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  4. Stonemason

Stonemason

Occupation - Stonemason
Bowman, Thomas
Burton, William James
Carden, Arthur
Colley, Edwin
Cunningham, Philip
Dawson, Edward
Fillans, James Davidson
Krawczyk, Kris
Larcombe, Alexander
Lennox, David
Lynch, Joseph Patrick Stanislaus
MacBeath, David
McGill, Walter
Moxham, Robert Henry
Parker, William Frederick
Paton, George
Payten, Isaac
Popplewell, Joseph
Roylance, William
Schwebel, Adam
Shirley, William Thomas
Turner, Thomas
Watkins, William
Whiting, William
Position - Stonemason of Canterbury Sugarworks
MacBeath, David
1840 - 1842
Position - Stonemason of Great Hall
Colley, Edwin
Popplewell, Joseph
Position - Stonemason of Lands Department building
Fillans, James Davidson
Position - Stonemason of Parramatta Female Factory
Payten, Isaac
1818 - 1821
Position - Stonemason of Parramatta Gaol 1802
Watkins, William
1816 - 1817
Position - Stonemason of St Jude's Anglican church Randwick
Eaton Brothers
Position - Stonemason of St Mary's Cathedral
Fillans, James Davidson
Position - Stonemason of Tank Stream bridge
Payten, Isaac
1803 - 1804
Position - Stonemason of Technological Museum building Ultimo
Fillans, James Davidson

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Stonemason

Bowman, Thomas

Stonemason and quarryman who traded from St Leonards during the mid-1800s.

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Burton, William James

Stonemason who became a publican in Glebe and represented his ward on Glebe Council for many years.

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Carden, Arthur

Stonemason who worked on Ambleside garden for Harold Cazneaux.

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Colley, Edwin

Stonemason on the Great Hall at the University of Sydney. Also a noted amateur vocalist and singing-class instructor.

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Cunningham, Philip

Leader of the Irish convicts in the rebellion at Castle Hill. A stonemason and publican in his native Ireland who attempted to reorganise the United Irish network, he was transported for sedition and remained a rebel til his death.

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Dawson, Edward

Initially a stonemason by trade, Edward Dawson became involved in the Wesleyan Church in Sydney shortly after arriving from England, teaching Sunday school in York Street before setting up a drapery business. His business evolved into J and E Dawson which he operated with his brother John. He built the heritage-listed Victorian house Ventnor in Randwick in the 1870s and by 1873 he was based in Lower Fort Street in Dawes Point. He continued his business until his retirement in 1896, after which he moved to his son's residence in Rylstone, New South Wales.

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Fillans, James Davidson

Sculptor who worked on statues and carvings on many of Sydney's most prominent buildings between the 1880s and early 1900s. Worked with William Priestley MacIntosh on ornamental carving at the Sydney Technical College and the Lands Department building.  Instructor in masonry, stone and marble carving and letter cutting at Sydney Technical College, 1898.

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Krawczyk, Kris

Sculptor and stonemason who has specialised in heritage facade remediation.

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Larcombe, Alexander

Founder of monumental masonry firm at Rookwood and local politician in the late 19th-early 20th centuries. His name was combined with that of another Mayor Frederick Lidbury to create the new suburb name 'Lidcombe' when it was felt that the area's development was being held back by it's association with Rookwood Cemetery.

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Lennox, David

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Scottish bridge-builder and master mason who arrived in Sydney in 1832 and was responsible for constructing many of the stone bridges in Sydney, some of which are still standing.

Lynch, Joseph Patrick Stanislaus

Stonemason, architect and sculptor who followed his sons to Sydney.

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MacBeath, David

Scottish stonemason.

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McGill, Walter

Scottish-born sculptor, mason and phrenologist who worked in Victoria and New South Wales, carving many prominent Sydney monuments during the mid to late 19th century. He worked on Darlinghurst Gaol, carved the allegorical figures, including 'Science', on the General Post Office building and cast the death mask of executed bushranger Captain Moonlight in 1880.

