Dictionary of Sydney
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The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Glebe

Suburb

Inner-city suburb named for its original status as Anglican church land granted to Richard Johnson, chaplain of the first fleet in 1790. The Glebe Point area became fashionable in the nineteenth century, while the southern part of Glebe became a working class district.

-33.870932365644, 151.18463067518

Property
Administered by
City of Sydney Council
Part of
City of Sydney local government area
Type
Suburb

Glebe

by
Max Solling
,
2011

Cadigal and Wangal country that was parcelled out to the Church of England soon after the Europeans arrived, Glebe became a retreat for the gentry and later a gritty working-class enclave. The late twentieth century saw it transformed again into a heritage precinct, saved from redevelopment by resident action.

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Glebe Pubs

CC BY-SA 2.0
by
Max Solling
,
2016
In nineteenth century Glebe, the pub was larger and more comfortable than the average working class home and it was just around the corner. Open seven days a week from 6 am to midnight, for the working class the pub was the centre of community life and an important public space. From the 1880s, changes to Sunday trading, the management of hotel licences and the introduction of six o'clock closing led to new drinking practices that would remain in place until the 1950s. The 1951 Royal Commission on Liquor Laws in New South Wales supported a 10 pm closing-time, offerings of food and entertainment, and access to pubs for women. But the heyday was long over: in 1892, Glebe supported twenty-eight pubs; by 2003, there were just ten pubs still trading in Glebe.
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