Pets in Our History

On our visit to Edinburgh last year, we came upon the statue of the legendary Greyfriars Bobby at the corner of Candlemaker Row and George IV Bridge. Bobby, a Skye terrier who spent 14 years guarding the grave of his master John Grey has been dubbed "the Most Faithful Dog in the World" [Jan Bondeson 2011].

A tourist was rubbing the nose of the statue for good luck!

Back home, apart from the bronzed statue of the Boar at the entrance to Sydney Hospital who since 1968 has been enticing us to rub his nose, we seemingly don't have many statues of pet animals in out city. Or do we?

In our search of Sydney monuments we have found some beautiful little statues of our canine and feline friends who have a place in Sydney's history.

Donna, at Central Railway (at left).

Friend and constant companion to John Hogan of Pyrmont, Sydney.

14/2/1975 - 6/5/1995

Recognised in the Guinnes Book of Records as the World's Longest Living Hearing Guide Dog.

Unveiled by the Hon Brian Langton MP, Minister for Tourism on 10 May 1996, to recognise the love and companionship that all Guide Dogs for the Visually Impaired give their owners.

Biggles at The Rocks (at right)

" Loved Friend of the Rocks"

17/8/1980 - 25/4/1994.

A community project, unveiled by the

Hon Robert Walker MLC, Minister for PLanning and Housing on 16 March 1995.

Islay opposite the statue of Queen Victoria at Town Hall, Sydney (at left).

Favourite pet of Queen Victoria.

Died 26/4/1844

The bronze sculpture by Justin Robson (1987) was modelled from a sketch drawn by Queen Victoria in 1842. Now over a century later, Islay is begging hopefully for a coin to help deaf and blind children of New South Wales.

But my favorite of course would have to be the statue of Trim, outside the Mitchell Library on the Macquarie Street side. (at left)

Trim was "Matthew Flinders Intrepid Cat

who circumnavigated Australia with his Master 1801-1803 and thereafter shared his exile on the Island of Mauritius where he met his untimely death".

Flinders in his book, A Biographical Tribute to the Memory of Trim described Trim's features ..."Trim's robe was a clear jet black, with the exception of his four feet , which seemed to have been dipped in snow, and his underlip, which rivalled than in whiteness..."

On the day that we saw photographed Trim the sun was shining on his paws and mouth as if to emulate that image.

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If you are in interested in early Australian History or are researching a convict ancestor go to our website at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/

In the Footsteps of Mary MacKillop - The Rocks

Our historical excursions around Sydney would not be complete without following the footsteps of Saint Mary MacKillop in The Rocks area of Sydney.

Guided by the book, A Pilgrimage Through The Rocks, Sydney by Sister Jeanette Foxe rsj 2010, we took a walking tour and came upon parts of Sydney that we had not seen before. The Sisters of Saint Joseph had a presence in The Rocks from 1880 to 1901 where they set up Houses of Providence to minister to the poor and homeless. The Jospehites, as the Sisters were known, also taught at several schools in the area.

Like many of the early historical buildings in The Rocks, several of the Houses of Providence and the buildings housing Josephite schools have been demolished and the sites redeveloped.

However two significant "Mary" sites are still standing in Kent Street.

The first is St Brigid's Church (photo of outside at left and interior at right above).

It was completed in 1835 under the auspices of Governor Sir Richard Bourke "as a Roman Catholic School House to be occasionally used as a Chapel". The building originally housed a school for boys started by the Christian Brothers in 1843. The Josephites taught there from 1884 to 1898.

Today it is a beautiful little Church - a rare find.

The second site is Winsbury 75-79 Kent Street (photo at right ). It was the third House of Providence rented by the Sisters of Saint Joseph from 30 July 1880. Mary MacKillop resided there from February -March 1881.

No longer standing is Cheshunt, the fourth and largest House of Providence, at 3 Cumberland Street, now the site of the Harbour View Hotel. Mary stayed here from December 1882-March 1883 and again from November 1883-March 1884. Next door to Cheshunt was the parish Church of St Michael's built in 1882. It was from here that Mary's Mother, Flora MacKillop was buried following her drowning in the shipwreck of the Ly-ee-Moon off Eden, NSW on 30 May 1886.

Another is St Bridget's Hall School, 89-113 Kent Street, now the site of the Observatory Hotel. The Josephites ran this school for girls from August 1880 until it closed in 1886.

For a History of the Roman Catholic Church in the Colony of New South Wales 1800-1836, go to the Resources link in the website of History Services NSW at

http://www.historyservices.com.au/resource_material.htm

Thornleigh Zig-Zag Railway - A Discovery

Route of Thornleigh Zig-Zag Railway -1883

An interesting afternoon as we traversed the route of the Thornleigh Zig-Zag Railway. This was the third and last zig-zag railway built in NSW (after Lapstone and Lithgow).

It was constructed in 1883 by railway contractors, Amos & Co, as a branch line coming off the main Northern Railway Line just north of what is now Thornleigh Station and descending to a quarry some 35 metres below. The quarry supplied "stone ballast (white metal - metamorphised sandstone) for a southern section of the Homebush (Sydney ) to Waratah (Newcastle) railway line" [Historic Engineering Marker 2006, Thornleigh Quarry].

The zig-zag facilitated the steep descent/ascent to/from the Quarry for the railway trucks carrying the stone to the top for use along the route of the railway line.

While much of the route of the Zig-Zag Railway has today been taken over by residential development, we followed the descent from the top point across Pritchard and Wells Streets to the bottom point neat Janet Street. Then entering the bush from a track off Morgan Street, we came to Zig-Zag Creek (photo at left above) and then up a little further up to the Quarry (photo at right above). It is a huge excavation site. We climbed to the top just below to what is now Oakleigh Park.

