine Station these days is known to many people more as a ghost hunting area rather than an historical landmark, but it has a long and fascinating past. North Head became a Quarantine Station in 1835 and operated that way until 1984 when it was turned over to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The Station was very active until the 1930s when the number of people who needed to be quarantined dropped dramatically.  It wasn't the case that every person who arrived in Sydney had to be automatically quarantined, and unlike places like Ellis Island in New York City, it wasn't an immigration processing centre, where you had to go on arrival and wait for permission to enter the country. Rather, if there had been an infection on your mode of transportation, whether that was a ship or later a plane, anybody who'd been sick or in the vicinity was taken to North Head for treatment and/or observation.

The Try of Liverpool passing the North Head at the entrance to Sydney Harbour c1850 by Joseph Fowles. Source: National Library of Australia (nla.pic-an2272951)

There were real peaks of activity at the Quarantine Station, reflecting the waves of immigration. The 1830s were very busy, then a slower period as immigration dropped off in the 1840s, a boom in the 1850s as people joined the gold rush, another peak in the 1870s, and then, in 1881 & 1901, a different kind of quarantine occurred as residents of Sydney were forcibly sent to the Quarantine Station because of epidemics in the city. Altogether about 16,000 people were quarantined at North Head in the 150 year period that the station was in operation. Over this time there were roughly 600 burials on the site. Although there were this many deaths, the Quarantine Station was not really a place of mourning - it was hard to get to, and if you knew somebody who had died there, you had to ask for official permission to visit the grave (and risk catching an infectious disease while you were there). There were three distinct cemeteries at the station. The precise location of the First Cemetery is unknown as it was covered up in the 1850s, and the other two were neglected to the point where it is difficult to find remaining headstones but some do still exist which you can still visit.

Inscriptions at Quarantine Station, North Head. photographed by AE Foster Source: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a6946040 / Box 105 No 1158)

The Quarantine Project team have spent the last three years looking for and documenting the carvings made in the rocks over the last 150 years by those people who had been quarantined. The inscriptions they've found include initials, pictures and often detailed panels with frames and names or pictures of ships and words about people who'd been on board. In all they've found over 1600 inscriptions, and the book relates just a few of the stories they have uncovered through their research. Originally, there would have been more inscriptions of course than those the team have been able to document. Sandstone is easy to carve, which means it also crumbles easily and the salt laden air of the coast has been an element in the erosion of many inscriptions. When the Station was active, it was also in a fairly constant state of development as new buildings and facilities were needed, so many carvings would have been destroyed or covered up, and since 1984 when the site became a National Park, there has also been a lot of revegetation covering the remaining carvings. So there could definitely be more out there waiting to be discovered! An historian's usual sources are in archives and libraries where documents and records are neatly bundled up and stored on a shelf, well away from their original physical context. These records are in situ, and you can stand exactly where the person who did the carving stood, imagining what they were going through as they made a very physical record of their existence in that place. To find out more of the stories behind these stone records, get your copy of the book and head out to the Quarantine Station to explore the site yourself. Stories from the Sandstone: Quarantine Inscriptions from Australia's Immigrant Past can be ordered online and in stores now. Listen to Peter & Nic here and tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:15-8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.

View of the Quarantine Station c1870s Source: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a280009 / PXA 969, 36)

     

There’s an interesting exhibition on at the Museum of Sydney at the moment called ‘Demolished Sydney: Georgian town to global city’. It features the buildings and places that once shaped the city’s skyline and were demolished to make way for change. This week on 2SER, Nicole and Nic went for a look in the Dictionary of Sydney at the history of some of these lost buildings

  Listen now

Henriette Lamotte hat salon, 27 Rowe Street c1950 by Kerry Dundas, Courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a1528035 / SV/128)

One of the fascinating places featured in the exhibition is Rowe Street, which was a laneway between Pitt and Castlereagh streets. It was the place to go in Sydney for a ‘touch of Paris’ during the 1950s and 1960s, and featured a series of tiny shopfronts including milliners, designers, artists and cafes. The French milliner Henriette Lamotte whose boutique can be seen in this photograph designed for the rich and famous - one of her clients was the English actress, Vivien Leigh. Artist studios were another feature of Rowe Street and included artists like Lionel Lindsay. There were also several bookshops including a discreet downstairs shop which sold erotic literature ranging from DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover to Gillian Freeman’s The Leather Boys. In 1931, the Sydney Mail described the laneway as ‘the primrose path of dalliance’ which beckoned onlookers with ‘irresistible charm’. The newspaper lyrically described ‘the milky sheen of ivory gleaming among the disorder of an art shop’ and ‘the exquisite example of the dressmaker’s art…which arouses the worst possible instinct in feminine breasts’.

