ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION

732 HARRIS STREET ULTIMO

2007

CULTURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION

732 HARRIS STREET ULTIMO

2007

A Project Funded by Spurbest pty Ltd

CULTURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT CONTENTS

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 01 1. 1 The Project...... 02 1.2 The Pre-Settlement Environment ...... 02 1.3 On the Fringe of Settlement...... 02 1.4 Ultimo Estate ...... 03 1.5 Samuel Blackman's House ...... 03 1.6 The Lamb Inn ...... 03 1.7 859-869 George Street ...... 04 1.8 857 George Street ...... 04 1.9 851-855 George Street ...... 04 1.10 849 George Street ...... 05 1.11 730 Harris Street: Thomas Berwick and William Carey ...... 05 1.12 732 Harris Street: Robert B. Cropley and Sons ...... 05 1.13 Goodwin's Building ...... 05

2.0 THE WORK ...... 06 2.1 The Context ...... 07 2.2 The Study Area: Boundaries and Occupation ...... 07 2.3 The Potential Archaeological Resources ...... 09 2.4 Cultural Significance ...... 09 2.5 Excavation Strategy ...... 09 2.6 Objectives and Tasks: Research Design ...... 10 2.7 Recording ...... 10 2.8 Artefacts ...... 11 2.8.1 Cataloguing ...... 11 2.8.2 Culling ...... 11 2.8.3 Storage ...... 11 2.8.4 Photography ...... , ...... 11 2.9 Authorship, Client and Acknowledgements ...... 12 2.10 Abbreviations Used in the Text...... 12

3.0 THE PRE-SETTLEMENT LANDSCAPE ...... 13 3.1 Topography ...... 14 3.2 Soils ...... 15 3.3 The Stream ...... 15 3.4 The Pond ...... 16 3.5 Vegetation ...... :...... 17

4.0 THE EDGE OF THE TOWN ...... 18

5.0 THE ULTIMO ESTATE ...... 20 5.1 Development of the Estate ...... 21 5.2 Changing the Topography ...... 24 5.3 Unidentified Activity: The Garden? ...... 25 5.3.1 Excavation and Work Area ...... 25 5.3.2 Huts and Yards ...... 26 5.4 The Smokehouse ...... 27 5.4.1 Smokehouses in Australia ...... 27 5.4.2 Smokehouse Technology ...... 27 5.4.3 The Ultimo Estate Smokehouse ...... 28 Preparing the Site ...... 29 The Firebox ...... 30 The Flue of Chimney ...... 33 The Hut ...... 36 5.5 Demolition ...... 41 5.6 Parramatta Road Subdivision ...... 45 5.7 Dividing the Estate: Ultimo Emerges ...... 45

6.0 SAMUEL BLACKMAN'S HOUSE ...... 46 6.1 Samuel's House ...... 47

7.0 THE HOTEL ON THE CORNER ...... 49 7.1 The Lamb Inn ...... 50 7.2 The Turon Inn ...... 52 7.3 The Agincourt Hotel ...... 52

8.0 859-869 GEORGE STREET ...... 53 8.1 867 -869 George Street ...... 54 8.2 859-865 George Street ...... 55 8.3 Redeveloping the Street Frontage ...... 56

9.0 857 GEORGE STREET ...... 57 9.1 George Beaver ...... 58 9.2 Jacob Josephson ...... 58 9.3 Christopher Flynn ...... 59 9.4 Michael Daley ...... 60 9.5 William Dwyer ...... 60 Yards, Walls and Fences ...... 61 Out-Building ...... 62

10.0 855-851 GEORGE STREET ...... 63 10.1 The Rest of the Story ...... 64 10.2 Beaver to Josephson ...... 64 10.3 Christopher Flynn ...... 64 10.4 Michael Daley ...... 65 10.5 Thomas Smith ...... 65 10.6 James Forsthye ...... 66 855 George Street ...... 67 853 George Street ...... 68 851 George Street ...... 69 Yard Surfaces ...... 69 Cess-pit...... 70 Rubbish Pit...... 71 851 George Street Subdivision ...... 73 The Smithy ...... 73 The Yard Wall ...... 78 The Pan Closet ...... 78 10.7 David Solomon: redeveloping the Property ...... :...... 79

11.0 849 GEORGE STREET ...... 80 11.1 Reserved Land ...... 81 11.2 Shaw's Allotment ...... 81 11.3 The Cyclorama ...... 83 Path ...... 84 Courtyard ...... 85 Paved Forecourt? ...... 85 Courtyard Walls ...... 86 Garden Structure? ...... 87 Drainage ...... 88 Surfaces ...... 89 11.4 The Glaciarium and Afterwards ...... 90 12.0 730-732 HARRIS STREET ...... 92 12.1 On the Edge of the Estate ...... 93 12.2 Blackman's Land ...... ·········································· 93 12.3 The Hotel yard ...... 93 12.4 Josephson's, Smith's and Shaw's yard ...... ······ ...... 93 12.5 Vacant Land ...... ········································ 93 12.6 Thomas Berwick, Farrier...... 94 Site Preparation ...... ·························· 94 Stables? An Unidentified Building ...... 95 12.7 Miscellaneous Tenants ...... 96 12.8 William Carey and Sons ...... 97 12.9 Robert B. Cropley ...... 99 12.10 Goodwin's Building: Coach and Wagon Builders ...... 102 12.11 Warehouses and Stores ...... ······························· 104 12.12 Clairvoyants and Rabbit Merchants ...... ········· 104 12.13 The Kings Picture Theatre ...... ································· 106 12.14 Demolition ...... 107

13.0 RESPONSE TO RESEARCH DESIGN ...... 109 13.1 Research Questions ...... ········································ 109 13.2 Future Directions ...... ······································· 110 13.3 ArtefactAssemblage ...... 110

14.0 REFERENCES ...... 111

15.0 APPENDiCES ...... 117 Disc 1: Copy of the Report Disc 2: Artefact Database Disc 3: Field and Publication Drawings 1.0

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Archaeological Investigation: 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006

1.1 THE PROJECT

This report presents the evidence recovered from an archaeological excavation undertaken on land at 732 Harris Street, Ultimo and behind 851-855 George Street and part of 849 George Street Broadway. The work has been undertaken within the parameters of an S140 Excavation Permit issued by the Heritage Council of NSW. The intention of the work was to retrieve and interpret all remnant archaeological evidence prior to its removal occasioned by the redevelopment of this site. The developers for the project, Spurbest pty Ltd, have funded both the on-site investigation and post-excavation documentation and are responsible for interpretive media to be introduced to the finished building explaining the historical associations of this place and significant archaeological relics recovered from it.

Ultimately the purpose of the investigation was to uncover, record and provide a permanent record of the archaeological evidence contained within this site prior to its redevelopment. This report, the field notes, plans, photographs and other documents fulfil this objective. In addition, a research design was prepared for the site. This encompassed questions intended to establish parameters in which the evidence recorded during the investigation could be addressed in terms of issues that were of site-specific interest or which could contribute to research themes being pursued either through archaeology or historical research. The archaeological evidence that was likely to be found within this site was recognised to have an ability to address several issues that may be summarised as follows:

• Was there evidence of early nineteenth century exploitation specifically agriculture but also including, for example, brick-making (seen elsewhere on the Ultimo Estate)?

• Were there intact cultural deposits or features associated with the George Street development that could particularly be used to more accurately date the first development of this street frontage?

• Was there evidence that could be used to define the earliest uses of the Harris Street land, a period poorly documented in archival sources?

• Was there evidence that could help to describe the pre-settlement environment?

1.2 THE PRE-SETTLEMENT ENVIRONMENT

Very little evidence was found of the pre-settlement landscape; several phases of construction and demolition had removed much of the soil profile although remnants of a sandy loam topsoil were found in several places. It was evident that there was a substantial slope falling from the western side to the east where it encountered the steeply sloping banks of a pond and a creek. The site of the creek is largely under present-day Wembley House and the bed of the creek was more than two metres below the lowest point of the slope within the study area. The sloping land may have encouraged erosion of the upper soil deposits; there was almost no evidence of substantial trees or shrubs that might have stabilised the landform. It appears to have been a patchy grassy slope above a quite steep creek bank with a pond.

1.3 ON THE FRINGE OF SETTLEMENT

For many years after settlement in 1788 the Ultimo/Pyrmont peninsula and its environs were at the very fringe of settlement, sparsely occupied and little visited. Archaeological evidence has been found elsewhere on the Ultimo Estate to show that some portions were exploited for raw materials such as clay to be used in brick-making. However, no evidence of this kind was found within the study area. For at least twenty years after first settlement this site remained an unremarkable and eroding piece of land on the edge of a creek.

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1.4 ULTIMO ESTATE

The study area is located within the first grant awarded to Surgeon John Harris; this along with several other grants and purchases, ultimately became the Ultimo Estate. This grant was made in 1803. The focus of the estate was around the main house, further north along Harris Street. Apart from the gardens and several out-buildings here much of these estate was left untouched. However, the archaeological evidence suggests that there were more extensive improvements made to this property than is indicated by the archival evidence. Beside the creek substantial deposits of sand were laid down over the slope to raise and level the land. This was probably done between c. 1803 and 1810. There is evidence to show that some activity occurred here in this period. A pit and what appear to be several clay surfaces were found but nothing to indicate the purpose of the work. As well, fragmentary sandstock brick features suggest something more substantial was built in the area of the clay surfaces. Whatever this work was for, the activity was abandoned and waterborne silts washed down and into the creek for at least several years afterwards.

A smokehouse was built by the creek in c. 1815, the date of construction evidenced by a coin found in the sub-floor area of the building. It was a very unusual type of building with an external brick and stone firebox attached to a brick chimney or flue and the chimney attached to a brick and slab hut. The heat and smoke from the firebox was drawn through a vent by the flue and another vent in this structure channelled it into a hollowed out area under the building. It would then have risen through the timber floor-boards into the hut. A clay embankment built up against the bottom of the slab floors sealed the base of the hut. Evidence of all components was found on the site. It is the only known example of a building of this type pre-dating 1850 in Australia. Its unusual form may have drawn from a regional variation known to the builder, possibly Irish.

Archival evidence indicates that there were several timber and bark buildings closer to the George Street frontage still in existence by 1845. The combined archival and archaeological evidence suggests that this portion of the estate was a focus of some activity poissibly associated with the garden. There are likely to have been several bark huts, possibly a brick structure, a smokehouse and working surfaces. The pond in this part of the estate may have been a reason for creating this small working precinct.

The land on which the smokehouse was built was sold at auction in 1830. There is good evidence to show that the building remained standing after this sale and was adapted for a new use in the later history of the site. It appears to have been demolished in the 1850s.

1.5 SAMUEL BLACKMAN'S HOUSE

Although the Ultimo Estate remained largely intact until 1859 a substantial portion of the Parramatta Road frontage was put to auction in 1830. This included the study area, which. was purchased in part within two lots by Samuel Blackman, a country grazier. By the 1840s Blackman had erected a house on the property on the site of the present-day Agincourt Hotel. Rate Assessments indicate that it was a two-storey brick building with a cellar. We found no evidence of the house nor a wooden stables building that may have been located somewhere behind it within the study area. At that time the smokehouse was still standing in a yard behind the house.

1.6 THE LAMB INN

Blackman sold the house to William Dwyer in 1836. The new owner converted the building to serve as an inn, the Lamb Inn. It had several wooden sheds in the yard behind including the old smokehouse, which, at that time, appears to have been converted for use as a small house, possibly for staff at the hotel. We could find no trace of any out-buildings for the hotel. The block containing this building and any others attached to the hotel (most of the excavation area) was subdivided from it in the 1850s. This occasioned the demolition of the old smokehouse. It was largely torn down leaving only a few fragments of the slab walls, the

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 3 Archaeological Investigation: 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006 base of the chimney and firebox and a few scattered floor boards. The demolition material was largely removed from the site and the remains of the building were covered with layers of loam containing what is likely to be the refuse from one of the inn's rubbish pits. The artefacts contained in this refuse provide some indication of the life and customs of the hotel (renamed the Turon Inn) between the 1830s and the 1850s. It largely comprised tableware and suggests that the inn was serving food as well as alcohol and providing rooms for rent. The patterns and style of decoration are all from the mid-nineteenth century or earlier and include chronological markers such as mochaware, feather-edge and spongeware. The group included a single coin of 1842 providing a reference point for the earliest year in which this demolition could have occurred. The Turon Inn continued to provide hospitality into the 1890s. In c. 1898 it was replaced with the present-day hotel, the Agincourt.

1.7 859-869 GEORGE STREET

The Blackman purchase included the street frontage to the east up to and including the site of present-day 859 George Street. He appears to have made little or no use of it but the subsequent owner, William Dwyer, built shops along it. He began with two next to the hotel constructed there between 1836 and 1845. These buildings, occupied by a great variety of small businesses, remained there until the 1890s. Dwyer also built the shops that occupied the site of present-day 859-865 George Street in the early 1840s. Some had been replaced by the 1870s. This mixture of shops remained in use until 1895. All of the shops were replaced in the year with the buildings that presently occupy the site. These shops and their yards had been separated from the northern portion of the original grant by a right-of-way apparently made in the 1830s for the hotel. No archaeological evidence was recovered from the site that related to any of the buildings that occupied this site.

1.8 857 GEORGE STREET

This was a part of land (also including 855 George Street) sold in 1836 to a builder, George Beaver. He appears to have made no use of the land and sold it in 1840 to Jacob Josephson. It was auctioned and sold in 1843 to Christopher Flynn. A two-storey terrace was built on each part of the lot. At the time of their construction there was still a wooden hut at the back of the allotment left over from the Ultimo Estate. Although the yard space of the original terrace was within the excavation area we found no traces of this early nineteenth century occupation. Until the 1870s these buildings appear little changed by their owners or tenants. William Dwyer who owned all the shops and the hotel to the west purchased 857 George Street in 1870. He built a small infill building between his new purchase and existing properties. In 1895 the terrace was replaced with the current building. The archaeological evidence found to the north related to the yard that was developed for that late nineteenth century building. It encompassed yard walls, post holes from an earlier fence line and what is likely to have been a pan toilet base at the back of the yard.

1.9 851-855 GEORGE STREET

These properties encompassed the rest of the land purchased by George Beaver in 1836. It also included some huts from the Ultimo Estate; they were demolished by the 1840s and were outside the area of excavation. The second terrace built by Flynn in 1843 occupied 855 and a small part of present-day 853 George Street. The rest of this allotment was vacant until the 1870s. In 1870 the property was sold to Thomas Smith and he redeveloped the vacant land. He built two wooden shops on George Street. In the excavation area we found a large fill and surface deposit that probably related to the back yard of the shop in 851 George Street. There was also a cess-pit that included a domestic assemblage of the 1860s and 1870s. A rubbish pit in the yard contained a comparable assemblage. Smith sub-let or developed the northern portion of his George Street properties (851-853) in the later 1870s. The archaeological and archival evidence shows that the new occupant was an ironmonger. We found substantial evidence of his building including a largely intact hearth. We also found a new out-house that had been built to replace the cess-pit that had been built over by the

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 4 Archaeological Investigation: 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006 ironmonger's building. In contrast to this activity the yard behind 851 George Street was completely devoid of any features except services of the later nineteenth century and a yard surface of the same period.

1.10 849 GEORGE STREET

This land was not sold at the Ultimo Estate auction in the 18305; it had a large pond and part of a stream running through it. It was not filled until the early 18505. From that time it was known as Shaw's Allotment named after Delaney Shaw. Shaw ran a furniture business from what appears to have been another Ultimo Estate hut on this site. It remained standing until the 18705. We found no evidence of this building but we did find a yard surface of this period. In 1899 a Cyclorama was built to the north of this site. The public entrance was through 849 George Street. Several elements from that entrance were found in the excavation. These encompassed the public path, a paved forecourt, walls that defined the side of the walkway, drainage and what may have been landscape elements from gardens that lined the side of the entrance. A few deposits remained of the original bitumen surface. The Cyclorama closed in 1903 and the elements in the public entrance were demolished and the site covered in a loose surface. The Cyclorama was adapted for use as a cold store. In 1965 the store, 849 and 851-855 George Street were purchased by the Department of Education. The Department demolished the old stores and all the yards behind the buildings on George Street. The hard paving and several of the services found in the excavation area derived from this period. In 1983 a sub-station was built on the western edge of the site; it caused some damage to the underlying paved forecourt of the Cyclorama.