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Moxham, Robert Henry

Stonemason and quarryman who established his business in Parramatta.

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Parker, William Frederick

Early landowner in the area later known as Brookvale.

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Paton, George

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Stonemason and builder.

Payten, Isaac

Convict whose skills as a stonemason and building contractor were quickly put to use though he suffered financial difficulties and tried to escape the colony in 1807.

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Popplewell, Joseph

Works included carving the gargoyles at the Great Hall at the University of Sydney.

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Roylance, William

Trade unionist who was an official of the New South Wales Labor Council and secretary to the 1879 Intercolonial Trades Unions Congress.

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Schwebel, Adam

German born stonemason who settled near Marrickville to be close to the quarries at Undercliffe.

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Shirley, William Thomas

Stonemason who enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces during World War I but received a medical discharge, remembered for a sphinx he carved from sandstone as a personal memorial to his fallen comrades during his convalescence at Lady Davidson Hospital.

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Turner, Thomas

Stonemason and builder who was transported for life in 1815. He is believed to have conceived the idea of robbing the Bank of Australia and organising the group who carried out the robbery, though his participation was never proved. He worked with Francis Greenway as a stonemason on St James Church and the Government House stables and received a pardon in 1842.

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Watkins, William

Stonemason and builder employed by Governor Macquarie.

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Whiting, William

Stonemason in the Parramatta area.

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Canterbury Sugarworks

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One of the oldest factory complexes in Australia, the site in Sugar House Road Canterbury has housed a variety of manufacturing and processing companies including sugar, bacon and engineering before conversion to residential apartments.

Great Hall

Hall for formal ceremonies constructed as part of the eastern front of the Main Quadrangle at the University of Sydney, designed by Edmund Blacket in the Gothic Revival style.

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Lands Department building

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Sandstone administration building on Bridge Street. The building is in the Renaissance Revival style, with 12 niches on each facade with sculptures of explorers and legislators. The most recent addition is that of James Meehan who was added in 2010. In 2015 the government sold a 103-year lease for this and the neighbouring Education Department building to the Singapore based Pontiac Land Group to develop a hotel.

Parramatta Female Factory

Accommodation for unassigned convict women sent to the colony, which became a workhouse, marriage bureau and hospital. This multiplicity of roles made it difficult to administer and it quickly evolved from a place of refuge into a prison.

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Parramatta Gaol 1802

The second gaol on the site, it was constructed over two storeys with local sandstone. The upper rooms of 80 feet by 20 feet each held weaving looms and the convict women worked and slept amongst the wool bales. It quickly became overcrowded.

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St Jude's Anglican church Randwick

Victorian Gothic church built in 1865 on land donated by Simeon Pearce. Some of its interior fittings were designed by Edmund Blacket and the church contains the only ringable steel eight bells in the world, which were originally cast in 1864 at Vickers, England. The Tower was heightened in 1877 to accommodate the clock and the transepts added in 1889.
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Eaton Brothers

Stonmasonry business established by Scottish stonemasons William and Andrew Eaton who settled in Blues Point in 1857 and were responsible for several ecclesiastical buildings.

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St Mary's Cathedral

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St Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney and the mother diocese of Australia, and remains the largest ecclesiastical building in the English Gothic style in the world.

Tank Stream bridge

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Bridge across the Tank Stream that divided early Sydney. The first timber log bridge was built by convicts in October 1788 and improved in April 1792 after it had been damaged. In the middle of 1803 construction of a stone bridge to replace the timber bridge began, and was completed in 1804 by stonemason Isaac Peyton. The workmanship was poor and the bridge collapsed later in the year, requiring rebuilding. By 1811 the bridge had been widened, with numerous modifications to follow. By 1860 the stream, now little more than a foetid sewer, had been covered over.

Technological Museum building Ultimo

Ornate symmetrical three storey building which, as the Technological Museum and later the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, exhibited examples of the skills and industry of the colony. Though the collection rapidly outgrew the building it was not relocated until the Powerhouse Museum was constructed in the 1980s. The building was then converted for educational purposes for the Sydney Institute of TAFE.

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