Hyde Park - Then & Now

Taken from Sydney Tower (Sept 2013)

Hyde Park (Sydney), was set aside for public recreation by Governor Macquarie in 1810. Nowadays, it is split in two by Park Street. These two images show Hyde Park South. The State War Memorial was built in the early 1930s. Yesterday, I discussed the Lyons Terraces, which I have labelled on both images. The Australian Museum was commenced in 1844, but stood unroofed until 1850 due to a saandal about the mismanagement of public funds. So, immediatly there is something askance about the date of John Rae's sketch, which I sourced from the National Library of Australia. Sydney Grammar School commenced in 1830. The Lyons Terraces were constructed in 1841, diagonally opposite the already constructed Burdekin Terraces. Park Street is an extension of William St which continues up the ridge to Kings Cross. It was named in 1810 by Macquarie. Then it extended only to, but not through, Hyde Park. By 1831, it had crossed the Park to College St. And here is my second issue with Rae's sketch. He does not show Park St, yet shows the Australian Museum. William Street was gazetted in 1834 and named after William IV. I am not able to reconcile these inconsistencies. Tomorrow, yet another Rae sketch showing another road splicing through Hyde Park. There is a portfolio of Rae sketches at the NLA, most of them dated 1842.

Sketched by John Rae (1842). He was prolific.

Sydney from on high (2)

Hyde Park South from the Observation Deck of Sydney Tower in Pitt Street. Hyde Park was established by Governor Macquarie. He pretty much left it to its own devices, as he was fighting fires on way too many fronts, what with the uppity military, and the free-settler disdain for the pardoned convict, that alone Commissioner Bigge and his listening to tattle-tales. So, Hyde Park was used as a military parade ground. It was used for cricket matches. It was used as a distribution point for water from Busby's Bore. It was a bit of a scruffy dust-bowl, if the truth were told. Building of the ANZAC Memorial seen here in the centre of the southern section of the park, commenced in 1930 during the height of the Great Depression, and the Memorial was officially opened on 24 November 1934. Hyde Park is just over 40 acres. I would love to know when Park Street cut through the park, but cannot seem to winkle it out.

Big School

Referred to affectionately as 'Big School', the senior part of Sydney Grammar School stands on College Street, facing Hyde Park south, and beside the Australian Museum. It is a secondary school for boys only, aged from about 13 to about 18 years of age. Currently, the enrolment is about 1,100 boys. There are two preparatory schools: St Ives with its 400 enrolments; and, Edgecliff with its 300 enrolments.


The foundation stone for this building, bearing the name of the Chief Justice, Francis Forbes, and the name of the State Governor, Richard Bourke, was laid in 1830, whereupon the building was home to Sydney College, which closed in 1850. Between 1850 and 1857 the building housed the fledgling University of Sydney. In 1854 Sydney Grammar School was established by Act of Parliament, and has occupied the buildings ever since. The annual fee for each of the six senior school years is $27,324.

Feeling round the bend!

This is my contribution to the Weekend in Black and White community.

I have added this following photograph - from the City of Sydney image library - as an explanation of my tags. The steps can be seen in this 1956 image. They are still recognisable. However, all the buildings are gone, and replaced by lawn. This was a Long Day Care and Women's Health Centre, built in 1952 and demolished somewhere between 1987 and 1989. This is Hyde Park (south) from the corner of Park and Elizabeth Streets. You can see the War Memorial in the background.

Thornton's scent bottle

Well, yesterday's quizz was easy-peasy, yes?

George Thornton was a mayor of Sydney, and mayors are very keen on getting their name on public amenities. This structure, on the T-intersection of Bathurst St with Elizabeth St, was erected in 1857 when Thornton was mayor. Being a sewer vent, it was quickly given the sobriquet 'Thornton's scent bottle'. It is modelled on Cleopatra's Needle in London.

You will be pleased to know that in 1965 the Benelong Sewerage System, of which this was the only ventilation shaft, converted to a storm water only system, still entering the harbour beneath the Opera House.

A sacred quiet

There can be oases of quiet within a bustling metropolis. Such a cliche that: bustling metropolis. With its shades of Superman.

They were not supermen, these boys who went eagerly to fight on foreign shores, at the behest of foreign generals. They were boys. Inexperienced in the ways of the world. Fodder for the ambitions of other nation states. As are the boys of today.


But at least we keep their memory sacred. In a mausoleum, redolent of the times. A simple building, for a simple people, from simpler times. When lines in sands were more obvious.

Hyde Park South is a sobering part of a bustling metropolis. But, reflective of a national trait, we sit on its steps, eating white-bread cheese sandwiches unwrapped from grease-proof paper, our bicycle clips around the cuffs of our unpressed jeans. Eyes scanning the horizon for the approaching dark storm clouds from the sou-west.

Sydney Seasons

As I tried to explain last week, one needs to be a seasoned observer to note the passing of the year here in Sydney. If the temperature goes down to a maximum of 17, and there's a bit more wind, and a bit more rain about, that pretty much ticks our winter.


However, our recently departed Autumn, the most glorious season of them all, has maybe a rainy day a fortnight if we're lucky. Not much wind, spare a light nor'easter. And with the temperatures between 22 and 25. These shots were all taken during this recent Autumn. The first two were in Hyde Park South, and the final two in Ormond Street, Paddington.

In Winter, a week is a long time

Sydney is blessed with a mild climate. Which I am about to whinge about!

We don't get snow; not where I live. We don't get frosts; not where I live. We get very few days above 30. We get exceptionally few above 35; where I live. I keep putting that, because I live within cooee of the coast and the weather is ameliorated by onshore breezes. Sydney is a bit of a sprawling city and other residents have their own story.

Living close to the coast, though, means that we get more than our fair-share of rain.


And the last week or so has seen a fair bit of rain. Firstly, it swung up from the Antarctic via Tasmania and along the SE coastline. That was blowy and cold. Now we are having a dose of the sort of rain that just sits there. This lot came down from Queensland, it gets so far and is stopped by the stuff coming up from the south. So it dumps its lot. As is the way with these things, us city slickers get our stockings wet when the bus flicks up gutter water. The poor blighters on the land get swamped, with farms inundated and stock moving to higher ground. Towns on the north coast of the state are cut-off and water-logged.

We are lucky where I live. Throughout it all, the temperatures ranged from about 12C to about 17C. Come the weekend, I note the forecasts have been adjusted to make the minium about 9C for about a week. Must be the guvments fault; they orta do summat.