1.11 730 HARRIS STREET: THOMAS BERWICK AND WILLIAM CAREY

This was part of the Ultimo Estate garden but we found no evidence of, cultivation. The smokehouse was at the eastern end of the allotment. We could find no evidence of use associated with Blackman's house in the 18305 nor from the hotel period when it served as a yard. After the demolition of the smoke house in the 18505 this site was vacant for several years although we found fragments of a surface laid down in this period. Between 1870 and 1880 a farrier used it. We found some evidence of the building he constructed for his stable as well as the measures he took to prepare the site for this building. Subsequently this building was used by several tenants the last being William Carey and Sons, building materials importers. They increased the size of the old farrier's stable and some evidence was found of this extension. The building was demolished in 1891.

1.12 732 HARRIS STREET; ROBERT B. CROPLEY AND SONS

Robert Cropley and Sons, undertakers, occupied the southern portion of the Harris Street frontage from 1885. A new building was constructed for them and some of its foundations were exposed during the excavation. This building appears to have been incorporated into a new development undertaken in 1891. As part of this it appears to have survived into the 19905. During the twentieth century it housed a very great variety of businesses.

1.13 GOODWINS BUILDINGS

Henry Goodwin, a grandson of William Dwyer demolished the BerwicklCarey building and used the site to construct a new two-storey brick building. It incorporated Cropley's old building. The combined premises became Goodwin's coach and wagon building works. After Goodwin left in 1898 it was leased to several tenants as was Cropley's building. In 1915 Goodwin's building was leased to Kings Picture Theatre. Large additions were made to the back of the building to facilitate this new use. Evidence of these was found during the excavation. Most of these buildings with some minor additions were still standing in the 19905 at which time all but Goodwin's building was demolished and the area paved for car parking.

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THE WORK Archaeological Investigation: 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006

2.1 THE CONTEXT

The study area comprises land at Ultimo close to Railway Square, Sydney. There are three buildings on Broadway (851-855 George Street) with yard spaces behind them and land at 849 George Street. There was an access lane from Harris Street with its entrance behind the Agincourt Hotel at the junction of Harris and George Streets. There was vacant land at 732 Harris Street. It was separated from the George Street properties by the lane.

This site has been the subject of several proposals for redevelopment throughout the 1990s. Finally, in 2003 Spurbest pty Ltd received approval to build a mixed commercial and residential building that included underground car-parking facilities. The development retained the buildings on George Street but required the excavation of the vacant land to a depth of several metres below the present street-level. The work was anticipated to have an impact on an archaeological resource. These relics were protected under provisions of the NSW Heritage Act.

An archaeological assessment for this site was prepared in October 199i. An application for small-scale test trenching was made to the Heritage Office of NSW in 1997 and was approved in December 1997. A report of the work undertaken was presented in March 1998. An application for monitoring and recording during excavation was made in 2000 (Ref S90.05589/003) but this work did not proceed at that time. A second S140 Excavation Permit application for monitoring was made in February 2004 and approved in that year (Ref HRL 26153). When the excavation commenced it was determined that the relics in the ground were better managed as a salvage excavation and approval for this change in strategy was 2 sought from and approved by the Heritage Office in May 2005 .

The identification of state significant relics deriving from the Ultimo Estate period of occupation resulted in approval from the Heritage Office to record and remove this material with the provision that it be interpreted in the finished developmene.

The excavation programme described in this report was carried out between May and June 2005. Additional research, post excavation work on artefacts, curation of records and the preparation of this report as well as contributions to the on-site interpretation of the results has been ongoing 2005-2006.

2.2 THE STUDY AREA: BOUNDARIES AND OCCUPATION

The study area is located at the southern fringe of the city in Ultimo in the Parish of St Andrew, County of Cumberland. It is within the Local Government Area of the City of Sydney. It encompasses Lot 6 of DP 203873 and part Lot 2 of DP 230567.

The subject of the archaeological investigation was an L-shaped allotment that had a narrow western street frontage to 732 Harris Street, Ultimo of approximately sixteen metres and a northern boundary (defined by a University of Technology building) approximately sixty-five metres in length. It shared a common boundary with Wembley House on the east. The southern boundary was defined by a narrow access lane leading from Harris Street between 732 Harris Street and the Agincourt Hotel at the corner of Harris and George Streets. The ground level sloped down to the north-east with an overall fall of approximately 2.5 metres.

At the commencement of the excavation a sub-station in the south-western corner of the site had already been removed and a late nineteenth century commercial building on Harris Street was in the course of demolition. When this was cleared the area of excavation encompassed a completely vacant site that had most recently been used for car-parking.

1 CRM (1997), Archaeological Assessment St Helens Development 732 Harris Street. 849-855 Georqe Street Broadwav. 2 Letter Excavation Director to HO, 11 May 2005. 3 Letter of Director of HO, 3 June 2005

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2.3 THE POTENTIAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCE

The site was not listed in the Archaeological Management Plan for Pyrmont and Ultimo or any other heritage study as an item likely to contain the highest archaeological potential. The first 4 specific archaeological assessment was made in 1997 . It concluded that the site had the potential to contain any of the following:

• Evidence of the pre-European environment particularly on the eastern side of the site.

• Extensive deposits of fill laid early in the nineteenth century development of the site to level it for construction as well as large deposits laid later in the nineteenth century and post-1950s.

• Possible evidence associated with the development of Ultimo House, principally the use of the site as a garden.

• Some structural evidence of out-buildings and other features associated with the properties that have a frontage to George Street as well as potential evidence of earlier structures on these sites.

• Evidence of larger, later nineteenth century buildings on the Harris Street portion of the site.

• Evidence of fences, yard surfaces and lanes as well as cultural material from all phases of occupation.

2.4 CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

The potential archaeological resource was evaluated according to standard criteria as part of the assessment process. It was concluded that this resource had high cultural significance because of its chronological span and potential to provide evidence for the earliest development of Ultimo. However, it was anticipated that this evidence was likely to have been compromised in its integrity by periods of demolition and rebuilding.

2.5 THE EXCAVATION STRATEGY

When the bulk excavation commenced it immediately uncovered substantial foundations and it was determined at that point to move from monitoring to a salvage strategy with the intention to archaeologically uncover and record this evidence.

To that end excavation commenced at the eastern end of the site using a mechanical excavator to remove bulk deposits. A small team of archaeologists was employed to manually excavate the intact features and deposits uncovered. The excavation progressed across the site to the western Harris Street frontage. The site was excavated to the top of remnant natural soil profiles.

4CRM(1007), Archaeoloqicallnvestiqation St Helens Development 732 Harris Street. 849-855 Georae Street Broadway.

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2.6 OBJECTIVES AND TASKS: RESEARCH DESIGN

Ultimately the purpose of the investigation was to uncover, record and provide a permanent record of the archaeological evidence contained within this site prior to its redevelopment. Our primary responsibility was to extract as much evidence as possible with the understanding that competent and comprehensive work will allow a variety of questions to be addressed to the evidence. Essentially it was a salvage excavation. This report, the field notes, plans, photographs and other documents fulfil this objective.

However, all excavations require a set of questions or a "research design" to be prepared as part of the excavation permit application. These questions are intended to establish parameters in which the evidence recorded during the investigation can be addressed in terms of issues that are of site-specific interest or which may contribute to research themes being pursued either through archaeology or historical research. The archaeological evidence that was likely to be found within this site was recognised to have an ability to address several issues that may be summarised as follows:

• Was there evidence of early nineteenth century explOitation, specifically agriculture but also including, for example, brick-making (the latter seen elsewhere on the Ultimo Estate)?

• Were there intact cultural depOSits or features associated with the George Street development that could particularly be used to more accurately date the first development of this street frontage?

• Was there evidence that could be used to define the earliest uses of the Harris Street land, a period poorly documented in archival sources?

• Was there evidence that could help to describe the pre-settlement environment?

2.7 RECORDING

The site was excavated according to standard stratigraphic prinCiples. Every unique soil deposit, structure and feature was accorded an inventory or unit number. Every unit was described in full in site logs. Everything revealed by the excavation was planned with the plans referring to a grid that covered the entire site.

In addition to the inventory descriptions, plans and sections a photographic archive was made during the excavation. These have been indexed according to roll and frame. A selection of photographs is used in this report but the photographic archive is one of the most immediate means of appreciating what was found on this site.

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2.9 AUTHORSHIP, CLIENT AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report has been written and researched by Wendy Thorp (CRM), the Director of the archaeological programme. I would like to offer my sincerest thanks and gratitude to the following:

Mr John Harris for providing unlimited access to his family papers relating to the Ultimo Estate

Spurbest pty Ltd, the applicants for the Excavation Permit and responsible for funding the entire programme.

The excavation team comprising Ms Guadalupe Cincunegui, Ms Nicole Trapnell and Mr Kevin Hickson.

Mr Kerry Platt was responsible for surveying and planning.

Ms Guadalupe Cincunegui prepared the plans for this report.

The artefacts were managed by Ms Emma Thompson.

The project was greatly assisted by the efforts of Or Siobhan Lavelle from the NSW Heritage Office.

All the photographs in this report and in the archive were taken by Wendy Thorp.

A full bibliography is presented at the end of this report.

2.10 ABBREVIATION AND CONVENTIONS

AR Refers to the roll and frame number of artefact photographs. LTO Land Titles Office ML Mitchell Library MWB Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board (Sydney Water) PA Primary Application SCA Sydney City Archives SG Sydney Gazette SMH Sydney Morning Herald SR Site Roll - refers to the roll and frame number of site photographs SRO State Records Office of NSW

[102] A number in a square bracket refers to the unique stratigraphic feature and unit. (CR) Catalogue reference; refers to the specific number given to an artefact or group of artefacts in the artefact catalogue.

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2.8 ARTEFACTS

2.8.1 Cataloguing

Very few artefacts were found on this site but all discrete deposits including under-floor accumulations, a privy and pits were retrieved in total for later work. After the excavation was completed on site the basic house-keeping of the artefact assemblage, cleaning and sorting, was carried out away from it. The artefacts have been subject to a basic cataloguing process identifying, as far as condition and integrity allow, the following information about each item or group of items:

Location: the stratigraphic number Material: primary and secondary, for example, ceramic and earthenware. Integrity: fragmentary, half or better complete, fully complete Condition: good, fair, poor, extreme Function: wide selection of choices including dinnerware, smoking, toys, construction Specific use: for example bottle, spectacles, earring Portion: if not complete such as base, or body Colours: and applied colours, Decoration: such as hand painting or inlay Species or type: for example, pig if it was skeletal or champagne it was a bottle Manufacture: how it was made if known Marks: such as printed makers or pattern names Who made it: a company or a country in some cases When made: a date range usually Notes: to allow for any specific or unique qualities.

Each item has been given a catalogue number that has been placed on the artefact bag and this refers to the catalogue entry. The catalogue is included in the records that have been placed in the repository on site. There is also an electronic version attached to this report.

2.8.2 Culling

Some of the assemblage was culled during the cataloguing process. Usually this was on the basis of extremely poor condition and little or no possibility of future study (for example lumps of waste iron). When items were culled from the collection they were first catalogued, then photographed and the photographs were placed in the storage boxes. The catalogue entry records that they have been removed from the collection. This is in accordance with the procedures agreed upon with the Heritage Office.

2.8.3 Storage

The artefacts retained, the bulk of the excavated assemblage, have been stored in boxes according to similar material groups for reasons of greater stability. The assemblage is to be permanently housed at the site.

2.8.4 Photography

During the cataloguing process a representative sample of artefacts was photographed, some for use in this report and others for possible interpretative purposes. Most individual units have at least one artefact illustrated and groups of more unusual or intact items were selected for photography.

The principal purpose of this work, the post-excavation processing of the artefacts, has been to assist in the interpretation of the use and development of the site. The emphasis has been on producing an informative catalogue rather than an artefact-centred analysis of types and forms.

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George Street Archaeological Investigation 732 Harris Street Ultimo o 8 CRM for Spurbest _'--_----11 Site Overview Metres 3.0

THE PRE-SETTLEMENT LANDSCAPE Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street. Ultimo 2006

3.1 TOPOGRAPHY

The topography and landscape of Ultimo, prior to the arrival of Europeans in 1788, was quite different to how it now appears. Heavily forested along the ridges, uneven sandstone outcrops dropped down to the waters of Cockle Bay (now Darling Harbour). White beaches and mangrove swamps along the water's edge drew the attention of several artists. Major Taylor's watercolour of Cockle Bay in c.1819 shows the Ultimo and Pyrmont peninsula to have retained its tree-cover and landform for much longer than the main settlement at Sydney Coves Over two hundred years of occupation and massive quarrying have completely hidden or removed this pre-settlement topography and vegetation.

In this view Ultimo and Pyrmont are in the distance across Darling Harbour Major J. Taylor: Cockle Bav Now Darling Harbour c. 1819. Watercolour (Source: T. McCormick, First Views of Australia; 206)

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the headwaters of Cockle Bay extended much further south than is the current situation. The head of the bay came close to the present-day Hay Street. Where the bay met the land it was marshy, swampy ground with numerous rivulets feeding into it including that running adjacent to the study area. At the head of Cockle Bay the several streams formed a marshy delta; this is described as a "swamp" on an 1837 survey plan of the estate6

Archaeological investigation has shown that at low tide the interface between land and water was covered with sand and mud. This combination supported mangroves, ti-tree, swampy oak and swamp mahogan/. Beyond the marshy flats gently sloping footslopes, prone to seasonal waterlogging, were covered in Sydney Peppermint, several other Eucalyptus species and Smooth-barked Apple. The trees and scrub rose up the ridge that would be later developed for the suburbs of Pyrmont and Ultimo. It was an area that was to be described in the early years of the nineteenth century as "rather uneven ground which slopes down into the flat shores of the harbour ... the ground as a rule, all down the slope towards the Haymarket, was covered with brush and small grass trees which grew like stunted bull rushes,,8.

5 Major Taylor, "Cockle Bay Now Darling Harbour" c. 1819 in T McCormick. First Views of Australia. 206 6 Survey of Ultimo Estate c. 1837 Harris Family Papers 7 CRM and Godden Mackay Logan ,Market City Development Paddys Market Archaeological Investigation; 35 B Edward West Marriott (Editor), The Memoirs of Obed West.

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3.2 SOILS

The study area lies close to the boundary of a number of geological units including Quaternary alluvial soils (northern side), Triassic aged Ashfield Shale (east and south) and Hawkesbury Sandstone (west). Generally, though, the site lies on Hawkesbury Sandstone 9 with both alluvial and residual soils . The slope that was still evident on the site from west to east reflected in part a ridge overlooking the harbour and marshes below but, more specifically, the upper portion of the sides of a creek bank.

Residual soil profiles were found in several places on the site. Near Harris Street, 1.5 metres below the present level were remnants of a sandy light-grey coloured loam, part of the pre­ existing A-horizon [015}. Toward the centre of the site a similar loam was observed [070, 115, 116}. Towards the south-eastern corner of the site almost no loam survived but the clay of the upper B-horizon was revealed at the base of cultural deposits [133}. The condition of the site suggested that much of the upper soil horizon had been removed through the course of several phases of construction and demolition. However, it is also very likely that the slope encouraged erosion of the ground surface.

The relative levels of these deposits indicate a not insignificant slope down from west to east. At the very eastern end of the site, along the boundary with Wembley House massive amounts of fill indicate a sudden drop, here of over two metres. This was the site of a pond which was fed by a stream that ultimately ran into Darling Harbour.

3.3 THE STREAM

This stream is best shown on an unpublished survey of the Ultimo Estate drawn in 18371°; a detail is shown below. There it was described as a brook. It ran across Parramatta Road, where it was bridged, and then flowed almost due north until it branched and ran down to the waters of Cockle Bay. The stream or brook flowed under what is now Wembley House on the eastern edge of the site but also cut across the extreme north-eastern corner of the excavation area where it fed a pond.

