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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Subjects
Economy
Secondary industry
Transport

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Transport

Subject

Great Strike of 1917

Transport

New South Wales Government Metropolitan Strategy Report 2006

Brambles Limited

Caldwell Vale Motor and Tractor Construction Company

Commonwealth Engineering

Mitchell & Mitchell

Sydney Tramway Museum

TNT Ltd

Union Steamship Company of New Zealand

Woods & McDonald

Woods, Shortland & Co

Abeles, Peter

Railway Square

Birds eye view of general wharfage scheme west of Dawes Point as it will appear when completed, published 1913

Central Railway Station at Railway Square 1923

Culwull Cahmbers: front facing King Street 1911

George Street looking north, showing Jewish Synagogue, Police Offices, the Markets, old Burial Ground, now the site of the Town Hall, 1842

Horse drawn vehicle in front of Stables, Yaralla estate, Concord West c1910

North Sydney 1957

Nurse sitting on back of horse drawn Sydney Ambulance at the Coast Hospital c1900

People boarding Forest Lodge Tram c1890

Strikers' wives marching from The Domain to Parliament House August 1917

Striking men outside the Railway Institute at Central Station during the 1917 Great Strike

The growing nuisance on George Street, letter to the Editor of the Australian 1828

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school in the early 20th century, interviewed in 1986

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Transport

Great Strike of 1917

The Great Strike of 1917 is regarded as one of Australia’s largest industrial conflicts. The strike erupted on the NSW railways and tramways in August 1917 in response to the introduction of a new way of monitoring worker productivity. Thousands of working people across a range of industries were mobilised as the strike spread throughout NSW and Australia. In Sydney, there were extraordinary street marches and demonstrations led by the strikers and their supporters. On the other side of the political and class divide, strikebreakers were recruited to keep transport and industry running. While the strike lasted for only six weeks, its consequences – political, social and cultural – lingered for decades, shaping the political consciousness of generations.

Transport

Sydney's transport has been shaped by the geography of the city, changing economic and social needs, technological limitations and advances, and political considerations. From walking tracks and animal haulage to the commuting city of today, transport has also shaped the city itself, opening up new areas and choking others. Carts, ferries, trains, trams, buses and cars have all figured in Sydney's transport history.

New South Wales Government Metropolitan Strategy Report 2006

Report incorporating public feedback on the transport plan and the first five-yearly review of the plan for Sydney's future.

full record »

Brambles Limited

Multinational business in pallets and containers, and business and information management.

full record »

Caldwell Vale Motor and Tractor Construction Company

Company formed by Caldwell Brothers and Henry Vale to manufacture tractors and heavy equipment.

full record »

Commonwealth Engineering

Engineering firm, known as Comeng, in Granville that was responsible for building many of Sydney's buses, trams and trains, including Australia's first stainless steel railcars in 1954. Originally founded as private company Smith & Waddington in Camperdown, the firm moved to Granville after the Depression and was subsequently used by the Australian government to produce materials during World War 2. The name was changed to Commonwealth Engineering when the government purchased a controlling interest in the company in 1946. This interest was sold in 1957.

The Granville factory closed in 1989 and has since been demolished.

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Mitchell & Mitchell

Motor engineers and auctioneers.

full record »

Sydney Tramway Museum

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Australia's largest tram museum which has been operating since 1950. Volunteer run, it is based in Loftus and operates over 3km of track including the old Royal National Park line.

TNT Ltd

Global transport empire operating in 180 countries.

full record »

Union Steamship Company of New Zealand

New Zealand based shipping line that was at one time the biggest in the southern hemisphere. Their Australian offices at 15 Bridge Street in Sydney were the site of the attempted robbery that led to the Bridge Street Affray in February 1894.

full record »

Woods & McDonald

Agency for carriers established by John Woods and Thomas McDonald.

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Woods, Shortland & Co

General carrier business which was based at Central railway station before relocating to Glenfield before 1873.

full record »

Abeles, Peter

Migrant who fled postwar Europe, founding and becoming managing director of a huge transport empire.

full record »

Railway Square

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Intersection of Broadway, George Street and Pitt Streets on the western side of Central Railway Station that marks the edge of the city centre.

Birds eye view of general wharfage scheme west of Dawes Point as it will appear when completed, published 1913

full record »

By

Sydney Harbour Trust

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

(Published by the Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners, 1913)

Central Railway Station at Railway Square 1923

full record »

By

William Blamire Young

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Culwull Cahmbers: front facing King Street 1911

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[ Art and architecture : the journal of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales, Vol. 8 No. 6 (1 November - December 1911), p 372 via Trove]

George Street looking north, showing Jewish Synagogue, Police Offices, the Markets, old Burial Ground, now the site of the Town Hall, ...

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[DG SV* / Sp Coll / Rae / 7]

(Dixson Galleries)

Horse drawn vehicle in front of Stables, Yaralla estate, Concord West c1910

full record »

By

Samuel George Spink

Courtesy Canada Bay Connections,

City of Canada Bay Library

(Photograph from an album of photographs by Samuel Spink held by City of Canada Bay Museum. )

North Sydney 1957

full record »

By

Contributed By

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/intervene/3850965655]

Nurse sitting on back of horse drawn Sydney Ambulance at the Coast Hospital c1900

full record »

Contributed By

State Archives & Records New South Wales

[NRS-4481-2-[4/8643]-1194]

People boarding Forest Lodge Tram c1890

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Strikers' wives marching from The Domain to Parliament House August 1917

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[Sydney Mail, 15 August 1917, p19]

Striking men outside the Railway Institute at Central Station during the 1917 Great Strike

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[ a2809 Online, 79]

(Mitchell Library)

The growing nuisance on George Street, letter to the Editor of the Australian 1828

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[The Australian, 19 September 1828, p2 via Trove]

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school in the early 20th century, interviewed in 1986

full record »

Mrs Evelyn Chapple was born in 1896 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers hazards encountered while walking to school.
Transcript

EVELYN: We had to go to school every day, it was a long walk for us, but we used to go across a paddock where there were a lot of bullocks that belonged to the slaughter yard. I'd have to run across the paddock, call the dog first, the dog belonging to our place, and it would come and chase the cattle away whilst we ran across. The biggest trouble though was the sheep. There were rams and they go for you. I used to - because I was very strong - I used to get them by the horns and hold them, push them backwards to the other side of the fence, and my brother would jump over the fence. And then he'd catch hold of the horns of the sheep and I'd jump over then. It was a funny old life.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Evelyn Chapple in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Secondary industry

Public transport

Transport modes

Transport systems