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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Subjects
Economy
Secondary industry
Housing

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Housing

Subject

Aboriginal Housing Company

Housing Sydney

Transcript: Mr Carl Borowsky talks about 'bag town' in the 1920s

Transcript: Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls the Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood

Devonshire Street Remodelling and Housing Scheme

Not Only The Need 1957

Report of the Royal Commission for the Improvement of the City of Sydney and its Suburbs 1909

Voluntary Workers (Soldiers' Holdings) Act 1917

Horbury House

133 Macquarie Street (History House)

Lieutenant Governor's House

Old St James parsonage

Wambrook, 26 Grey Street, Carlton

AV Jennings Australia

Aboriginal Housing Company

Brookfield Multiplex Group

Department of Housing

Homeless Persons' Information Centre

Housing Commission of New South Wales

Housing for Aborigines scheme

IBK Constructions

Meriton

Ministerial Task Force on Affordable Housing

New South Wales Housing Board

Parkes Companies

Ryde Council Housing Scheme

Society for Providing Homes for Neglected Children

Sydney Sailors' Home

War Service Homes Commission (New South Wales)

Working and Factory Girls Club

Mould, John

Collingwood House and estate

Coral Sea Housing Estate

Dundas Valley Estate

Eastwood Golf Links

Ermington Naval Storage Depot

Garden Gates

Glebe Estate

Green Square

Happy Valley

Het Tentenkamp

Hill 60

Juliana Village

La Perouse Aboriginal Reserve

Matraville Garden Village

Struggletown Precinct Randwick

'A portable canvas house...', in David Collins' 'An account of the English colony in New South Wales...' 1798-1802

'The Inundations at Marrickville: Rescuing the Homeless' May 1889

Bridge over the tank stream at Sydney Cove 1794-1796

Buildings on the west of Sydney Cove c1811

Burdekin House c1930

Clever woman designs a house 1946

Detail from view of the west side of Sydney Cove, showing the rear of the Orphanage building and Underwood's house along the mouth of the Tank Stream 1809

Detail of 'Sydney Cove, Port Jackson 1788' showing the Lieutenant Governor's house under construction with scaffolding (centre)

Eviction at Happy Valley, 24 March 1939

Finding a flat, Kings Cross, March 1940

Government Public Housing Development, Surry Hills c1960s

Horbury Terrace, Macquarie Street 1848

House built for Woollarawarre Bennelong by Governor Phillip on Bennelong Point 1789

Houses in Maroubra 31 March 1948

James Pemell's Stanmore House, with advertisement for subdivision, between 1900-1905

Kent Street, Millers Point c1873

Lyons Terrace, Liverpool Street, Sydney c1880

McLeod family and Chief Secretary, Mr C A Kelly at opening of Housing for Aborigines scheme, Green Valley, 5 July 1963

Old St James parsonage on the corner of King and Macquarie Streets c1845

Opening of the Housing for Aborigines scheme, Green Valley 5 July 1963

Public housing estate Redfern August 1953

Radburn-style public housing estate 2004

Repairs being undertaken to the St James parsonage on Macquarie Street 1886

Site for the Rachel Forster Hospital c1940

Springfield c1900

The Lieutenant Governor's House 1802

The mouth of the Tank Stream in Sydney Cove c1803

To be let or sold.... that capital newly-erected stone-built dwelling house and premises, situate the corner of Macquarie Street 7 April 1820

View of Lyons' Terrace Hyde Park Sydney NSW 1849

View of Sydney Cove 1794-96

View of Sydney from the west side of the Cove c1806

Wambrook, Grey St, Carlton NSW c1950

Workmen's Dwellings in Lower Fort Street No 1 16 February 1910

Carl Borowsky, interviewed in 1986, talks about the 'bag town' near Liverpool that provided housing for families during the Depression

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls the Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood in the early 20th century, interviewed 1986

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Housing

Aboriginal Housing Company

Redfern has been a centre for Aboriginal community in Sydney since at least 1900. When threatened with the loss of their homes to redevelopment in the early 1970s, Redfern residents resisted, enlisting the support of unionists and eventually the federal government. Out of this came Aboriginal management of The Block by the Aboriginal Housing Company.