9 Douglas Partners (1997), Report on Geo-technical Investigation 732 Hams Street; 3 10 Provided by Mr John Harris.

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Even though the site of the stream has been filled and built over, when the eastern boundary of the development site was excavated to reveal the foundations of Wembley House it was still very wet. Geological testing had revealed the presence of groundwater in this area at a maximum depth of 4.1 metres as well as organic rich soils likely to be associated with the 11 creek bed . Even taking into account the amount of fill that had been introduced to the site, which is discussed in the following sections, it demonstrates that this was a substantial and deeply cut creek.

It is uncertain when this creek began to be filled in. It was probably after the sale of the lands on Parramatta Road in the 1830s and before the construction of the railway in the 1850s. On the basis of identifiable settlement it seems likely that the process of reclamation was associated with the development of the railway in the early 1850s.

3.4 THE POND

The 1837 survey shows that there was a substantial pond attached to the stream. It would have been in the extreme north-eastern corner of the excavation area but mostly under present-day Wembley House. This land had been considerably disturbed by later work and, although there were deposits of fill we found no definitive evidence of this pond. The many layers of fill that we did find along this boundary of the site [014} could have been used to fill the pond as well as the sloping bank of the creek. The exposed area in the excavation was too narrow and too disturbed to make fine distinctions between the sloping sides of a pond and that of a creek.

Deep layers of mixed deposits on the eastem side of the site used to fill in the pond and creek (SR 08:07)

11 Douglas Partners, Contamination Assessment 732 Harris Street (1997),2

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3.5 VEGETATION

On the basis of the archaeological evidence there appears to have been a lack of substantial trees or shrubs. There was almost no evidence of site clearance in the form of charcoal or burnt trees and while the removal of deposits from the upper part of the natural profile obscures the original landscape it suggests that this land was not heavily wooded in the pre­ settlement period. At best, this piece of ground appears to have been sparsely covered with native grasses and with exposed layers of soil and clay. A very similar profile was exposed on an archaeological site close by and to the north at the corner of Ultimo Road and Thomas 2 Streee .

12 CRM (2002), Archae%gica//nvestigation Transgrid Site Havmarket, 14

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Cockle Bay and its environs were considered to be on the extremity of the town during the first years of settlement. Apart from shell-gatherers (for lime) and an occasional picnic party few came to this fringe of European occupation. When Governor Phillip established the night watch in 1789 he divided the town and neighbourhood into four divisions. Three were in the town proper. The fourth was a vague and ill-defined area near the brick kilns, at a site located near the junction of the modern Hay and George Streets. In 1792 Phillip fixed as the southern boundary of Sydney a line which extended from the mouth of the stream running into Woolloomooloo Bay to the north of a stream that ran into Darling Harbour at its south-eastern corner. Governor King in 1803 retained the same town limits making the study area beyond the principal limits of the town. By 1807 town surveys were extended to a point at the edge of the Ultimo Estate closest to the city. The area of Pyrmont and Ultimo still lay outside the area recognized as the limits of the principal settlement.

As demands on the space in the town increased the outer edges of the settlement began to be more closely incorporated into it. A proper road was finally constructed to Brickfield Hill in 1812. From then industry in particular began to develop on what had been the edges of the town. The shores around Cockle Bay began to be infilled and transformed for enterprises such as the first steam mill in the country. Ultimo, though included on town surveys by the early 1820s, continued to be virtually untouched over the majority of its area. It remained in the hands of the Harris family, the first landowners since 1803, and their principal interests were elsewhere.

Evidence has been found on the Ultimo Estate that some of the land was used for extracting 13 clay for brick-making . This could have pre-dated the earliest estate grant of 1803 or could have been part of the earliest uses made of the land by the Harris family. No evidence was found within the study area that it had been used or exploited in any similar manner or for any purpose pre-dating the development of the Ultimo Estate. There was evidence of an unidentified activity pre-dating a structure built for the estate in c. 1815 but the relationship of the two was so close it appears that the building of c.1815 replaced something that had been built as part of the estate development although there is no clear chronological marker for the earlier evidence (Section 5.3). It could pre-date the Ultimo Estate but it is unlikely and, if it was so, its purpose is unknown.

The lack of attention to this land is most likely due to the uneven topography, poor soil and environmental problems such as erosion. It appears on the basis of archaeological evidence to have had little timber and raw materials such as clay were more easily extracted elsewhere. For at least the first two decades of European settlement it is likely that the study area remained an unremarkable piece of land next to the creek.

Obed West recorded the most vivid impressions of the environs at this time. For the period in the c. 1810s he said,

"All around the Haymarket at that time were wattle and daub houses, thatched, with gardens around them, principally occupied by soldiers ... on the square now known as Haymarket Square were the Government brickyards .... The first toll gate stood at the Haymarket ... and then came a large paddock up to Hay Street. Beyond that point there were no houses in George Street and it was there that Dickson's Pond commenced, a large creek which ran along the edge of Hay Street.. the Pond was extensive spreading over part of the Ultimo Estate ... the pond was a noted place for all sorts of game, ducks and teal ... "14.

13 CRM (2002), Archaeological Investigation of the Transgrid Site Havmarket; 16-19 14 Edward West Marriott (Editor), The Memoirs of Obed West

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 19 5.0 THE ULTIMO ESTATE Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street Ultimo 2006

5.1 DEVELOPMENT OF THE ESTATE

The Ultimo Estate was a privately owned property that remained almost completely in the hands of the one family until the second half of the nineteenth century. Even after its subdivision the same family still retained very large portions of the former estate. It encompassed almost the entire peninsula with the exception of the land at the northern end that was owned by John Macarthur, his Pyrmont property. Ultimo was cumulatively acquired by Surgeon John Harris in the period 1803 - 1818. Harris arrived in the colony in 1790 as a member of the NSW Corps. As soon as he was able he began to amass large parcels of land. For example, he purchased James Ruse's Experiment Farm at Parramatta in 1794.

The first grant at Ultimo was made in 1803 and comprised thirty-four acres. This included the site of the estate house and the study area 15. In 1806 Harris was given another 9% acres. This was a roughly triangular-shaped block on George Street further south of the study area. The final grant of 12 % acres was made in 1818 and this was land that bordered Cockle Bay.

The Ultimo Estate became Harris's principal home for several years. The focus of the property was the estate house; the site is within the grounds of UTS near Harris Street in the block bound by Thomas, Jones and Mary Anne Streets. Ultimo house was a grand two-storey Georgian mansion. In 1804 a small brick cottage was built close to it. Two roads provided access to Ultimo House. One ran along the line of what is now Ultimo Road and the second had an entrance from Parramatta Road beyond the line of the present-day Wattle Street. Harris Street was reserved at the request of the Government but it was little more than a track.

Ultimo House viewed from an area later developed as Harris Street; the land in the foreground ran down to Darling Harbour John Eyre, View of the Seat of Ultimo Near Sydney in New South Wales c. 1812. Engraving. (Source: T. McCormick, First Views of Australia; 165)

15 LTO, Primary Application 2364

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By 1822 large formal gardens had been made close to the house, to the south-west, and clearing had created park-like grounds around it. These are shown in John Eyre's view reproduced above. The rest of the land at this time remained in a relatively untouched state. The retention of all this land in private hands for half a century contributed to the relatively late development of this area as a suburb of Sydney. Until the later half of the nineteenth century most of Ultimo was sparsely occupied.

In 1826 the recorded improvements to the estate comprised one dwelling house, two cottages, one lodge with stables and fencing all valued at £5000. Twenty-four servants were employed on the property that was then still considered to be in the bush16. In 1832 it was noted that there was a gate on Parramatta Road leading to Ultimo House that was surrounded by land that "may eventually be sold in building allotments,,17.

By the mid-1830s lots along Parramatta Road had been sold including the study area. The land immediately behind these allotments and encompassing a portion of the study area was described in that year as being a garden 18.

Apart from visits to England Harris and his wife resided at Ultimo until 1821 at which time they moved to another property near Ropes Creek. The family then rented out Ultimo House. John Harris died in 1838.

16 Harris to Oxley 31 July 1826, Harris Family Papers 17 Step hen and Stokes, NSW Calender and General Post Office Directory 1832; 47 18 Plan of Ultimo Estate 1837. Harris Family Papers

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Plan of the Ultimo Estate in c. 1837; the study area is indicated by an arrow (Source: Hams Family Papers)

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5.2 CHANGING THE TOPOGRAPHY

Although the estate plan of 1837 shows the land behind the Parramatta Road allotments and including part of the study area to be an area described as a garden no evidence was found during the excavation of any form of cultivation. However, there were changes made to this land to facilitate its use for the estate. Over most of the excavation area, although thinning towards the western end on the higher part of the slope, and spilling down the side of the creek bank was a deposit of white sand, up to 500mm in depth [154}. Other than through its relationship to a building constructed upon it, the date at which it was laid is impossible to determine with precision although it was most likely imported to and spread about between 1803 and c.1810. The latter date is suggested because it could be observed that the sand had lain exposed for some time; laminated silts of waterborne soil [156, 182} up to 100mm thick could be seen above it showing that it had been exposed for some considerable time before the first building was constructed on the combined fill and washed-in soil in c. 1815.

This is a view from the western end of the site after the removal of a large twentieth century pier. It shows the deep deposit of sand [154} lying across this site under aI/ the later layers of development (SR 02.09).

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5.3 UNIDENTIFIED ACTIVITY; THE GARDEN?

5.3.1 Excavation and Work Area

Although the sand would not have been conducive to growing either kitchen or ornamental plants evidence found towards the centre of the excavation area demonstrates that some form of activity occurred in this area. Some of these features lay under a building constructed in c. 1815 and, therefore probably date to a period of use in the first decade of the nineteenth century. The impact of that later building has completely obscured what this earlier work entailed and for what purpose. The fact that the site is referred to as a garden on the later estate plan might indicate that these features related in some way to that work. If so, their purpose or use is no longer evident.

There was one pit [158/159} cut into the sand [154}. It had been cut by a later pit [160/161} and all that remained was approximately an area of 1 x 1 metres. It was backfilled with loam, charcoal and small chips of sandstock bricks. There was no apparent purpose to the excavation. This small excavation was associated with a deposit that appeared to be a surface of some kind [181}. It was made using grey clay that had been smeared and compacted above the introduced sand [154} and waterborne silts [182}. It was found to the north of the small pit [158/159} and encompassed an area of approximately 2 x 1 metres but it had been cut by the later work. This surface certainly pre-dated the construction of the building here in 1815; many of the post-holes for that structure were cut into it.

Immediately above the clay was laid a deposit of mixed grey/brown sand and clay up to 200mm thick. It had a few sandstock brick fragments [180}. This could have been a resurfacing of the older floor but it was too fragmentary to make any firm conclusions. However, there were a few artefacts contained within it and all were of a consistently early nineteenth century date, generally before 1820. They included part of a blue transfer printed chamber pot (CR 4501) and a salt-glazed storage jar (CR 4503), a clay smoking pipe (CR 4504) and a free-blown toilet water bottle (CR 4506). They are particularly domestic in nature and might suggest a house in the close vicinity. If so, no evidence of it was found within the excavation. However, archival evidence does suggest that there were huts very close by that could have been the source of this domestic refuse.

Clay pipes (CR 4504) from the second floor (AR 01 :01)

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5.3.2 Huts and Yards

Further east of the pit and its associated surface was a widespread deposit of mixed white and yellow clay up to 200mm deep [068} laid directly over the natural soil profile [015}. It extended south under the extant buildings on the edge of the site. It could have been an external surface or even an internal surface but we could find no evidence of features that would have been associated with a building over it. A distinctive deposit of pink sand [069} that was laid down with a building constructed in c.1815 lay partly over this clay verifying its early nineteenth century date.

There is a good possibility that the clay was associated with another hut that was located approximately in the area of the rear yard of 857 George Street. The 1845 Rate Assessment records the presence in this property of a "stall covered with bark,,1B It had been demolished by the time of the 1848 Assessment. There is no evidence to determine when this stall, presumably for an animal, was built; the bark covering suggests that it was a very early building possibly one of the first built on the estate.

The same assessment records that on the land adjoining to the south, the area of 851-853 George Street, that there were two other wooden huts (one described as one room only) and four acres of "garden ground,,20 If the position of the pond shown on the 1837 survey is accurate it is clear that the pond formed a focus for a work area of several wooden huts, yard surfaces and other unidentified activities clustering around it to the south and south-west.

There may have been another feature close to the pond in this period. A distinctive scatter of crushed sandstock bricks [076} was found towards the centre of the site associated with a small line of sandstock bricks [039}. It suggests a demolished structure of some kind but there was too little evidence to provide any sense of form or use. A later nineteenth century pipe had cut it [037]. These could have been the source of the artefacts found on the clay surface [180}. These features lay under the pink sand [069} that appears to have been associated with the construction of a building in c. 1815.

Scatter of bricks [076} and remnant line of bricks [039] looking to the north. The group has been cut by the pipe [037] (SR 02:24)

19 Sydney City Council, Rate Assessment 1845 Denison Ward No 1054 20 Ibid; No 1050-1053

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076 ! 158/169

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Key Archaeological Investigation George Street Pond/Stream 732 Harris Street Ultimo CRM for Spurbest o 4 Evidence from 1845 Rate Assessment Ultimo Estate Metres 1803-1815

n Archaeological Investigation: 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006

5.4 THE SMOKE HOUSE

5.4.1 Smokehouses in Australia

Quite substantial remains of a structure that was certainly built for the Ultimo Estate in the first decades of the nineteenth century were uncovered towards the centre of the site. This brick, stone and timber structure has been interpreted as a smokehouse. It is the only certain early nineteenth century building of its kind, probably dating to c.1815, found in Australia. In fact, despite an extensive literature search nothing could be found relevant to the construction of smokehouses in this country pre-dating 1850. Only one other structure tentatively identified for this use is a slab building, possibly of the 1830s, at Bellfield Farm at Liverpool NSW 21 although it was identified on a survey plan of the 1880s as a kitchen . The description of the building suggests it was more likely a kitchen than a smokehouse.

There are very few structures of this type identified after the 1850s in Australia. Only seven other buildings could be found in all of the states and territory heritage listings. In the Northern Territory a smokehouse was constructed at the Tennant Creek Telegraph Station between 22 1881 and 1906 . In Queensland the mid-nineteenth century property of Kruger's Farm is said to have had an undated smokehouse removed at the beginning of the twentieth century23. In Western Australia the property of Korrawilla established in the 1860s has an undated smokehouse24. Also in Western Australia the mid-nineteenth century property of Creaton had s a smokehouse of which some ruins may remain of ie . A third extant smokehouse dating after 26 1860 is found at Bejoording Homestead . In Victoria there is a brick 1850s smokehouse 27 attached to Wickham Homestead . In New South Wales only Roseneath in Armidale has a 28 mid-later nineteenth century smokehouse . Heritage Victoria has identified the mud brick and stone remains of a structure that may have been a later nineteenth century smokehouse and a second foundation of a mud brick 1930s smokehouse both in the Korong Region, north­ 29 western Victoria .

5.4.2 Smokehouse Technology

Smoking food as a means of preserving it has a very long history. Smokehouses could be found on many estates in eighteenth and nineteenth century British, Irish and American estates. It is more than likely that the technology was brought to Australia in the early settlement period but the absence of references is puzzling. As several authors have noted in America smokehouses were one of the most common buildings in settlements. At Colonial Williamsburg, for example, of the eighty-five extant buildings twelve are smokehouses. However, not a single early nineteenth century reference to either the practice or the construction of a building of this type has been found in Australia. The identification of the archaeological remains has been made on the basis of comparison to British smokehouses of a similar or earlier date.

Most smokehouses were rectangular although square and round buildings are also found in America and Britain. In imperial measure most averaged around between 6-8 feet for the longest dimensions but the size depended on the amount of produce (mostly meat and fish) to be treated. Almost all were tall, anywhere between 7-10 feet to allow for hanging the food. The smokehouse could be built of brick or stone although many American examples were constructed from weatherboards or logs.