St Stephen's Presbyterian church, Phillip St c1930 by Harold Cazneaux, Courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a2057029 / PXD 806/29)

Despite the vibrant character of Rowe Street, by 1973, the laneway was demolished to make way for the MLC Centre. The Kent Brewery in Chippendale was opened in 1835 by John Tooth and Charles Newnham. Over the decades the brewery expanded and flourished, but it was closed in 2005 and most of its buildings were demolished to make way for the Central Park development of apartments, offices, shops, and public spaces. Many people may be aware of St Stephen’s Presbyterian church on Macquarie Street, but perhaps fewer are aware there used to be a St Stephen’s church on Phillip Street. The church on Phillip street was just as grand, was built in the neo-Romantic style and opened in 1857. It was demolished in 1935 to make way for the extension of Martin Place. There are other perhaps more well known buildings featured in the exhibition, such as the Fort Macquarie Tram Depot, which was built on Bennelong Point in 1902, and demolished to make way for the Opera House.

Fort Macquarie tram depot 1953, Courtesy City of Sydney Archives (Len Stone / Vic Solomons Collection: 491)

And also of course the very grand Garden Palace in the Royal Botanic Garden, which burnt to the ground in 1882 along with many important historical artefacts and records which were lost in the fire, including the grand organ and the foundation collection of the Technological and Mining Museum (now the Powerhouse Museum), and all of the Aboriginal artefacts compiled by the Australian Museum. The exhibition, Demolished Sydney: Georgian town to Global City, is on show at the Museum of Sydney until April 2017. Click here for details. Listen to Nicole & Nic here and tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:15-8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.

NAISDA Dance College is partnering with Carriageworks to celebrate NAISDA’s 40th anniversary with Circle of Cultures – a very special season which will take place at Carriageworks from 15-24 November 2016

  Listen now Today I want to acknowledge a significant dance and cultural movement that is celebrating its 40th anniversary. I'm talking about the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association. The organisation first emerged in the mid-1970s and evolved to play a fundamental role in training prominent Indigenous dancers and developing a modern Aboriginal dance style. Carole Johnson was a an African American dancer who toured Australia as part of the Eleo Pomare Dance Company of New York in 1972. At this time she was funded to run some dance workshops in the St James Church Hall, Bridge Road, Glebe. Johnson returned to New York, but realised the potential for black empowerment and cultural expression here in Sydney and returned in 1974. A series of classes at Glebe and Redfern led to a display of Indigenous Dance in 1975 at the Black Theatre. The workshops generated a demand for professional training and a three-year professional course, called 'Careers in Dance' was created. In 1977 the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre was formed as a professional arm of the school, to enable students to develop performance experience. The students also gained experience through performances at festivals and community programs.

Students of NAISDA who have gone on to prominent careers in dance include Stephen Page and the late Russell Page, who became prominent in the Bangarra Dance Company and performed at the Opening Ceremony at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

We also have an article written by Jasmin Sheppard, also a graduate of NAISDA dance college, about Bangarra Dance Theatre, Making Fire: Bangarra Dance Theatre Australia Listen to Stephen Page talk about Bangarra Dance Theatre in 2009 The Dictionary of Sydney's article on the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association is just one of a series of articles that we have on the Dictionary which chart the evolution of Aboriginal cultural organisations here in Sydney. Check out our subject listing for more details. http://dictionaryofsydney.org/subject/aboriginal The anniversary is being celebrated with a social history exhibition at Carriageworks at Redfern.  Naya Wa Yugali (translating to 'We Dance' in Darkinyung language) features oral histories, a new commission by Vicki Van Hout and Marian Abboud and the work of artists including Tracey Moffatt, the late Michael Riley, Juno Gemes, Lee Chittick and Elaine Kitchener. There are some great photographs and film footage, so I encourage you to get along to this free exhibition. It opened yesterday and will be at Carriageworks until 11 December. There are other events and performances planned for the celebrations as well - go to the NAISDA website to check out the full program: http://www.naisda.com.au/productions/circle-of-cultures/  Listen to Lisa & Nic here and tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:15-8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.

