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Benefactor

Occupation - Benefactor
Todman, George Frederick
Position - Benefactor of Fisher Library
Fisher, Thomas
Position - Benefactor of John Passmore Museum
Passmore, John
Position - Benefactor of Mustard Seed Uniting Church Ultimo
Harris, John 1802-1846
1846
Position - Benefactor of National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Ervin, Samuel Henry
Position - Benefactor of Queen Victoria Homes for Consumptives
Dixson, Emma Elizabeth
1877 - 1922
Position - Benefactor of Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children
Cuthill, Alexander
Position - Benefactor of St Paul's College
Mitchell, James
Position - Benefactor of State Library of New South Wales
Dixson, William
Mitchell, David Scott

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Benefactor

Todman, George Frederick

Businessman who entered the tobacco industry as a boy and rose to become managing director. He also held extensive property holdings and was a generous benefactor to several hospitals.

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Fisher Library

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The main library at the University of Sydney named for Thomas Fisher, its major benefactor. It opened in 1909 in the south-western corner of the Quadrangle. In 1962 it moved to a new building adjacent to Victoria Park, the original reading room being renamed MacLaurin Hall.

Fisher, Thomas

Businessperson and benefactor, the son of convicts, who quietly and industriously built a business empire that enabled him to amass a large fortune. Much of his estate was bequeathed to the University of Sydney to endow a library now named in his honour.

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John Passmore Museum

Museum of art established by art collectors Elinor and Fred Wrobel, who were bequeathed a collection of 270 paintings by artist John Passmore in 1984. According the Elinor Wrobel, she managed to convince Passmore not to burn his artworks before his death. After the Wrobels purchased the former Merryfield Hotel building in Woolloomooloo, they opened a museum displaying his works and their collection now includes more than 1000 works of art from the 1840s to the present day.

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Passmore, John

Painter and teacher who explored landscape themes in highly abstracted terms.

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Mustard Seed Uniting Church Ultimo

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The third Presbyterian church on the peninsula was built on a half-acre block bequeathed by John Harris. The Manse was added in 1888 and a church hall in 1902. In April 1960, the Dutch congregation of the Presbyterian Church took over the buildings but by the mid 1990s the church had fallen into disrepair and was closed in 2001. The Mustard Seed group of the Uniting Church restored the building and it was re-consecrated in May 2006.

Harris, John 1802-1846

The owner of Ultimo Estate, John Harris was the nephew of the surgeon and public servant, John Harris. He arrived in Sydney in 1844, though died two years later and bequeathed a half-acre of his share in the Ultimo Estate to the Church of Scotland in Ultimo. The trustees of the estate (Dr J Fullerton and G Hamilton) selected out a half-acre block in Quarry Street, and in 1883 a Presbyterian church was built where it stands today as a Uniting Church.

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National Trust of Australia (NSW)

An independent community-based organisation that has advocated the conservation of built, cultural and natural heritage since its foundation in Sydney in 1945.

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Ervin, Samuel Henry

Woolbroker and cultural benefactor. The National Trust's SH Ervin Gallery on Observatory Hill was named in his honour.

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Queen Victoria Homes for Consumptives

A free private hospital established for the care of patients suffering from tuberculosis. Patients were initially housed in a hotel in Picton before a purpose-built facility was opened in Thirlmere in 1886 and another in Wentworth Falls in 1903.

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Dixson, Emma Elizabeth

Philanthropist, devout Baptist and wife of one of Sydney's most prominent businessmen.

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Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children

Large sandstone asylum for 400 children built on 60 acres at High Cross Randwick by the Society for the Relief of Destitute Children. A new wing built in 1863 housed a further 400 children. During World War I it was used as a military hospital for wounded and disabled returned servicemen.

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Cuthill, Alexander

Doctor who was the principal benefactor of the Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children. He was murdered on the Cooks River Road by a disturbed man named James Gray in 1854. In 1860 a bridge was built at the bottom of Beach Street in Coogee and named after Cuthill in honour of his role in formally establishing the asylum with his generous bequest. Cuthill Street, also named after him, borders High Cross Park.

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St Paul's College

The oldest university college in Australia, founded in 1856. The original sandstone building designed by Edmund Blacket was completed in 1858.

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Mitchell, James

Physician and industrialist who combined a busy city practice with business interests in banking, mining and railways with varying degrees of success.

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State Library of New South Wales

The State Library of NSW is the oldest library in Australia. In 1869 the NSW Government purchased the Australian Subscription Library, which had been established in 1826, to form the Sydney Free Public Library, the first truly public library for the people of NSW. The Mitchell Library, the first library in the country to concentrate entirely on Australian content, opened in 1910.

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Dixson, William

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Businessman, collector and benefactor who bequeathed his collection of over 20,000 items of Australiana to the State Library of New South Wales, forming the Dixson Library.

Mitchell, David Scott

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Book collector and national benefactor who used his wealth and position to amass an unmatched collection of Australiana. His entire collection was bequeathed to the people of New South Wales as the Mitchell Library, in a building purpose built for it.