Housing Sydney

From harbourside mansion to fringe estate, housing in Sydney provides indispensable insights into the city's social makeup, economic foundations and cultural identity.

Transcript: Mr Carl Borowsky talks about 'bag town' in the 1920s

Mr Carl Borowsky, interviewed in 1986 for the Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960 project, came to live in Liverpool with his family in 1923. He talks about so-called 'bag town', which provided housing for families during the depression.

Transcript: Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls the Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick was born in 1899. She was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she recalls the circumstances of her birth and the remote Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood.

Devonshire Street Remodelling and Housing Scheme

Slum clearance plan for the area bounded by Devonshire, Marlborough, Lansdowne, Belvoir and Clisdell streets in Surry Hills. Demolition of over 240 homes and businesses along the narrow streets began in the 1950s.

full record »

Not Only The Need 1957

Film made by the Waterside Workers Federation Film Unit for the Australian Council of Trade Unions in 1957 which proposed a Commonwealth solution to the housing problems facing families living in inner-city slums.

full record »

Report of the Royal Commission for the Improvement of the City of Sydney and its Suburbs 1909

Report of the commission of 1908 which emphasised the practical issues of traffic, beautification, slum areas and housing reform, and the future growth of the city.

full record »

Voluntary Workers (Soldiers' Holdings) Act 1917

Act to enable the Voluntary Workers Association to create a model garden village at Matraville for disabled servicemen and war widows.

full record »

Horbury House

full record »

Two Georgian terraces, modified to become one office building, at 171-173 Macquarie Street. They were originally part of a group of eight prestigious, three storey terraces built for Ounsley Condell in 1842. The row was sold to Thomas Holt in 1843 who named it Horbury Terrace after his birthplace in Yorkshire. When the row sold again in 1845, tenants included Isaac Nathan, Robert Lowe and Edward Broadhurst. The other six houses have been demolished over time, the last in the 1930s.

133 Macquarie Street (History House)

full record »

Terrace house on the western side of Macquarie Street that was designed by prominent architect George Allen Mansfield as a gentleman's residence for his uncle, Parrramatta politician George Oakes in 1871. In the early 1900s it was used as a boarding house, and then as medical rooms. In November 1971 it was officially opened as the second History House, the new home of the Royal Australian Historical Society.

Lieutenant Governor's House

full record »

In 1788, Major Robert Ross built the Lieutenant Governor's House, a small single storey cottage that was the colony's first substantial stone building. After Ross was recalled in 1791, the house was occupied by Major Francis Grose, who, possibly inspired by buildings he'd seen while in service in America or India, added the colony's first verandah to the building in 1793. In 1802, Peron described the house as having a fine garden behind it. At different times in the 1800s the building housed the Superintendent of Police and the Sydney Hotel and Coffee House. It stood close to the location of the modern intersection of Grosvenor and George Streets, and was demolished in 1831, replaced by Samuel Lyon's auction rooms and stores.

Old St James parsonage

full record »

Two storey stone house built in about 1819 on land at the corner of Macquarie and King Streets, now the corner of Macquarie Street and Queens Square and the site of the Law Courts building. The site had been owned by former convict Thomas Clarkson, and the house may have been built by him before the land passed D'arcy Wentworth in about 1819. Possibly occupied by Wentworth for a short period before being leased, and subsequently purchased, by the government in 1820 to be used as the residence for the Surveyor General, John Oxley. King George IV's monogram G.R. was carved in stone over the entrance. The land was acquired by St James Anglican church in 1838 and was used as a parsonage until it fell into disrepair in the late 1880s and was demolished in 1889. The site was then leased by the church to raise funds for its maintenance and St James Chambers was built.

The Australian Museum was also briefly accommodated in a room in the parsonage for a period in the early 1840s.

Wambrook, 26 Grey Street, Carlton

full record »

Small weatherboard Federation cottage in southern Sydney, notable for being the home of writer Miles Franklin and her parents until 1954.