On our way back we were attempting to ascertain the actual route for the Zig-Zag, when we discovered an old railway sleeper embedded near the creek (photo above and at left below). Its position would suggest that it is probably part of the original line.

Also nearby was a piece of narrow gauge rail line. (photo at right).

So at least we were close to the original route which appears to have run close to the Creek.

History Services NSW in its Government Contracts and Contractors database has many entries for railway contracts awarded by the NSW Government for the period 1832-1900.

Go the website at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/govt_contracts.htm

St Thomas' Church Mulgoa - Two Coincidences

On Tuesday, 13 September 2011, we visited the Mulgoa area and came upon St Thomas' Anglican Church atop the hill. This beautiful sandstone Church was conscrecrated by Bishop Broughton in 1838.

The Cox family, sons of William Cox builder of the first road over the Bue Mountains, had a strong association with St Thomas'. Edward Cox donated the five acres of elevated land on which the church was built. The sandstone used in the construction was cut from Edward's nearby property, Fernhill and from that of his brother, Henry Cox's property, Glenmore (now the Glenmore Country Club).

The graves of Edward Cox of Fernhill, died 18 May 1868 aged 63 years (photo at left) and George Cox of Wimbourne, died 20 August 1868 aged 74 years (photo at right) are found in the cemetery in the Church grounds.

In the following week, on a visit to St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney, we came across a stained glass window which was "the Gift of George Cox of Wimborne and Edward Cox of Fernhill, Mulgoa, in memory of their father William Cox of Clarendon Richmond NSW.."

Also coincident with our visit to St Thomas', we received a request through History Services NSW for information on two convicts who it turned out were married there in 1845.

If you are researching a convict ancestor area, you should go the History Services NSW website at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/convicts.htm

Lapstone Zig-Zag Railway

The route of Lapstone Zig-Zag railway is now a popular walking trail. It can be accessed from Knapsack Street near the RAAF Base at Glenbrook.

As part of the construction of the first railway over the Blue

Mountains, the Zig-Zag Railway was built between 1863 and 1865 to overcome the step gradients (ranging from 1 in 30 to 1 in 33) of the Lapstone Hill.

John Whitton, Chief Engineer, originally wanted to tunnel through the hill. But due to budget constraints way back then, he designed a zig-zag (or switchback). This necessitated reversing the train, up or down, one of the three legs of the zig-zag route.

The photos, above, of the track today give a clear impression of the old zig-zag route.

Along the top points of the zig-zag are the remains of a platform. This was the Lucasville Station which was built in 1878 to service the holiday home of one, Mr John Lucas MLA, Minister for Mines. You can see the steps leading to the property but its exact location is not known.

With the completion of the Lapstone Zig-Zag and the Knapsack Viaduct, the railway line over the Blue Mountains was opened to Weatherboard (now Wentworth Falls) on 13 July 1867.

While this section of the Lapstone line was not to remain the permanent route as time passed, its construction was a significant achievement for John Whitton and his team.

Both Mary and myself have enjoyed the work of putting together the blogs on John Whitton and the Lapstone Hill. It s has taken much research, a few car journeys and lots of walking to piece the story together.

History Services NSW in its Government Contracts and Contractors database has many entries for railway contracts awarded by the NSW Government for the period 1832-1900.

Go the website at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/govt_contracts.htm

The Knapsack Viaduct

Continuing on from the from the carpark at the end of the Great Western Highway, a walkway along the old railway and highway route brings you to the spectacular Knapsack Viaduct.

The sandstone viaduct was designed by John Whitton and built over the period 1863-1864 to bridge the Knapsack Gully on the first railway route over the Blue Mountains. It was the largest viaduct in Australia being 388 feet long, 120 feet high with five spans of 70 feet and two of 20 feet. It was hailed and a engineering feat by our colonial forebears. It was a landmark for nineteenth century travellers to the Blue Mountains and beyond.

It is a massively impressive structure especially from the gully below. Taking the path from the northern side of the viaduct, we descended below to the creek bed where we

could stand next to the sandstone arches. Then taking the stairs up on the southern flank gives further interesting angular views of the viaduct. Further along is the Knapsack Quarry from where the sandstone was obtained for the construction of the viaduct. From here you can ascend to the Elizabeth Lookout and Zig-Zag Railway.

When the railway was re-routed through the Glenbrook Gorge in 1912, the lower section of the older track including

the Knapsack Viaduct was converted into a road, the Great Western Highway. This was the main road up the Lapstone until the M4 Motorway replaced it in 1993. The viaduct was widened in 1938 by moving the stone parapets outwards and placing them on concrete cantilevered slabs.

History Services NSW in its Government Contracts and Contractors database has many entries for railway contracts awarded by the NSW Government for the period 1832-1900.

Go the website at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/govt_contracts.htm

HMAS Parramatta I - the Third Part of the Jigsaw

Today we went on on the Hawkesbury River Heritage Cruise, oraganised by Hornsby Shire Council and compered by historian, Tom Richmond.

Despite the teeming rain today, this wonderful river has so many stories to divulge. As Tom put it, the Hawkesbury is a "passing parade of Australian history".

One piece of history which stood out so spectacularly today between two gushing waterfalls was the wreck of the HMAS Parramatta I opposite Milson Island, where it ran aground in 1934.

We have visited this story in a previous Blog, Bow and Stern Miles Apart - HMAS Parramatta I (15 April 2011) when we located the stern at Queens Wharf Reserve on the Parramatta River, and the bow at the Garden Island Naval Base .

From the view today then, we can envisage the bow and the stern fitting neatly back into the jigsaw of the wreck in the photo above.

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If you are in interested in early Australian History or are researching a convict ancestor go to our website at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/