21 NSW Heritage Office, State Heritage Inventory Item 1970443 22 Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Tennant Creek Telegraph Station (Item 103291) 23 Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Krugers Farm (Item 19970) 24 Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Korawilla (Item 10034) 25 Australian Heritage Places Inventorv, Creaton Ruins (Item 10780) 26 Australian Heritage Places Inventorv, Bejoording Homestead and Outbuildings (Item 9985) 27 Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Wickham Homestead and Smoke House (Item 19825) 28 Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Roseneath (Item 5045528) 29 Heritage Victoria, Database of Historic Gold Mining Sites Korong Region. Items Site 34.0 (John Preston's Hut) and Site 61.1)

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There were two commonly used methods to produce the smoke and direct it to the food to be preserved. The most direct method was to have a fire pot or kettle, box or hearth on the floor within the smokehouse. This would require a hole near the floor to allow for the entry of combustion air. Exterior fires were built in fireboxes or pits attached to the smokehouse; these required a hole or flue through the exterior wall of the smokehouse to channel the smoke from the box or pit into the building. Less common was the construction of fireboxes under the floor or under the walls with outside access30

5.4.3 The Ultimo Estate Smoke house

The structure uncovered within the excavation was an extremely unusual style of smokehouse. It suggests that it was built by someone with knowledge of regional variations not readily identifiable now; our Irish site manager recognised it as something similar to a smokehouse near his home. If it was a traditional Irish style of smokehouse built in the eighteenth century we could find no comparable examples today.

It was oriented approximately north-south, possibly facing the creek but several metres from it. When it was built it would have had a brick and stone fire-box which was the principal source of heat and smoke. This was connected by a ground level vent in the masonry to a round brick and stone chimney or flue. The northern side of this chimney flared out to form a solid brick wall for the southern side of the smokehouse. The chimney would have sucked the smoke from the firebox through and into the main smokehouse. There was a vent at ground level in the brick and stonework to allow smoke and heat to run under the floor of the main building. The latter was, apart from the southern wall, a timber slab building. The floor had a semi-circular and shallow scoop cut into the soil profile and a timber floor laid over it. The smoke ran through this depression and would have risen into the body of the building through the floor. We can only assume that the roof was shingled or bark-covered. There was probably a single door in the building.

View north along the smokehouse (SR 13:18)

30 Much of this information is from research conducted on an American building on Chantry Island. Net Search http://www.sonic.neU-dougtrISmoked_Herring-.html

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Preparing the Site

The hut was built over the sand depOSited early in the development of the estate [154} and the waterborne silts that had accumulated over it [156}. It also largely took the place of whatever activity had occurred here before; it was located over the top of the pit [158/59} and cut into the clay surface [181] and its possible resurfacing [180}.

As a first step in building a new deposit of sand, brown with some clay in it was dumped on the northern end of the site [174}. It was only found in the area of this building and was slightly larger than it. It was up to 200mm thick and had been levelled flat. The post-holes for the hut were cut into it demonstrating that this deposit was laid down before the construction of the building. At the southern end of the building another deposit [157} was laid for the same purpose. It covered an area at least 1.5 metres long and comprised up 10 150mm of brown loam with some charcoal inclusions. Another deposit of sand, this pink-coloured and up to 200mm in depth [069} appears to have been laid all around the building and for some distance although we only found it to the west and south with some traces to the east up to three metres away. The northern boundary was too disturbed to determine if it had occurred here. It does, though, appear to have been a type of surface spread about the hut for a distance of at least three metres.

There is some minor evidence to suggest that the construction of the hut did not go quite smoothly. There was a small hole cut into this second deposit of sand [174} in the centre of the building. It was lozenge-shaped c.180x300mm and c.180mm deep [175/176}. It appears to have been an abandoned post-hole, possibly a mistaken set-out.

View west of the eastern side of the smokehouse. The red clay is part of an earthwork associated with the building; under it may be seen the laminated silts that had washed down the site for several years prior to the construction of the building (SR 13:02)

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The Fire-Box

There were two distinct elements to the firebox. In front, or to the east, was a smaller chamber that is likely to have been used to push fuel into the main chamber and to rake ashes from it. The eastern wall [097} was made of three courses of sandstock bricks. The northern wall of this chamber [098} was also made from three courses of sand stock bricks. The southern wall was a single construction that formed this side of the smaller and larger chambers [091}. It was made from the same bricks but was up to ten courses deep at the back or western side of the box. The western wall of the small chamber was the dividing partition between the smaller and larger chambers. It may have been brick in the original construction but this had been patched and rebuilt using small pieces of coursed sandstone /092]. There were several slabs sitting above this internal wall and they had partly collapsed after the demolition of the building. The smaller chamber measured approximately 700 x 900mm, the wider measurement being at the opening at the front.

The larger chamber behind measured approximately 1000mm x 900mm. This housed the fire. The southern wall as described was made using sandstock bricks with ten courses extant [091}. The northern wall of this chamber was intact [094} and was made using the same sandstock bricks. The eastern end wall of the chamber [093} was made using the same sandstock bricks but this wall had an off-set foundation course at the base. There was also some evidence to suggest that it may have extended beyond the southern wall of the chamber. It appeared to do so but a later service line had damaged this portion of the structure. A small foundation trench for this wall could be found; it was only 20-30mm wide [146}. It was backfilled with sand containing small fragments of stone and sandstock bricks [147}.

The sand was that which appears to have been used to level or increase the hight of the site during the early development of the estate before 1810 [154}. Here it underlay the firebox, had been cut to take the structure and even appeared to be slightly built up against it.

The firebox was linked to the flue or chimney by a vent built into the base of the northern brick wall [094, 098}. This vent [150} would have been approximately 300mm wide but it had been obscured when the wall between the two chambers had been rebuilt with the stone [092}.

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View west of the front, smaller chamber of the firebox and the stonework that has been added later to rebuild it, The chimney is to the right (SR 15:02)

View east of the larger chamber of the firebox (to the right) and the chimney with a small buttress [148} between the two (shown with an arrow) (SR 14:14)

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View west of the firebox and the chimney (SR 12:15)

View south of the firebox with the chimney in the foreground. The vent between the two is visible at ground level (arrow) (SR15:14)

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The Flue or Chimney

The circular flue or chimney on the northern side of the firebox was only partly intact; a later concrete foundation [102} had cut the front or eastern side. Sufficient remained, though, to show that it would have been approximately 1.4 metres in diameter. It was made using the same sandstock bricks as those in the firebox and curved from the northern wall of the latter. The connection was made between the two at the ground level vent [150}. Like the firebox it had a vent built into the base at the northern side to allow heat and smoke to pass into the main building [151}.

The flue had also been dug well into the underlying sand [154}. To stabilise it there was a small brick buttress built in the angle formed between the flue and the firebox [148}. A second angular buttress had been built in the angle between the flue and the southern wall of the hut [149}. Both buttresses were built of sandstock bricks, of which only a maximum of three courses survived. These were dug into and packed around with the underlying sand [154}.

The chimney viewed to the north-west. The concrete to the right is a pylon which cut into the side in c. 1914 (SR 15:16)

CRM for Spurbest Pty Lld Page 33 Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street. Ultimo 2006

View south-east of the back of the chimney with the two buttresses, one to the firebox (next to the scale) and one to the hut (far left). This also shows the underling sand spread across the site early in the history of the estate. The smoke house was dug into this material (SR 11 :15)

View north-west showing the connection between the chimney and the sole brick wall of the hut (SR 12:10)

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 34 Archaeological Investigation. 732 Hams Street. Ultimo 2006

View north showing the vent from the chimney to the under-floor area of the hut. The flattened side of the chimney is the southem wall of the hut. There was much smoke and soot adhering to the bricks (SR 14:01)

The vent connecting the firebox and the chimney, partly blocked by collapsing stonework. Viewed from inside the chimney (SR 08:06)

CRM for Spurbest Ply Lld Page 35 Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street. Ultimo 2006

The Hut

The hut that was used as the main smokehouse chamber was built over a shallow depression (143). It was cut into the newly deposited sand [174}. The depression varied in depth from 100-200mm. It was boat-shaped with the narrow end to the north and semi-circular in profile. It does not appear to have extended the full length of the building, stopping short at the northern end by at least 1.5 metres. To stabilise this shallow depression a thin skin of white­ grey clay had been smeared over the sand [155}. There is a possibility that the depression was timber lined; some boards were found in the body of the building. Most were probably from the floor and were quite narrow a maximum of 70mm [139, 140, 141}. The others [142} were up to 300mm wide and appeared from their position to have been in the pit although the level of disturbance caused by the demolition of the building was very great and relative positions are not likely to be very reliable.

The southern wall of the hut was a brick wall [103}. It was set at a slight angle to the circular flue. 1.3 metres of it remained but there was a fall of bricks at the western end from its demolition. It was probably wider but we could find no additional evidence of this wall, which was also constructed within the underlying sand [154}. There was a distinctive burnt and charred deposit associated with this wall next to the vent [151} and the adjoining flue [104}. It could not be determined if this was in situ or scattered when this building was demolished in the 1850s. There was a vent in this wall to allow the heat and smoke to be directed under the floor of the hut [151}. The two vents from the firebox to the flue and from the flue to the hut were in a direct line.

The remainder of the hut was probably entirely built from slabs. 2.3 metres of the eastern wall survived at base level towards the northern end of the hut [168] with a smaller fragment to the south of it [153}. These had been cut through the sand into the underlying clay and were positioned very close together, a necessity for the smokehouse which required the heat and smoke to be trapped inside the building for a long period. There was no sign of a baseplate; the slabs had been set directly into the clay. There was evidence though that several posts set along the side of the building had strengthened the walls. Two post-holes of this type [144, 145} were found in association with he extant slabs. They were both approximately 250 x 100mm and one [144} had the remnant of a post still in it. Three additional post-holes were found north of these although the slabs no longer remained here [166/167, 169flO, 171). There was a remnant of a post in two [167, 170). All of these posts were set outside the building wall on its western side. One single post-hole [183/184} was found inside the building hard up against the slab wall [168} at its northern end.

Remnant of the slab wall [168] at the northem end of the hut. The bricks are from the demolition of the building (SR 16:12)

CRM for Spurbest Pty Lld Page 36 Archaeological Investigation 732 Harris Street Ultimo 2006

View north-east showing the slabs set directly into the ground. In the foreground is a post hole still with some remnant post that was an internal support for the wall (SR 13:12)

As well as these posts other measures had been taken to ensure the stability of this wall. Lying over the sand that surrounded and lay under the building [154} and the deposits introduced at the construction of the building [069, 174} was 60-80mm of red brown clay [172}. It had been forced up the side of the remnant slab wall. This would have formed a shallow embankment around the base of the building, or at least on this side; the western and northern sides had been too disturbed by later works to determine if this measure had been taken all round the building. The purpose of the work could have been two-fold; it could have served to keep water away from the base of the timber building. The presence of the earlier waterborne silts demonstrated that this was an area prone to water moving across it. Secondly this clay could have helped seal it and keep the smoke in. This curved line of clay was sealed itself with up to 100mm of yellow sand [173}. This measure is likely to have been taken when the hut was first built but it may have been a later addition. There was nothing in the stratigraphy to identify if a lapse in time had occurred between the construction and the addition of this earthwork around the base of the building.

Section through the red clay that was used to form an earthwork around the base of the hut (SR 16:18)

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 37 Archaeological Investigation 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006

There was certainly a timber floor in the building lying over the hollowed ground under it. Several boards were still lying within the body of the building although they had been disassociated from their position [139, 140, 141]. Most were 60-70mm wide but up to two metres in length.

View north-west of the remnant timber floor (SR 14:12)

View south of the timber floor; the collapse of the floor makes it easier to see the hollow scooped under the floor for the passage of the smoke from the chimney (SR 14:23)

CRM for Spurbesl Ply Lld Page 38 Archaeological Investigation 732 Harris Street. Ultimo 2006

This view of the hut during excavation clearly shows the hollow under the floor into which the boards have collapsed (SR 09:22)

It is possible that there was a central support in the middle of the hut or some form of structure to support the goods being smoked in the building. In the centre of the underfloor depression [143} was a large excavation approximately 2 x 1 metres in size. This pit [160/161} cut through an older pit [158/159} and in doing so some of the white sand lying all over the site [154} was disturbed and fell into the base. In the centre of the large excavation was a post-hole [178}. It was 230 x 340mm and probably held a central post for the building. There were several artefacts associated with this pit and they are all consistently of an early nineteenth century date including mochaware ceramics, a distinctive slipped terracotta and Chinese porcelain. There was also a knife holder for a belt pouch (eR 4561).

There is a Rate Assessment of this property made in 1845 and it described a wooden building that was probably this structure. It was then said to have two rooms and this post may have 31 been the support for a partition dividing the space . What cannot be determined from the remnant evidence is whether this pit and its post were part of the original structure or placed there later to divide the hut for a new use. The length of the building suggests that it probably was part of the original building its purpose at least in part to support the roof.

It is impossible to be certain about the dimensions of the hut. On the basis of the extant slabs and post- holes on the eastern side it was at least 7.7 metres in length from the southern brick wall to the north. Because of the level of disturbance to the north we cannot be sure that it did not extend further in that direction. From east to west the building was at least two metres wide but the level of disturbance on the western side also makes it difficult to be sure about absolute dimensions.

In terms of dating this building the only clue lies in a band of material found immediately within the hollow of the underfloor area of the hut. Lying above the stabilising clay [155} in this portion of the building was a mixed deposit comprising dark loam with quantities of charcoal, disintegrating shell-lime mortar and small fragments of sandstock brick. It also comprised a quantity of artefacts. This deposit [138} certainly represents material dumped on the site when the hut was demolished but it also is likely to comprise some artefacts that lay under the

31 Sydney City Council, Rate Assessment 1845 Denison Ward Assessment No 1062

CRM for Spurbest Pty Lld Page 39 Archaeological Investigation 732 Harris Street. Ultimo 2006 floor of the building deposited when it was first built or in use. This is the most likely derivation of a Georgian coin of 1816 (CR 4562) found in this space. It suggests a construction date for the building of c. 1815. There was a second coin found in the same space but it was too eroded to provide a date (CR 4563). Both coins were found immediately on the clay [155J and are more likely to have been casual losses during the construction of the building.

The archaeological evidence of the smokehouse and the activity predating it as well as the archival evidence of the pre-1850s period suggests that this portion of the Ultimo Estate was a small focus of activity. There was a garden, at least two huts and a stall and, possibly built a short time later, a smokehouse. They were relatively close to each other and all within a short distance of the creek. The pond appears to be the focus of this cluster or activities and buildings.

View east of excavation on the centre of the hut for a post; the post hole visible at the base (SR 13:23)

Leather knife holder for a belt pouch (eR 4561, AR 01:13) found in the pit dug for the central supporting pole in the smokehouse {161}.

CRM for Spurbesl Ply Lld Page 40 169/170

166/167

173 172 069 174 180 181 182 164 016

160/161-- 142

014 138 142 166 166 069 164 182 164 164 015 015 ~ N

100

. - ._.. _ •• _ •• _.. 09 _.. _--_ .. _--_._------_. __ .. _---_ ... _--_ .. _... _------_ .. _- .. 154 !f====~::!:~ ... -.--.. -..- .. -...... ~.. _ .. - .. _ .. _ .. _ .. _ .. - .. _ .. _ .. _ .. _ .. _ .. _ .. - .._ .. _ .. _ .. _ .. _. Archaeological Investigation .!.. 015 III 732 Harrls Street Ultimo ::J: Hotel CRM for Spurbest Southern Extent of Excavation o 10 Ultimo Estate Geollle Street Smokehouse Metres

7 173 172 069 174 180 181

156-18~ 182 154 154 015 0l-039 015 Smokehouse 07rlO$:.

069 182 154 -! ._------._-_._------_. __ .-.. _.. _ .. _------.. _-._-----_. __ ._- 01G us Extent of Excavation rJ) 'E co I::It I __ ~ \------r------~------~L~a:n:e------_y------,----- ~ \ I.~t:.. !·:. 016 ~}~::~::.. :.: .. ::: ...: ..!. ..,.,. ...;. ~i_)\rlj~--··-·------·... --·--··---· ---"-::~----1 -..