AV Jennings Australia

Residential property development and home building company.

full record »

Aboriginal Housing Company

Aboriginal-run housing collective, incorporated in 1973 to manage the houses in Redfern that became known as The Block.

full record »

Brookfield Multiplex Group

Global contracting and development company.

full record »

Department of Housing

State government department created in 1942 which was designed to build and manage public housing.

full record »

Homeless Persons' Information Centre

Information and referral agency operated by the Sydney City Council to assist homeless people in Sydney

full record »

Housing Commission of New South Wales

Established in 1941 as a developer of public housing to overcome the urgent housing shortages of the post war period.

full record »

Housing for Aborigines scheme

State government scheme under which the Housing Commission of New South Wales provided a separate pool of accommodation for Aboriginal people.

full record »

IBK Constructions

Building and development company involved in the struggle over Aboriginal housing in Redfern.

full record »

Meriton

Property development company specialising in apartment building, and named for the first block it built in Meriton Street, Gladesville.

full record »

Ministerial Task Force on Affordable Housing

Committee established in the 1990s by the New South Wales Minister for Housing Craig Knowles to enquire into and report on options for improving the supply of affordable housing. The report was released in 1998.

full record »

New South Wales Housing Board

Housing authority established by the Housing Act of 1912 to provide affordable public housing.

full record »

Parkes Companies

Development and construction company established in 1978.

full record »

Ryde Council Housing Scheme

Established in 1946 to overcome the shortage of housing and building materials, the Council constructed 593 homes and 6 shops and loaned money to 400 ratepayers to erect cottages on their own land.

full record »

Society for Providing Homes for Neglected Children

Society established in 1886 by George Ardill to provide support and training for children. It went on to establish homes for babies and young children at Liverpool and Camden.

full record »

Sydney Sailors' Home

Philanthropic organisation to provide safe affordable lodgings for visiting seamen.

full record »

War Service Homes Commission (New South Wales)

Commission was established by William Morris Hughes to provide low-interest home loans returned servicemen after World War I.

full record »

Working and Factory Girls Club

Organisation which provided safe and clean accommodation for working women at their premises at 97 Bathurst Street.

full record »

Mould, John

Architect and soldier, who returned from World War II and became chief architect to the Housing Commission of New South Wales.

full record »

Collingwood House and estate

Estate and house at Liverpool on the Georges River. Also known as Bunker's Cottage or Bunker' Farm, the house was built around 1810. Modified several times, it remains an important example of the transition of the area from an agricultural estate to an industrial estate during the nineteenth century. It is the fourth oldest surviving house in Australia.

full record »

Coral Sea Housing Estate

Public housing estate established on the site of the former Maroubra Olympia Speedway from 1947.

full record »

Dundas Valley Estate

Large housing estate built by the NSW Housing Commission at West Ryde

full record »

Eastwood Golf Links

Former golf links taken over for housing development in the early 1950s.

full record »

Ermington Naval Storage Depot

Storage depot used by the United States Army during World War II and then by the Australian Navy. It was redeveloped for housing in the twenty-first century.

full record »

Garden Gates

Housing estate adjacent to Mount Annan Botanic Garden

full record »

Glebe Estate

Land grant of 1790 made to the Anglican church for the maintenance of church and school. The farms were subsequently subdivided and leased as building lots, St Phillips in 1842 and Bishopthorpe in 1856. When leases expired, all the occupants became tenants of the Church of England. As the houses deteriorated a radical plan for renewal was hatched and the estate was purchased by the Commonwealth in 1974 before transfer to the New South Wales government.

full record »

Green Square

Redevelopment area which includes Beaconsfield, Zetland and parts of Rosebery, Alexandria and Waterloo. Previously industrial precincts are to be transformed into an urban residential environment.

full record »

Happy Valley

Shanty town established on land owned by New South Wales Golf Club at La Perouse where over 350 people lived in flimsy shacks during the Depression. The last of the residents were evicted in 1939 and the shacks demolished. Similar camps existed along the coast around the city, including Yarra Bay, Brighton-le-Sands, Malabar and Middle Harbour.

full record »

Het Tentenkamp

Camp site at Narrabeen established by the Dutch community in the 1950s to house post-war migrants.

full record »

Hill 60

Shanty town which housed unemployed and homeless families during the Depression.

full record »

Juliana Village

Retirement village in Miranda built by the Dutch community in 1980.

full record »

