Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Barracluff's Ostrich Farm

Farm in Dover Heights where ostriches were reared to provide feathers for the fashion industry.

-33.865727654437, 151.27873599486

Milestone
Opened
1889
Closed
1918
Property
Owned by
1889 - 1918
Type

Barracluff's Ostrich Farm

CC BY-SA 2.0
,
2016

In 1889 the enterprising Joseph Barracluff and his wife Jane established an ostrich farm at South Head. Over the years Barracluff's farm became a well-known tourist destination where patrons could select feathers to be cut directly from the flock. The business thrived until the outbreak of World War I, when the demand for ostrich feathers declined.