Agincourt Hotel Bark Covered Stall

Hut No.857 No.853 No.851 No.849

N

Key Archaeological Investigation George Street 732 Harris Street Ultimo Pond/Stream CRM for Spurbest o 4J------t Ultimo Estate Evidence from 1845 Rate Assessment Metres 1815-1836

n Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street, Ultimo 2006

5.5 DEMOLITION

The land on which the smokehouse was built was leased in 1830 to Samuel Blackman (Section 6.0). The building was still standing when this purchase was made and it remained intact for several years afterwards. It is very likely the building referred to in the 1845 Ci~ Rate Assessment as a one-storey building of two rooms, built of wood with a shingled roof . In this notice it also had a note attached to this description of "cellar yard". The only likely explanation is that the land at that time was being used in association with an inn that stood on the George Street frontage of the site (Section 7.0). It was described as a house in that Assessment and the likely later use of this building, after some modification, was as accommodation for staff working in the inn.

The building was demolished probably in the 1850s when the land on which it stood appears to have been subdivided or separately leased from the main property. This would have occurred at the same time that the stream and pond were being filled in on the western boundary. There was ample evidence of the demolition. Most of the wall slabs were removed except for the stumps of a few on the eastern side that were cut off and left in the ground [153, 168}. Most of the floor was taken up although a few boards were left scattered over the hollowed out sub-floor space [139, 140, 141, 142}. The majority of the chimney or flue [095} and the firebox [091, 093, 094, 098, 092, 148, 149} were reduced to ground level. A small scatter of sandstock bricks [162J fell on the exposed sand under the northern portion of the building.

Inside the flue a large deposit of broken brick from the stack, ash and decayed wood fell to the base [101}. Loam was placed over it and this contained a substantial quantity of domestic waste that may have come from the inn on George Street. It encompassed table-wares such as dinner plates, dishes, bowls, saucers, cups or mugs, a teapot, jug and a decanter (CR4674). There were a few plain glazed kitchen-wares and two storage jars (CR4658, 4665), some stoneware stout bottles (CR4666) and a distinctive locally produced lead-glazed bowl (CR 4662). There were some fragments of wine bottles and beer bottles, gin/schnapps bottles, pickle and chutney jars and salad oil or vinegar bottles. There was also some kitchen wastes including a small quantity of butchered cow bones (CR4677) and three sheep/goat craniums (CR4678). There was also a small quantity of oyster shells (CR 4680). There were a few pharmaceutical types of ceramics including a large ointment jar (CR 4628). There was a clay tobacco pipe stem that pre-dated 1850 (CR4668).

Feather-edge plates (eR 4578) found in the demolition rubble of the smokehouse (AR 01:15)

32 City of Sydney Rate Assessment 1845, Denison Ward Harris Street Assessment No 1062

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 41 Archaeological Investigation 732 Harris Street. Ultimo 2006

Several of the pieces had a relatively short period of manufacture, which helps in determining a date for the demolition of the building. A transfer printed plate with a Willow pattern design was made by the firm of N. Phillips between 1815 and 1867 (CR 4626). A flow-blue patterned plate was made by Joseph Clementson between 1839 and 1864 (CR 4640). A second flow­ blue patterned plate was made after 1840 (CR 4636) and a similarly patterned saucer (CR 4637) was made in the same period. A substantial number of the artefacts had generic types of decoration that are only found in pre-1850 contexts in Australian archaeology such as spongeware (CR 4627), feather-edged pieces (CR 4639), mochaware (CR 4654,4655,4656, 4661) and a distinctive hand-painted style of ceramics possibly French in origin (CR4657). Included in the rubbish was a shovel-head that may have broken when the work was in progress (CR 4623).

The assemblage gives the impression of a rubbish pit or heap, probably sourced from the inn wastes, that was used to fill and level part of the demolished building. The artefact assemblage from the rest of the demolition fills is almost identical and was probably sourced from the same location.

From the eastern portion of the firebox, filling in what remained of the internal chamber, was a similar dark-coloured loam deposit with an assemblage of domestic artefacts [099J. They included several stout bottles made by the local firm of Thomas Field that could be dated to the 1850s (CR4719), a blacking bottle and a small ink bottle made between 1839 and 1841 (CR4721). Udolpho Wolfe made a gin/schnapps bottle after 1848 (CR4740). The deposit also contained similar types of table-wares including transfer printed saucers, plates, bowls, a pitcher and a platter. There were several flow-blue sherds that post-dated 1840 (CR4730, 4731). There were fragments of several chamber pots (CR 4722, 47280). Kitchen-wares were similar to that found in the base of the flue including salad oil/vinegar bottles, pickle/chutney jars and an aerated water bottle. There were several oyster shells and long bones from cows and goats/sheep.

Small ink bottle (eR 4721) made between 1839 and 1841 (AR 02:15)

The assemblage includes several of the pre-1850 indicators, for example, a spongeware cup/bowl (CR4736) and a mochaware bowl (CR4738). Several clay tobacco pipe bowls pre­ dated 1850 (CR4741). The most useful indicator was the presence of a coin. This was a gold sovereign dated 1842 (CR 4853). It provides a date for when the work occurred or at least could not have pre-dated.

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The western portion of the firebox was filled with dark silty sand, loam and artefacts [100]. It was exactly the same assemblage in terms of kitchen and tablewares, patterns and chronological span. The most readily identifiable pieces in terms of dates were three stoneware bottles made by Thomas Field in the 1850s (CR4683, 4684, 4685) and a transfer printed blue saucer by the firm of James and Thomas Edwards between 1839 and 1841 (CR4689).

The demolition and fill material for the building spread over its floor [138]_ The same dark loam sealed the scattered debris of the building, the floor boards and bricks. It was exactly the same composition of artefacts and included several pieces that conformed to the broad chronological range of the other demolition deposits. In this portion of the building these included a salad oil bottle registered in 1845 (CR4568), a green transfer printed saucer, plate and cup made between 1818 and 1859 (CR4574, CR4586, CR 4587) and a Scottish clay tobacco pipe made by Thomas Whyte and Co. between 1823 and 1876 (CR4614). It also included mochaware pieces and feather-edged plates as well as a piece of imported Chinese porcelain (CR4601).

Chinese porcelain (CR- 4601) found in- the demolition fill of the smoke house (AR 02:02)

Obverse and reverse of 1842 sovereign (CR 4853) found in demolition fill (AR 02:24, 03:01)

The demolition material was sealed by the layers of fill [014] that ran down the site and filled the pond and old stream bed a further indication of the 1850s date of demolition for the building.

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5.6 PARRAMATTA ROAD SUBDIVISION

The original alignment of the Parramatta Road in the area of the Harris Street intersection ran beneath what is now the building line and took a sharp dog-Ie:i towards Ultimo House ending at a point approximately at the present line of Thomas Street . During the 1830s substantial works were undertaken to improve this major thoroughfare. The Government caused the slope to be evened and lengthened making it more trafficable. The better access greatly increased the price of land along the road.

The Harris family took advantage of this to sell all of the land along this boundary of the estate. The line of Harris Street was marked at this time. The sale was placed in the hands of the well-known Sydney auctioneer Samuel Lyons. Lyons also acted as the family's agent for 34 its rental properties . He sold thirty lots on 13 October 1830 for a price of £3700. In the following year another fifteen allotments were sold along this frontage. The blocks had a fifty feet frontage to the road and were 150 feet in depth.

The allotments sold relevant to the study area were Lot 9 to John Jones purchased for £122- 10-0; Lot 10 to Samuel Blackman for the price of £127-10-0; Lot 11 also sold to Samuel 35 Blackman for the same price . In fact the accounts of the sale still kept bX the Harris family 3 shows that the various lots were paid off over five years in regular amounts .

In 1839 it was reported that along Parramatta Road, in the area of Harris Street that "almost all the houses in this vicinity have been erected in the last four years - the greater part have in fact sprung up since the close of the year 1835. Most of the houses are of brick, but being overlaid with cement, they have the appearance of freestone and will bear a close inspection, both as regards the workmanship and the manner in which they have been contrived',3 .

33 Subdivision Plan of Ultimo Estate plan ML M4 811.173/1866/1 34 Harris Family Papers, Rent Rolls of the Ultimo Estate Kept by Samuel Lyons for Or Harris 1830 -1838. 35 Harris Family Papers, Rent Rolls of the Ultimo Estate Kept by Samuel Lyons for Or Harris 1830 - 1838. 36 Ibid. 37 James Maclehose, Picture of Sydney and Strangers Guide to NSW 1839; 70

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5.7 DIVIDING THE ESTATE: ULTIMO EMERGES

Until the 1850s, apart from this roadside development along Parramatta Road, Ultimo remained largely untouched prevented from development until legal issues surrounding John Harris' will were resolved in the courts. This did not occur until 1859. Prior to this, in 1853, a portion of the Ultimo Estate was purchased to enable the construction of the Darling Harbour Goods Railway. The latter was opened in 1855. The expectations raised by the prospect of this construction programme encouraged development in the vicinity of the line. By 1853 the land along George Street was fully developed between Harris Street and the Darling Harbour Railway line, now overlaid by Wembley House on the eastern boundary of the study area.

There is reason to suggest that at this time the pond and stream on the western boundary of the estate were filled in as a response to this development. Over two metres of fill deposits were recorded in the area of the former pond and banks of the stream. It comprised several layers of clay, sand and loam dumped down the banks of the creek [014J. The same material was found over large portions of the rest of the site suggesting that the slope down to the creek was levelled at the same time as the old water-ways were filled in.

Australia suffered a severe recession in the early years of the 1890s. It brought hardship and suffering to many but in Ultimo it provided the means for urban consolidation. After the death in 1891 of John Harris of Shanes Park his share of the Ultimo Estate was sold; between 1892 and 1897 property was purchased to the value of over £250,000. The development of Central Station in the early years of the twentieth century provided the last impetus for the closer development of Ultimo until the massive urban infill programme of the 1980s and 1990s.

This is a roll plan prepared for the Hams family when the estate was subdivided in the 1850s. It shows at that time the earlier development of the Parramatta Road frontage in the 1830s. It is described as "shops and dwellings". An arrow indicates the study area. (Source: Hams Family Papers)

CRM for Spurbest Pty Lld Page 45 6.0 SAMUEL BLACKMAN'S HOUSE Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street. Ultimo 2006

6.1 SAMUEL BLACKMAN'S HOUSE

Samuel Blackman's purchase of Lots 10 and 11 encompassed the land at the corner of Harris and George Streets, the present Agincourt Hotel, the site of the present-day shops at 859-869 George Street and all the land behind to the northern boundary of the study area. The allotments purchased by Blackman are shown on the detail of the 1837 survey reproduced below although a crease in the old plan obscures the second Blackman allotment. The brown line on this plan equates to the northern boundary of the study area.

Blackman was a grazier living in the district of COOk38 and it is clear that he never resided on the property. In fact the purchase in 1830 was not formalised until his last payment; until then his land was described as a lease between himself and Harris39 for "an allotment of ground". The archaeological evidence suggests that the northern part of the allotment was largely devoid of any development except for the old smokehouse and covered in sand.

At some time between 1830 and 1840 a house was erected on the street frontage. This was referred to in several transactions of the 1840s. Blackman borrowed £500 from Harriett Calcott in October 1840. In this indenture Calcott is named as Blackman' s wife. He borrowed another £200 from her in 1844. The security for the loans was described as "dwelling house standing thereon situate in Parramatta Street bound on south by Parramatta Road and on west by a street"40 This was later named Harris Street. In the early 1840s the house was 41 described as being rented by John Blackman presumably a relative.

Samuel Blackman didn't redeem the mortgages and when the property was sold in 1843 to 42 William Joseph Owyer, Owyer paid Blackman £692-10-0 and Calcott her outstanding £700 . 43 Samuel Blackman died in 1843 at the age of 55 .

38 Colonial Secretary Memorials 1824, 4/1836A Fiche 3078 p 341 39 Primary Application 2364 40 Ibid. 41 Conveyance of Blackman to Dwyer 27 March 1843 Primary Application 2364 42 Ibid. 43 Register of Births Deaths and Marriages

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There is no contemporary evidence for the house built on this land. The evidence suggests that this house was later converted for use as an inn. If this was the case it was probably the building described in the Rate Assessment of 1845 as being of two-storeys, brick-built with a 44 shingled roof. It had nine rooms and, at that time, a detached stable . The position of out­ buildings is unknown with the exception of the smokehouse which was certainly still standing at that time (its position indicated with an arrow on the survey detail below). We found no evidence on the site that could have been from the stables or any other out-building of this period.

Blackman's house was removed when the hotel site was redeveloped at the end of the nineteenth century and we could find no other archaeological evidence associated with it.

:r. This is a detail of the only survey of the nineteenth century made in 1887. The building at the corner, by then in use as a hotel is probably Blackman's house. The fact that it is set back from the street frontage suggests an earlier date of construction for it.

< ------

44 Ibid, 1845. 1061 Harris Street

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ud Page 48 7.0 THE HOTEL ON THE CORNER Archaeological Investigation: 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006

7.1 THE LAMB INN

In 1845 the City of Sydney Directory noted that the Lamb Inn stood at the corner of Harris and George Streets. The Rate Assessment for that year, though, still records the building as a house. The likely conclusion is that William Dwyer, the new land- owner, converted the old Blackman house for service as an inn two years after he purchased it. He may have added more sheds to the rear to join the wooden stables building that was recorded in the assessment of 1845. Certainly the Rate Assessment of 1848 described the building as a public house of two-storeys and eight rooms, brick-built and shingled. It was noted to have "sheds detached", which must have encompassed the former smokehouse and possibly the 4 stables described in the earlier assessment .

As noted earlier the position of these out-buildings is unknown with the exception of the former smokehouse. By this time this old hut was probably in use as accommodation for some of the staff at the inn. The 1845 assessment records the presence of a wooden house 46 in this yard behind the inn . Broken panes of window glass in the demolition material found in this building suggest that windows had been added to it as part of its conversion for this new purpose (for example eR 4570,4571,4714) although these fragments could have come from breakages at the main building.

The domestic assemblage contained in the demolition material associated with the smokehouse [099, 100, 101, 138J is likely to provide the best indication of the life of the inn. This material was probably sourced from a rubbish tip somewhere within the hotel yard. It would represent the kitchen wastes and casual breakages of the establishment during the 1830s and 1840s and possibly some of the 1850s.

It encompasses a wide range of tablewares; these types of artefacts provided the majority of the assemblage. They encompassed transfer printed (blue, green, mauve, black, brown, purple) and flow blue plates, saucers, bowls, cups, mugs, an egg cup, platters, tureens, jugs, a wine glass, decanter and tumblers, teapot and gravy boat. Several of the pieces probably represented the older pieces from the inn's stock. They were mochaware, spongeware and feather-edged bowls and plates. The kitchen and household goods included bowls and basins, blacking bottles, ink bottles, chamber pots and pitchers. Items related to consumption included beer/wine bottles, gin/schnapps bottles, pickle/chutney bottles, salad oil/vinegar bottles, spirits and aerated water bottles, preserves and storage jars. Kitchen wastes included oyster shells and butchered bones from cows and sheep/goats. Small personal losses included scissors, clay smoking pipes (mostly undecorated) and several perfume bottles. The only identifiable local manufacturer was Thomas Field's pottery of which several stout bottles were included in the group. The quantity of tablewares included in this sample suggests that the Lamb Inn was serving food to its customers as well as alcohol and providing places for travellers to stay.

By this time the hotel yard, which appears to have encompassed all of the land behind the George Street inn and several shops built in the later 1830s or early 1840s (see following sections), had been separated from the George Street frontage by a right-of way that still exists today. We could find no formal lease or transfer; the same family owned this land into the twentieth century. It suggests that the occupants of the land arranged an informal lease with the owners. The buildings on George Street had their own enclosed yards and their history of use does not appear to have taken in any part of this land. Apart from its association with the inn for a period the history of this block and the George Street properties became quite separate.