La Perouse Aboriginal Reserve

Area assigned as an Aboriginal Reserve in the 1880s and formally gazetted as such in 1895. Initally a mission community, it is now governed by the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council.

full record »

Matraville Garden Village

Garden village planned by the State Government in 1917 under the Returned Soldiers' Holdings Act with tenancy restricted to war-injured returned soldiers, sailors and war widows. Voluntary donations of both labour and building materials helped erect 93 homes and provided for a memorial reserve, parkland and sites for public buildings and churches but the scheme suffered mismanagement and corruption and by the 1970s most had been demolished.

full record »

Struggletown Precinct Randwick

Area comprised of several street blocks on the western side of Young Street in Randwick. Initially used for market gardens during the 1840s, the area was subdivided in the 1850s and workers' cottages were built. It has been suggested the name 'Struggletown' was associated with the area as it was 'the poor end of town', however, another theory suggests it is more likely to be related to the personal antagonism between the mayor of Randwick in 1863, Charles Moore, and the area's landowner, Simeon Pearce.

full record »

'A portable canvas house...', in David Collins' 'An account of the English colony in New South Wales...' 1798-1802

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1341091 / Q79/60 (vol.1), p6]

( 'An account of the English colony in New South Wales: with remarks on the dispositions, customs, manners, &c. of the native inhabitants of that country. To which are added, some particulars of New Zealand...' ; London, 1798-1802) (Dixson Library))

'The Inundations at Marrickville: Rescuing the Homeless' May 1889

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.news-page5789381]

(Illustrated Sydney News, 6 June 1889 p 14)

Bridge over the tank stream at Sydney Cove 1794-1796

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[V1/1794+/1 (Detail)]

(Detail of 'View of Sydney Cove 1794-96')

Buildings on the west of Sydney Cove c1811

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a9558001 / DG V1 / 89 (detail)]

(Detail from 'View of Sydney from the east side of the Cove c1811') (Dixson Galleries)

Burdekin House c1930

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Clever woman designs a house 1946

full record »

By

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[The Australian Women's Weekly, September 7 1946, p48 via Trove]

Detail from view of the west side of Sydney Cove, showing the rear of the Orphanage building and Underwood's house along the mouth ...

full record »

By

George William Evans (attributed)

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[V1 / ca. 1809 / 1 (detail)]

(Detail of View of the west side of the Cove c1809)

Detail of 'Sydney Cove, Port Jackson 1788' showing the Lieutenant Governor's house under construction with scaffolding (centre)

full record »

By

William Bradley

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a3461012 / Safe 1/14 opp p 84 (detail)]

(Mitchell Library)

Eviction at Happy Valley, 24 March 1939

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[ON 388/Box 035/Item 192]

Finding a flat, Kings Cross, March 1940

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[ACP Magazines Photographic Archive ON 388/Box 025/Item 087]

(Mitchell Library)

Government Public Housing Development, Surry Hills c1960s

full record »

Contributed By

City of Sydney Archives

[SRC14390]

Horbury Terrace, Macquarie Street 1848

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(from Joseph Fowles 'Sydney in 1848 : illustrated by copper-plate engravings of its principal streets, public buildings, churches, chapels, etc. / from drawings by Joseph Fowles', Dixson Library)

House built for Woollarawarre Bennelong by Governor Phillip on Bennelong Point 1789

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a4635001 / DG V1/14 (detail)]

(Detail taken from 'West view of Sydney Cove taken from the Rocks, at the rear of the General Hospital 1789')

Houses in Maroubra 31 March 1948

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[hood_22684 / Home and Away 22684]

(Mitchell Library)

James Pemell's Stanmore House, with advertisement for subdivision, between 1900-1905

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Kent Street, Millers Point c1873

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Lyons Terrace, Liverpool Street, Sydney c1880

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

McLeod family and Chief Secretary, Mr C A Kelly at opening of Housing for Aborigines scheme, Green Valley, 5 July 1963

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[d2_21630 / GPO2 21630]

(Mitchell Library)

Old St James parsonage on the corner of King and Macquarie Streets c1845

full record »

By

Charles Henry Woolcott

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[SSV1/Wat /1 (detail)]

(Mitchell Library)

Opening of the Housing for Aborigines scheme, Green Valley 5 July 1963

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[d2_21647 / GPO2 21647]