Did you know that the Dictionary of Sydney has an email newsletter as well as this blog? The newsletter comes out several a year and keeps you up to date with the Dictionary's news, content, projects and developments. You can subscribe online, and even catch up with the last few issues - just go to the Subscribe tab on the homepage.  

Henry Louis Bertrand c1865 Source: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (c011220001 / P2/468)

This week on 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey, Nicole shared author John Edwards's Dictionary entry on Henry Louis Bertrand,  the dentist of Wynyard Square whose murderous & amorous activities scandalised Sydney in the 1860s. Henry Bertrand was born in 1840 in Mayfair, London, into a Jewish family which had a long tradition of practicing dentisty on both sides of the Channel. His father, Henry Lipschutz, had adopted the surname Bertrand at some point, and died when the boy was about four. His mother, Marian Bertrand, left London in the early 1850s with her three daughters and set off for Melbourne, the gold rush and potential husbands. Young Henry stayed behind, training and working as a dentist in London and Belgium and possibly Paris. At some point, Henry added 'Louis' to his name as well, becoming Henry Louis Bertrand. Marian, Henry's mother, married another dentist in Australia in 1852, and moved with him from Melbourne to Sydney. His sisters had also found respectable husbands by the time Henry arrived to join them all in 1860. On arrival in Sydney at 19 years of age, Henry placed an advertisement, in French and English, in the Sydney Morning Herald with some rather grand (and unsubstantiated) claims:

The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 August 1860, p1

  Established as a successful society dentist in Wynyard Square, Henry married Jane King. In 1865, when the younger of their two children was about 5 months old, he began an affair with a married patient, Ellen Kinder. Ellen and her husband (also named Henry) had come to Sydney from New Zealand in 1864, and they lived in Namaka Cottage in St Leonards. A few months into the affair, Henry Bertrand began to hatch plots to kill the unfortunate Henry Kinder. Late in the evening on 2 October 1865, a doctor was called to the Kinders' cottage at St Leonards where, according to accounts from both Henry and Jane Bertrand, Kinder in a drunken stupor had shot himself in front of them. Kinder took 4 days to die of his wounds. Two months later, after a blackmail attempt by another of Ellen's former lovers from New Zealand, police exhumed Kinder's body and found poison, leading to the investigation that enthralled, horrified and titillated Sydney-siders. Henry and Jane Bertrand were both charged with murder, and Ellen Kinder charged with being an accessory.

Bertrand & Kinder tragedy; being the account of the extraordinary trial of Mr and Mrs Bertrand, and Mrs Kinder, and the subsequent trial and conviction of Louis Bertrand at the Criminal Court of New South Wales for the murder of Henry Kinder, of the City Bank, Sydney 1865, Source: National Library of Australia (PETHpam 2682)

Newspapers avidly reporting the trial printed every salacious detail, including allegations that Henry Bertrand had intimidated his wife Jane into sharing their marital bed with Ellen, and that he had attempted to disguise himself while purchasing a pistol by wearing his wife's clothing. The discover of the secret diary in which he had documented everything, and evidence given by his sister to whom he had boasted about getting away with murder, ensured he was found guilty. The cases against both women collapsed due to lack of evidence. Henry Bertrand's death sentence was commuted to life in prison. He spent his time in several gaols including Parramatta Lunatic Asylum, but most of his 29 years of imprisonment was spent at Darlinghurst Gaol, where he developed a fair talent for painting watercolours and bone carving.. Examples of these are held in the State Library of NSW.

Darlinghurst Gaol 1891 by Henry Louis Bertrand, Source: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a928127 / SV1/Gao/Darh/2)

He was released in 1894, still only 53 years old. After spending his first night of freedom at the Metropole Hotel in the city, he was deported on the first available ship to England, where he again practiced dentistry in London and Portsmouth. Henry Louis Bertrand died in Portsmouth in 1924 at the ripe old age of 83, having outlived everybody else involved. For more details, pictures and links, hop over to John Edwards' entry on Henry Louis Bertrand on the Dictionary of Sydney: http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/henry_louis_bertrand. You can also purchase a copy of his book  Henry Louis Bertrand: Dentist Artist Murderer (details here).     Listen to Nicole & Nic here and tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:15-8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.  Listen now 

Stained glass window in in Sydney Town Hall, designed by Lucien Henry symbolising Australia. Photo by Paul Paterson, Courtesy City of Sydney Council.