45 Sydney City Council, Rate Assessment Denison Ward 1848 No 1587 46 Sydney City Council, Rate Assessment Denison Ward 1848 No 1062.

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eR 4634 (AR02:09) eR 4627 (AR 02:08)

eR 4682 (AR 02:10) eR 4683 (AR 02:11)

eR 4672 (AR 02:04) eR 4741 (AR 02:18)

Artefacts that came from the demolition/fill deposit above the smoke house that are likely to have been sourced from a rubbish dump associated with the hotel.

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7.2 THE TURON INN

By 1858 the Lamb Inn had changed its name to the Turon Inn. Perhaps the choice of name reflected an interest in the gold fields or at least a desire to cash in on the public's insatiable interest in new gold fields. This was the peak of the gold rushes. The name remained in use until 1898. Although the Dwyer family owned the hotel, in fact remained its owners until well into the twentieth century, they never managed it. The first recorded publican of the Turin Inn was Edward Goodwin47. The Turon Inn was rated in 1871. It was still managed by Edward Goodwin and the building was described as being of three-storeys, brick with an iron roof. One of the storeys was a basement and above it were nine rooms in the two-storeys. It sounds little changed from the original Blackman house. Its position back from the street frontage is a good indication that it was built earlier than the adjoining shops and was, very 48 likely, Blackman's house. In 1871 it was valued at £150 By 1882 the hotel was described as 49 having four storeys and fourteen rooms and was valued at £312 This infers that an additional storey had been added to the building. It was recorded in a survey of 1887 of which a detail is reproduced to the left 1 with the hotel highlighted in red . There are several out-buildings in the yard immediately behind it. None of this area was in the excavation zone. = ------

7.3 THE AGINCOURT HOTEL

The present hotel was probably built in c.1898 the year in which it changed its name to the Agincourt Hotel50 Its most famous publican in these years was William Walsh a prominent Irish nationalist. He served there for eight years. It underwent several substantial programmes of refurbishment and adaptation in the twentieth century with the earliest documented works 1 being from 1910. In 1927 Tooths and Co leased the hotel from the Dwyer famill . This company undertook a major rearrangement of the building52 In 1961 the Dwyer family sold 53 the hotel to Dices Shoes for £13500 pounds .

The Agincourt Hotel at the corner of George and Hams Streets in 1901 (Source: Freeman's Journal 20/7/1901;10)

47 Sands Directory 1858, 807 George Street 48 Sydney City Council, Rate Assessment Denison Ward 1861, 839 George Street. 49 Sydney City Council, Rate Assessment Denison Ward 1882 871 George Street. 50 Sands Directory, 871 George Street 1898

51 LTO, Certificate of Title Volume 4166 Folio 148. 52 Sydney City Council, Records of Building and Development Applications 1910 - 53 Memorial of Transfer J300885

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When Owyer purchased Blackman's property in 1836 he also acquired the street frontage next to it to the east, the present-day 859-869 George Street, as well as the land behind it to the northern boundary of the excavation area. This is shown on the detail of the 1837 survey shown below.

There is no evidence to show that Blackman had ever developed the street frontage and the land behind, to the northern edge of the excavation area, appears to have been largely used by the hotel as a yard. The former smokehouse provided housing, possibly for staff.

Owyer appears to have been the first to build on the street frontage beginning with two shops immediately adjoining the hotel to the east.

Their construction must have occurred between 1836 and 1845 by which time they were assessed for Rates.

The buildings that now occupy the former nineteenth century allotments are generally larger so the use of the present street numbering is only an approximate guide to the earlier building configuration.

8.1 867 -869 GEORGE STREET

The two earliest buildings to be constructed on the street frontage by Owyer are likely to have been those immediately adjoining the hotel to the east. In Rate Assessments they stand out as the only two to have been built of stone. They were certainly present by 1845 and may have been built in the later part of the 1830s.

The building next to the hotel was described in 1848 as a two-storey and three-room house built of stone with a shingled roof. It had a a kitchen and bakehouse detached from it54 The building next to it was described in the same year as a two-storey and five-room stone house with a shingled roofs Both had cellars. Althou~h they were described as brick-built in 1871 they appear to have been the same structures 6 With small variations in descriptions these buildings appear to be those described in the Rate Assessments up to the 1890s.

Throughout this period they were occupied by numerous small businesses beginning from recorded occupants in 1858 with a hairdresser in the shop next to the hotel and a boot-maker next to him5l By the mid-1860s the occupants were a general dealer and paper bag maker58

54 Sydney City Council Rate Assessment Denison Ward 1848 No 1745 55 Ibid 1746 56 Ibid' 1871; No 837 and 835 George Street 57 Sands Directory 1858, 803-805 George Street 58 Ibid, 1865: 83-805 George Street

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59 and by the mid-1870s a watchmaker and a bazaar . The shops were recorded on the survey of 1887, which is reproduced as a detail below with the two buildings highlighted in red.

'.­I I What is unclear from this survey is whether the building next to the hotel covered its entire block or whether it had a yard behind it.

I By the 1890s these buildings 1 and the hotel and the rest of I ... I the shops on George Street - I that occupied the former I I Blackman land were owned • '------by Henry Goodwin.

Henry Goodwin, the former publican of the Turon Inn, had married into the Dwyer family. When William Dwyer died in 188060 his children George Cornish Dwyer, William Joseph and one daughter Roseanna inherited his estate. Roseanne married Goodwin and Goodwin acquired his wife's property on her marriage, which included her share of the George Street properties.

8.2 859-865 GEORGE STREET

William Dwyer was also responsible for building the shops that occupied the area of the present-day 859-865 George Street. They were present by 1845 so, like their neighbours were probably built in the period between the purchase of the property in 1836 and 1845 when they were assessed for Rates. Their construction in bricks argues for a date in the first half of the 1840s.

In the 1845 Rate Assessment they were all described as brick-built shops with shingled roofs. The western most was two storeys with five rooms and a cellar, the next one storey with a cellar and two rooms and the third was also single storey with two rooms although it did not 61 have a cellar . The shops were described in similar terms in 1848 although here the 62 western most was also described as a single storey building . In 1869 the value of Dwyer's 63 combined property along Harris Street, the hotel and the shops, was valued at £2000 .

By 1871 the western and middle shops were described as being of two-storey. There is no evidence to show that they were demolished so they appear to have been extended upwards in the intervening years. However, by 1882 the older buildings had probably been replaced; the Rate Assessment of that year described the western and middle buildings as being of four 64 storeys and the third building as three storeys. All were brick-built with iron roofs . These are the buildings which were recorded on the 1887 survey shown on the following page.

Both the earlier and later shops housed many small businesses in the nineteenth century 65 including in 1858 a pawnbroker and a cabinet maker . In 1865 there was a saddle and

59 Ibid 1875; 837-843 George Street 60 Primary Application 29586 61 Sydney City Council Rate Assessment 1845. Parramatta Street No 1056-1058 62 Sydney City Council Rate Assessment 1848 Parramatta Street 1747-1749 63 Primary Application 2364

64 Sydney City Council Rate Assessment 1882865-861 George Street. 65 Sands Directory 1858, 801-795 George Street

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harness maker, a general dealer and a "boot-maker,,66. In 1875 there was a toy manufacturer 67 and a glass and china dealer amongst others . - -< I I I I = I I I, '--- ... ------~--

8.3 REDEVELOPING THE STREET FRONTAGE

This mixture of 1830s-1840s and 1870s shops survived into the 1890s. They were replaced in 1895. The evidence for this is provided by a Statutory Declaration made in 1904 in which the owner of a property adjoining these shops stated that Goodwin (husband of Roseanna Dwyer) had rebuilt his premises in that year requiring some adjustments to be made to the 68 boundary between the two properties

The Dwyer-Goodwin family retained ownership of the new premises until well into the twentieth century. For example, they did not sell 863 and 867 George Street until 1962.

All of these buildings, past and present, were separated from the northern extent of the grant by a right-of-way apparently made in the 1830s. Nothing was found during the excavation that relates to any of the shops along the George Street frontage.

66 Sands Directory 1865, 801-795 George Street 67 Sands Directory 1875, 835-831 George Street 68 Statutory Declaration of Thomas Todd Forsyth 1904 in Primary Application Packet 13731.

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9.1 GEORGE BEAVER

The estate survey of 1837 shows the lot occupied by present-day 857 George Street to be sold to John Jones (shown below in detail). The Ultimo Estate accounts record that he agreed to pay over £200 for it. It is clear from land titles, though, that he must have defaulted in the payment in some way. In 1836 John Harris sold this land to George Beaver6H George Beaver 7 was a builder who arrived in Sydney on the Lord Melville in 1829 0. Beaver took out a mortgage on the property the next day in 1836 with Jacob Josephson 71. He subsequently sold the property to Josephson72 in 1840. There is no evidence to show that Beaver made any improvements to his land.

Throughout most of the nineteenth century 857 George Street was an integral part of the development of 853-855 George Street. It was, in fact, one half of the original Jones allotment and was developed as part of that property. However, in 1870 it became part of the Owyer family portfolio of properties on George Street and its subsequent history was tied to the development of those properties. For this reason 857 George Street, although developed as part of 853-855 George Street, has been considered separately in this analysis.

9.2 JACOB JOSEPHSON

Jacob Josephson was born in 1776 and arrived in Sydney as a convict in 1818. He was granted a conditional pardon in 1820 and then opened a jewellery store in PiU Street. By 1822 he was £22,000 in debt. He appeared before the Sydney Bench of Magistrates on several serious charges. He sold all his stock in 1825 to pay his costs. He was frequently involved in scandals and court cases and was declared bankrupt in 1827. By the 1830s he had become an inn-keeper. He died in 1845 aged seventy-two73

69 Schedule attached to Primary Application 29586 70 Colonial Secretary Memorials 4/3898 p 170. Reel 1063 71 Land Titles Office, Book L No. 132 72 Land Titles Office, Book R No 794 73 John Levi (2206), These Are the Names Jewish Lives in Australia, 380-381

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9.3 CHRISTOPHER FL YNN 74 Josephson sold the property to John Hatfield in 1841 He defaulted on the mortgage almost 7S immediately and Josephson put the property up for auction in 1841 The ground was described as bound by Blackman's land on the west (even though William Dwyer had purchased this property in 1836) and the Ultimo Estate to the north and east. It was sold in to 76 Christopher Flynn in 1843 .

Christopher Flynn was responsible for constructing the first buildings on this street front property. In a Statutory Declaration prepared in 1879 a tenant of one of the properties, familiar with it for many years, described his certain knowledge of its history. He stated that it had belonged to Josephson who then sold it to Flynn. Flynn constructed two houses upon it or at least commenced them. Josephson completed them; Flynn apparently had defaulted on 77 his arrangement with Josephson . The construction of these buildings, therefore, must have been in 1843.

857 George Street occupied approximately half of the Flynn-Josephson development. They constructed a matched pair of shops on the street frontage. In the 1845 Rate Assessment these were described as both being 2 Y:z storeys in height with seven rooms each, brick-built with shingled roofs. The buildings are shown on the detail of the 1887 survey below; 857 George Street was the building on the left or western side. The large out-building behind it was a later addition to the site.

They were described as shops in the 1845 Assessment but they certainly provided living accommodation. George Muir stated in a Statutory Declaration that he lived in this building s from 1847 to 1856 as a tenanf .

The 1845 Rate Assessment also noted that on the same property, probably behind these new shops, was a one-storey, two room "stall covered with bark" used as a house. This was very likely another left-over hut from the Ultimo Estate being pressed into service for rental accommodation in this period much as the smokehouse appears to have been so for the inn.

1 '~=-rI I - I ~', --"" ____ ....-_- ...... -r.-.L..L.J ""'-- .. _-...., - ... _-- ---

In what must have been a bitter outcome for Flynn, the 1845 Rate Assessment records that in that year he was living in a small brick house of four rooms rented from John Harris on a largely vacant allotment adjoining this to the east (present-day 149 George Street)79.

Although the yard space of the original terrace was preserved in the excavation area we could find no evidence that relates to the original phase of construction.

74 Land Titles Office, Book UNo. 980 75 The Australian 23 September 1841; 3 76 Land Titles Office, Book 6 No 781 77 Statutory Declaration George Muir 24 March 1879 in Primary Application Packet 13731 76 Ibid. 79 Sydney City Council Rate Assessment Denison Ward 1845, No 1052 George Street

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9.4 MICAHEL DALEY

After Josephson's death in 1844 the Trustees of his estate put the property to auction and it 8 was sold to Michael Daley in 1851 Daley died in 1852 and his widow and her father-in-law °. 81 inherited the property. In 1858 this property was used as a boarding house . By 1865 it was the premises of a "boot-closer,,82. The Rate Assessments provide no evidence of change to the building in this period.

9.5 WILLlAM DWYER

In 1870 Wi"iam Dwyer, who then owned a" the shops to the west and the Turon Hotel 83 purchased 857 George Street Dwyer must have been responsible for the tiny infi" building between this existing building and his other properties on George Street (shown in yellow on the survey detail below). In 1882 this was described as a two-storey, four-room brick-shop84 One of those storeys may have been a basement as it was described in 1891 as a single­ storey building. The confusion in terms of the number of storeys for an individual building is a common problem in the Rate Assessments. Some assessors did not count a basement as a storey or listed it separately.

The same Rate Assessment described the former Flynn building as four-storeys with eight rooms while in 1891 it was back to two storeys whereas in 1845 it had 2 % storeys. The likely answer is that it had a j I basement, two floors above I I street level and an attic level. I - I I I',_ _ _ _ --"'-""'-..J.-l -----._- -.. _--_ .... ---~

Dwyer must also have been responsible for the massive building added to the back of the terrace shown on this survey. It is not referred to in any Rate Assessment and Directory listings give no clue to its use.

As detailed in the previous section, in 1895 Goodwin, who had acquired the property on his marriage to Roseanna Dwyer, decided to rebuild a" his George Street shops. The Statutory declaration referred to earlier, made in 1904, recalled how this decision required Goodwin and the owner of the adjoining terrace to come to a new arrangement concerning their party wall. It was decided that both owners would build separate walls to their existing and new 85 premises .

The Dwyer-Goodwin family owned this building into the twentieth century. It was finally sold in 1961 to George and Chrisoula Economos for 12,500 pounds.

A" of the features found in the excavation relate to this later nineteenth century phase of development.

80 Primary Application 13731 and Book 22 No 18 81 Sands Directory 1858, 795 George Street 82 Sands Directory 1865, 795 George Street 83 Primary Application 29586 84 Sydney City Council, Rate Assessment Denison Ward 1882, 859 George Street 85 Statutory Declaration Thomas Todd Forsyth 1904 in Primary Application Packet 13731)

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Yard, Walls and Fences

The yard was defined on the western boundary by a dry-pressed brick wall, two courses wide with a third soldier coursed on the western face. It was bonded with cement [010J. This wall post-dates the survey of 1887 but must pre-date the changes to the site made in 1904. Therefore it most likely was built in 1895 for the new shop. We could find no evidence of the paling fence seen on the 1887 survey extending south from a structure at the end of the yard. We did, however, find a line of post-holes [194, 195, 196, 197J that were part of the eastern yard fence shown on this survey. All were approximately 500x300mm in size.

There was no evidence of any hard paved surface in this yard. All that was revealed by excavation was a mixture of sand and loam, with charcoal and small fragments of dry pressed brick and other rubble mixed in [036J. It lay over the levelling fills [014J and disturbed topsoil [015J.

The yard during the course of excavation with walls and out-building just exposed; view north (SR 02.11)

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Out-Building

The large building shown on the 1887 survey at the back of the yard appears to have been replaced by a building constructed on the same site after 1887, presumably after 1895. The new out-building used the new yard wall for its western wall [010J. The eastern wall of the structure [008J was also made of dry-pressed bricks but only two courses wide. Traces of corrugated iron used as framing or lining were found on the eastern face. The back wall [009J was made using the same two courses of dry pressed bricks with cement bonding. The building was 3.7 metres wide from east to west. We could not find the front or southern wall but the western wall [008J extended at least 6.5 metres in this direction.