(Mitchell Library)

Public housing estate Redfern August 1953

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[d2_03530 / GPO 2 03530]

(Mitchell Library)

Radburn-style public housing estate 2004

full record »

By

Gabrielle Gwyther

Contributed By

Private collection

Repairs being undertaken to the St James parsonage on Macquarie Street 1886

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[PXA 393, 70 / c07970_0073_c]

(Mitchell Library)

Site for the Rachel Forster Hospital c1940

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

Springfield c1900

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Mitchell Library)

The Lieutenant Governor's House 1802

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[V1/1802/1 (detail)]

(Detail of 'View of Sydney Cove, New South Wales', 1802, drawn by E. Dayes, engraved by F. Jukes)

The mouth of the Tank Stream in Sydney Cove c1803

full record »

By

George William Evans (attributed)

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Detail of [Sydney from the western side of the Cove, ca1803], Mitchell Library)

To be let or sold.... that capital newly-erected stone-built dwelling house and premises, situate the corner of Macquarie Street ...

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 7 April 1820, p18 via Trove]

View of Lyons' Terrace Hyde Park Sydney NSW 1849

full record »

By

George Edwards Peacock

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

(Dixson Galleries)

View of Sydney Cove 1794-96

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a928723 / V1/1794+/1]

(Mitchell Library)

View of Sydney from the west side of the Cove c1806

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1528389 / XV/201]

Wambrook, Grey St, Carlton NSW c1950

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[PX*D 250 (v.4), 12]

(Mitchell Library)

Workmen's Dwellings in Lower Fort Street No 1 16 February 1910

full record »

By

Walter Liberty Vernon

Contributed By

State Archives & Records New South Wales

(Series: Maritime Services Board - Architectural Plans and Drawings of Buildings in The Rocks, 1906-1946)

...

full record »

Mr Carl Borowsky, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' project, came to live in Liverpool with his family in 1923. He talks about so-called 'bag town', which provided housing for families during the depression.

Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Where was 'bag town'?

CARL: Well it took in, now what they call Calabro Street and up as far as Webster Road, and there was only one street in it, not like there's two now, there's William Street and Thelma Street, there only used to be Thelma Street in it. And that was all sold in the depression. Forty pound a block, no deposit, two bob [two shillings] a week, and that's how people moved out of Liverpool and how it got its name 'bag town'.

Anybody that built a shack they had to cover with bags and threw tar on, hot tar on it and sand or anything like that. But a lot of people moved out from Liverpool to there, [there's a] a lot of kids today that were reared there, good area. They lived in better than tents, had a good roof over their head, the sides admittedly were only bags of tar on it or white wash.

INTERVIEWER: Had they been floored?

CARL: Oh yes, they'd have a bit of a rough floor on it I suppose. I don't know what their kitchens were like, mightn't have had anything in it. When you've got no option to do anything, you've got to do it, don't you?

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Mr Carl Borowsky and the Borowsky family from the '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.)

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls the Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood in the early 20th century, interviewed 1986

full record »

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick was born in 1899. She was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she recalls the circumstances of her birth and the remote Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Mrs Fitzpatrick where were you born?

EDITH: On the water race [channel] towards Bringelly, seven miles out of Liverpool, out past the Crossroads Hotel. I can remember it was a dreadful road, that's one thing I can remember about it, it was a shocking road out there because there were so many wood drays, they used to cart wood into Liverpool, into the saw mills that were down near the railway station, where the car park is down there now, that was all big wooden mills, saw mills, and the road was in a shocking state. But still, we lived there and we enjoyed our life I suppose. I was born at home. My father was a caretaker for the [Sydney] Water Board, we lived in the Water Board house right at the bridge. That's where I was born, in that house. The bridge crosses the water canal, the Sydney water supply. It was a six-room cottage and it was very comfortable because it was a government house, it was the Water Board cottage, and we had a very comfortable home. My father was a great man. He believed in comfort and he had everything very nice. We were very sorry to leave it but of course when he became sixty-five, we had to go. We had our garden and he grew vegetables and fruits and had our own cows and our own horse and sulky to drive to Liverpool. It was a good life but still it was a long way of town out just the same.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick from '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