It's on again this Sunday, 6 November! Sydney Open is your chance to be a sticky beak and see some of Sydney's most historic, striking and modern commercial buildings, along with our most beloved public buildings. Sydney Town Hall will be open. This year we are opening the Lord Mayor's formal office in the Town Hall, a space only a privileged few usually get to see, along with the Lord Mayor's reception room, set up for a banquet. Of course, the Centennial Hall is a highlight, particularly with concerts on the Grand Organ; and the Lucien Henry stained glass windows. And you can say hello to me - I'll be pointing out some of the artefacts associated with the burial ground that was on the site before the Town Hall was built. Another favourite of mine is the modernist AMP Building at Circular Quay. The rooftop terrace is open so take in an exclusive view - this was the first building to break through the 112 foot building height limit and once towered over low-rise Sydney. Do the modernist double, and visit the Harry Seidler designed Australia Square as well. New to the building list this year is the Macquarie Group at No.1 Martin Place. This is the General Post Office site and the modern office block associated with Macquarie Group. A groovy new atrium with an Escher-like staircase is a recent addition promoting connection and collaboration. The Calyx only opened in June 2016 and is another newbie on the Sydney Open list. It's a modern extension of the palm house in the Royal Botanic Garden. Back to some really old buildings and some old artefacts. One of Sydney's best kept secrets and creepiest museum is open - the Lucy Osburn-Nightingale Museum at the Sydney Hospital. It has specimens of all types of diseases. The Big Dig archaeology site in the Rocks and the youth hostel that has been built over the site is open as well. This is another great building with a rooftop terrace. And while we're exploring rooftop terraces, you may as well also take a peek at Hong Kong House on Druitt Street. Its rooftop balcony has a unique view of the domes of the Queen Victoria Building.  This is a ticketed event - you need to pre-purchase your ticket ($49 for a general ticket. Concessions available.)

Alfred Street, Circular Quay 1962, City of Sydney Archives (NSCA CRS 48/2877)

Lisa's top 5 roof top and views: AMP Building The Big Dig & YHA Hong Kong House EY Centre (levels 27 & 28) Two International Towers, Barangaroo (Level 35, Level 36, the Skyrise Level 41 - top floor) And don't worry if you can't get along this Sunday, the Dictionary of Sydney has lots of great images and information about many of these historic buildings so click on the links to go through to the Dictionary and you can explore at your leisure! Listen to the Lisa & Nic here and tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:15-8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.  Listen now   

Support 2SER's annual fundraising event and let them know you care!

You may have noticed that the Dictionary hasn't been on the radio lately, and that's because 2SER are running their annual supporter drive. We love our segments on 2SER Breakfast each week with Nic Healey, and now they need to know how much we appreciate them. Like the Dictionary, 2SER relies on grants, donations and their supporters. 2SER (which stands for Sydney Educational Radio) had its origins in the burgeoning community broadcasting movement of the early 1970’s when it was proposed that an educational radio station be established based on a consortium of Sydney universities. 2SER made its broadcasting debut on October 1, 1979, with the support of many hundreds of groups and individuals.

Monument in memory of NC Bochsa, erected by Anna Bishop over his grave in Camperdown Cemetery, 1856 by Edmund Thomas Source: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (a4236001 / SV1/Cem/Campe/1)