Inside this building was what appears to have been the base of a pan toilet. Set on a fill of sand there was a pad of bricks 1.8 x 1.2 metres [007J. It had a thin piece of slate forming a threshold. The bricks had a distinctive mark" R " followed by a + sign and the "Co." We could not find the company responsible for this product.

View west of the floor [007] of the out-building (SR 02.02) and the distinctive bricks used in it (below SR 02.06)

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008 007

\ \ \

\I \ , \ \ ' \ , \ \, \\ \ , \ , \ \ \, ~\ , I i \ ' .I ,, \ I \ , I\ \ \ \ , ,\ \ \ \ I \ i \ ~ I \ \ \ \ \ \ .I , \ \. I\ \ \ \ \ , \ \ . .\ i \ \ \ \ \ \ . .\ \, \ ~\ \.

001 002 03& N

Archaeological Investigation 732 Harrls Street Ultimo o 4 CRM for Spurbest ___...... 1 851-857 George Street Metres 10.1 855-851 GEORGE STREET Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street, Ultimo 2006

10.1 THE REST OF THE STORY

The present-day 855-851 George Street takes in the rest of the allotment sold first to John Jones and then to George Beaver of which 857 George Street is the eastern half.

It is likely that there were more of the Ultimo Estate buildings left over on this land when it was sold in 1836. The Rate Assessment of 1845 records that there was a one room wooden hut on one part and a second hut with four acres of "garden ground"1. These have been discussed in an earlier section.

These old huts were obviously behind the new buildings constructed here and had been removed by 1848.

10.2 BEAVER TO JOSEPHSON

The early history of sale and resale of this allotment had been described in the previous chapter. After Jones defaulted it was purchased by George Beaver in 1836. Beaver appears to have made no improvements and sold it in 1840 to Jacob Josephson. Josephson sold it to Christopher Flynn and it was Flynn who commenced work on the terraces that came to occupy this site and Josephson who finished the job.

10.3 CHRISTOPHER FLYNN

As discussed in the preceding section Flynn and Josephson constructed a matched pair of shops on the street frontage. From the 1845 Rate Assessment each was described as being 2 % storeys in height with seven rooms, brick-built with a shingled roof. 855 George Street encompasses the majority of the eastern terrace with a small portion falling into the western boundary of 853 George Street. In this early phase of development the rest of the allotment, being the majority of present-day 853 George Street and 851 George Street was left vacant.

While George Muir was living in the western shop in the early part of the 1850s he stated that his neighbour in the eastern shop/house was Thomas Smith, a saddler86 In 1858 It was occupied by the furniture shop of Delaney Shaw8l By 1865 it was the premises of George Whitbread, a dealer88

86 Statutory Declaration George Muir 24 March 1879 Primary Application Packet 13731. 87 Sands Directory 1858, 793 George Street 88 Ibid, 1865

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10.4 MICHAEL DALEY

After Josephson's death the Trustees of his estate put the property (both two-storey shops) to auction in 1852 and it was sold to Michael DalelH Daley died in the same year and his wife and father-in-law inherited the estate, They kept it until 1870 when it was mortgaged90 and 91 then sold to Thomas Smith for £430 pounds . So it was in 1870 that the two terraces became the property of two separate owners; the western terrace belonged to William Dwyer and Thomas Smith owned the eastern house.

• I ;t-i_j ... ;D~L'--..L..... < ,I I I I I - ,I I --. - -- .... _- -- *"",,- --' ----~-

The detail from the 1887 survey above shows the western terrace owned by Dwyer in red with the small building he added to the side as an infill in yellow. The eastern terrace owned by Smith is shown in green.

10.5 THOMAS SMITH

Thomas Smith was the saddler who had tenanted this eastern terrace in the 1850s. When he purchased the building he moved back in sharing it with a newsagent. By this time Smith was described as a general dealer92

93 He mortgaged his property in 1870 . This probably enabled him to build a small shop next to his terrace. It was described in the 1871 Rate Assessment as one storey and three rooms built of wood with an iron roof4. He may have built the large terrace next to it at this time or when he mortgaged his property again in 1876. The archaeological evidence suggests the earlier date. This was part of the original Jones/Beaver allotment and a small portion of the vacant land next to it. It is the area defined by a red line shown on the survey above. Clearly when the Daley family sold the terrace they had retained this strip of land.

In his Statutory Declaration made in 1904 George Muir stated that he Michael Daley "former/I owned the land and premises near the railway bridge, the properly of Thomas Smith,,9 . Furthermore he also was able to state that Thomas Smith,

89 Primary Application 13731 and Book 22 No 18 90 Land Titles Office Book 121 No 493 91 Primary Application 13731 92 Sands Directory 1870, 825 George Street 93 Primary Application 13731 94 Sydney City Council, Rate Assessment Denison Ward 1871 819 George Street 95 Statutory Declaration George Muir 1879 Primary Application Packet 13731

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"having vacant land between Shaw's allotment (149 George Street) and the eastern of Flynn's houses purchased the property and erected on it 821, 821 ~ and 823,,96.

All of these buildings are shown coloured red on the 1887 survey below (including the narrow wooden building on George Street). They were described on the 1904 plan (below) to be of weatherboard, -

1 I I I = I I I" _____-_----L.-...I....JJ---l...------""""""

10.6 JAMES FORSYTHE

Smith sold his combined property, the old Flynn terrace and the buildings constructed in 97 1876, to James Forsythe in 1879 for £3250 . In the following year Forsythe put the property 98 in the name of his sons Robert and Thomas .

In 1895 there were some changes made to the property occasioned by the decision of Goodwin to rebuild his George Street shops including the western half of the Flynn terrace. This led to Forsythe and himself r nu 1\1 JIJIIIl demolishing the party wall and, in Forsythe's case, constructing a new western wall for his terrace 1. In 1897 Thomas sold his interest to his brother Robert1.

851-855 George Street just before the building were demolished in 1904. (Source: L TO, Primary Application 13731

96 Statutory Declaration George Muir 1879 in Primary Application Packet 13731 97 Primary Application 13731 98 Statutory Declaration Thomas Todd Forsythe 1904 in Primary Application Packet 13731

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The archaeological evidence of these yards reflects the situation presented on the 1887 survey; that at the northern end of the se properties Smith's subdivision had created a single space of the three former narrow yards with what appears to be a self-contained occupant. The space is shown below on the 1887 survey.

I' 1 ~ == tJ - < J I I I 1 - I I I•

855 853 851

855 George Street

This was the yard space of the second Flynn-Josephson terrace of 1843. Although the yard for this house originally extended all the way to the northern boundary of the excavation area, after Smith's realignment of the property boundaries the yard for the building was reduced to approximately half of this extent as shown above. None of that yard was within the excavation area and we found northing in the extended yard to the north that could be dated to the original period of construction in 1843 or predating later nineteenth century works.

From the 1870s until its demolition the yard for 1855 George Street appears to have been confined to the space shown on the 1887 survey. The northern half of the yard was vacant in the 1880s and the plan of 1904 also shows it to have no substantial features.

The archaeological evidence confirms this use or lack of use. This yard was defined on the western side by the paling fence between it and 857 George Street of which four post-holes were found in the excavation [194, 195, 196, 197}_ We could find no evidence of any boundary on the eastern side that related to this yard prior to its incorporation into the larger yard space seen on the 1887 survey.

There were no distinctive archaeological features found in this yard and its surface [035} was common to the entire space and, therefore, was probably a later nineteenth century introduction. It comprised sandy loam and some broken brick rubble.

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853 George Street

This narrow site was the location of Smith's wooden shop built in c.1870. The only features that related to the building on George Street found in this yard were service pipes installed in the later nineteenth century, this date based on the technology used in them and their stratigraphic relationship to the yards and other features.

The yard had the same surface seen in that of 855 George Street [035]. Into it had been cut one 200mm terracotta water pipe [037J that ran almost the entire length of the yard from north to south. It was set in a 500mm wide service trench [0781079J that, at the southern end of the yard cut through the older Ultimo Estate surfaces preserved here [068, o76J. The pipe had been broken at the northern end and extended beyond the line of excavation at the southern. At the northern end it had a terracotta riser [038J. There was a junction at this point where a second terracotta pipe [054J ran from this junction to the south-west. A narrow service trench [055J was found with this pipe. This connected to another major north-south running pipe [080J. This was a 300mm diameter collared earthenware pipe set into a 500mm wide service trench [0811082J. At the very southern edge of the excavation was a third service pipe [088J that joined into the eastern service trench and pipe [037, 0781079]. The pipe was 300mm in diameter and earthenware and the trench was 400mm wide cut down into the underlying natural soil profile [015J.

View north across yards 151-155 (SR 10:09)

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851 George Street

Yard Surfaces

One deposit appears to have been laid down in the yard behind the c. 1870 terrace before the subdivision was made that is shown in the 1887 survey. Immediately behind the terrace lying partly under the large building shown behind it and around the back of the yard of 855 George Street was a very substantial surface or fill level comprised of large pieces of unshaped sandstone [067}. The approximate location is shown on the survey below with a green arrow. This very substantial deposit was laid over what remained of a clay surface, probably left over from one of the Ultimo Estate huts [068}. It appears also to have removed some of the pink sand that was laid around the smokehouse and south-east into this direction [069}. The sand stopped abruptly at this new deposit.

The purpose of the material is unclear. It could have been filling in a depression and was used as a base for a new surface. It could even have been a hard packed surface in its own right. It was laid around a cess pit and seems to have occupied the space between the terrace and this pit as well as the yard to the west of it. Associated with this deposit to the north was another deposit that seems to have been an extension of this blocky material. This second deposit [071} lay directly over the c. 1815 pink sand [069} and extended to the north for at least five metres. It was made of crushed sandstone with smaller quantities of broken sandstone and fine stone dust. These deposits, probably yard surfaces, were only found in this area of the excavation.

View south-west of the blocky deposit [067J possibly used for levelling (SR 07:21)

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Cess-Pit

The cess-pit around which the these deposits were laid was probably constructed for the terrace in c. 1870. It must have only have had a short life span; it was covered over with the large building made on the subdivision behind the terrace in c. 1876. The approximate position of the cess-pit inside this building is shown on the survey to the left with the blue arrow.

The cess-pit was made of sandstock bricks forming a shaft of an extant depth of 1.5 metres although the top had been reduced in height. It measured 1.2 x 1.1 metres. The southern wall [064J was intact except for a small number of bricks at the eastern end dislodged by the construction of the new yards wall [016J. This was also the case for the northern wall [063]. The western wall [065J was completely intact. The eastern wall [096J lay completely under the later yard wall. The brick here had been replaced by stone when a building was constructed over the cess-pit in c. 1876 (see Smithy below).

View of cess pit to the south (SR 05:19)

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The cess pit contained much loam and building debris, both sand stock bricks and shaped sandstone. It was probably thrown in when the cess pit was demolished at the time it was covered with a new building (following section).

Structural debtis inside the cess-pit in the course of excavation (SR 07:23)

As well it contained a substantial artefact assemblage [066} preserved inside the shaft of the cess pit. It confirmed the association between this cess pit and the terrace built on George Street; the chronological range of the artefacts found here suggest a date of construction for both of 1870.

It was a very domestic assemblage comprising largely table-wares such as platters, bowls, plates, saucers, tea cups, a tea pot and tumblers. Kitchen-wares included basins, blacking bottles, stout bottles, pickle/chutney jars and salad oil/vinegar bottles. One of the latter was made in c.1870. There was a chamber pot, ointment jars and several unidentified pharmaceutical type bottles. One clay smoking pipe stem was marked with the firm of Thomas Saywell of Sydney (1865-1905) and there was a second from Davidson of Glasgow (1862-1911). There were fragments of beer-wine bottles, champagne/beer, gin/schnapps and spirits bottles. One aerated water bottle was of the skittle type (1860-1880). There were very few personal items, largely a belt buckle (CR4803) and a comb (CR4805). Kitchen wastes only encompassed a few oyster shells and some sheep/goat long bones. The few firm chronological indicators in this group of artefacts suggest a date of the 1860s - 1870s making the association with a terrace constructed in c.1870 a likely possibility.

Rubbish Pit

A large rubbish pit found in the yard provided more evidence of the life of the terrace in the period before the subdivision of this yard [056/057}. The pit was found lying under a hearth built probably in the later 1870s [849/850} and a yard wall of the 1890s [016}. It had been cut into the yard and was approximately 700mm in diameter. It contained a similar assemblage of domestic artefacts to those found in the cess-pit. These artefacts included beer/wine bottles, salad oil/vinegar bottles (made in the 1850s-1870s), pickle/chutney bottles and aerated water bottles of a type made in the 1860s-1900. Kitchen wares included salt glazed storage crocks. Kitchen wastes were very similar to those found in the cess pit including oyster shells and long bones from sheep/goats.

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A flow blue chinoiserie patterned saucer made by the firm of William James Butterfield was made between 1854 and 1861 (eR 4819). There was a variety of transfer printed dinner­ wares including cups, bowls, plates in blue and green patterns. Of several pharmaceutical items the most readily identifiable was a printed lid from a Russian Bears Grease pot.

Transfer printed bowl found in the cess-pit (eR 4758, AR 02:22)

Skittle-type bottle from the cess pit (eR 4788, AR 03:05) Salad oil/vinegar bottle from the rubbish pit (eR 4810, AR 03:10)

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Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street. Ultimo 2006

851 George Street Subdivision

Thomas Smith constructed the buildings at the back of the allotment in the former yard area of 851 and 853 George Street, shown below, in c. 1876. The larger building was constructed over the site of the old cess-pit necessitating the construction of a new out-house, the smaller building shown on the survey. There is good evidence to show that this subdivision was the premises of a small industrial business.

: lL---f""" " The Smithy , j I I Only very small fragments of this large I building survived in the excavation. I They were very thoroughly demolished in 1904. The most substantial element ;j was the northern wall or end of the -< building. ,i" This wall remained partly intact for a - width of 2.5 metres (049) although it had collapsed in the middle. It was made using variously sized sandstone ------blocks. It was 0.5 metres wide.

The blocks had been bonded with a sandy mortar that had been burnt in patches.

The northern wall of the building viewed north (SR 05:07)

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Only a very small fragment of the western wall survived towards where the centre of the building would have been located [087}. There was 300mm terracotta riser pipe set against this wall [083]. An even smaller fragment of the eastern wall was found; it was the portion preserved in the older cess-pit [096}.

View west of the remnant of the eastern wall of the building preserved in the side of the cess pit (SR 05: 15)

At the northern end of the building was a smith's hearth [050}. It was made using red fire bricks marked 'ENMORE HUGHES". Apart from being a later nineteenth century company, based on the technology of the wire-cut bricks, it is a firm for which nothing is known99 There were four courses extant It had two fuel spaces into which bellows would have been inserted to adjust the temperature. There were patches of burnt charcoal throughout each cavity [051]. The bricks sat over a deep sandy deposit. This had been cut into the remnant pink sand [069J from the Ultimo Estate period of occupation; this may have been cleared back and levelled for this construction.

99 W Gemmell (1986), And So We Graft from Six to Six The Brickmakers of NSW; 68

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View south towards the hearth with the two bellows cavities visible (SR 05:08)

View east of the side of the hearth (SR 05:10)

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The bricks used in the health (SR07:16)

Only one deposit was found inside the area of the building. This was a deep layer up to 300mm thick of oyster shells, loam and broken brick rubble [053]. It covered an area measuring approximately 1 x 2 metres and had no apparent purpose or association other than perhaps, to fill a dip in the floor surface. There was no evidence of a hard paved surface in the building.

The most likely association of this business was with ironmongery. Thomas Smith himself was listed as an ironmonger from 1870 and by 1875 he was succeeded by John Williamson, also an ironmonger'OO The ironmongery may have preceded the construction of the large building. There are no ironmongers listed after 1880. The forge may have lain abandoned in the shed. The 1904 plan shows this to have been a separate shed or building at the end of the range. Apart from the stone foundations of the building we could find no other evidence of any of these wooden buildings.