I was wandering around Camperdown Cemetery the other day when I came across an impressive altar tomb which had a large statue on top featuring a (decapitated) mourning figure kneeling before a tree and harp. I peered at the inscription and saw that it commemorated Nicholas Charles Bochsa, who died in 1856. The inscription recorded that the monument was erected 'in sincere devotedness by his faithful friend and pupil' Anna Bishop. I'd come across Bochsa previously and knew he was a musician. But who was Anna Bishop? It seemed an awfully large and expensive monument to erect for your music teacher, even if you were a devoted pupil and friend. Of course I found out all in the Dictionary of Sydney, from two entries written by musicologist Graeme Skinner. http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/person/bochsa_nicholas http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/person/bishop_anna Bochsa's claim to fame was that he was once the harpist to the French emperor Napoleon. But our musician friend left France under a cloud in 1817 after being convicted of forgery. Nicholas retreated across the channel to London, where he had a successful career for two decades as an opera conductor and music teacher, although bankruptcy, accusations of bigamy and libel cases threatened his respectability. But then Bochsa scandalised London society in 1839 by eloping with soprano Anna Bishop (wife of distinguished composer Sir Henry Bishop). So Anna, who erected his monument, was not just his 'pupil' but also his lover. The tales we find beneath the tombstones! The lovers spent the next 15 years touring Europe, America, Mexico and then Australia. The American Review in 1847 described his talents in glowing terms: "Bochsa is another instrumental wonder. The harp in his hands is full of splendid effects; it is capable of infinite variety in power and quality of tone, full of delicacy and of lyric fire." Sadly, the celebrated couple had only just arrived in Sydney from San Francisco when Bochsa was taken ill. They performed one concert together, on the 22 December at the Prince of Wales Theatre before Bochsa's illness prevented him continuing. He died on Sunday 6 January at the Royal Hotel and was buried in a fashionable section of Camperdown Cemetery. A piece he had composed the previous Thursday night for his own funeral was sung over the grave. The monument still stands, but has lost some of its detail over the years, including the decapitation of the statue of Anna  which was destroyed by vandals. The drawing, above, from the Mitchell Library shows how elaborate the memorial was originally. The harp also had broken strings, signifying the musician's life cut short.

Anna Bishop and Nicholas Bochsa preparing to depart, in 'Travels of Anna Bishop in Mexico' 1852 via the Internet Archive

Some of Bochsa's early harp music can be found in the International Harp Archives here, and you can listen to some contemporary performances of his work online as well. Apart from his compositions, Bochsa is primarily remembered today for the harp method he published before he left France. You can view a digitised copy of this work through the Hathi Trust Digital Library via Trove. We have a number of entries about Sydney musicians in the Dictionary. Check out our music subject listing:  http://dictionaryofsydney.org/subject/music Listen to the Lisa & Nic’s chat here and tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:15-8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.  Listen now    [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ro1kUzCjY[/embed]  

Scalding and dressing pigs at Mr D O'Connell's pig-killing pens, Glebe Island abattoir, 1879 Australian town and country journal, 7 June 1879, p 1088

There have been many current and proposed Royal Commissions in the news lately, so I thought I’d take a look in the Dictionary of Sydney to see what I could find. There’s a fascinating article on the Royal Commission into Noxious and Offensive Trades 1882, courtesy of former City Historian at the City of Sydney, Shirley Fitzgerald. I spoke about it with Nic Healey on 2SER Breakfast this morning.

The term ‘noxious trade’ applied to any industry that created a stink associated with offensive waste. It covered businesses associated with the processing of animal carcasses, like tanneries, abattoirs and fellmongers. During the late 19th century, theories about the control and spread of diseases were quite different; disease was believed to have spread by offensive vapours. There were wealthy suburbs in Sydney where such trades were banned, such Randwick. Other areas, including working-class Alexandria, became known for its noxious trades. So when one member of the Noxious Traders Association, Alfred Fremlin, suggested there be a separate site in Sydney purely for noxious traders, the idea gained the support of concerned ratepayers. The idea was defeated, however, and the government suggested a Royal Commission on Noxious and Offensive Trades be launched in 1882. The Royal Commission gathered evidence from 31 witnesses and investigated a range of industries including the Glebe Island abattoirs, which were established in the 1830s. The Commission found that these industries endangered public health, and recommended a secluded site be established. In the end, the Noxious Trades and Cattle Slaughtering Act was passed in 1894, which aimed to regulate noxious industries. This caused tension, as it gave the Board of Health, and not local councils, control over noxious traders in Sydney. Shirley Fitzgerald notes that if the recommendations of the Royal Commission been adopted, Sydney would have gained a reputation for advanced environmental planning, despite the incorrect assumptions about vapours and public health. This is because the noxious industries contributed to the degradation of many of the city’s waterways including the Cooks River, and parts of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers, and Glebe Island abattoir, for example, was depositing waste products into Port Jackson until 1913. If you’re interested in finding out more, explore the Dictionary of Sydney or download the Dictionary’s free app which includes a tour of Sydney Harbour Islands, including the former abattoir Glebe Island. Listen to the Nicole & Nic’s chat here and tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:15-8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.  Listen now 

Detail showing woolwashes, tannery and soapworks in Alexandria and Waterloo from the 'Atlas of the Suburbs of Sydney' Alexandria 1886-1888, Courtesy: City of Sydney Archives