It is clear from the archaeological evidence that this building underwent several changes probably when the yard wall on the east [016] was built; on the basis of the archival evidence this appears to have been in the 1890s. Only a fragment of the stone wall survived on the eastern side preserved in the cess pit [096]. In its place was built a dry pressed brick wall [048]. Where it encountered the north-eastern corner of the building and the old stone wall [049] some of the stones were removed and cement was poured in to strengthen the join. Here was the only timber post preserved from the structure above ground.

Cement was again used where the new wall passed over the old cess-pit wall and the fragment of the stone wall preserved in it. Here the new wall foundation was completely made of cement. This new wall was further strengthened at the south-eastern corner of the building with cement for three metres at this corner [048]. It had an aggregate cement foundation with

100 Sands Directory listings 1870-1875, 819-823 George Street

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 76 Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street. Ultimo 2006 dry pressed bricks above and cement poured over them. What remained of the southern wall of the building at this corner, a length of 1.7 metres, was also cement covered (077J.

This 1904 plan also shows that by that date the building on George Street had been joined to the building sat the back to form a continuous line.

View to the norlh-east of the industrial building, the hearlh at the end of the structure (indicated by arrow) and the cess pit lying under it at the southern end (SR 10:06)

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The Yard Wall

The eastern yard wall [016} was the same construction as the wall at the western end of 855 George Street. It was made using two courses of dry-pressed bricks. It was extant to a height of five courses and had a stepped out foundation. The construction of these walls, which appear to have replaced paling fences shown on the 1887 survey, suggests that they were the work of James Forsythe in the c.1890s.

1 n lJ ~I .1 I J 11 11

The eastern yard wall [016J looking south. The yard of 851 George Street is to the right (SR 04."02) The Pan Closet

When the old cess-pit was covered over a new out-house was constructed at the back of the block. This is the small building seen on the 1887 survey. It was made with dry-pressed bricks and measured 2 x 1.5 metres (probably a double closet). It had a shallow pit 0.5 metres in depth set into the ground which had a brick floor [029}. After the demolition of this structure the pit was filled in with 500mm of fine loam [040}.

View south of floor of pan closet [029} showing brickwork and fill [040J (SR 03:22

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10.7 DAVID SOLOMON: REDEVELOPING THE PROPERTY

Robert Forsythe sold this property in 1904 to David Solomon 101 for £7070 pounds 102. Solomon and his brother entered into agreements with each of the tenants then occupying the buildings to demolish the existing structures and build new shops in their place that would then be available for the tenants to rene 03.The buildings that now occupy the site, three separate 104 terraces behind a single facade, were built in 1905 . The yards were demolished in 1962 (Section 11.4).

101 Land Titles Office, Book 772 No 21 102 Primary Application 13731 103 Memorandums of Agreement in Primary Application 13731 and Primary Application Packet 13731 104 Primary Application 13731

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11.1 RESERVED LAND

The 1837 survey of the estate shows that this block of land was initially reserved from the auction. The most probable reason was that it had the pond in it as well as the stream shown in the detail of the survey reproduced here. Part of this pond was contained in the extreme north-eastern corner of the excavation area. The land was still in the possession of John Harris in 1845. In that year, like several other portions of this street frontage, several huts were still standing that were left over from the Ultimo Estate development. Although the position of the buildings are not known they were close enough to the street frontage (with one exception) to be rated as part of the Parramatta Road development in 1845.

On the western edge of the reserved block was a one-storey, four room brick and shingled house. This building was tenanted in 1845 by Christopher Flynn. He would have been able to see his now-completed terraces on the adjoining block.

Further along was a wood and shingled hut with four acres of garden ground. At the rear of the allotment was another wooden hut of one room and one storey.

The land is unlikely to have had much development until the stream and pond were filled in, which appears to have been during the early 1850s. It was a small portion of this land that Thomas Smith purchased in the 1870s to extend his holdings.

11.2 SHAW'S ALLOTMENT

No record of a formal sale for this land was found during our search of titles but, leased or sold, by the 1850s this land had come to be known as Shaw's allotment. It was remembered as such by George Muir in 1879 who described the buildings constructed by Thomas Smith on the eastern end of 851 George Street as being on land between the existing Flynn-built terraces and "Shaw's allotment" S The association of an occupant here in the later 1850s gives further credence to the idea that the pond and stream were filled as part of the development of the railway in the early 1850s.

Certainly b~ 1858 Shaw was using some form of building on this land. It housed his furniture business 10. It could have been brick cottage formerly tenanted by Flynn although later evidence suggests that it was one of the huts. It was certainly located between the boundary of present-day 851 George Street and what was then the Railway Line.

Shaw's shop was still there in 1865 and by then had been joined by a second building occupied by William Eldridge 107. However, the 1871 Rate Assessment records only one building on the street frontage in that year. It was a one storey-three room timber-built and 108 shingled shop occupied by Delaney Shaw . This means that the brick cottage had been

105 Statutory Declaration George Muir 1879 in Primary Application Packet 13731 106 Sands Directory 1858, 793 George Street 107 Sands Directory 1865,787-789 George Street 108 Sydney City Council Rate Assessment 1871, 815 George Street

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We found no evidence of any buildings or features that could have related to this phase of development. However, there was a yard surface [034} that was found over most of this allotment. It comprised loose loam with some charcoal and small artefact fragments. It was compacted through considerable wear. The artefacts were very worn from being moved about the site by foot traffic. They were domestic and comprised some kitchen-wares such as fragments of a preserve jar and salad oil/vinegar bottles and tablewares, mainly sherds of dinner plates. A few provided dates that confirmed the association of this surface with this phase of occupation. A fragment of a dinner plate had a printed mark by the firm of Anthony Shaw made between 1851 and 1882 (CR4834) and several beer/wine bottles made before 1870 (CR4837).

Although the 1887 survey shows that the western side of this allotment was defined by a paling fence and the industrial building at the back of Smith's subdivision, by the 1890s a wall had been built along this boundary [016}. It was a dry-pressed brick structure two courses wide and was probably built by James Forsythe.

109 Sydney City Council Rate Assessment 1882, 843-849 George Street

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11.3 THE CYCLORAMA

In 1889 the Sydney Cyclorama Company built a cyclorama on land to the north of 849 George Street, land presently owned by the UTS. A cyclorama was a painted diorama that, with the aid of mirrors and glasses, produced three-dimensional illusions of landscapes and historic scenes. The Broadway Cyclorama presented the Battle of Gettysburg from the American Civil War. The public entrance to the attraction was from the street front at 849 George Street down a substantial flight of stairs. From there a passage ran between the railway on the right or east and the buildings at 851 George Street on the left. This passage appears to have been lined by brick walls. These are shown on the subdivision plan of 1899 11o reproduced below . Several elements of the public entrance to the Cyclorama were preserved in the site. The Cyclorama closed in 1907.

SALE N°19.

MS ONDAY 8JORDERorTHE PERPETUAL TRUSTEE t~ LIMITED.

T ER. S for FRIIHOLDS Jmprol'etf4odsul?/eCl ..,.-ZIJQm!/ur4.qfl,S' loex/st!ngltdses 25% deposl/ Bd/ane!: /nl;>JLi,,,,,,f'j'4IJ"I'a pirJlloum Pil!lableqllilrltrfg with rf9ht /Q PJg .:lBWD

110 Sydney Subdivision Plans ML SP 811.1735/10

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Path

The southern extent of the excavation at 849 George Street ended short of the stairs from George Street. From the stairs visitors to the attraction walked down a path and this was found here. The sides of the path were lined with single rows of soldier-coursed dry pressed bricks [044, 045]. The path was 1.1 metres wide and was finished with a crumbly coke/ash mixture to form a hard but friable surface [046]. The path was resurfaced at least once. Above the first ash/coke deposit was 100-1500mm of mixed loam and broken dry pressed brick [075], which was the base material for the new surface. The latter was a hard compacted surface of industrial wastes and small pebbles [074]. Ten metres of the path were intact; it may have run for a short distance beyond that point but we could find no more evidence of it. There was what appeared to be a minor repair to the western edge of the path [058] preserved on the upper surface slightly awry from the original line [044].

View south along Cyclorama path (SR 03:10)

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Courtyard

The image below111 shows the Cyclorama and a small part of the public entrance from 849 George Street It is clear that there were tables and chairs in a courtyard before the entrance. The archaeological evidence suggests that there were other features not included in this picture.

Paved Forecourt?

Towards the centre of this portion of the site was a large cement covered area [024J. It measured 6 x 4 metres and was defined on the northern side by a frame of dry-pressed bricks 1.5 courses wide bonded with a crumbly cement mortar [022J. The southern side of this floor or base was framed in a similar manner with dry pressed bricks [021J as was the eastern side [020J although here the junction of the southern and eastern walls was substantially fragmented. The western frame of bricks was identical in its materials and bonding [023].

There is no clue as to the purpose of this feature unless it was part of a paved area for seating or a small courtyard. It was placed at a different angle to the path but there is no

111 Pamphlet (1900), Hall of Illusions and Cvclorama

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evidence to show that any portion of the path was removed to install this floor. It suggests that two were contemporary as do the materials used in both.

It is possible that the path from the steps shown on the auction poster led to this, a small paved area at the top of the sunken courtyard that is shown on the image of the cyclorama on the previous page. Some credence to this suggestion is given by the preservation of what appears to have been the brick wall shown in that image on the eastern side of the courtyard,

View of the forecourt to the north-west (SR 04:12)

Courtyard Walls

Two metres to the north-west of the cement floor was a fragment 2.2 metres in length of a dry pressed brick wall [027]. It differed from the path in that it was three courses wide. It had been removed at both the southern and northern ends but projecting the line to the south it would have intersected the north-western corner of the cement floor. The junction with the paved floor was missing due to a large irregular cut [030/031] made at this point associated with a narrower cut into the floor [0321033]. These cuts were probably excavated when the sub­ station was placed here in the 1980s (Section 11.4). It does appear to be the base of the western side wall of the Cyclorama entrance at a higher level to that seen in the image.

South of the paved floor [024] and 2 metres to the western side of the path [046] were two dry pressed brick walls [042, 043]. This L-shaped feature (truncated on the western side by the foundation trench of Wembley House) and running into the southern edge of the excavation, appears to have been a wall that ran down the eastern side of the public walkway into the Cyclorama ending before the paved forecourt with a return [042] to the east. It followed the same alignment as the path.

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Garden Structure?

Between the western side of the path [045J and the property wall between the 851 and 849 George Street [016J was a small structure that may have been associated with the planting that is visible in the image of the cyclorama. Both sides of the public path leading to the Cyclorama had gardens, at least at the northern end. The small structure preserved on the western side was made using the same mix of dry pressed bricks and cement seen in the other Cyclorama structures. This small structure measured 1.5 x 1.2 metres. It was made with bricks but the floor [060J was covered in cement up to 5mm thick. There was a small extension of the dry pressed bricks [061J, one course wide, abutting the property wall [016J. There was a small extension of this structure along the edge of the path as well [062J. These two extensions could indicate that there was a second part to this structure. It could have been a planting structure but there is insufficient evidence to be sure.

View norlh showing the boundary wall {016] and the edge of the path {045] with the garden element {059] in what had been a landscaped edge to the public walkway of the Cyclorama (SR 06:23)

View west of the same structure (SR 06:25)

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Drainage

Between the courtyard wall [027J and the yard wall of 851 George Street [016J there was a fragmentary terracotta service pipe [028J. On the eastern side of the floor, 1.8 metres from it, was a 1.3 metre square dry-pressed brick sump [003]. It was six courses deep set on a cement base. A brick spoon drain [004J led into its southern side. It had been cut by a later terracotta service pipe [005]. This appears to have been part of the Cyclorama phase of occupation, an upgrade of the older surface drain. There was a fragment of another spoon drain [019J that would have intersected the other spoon drain [004J at a right angle. The junction had been destroyed by later work. Only 0.5 metres remained intact. Close to this drain was a small pad of dry pressed bricks [017J 1 x 0.5 metre that was in the same alignment as the sump [003J and used similar materials but its purpose was unknown.

Sump 003 looking west (SR 04:08)

Spoon drain 004 looking norlh to sump 003 (SR 04; 17)

CRM for Spurbesl Ply Ud Page 88 Cylcorama i 001 0~!7 002 073 072 084 086 086 037 014 154

001 002 073 072 -0181 034 014 154 016 N

Key o 4 o Department of Education Metres o Sub-Station Archaeological Investigation Hotel 732 Harris Street Ultimo o Cyclorama CRM for Spurbest George Street 849 George Street

7 Archaeological Investigation 732 Hams Street. Ultimo 2006

Surfaces

There was some evidence of what appears to have been a bitumen surface first laid over the area. A small portion of this surface, a compacted bitumen and blue metal surface [018J, was found on the western side of the forecourt floor [024]. A fragment of the same surface [084J was also preserved in the northern side of the floor. It had been largely removed from the rest of the site. Found also on the northern side of the floor lying over the yard associated with Shaw's occupation [034J and below the bitumen surface [084J was a deposit of mixed white, yellow and pink clay [085J. It had no apparent purpose other than, perhaps, packing against the brick frame to the floor on this site [022J. It was underlain by Smm of dark sand [086J.

View of section under forecourt, looking south (SR 03: 18)

View to the north-east showing the Cyclorama features in the background, the path is indicated with an arrow (SR 10:06)

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11.4 THE GLACIARIUM AND AFTERWARDS

When the Cyclorama closed in 1903 it was then adapted for use as a cold stores. Although there is no archival evidence for this period and little archaeological material it is evident from what is left that the forecourt was demolished leaving only a few fragments in the ground of the paved floor and drains, the bases of some of the side walls and the path. All this material was covered in a thin deposit of clean sand [072] and then above this over the entire area a 350mm deposit of loam [073]. It contained a few fragments of broken bricks.

The old Cyclorama was renamed the Glaciarium. It remained in use until 1965 when it was demolished and the site was paved and used for car-parking. In that year the ownership of 849 and 851-855 George Street passed from the Sydney Cold Stores Company to the NSW Department of Education which had purchased several other properties in the area including the Marcus Clarke building at 827-839 George Street. The Department demolished the Glaciarium and paved the site for use as a car-park. At the same time its took the opportunity to demolish the out-buildings, yards and fences behind 851-855 George Street and repaved the site for the same purpose. This was the material found over the site at the commencement of the excavation [001,002].

The only features found in the site from the later part of the twentieth century related to the installation of services. 2.3 metres to the north of what had been the location of the paved forecourt [024] of the Cyclorama was a service trench [026] 500mm wide that ran into a cement drain with an iron grate [025]. There was no service pipe in the trench. It had been removed and a new connection made to the drain. A white PVC pipe [041] in a trench up to one metre wide had been run to this drain from the south-eastern corner of the site. It cut through the western side of the paved forecourt [024]. This appears to have been put in during the 1980s or 1990s. The cement drain preceded the installation of this pipe but is probably no earlier than the 1960s placed there after the demolition of the buildings on site.

112 In 1983 a sub-station was built at the eastern end of the lane . The detail of the survey below within the red lines is at the western end of the site and encompasses the northern portion of 1849 George Street. The substation site is in the centre.

1~~~~"';;~~·:·~~~&~·~~~~!·~r·~~~~];~5b fUQIoCT' _....."..,,1 Po L!) 3873 ., ~'!5U'lr..w f I t"a& a..-. I f"U ...... CJl...... '" · ./ I!, .1; Lane

112 Certificate of Title Volume 9108 Folio 153

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The substation was placed almost entirely over the site of the formed paved forecourt to the Cyclorama. In doing so some damage occurred through excavation. The north-western corner of the floor and its junction with the side wall of he public walkway was removed by the excavation of a pit [030/031J and a narrow strip excavation possibly for a connection to the station [0321033J. Several patches of cement in this area are likely to have come from the station [006J.

View south of the service trench cutting through the old Cyclorama forecourt to a drain built in the 1960s. In the foreground is part of the Cyclorama wall {027] and to the right is the property boundary {016] (SR 04:23)

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 91 12.0 730-732 HARRIS STREET Archaeological Investigation: 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006

12.1 ON THE EDGE OF THE ESTATE

The discussion in Sections 4 and 5 have shown that this piece of land was on the very southern fringe of the Ultimo Estate. The archaeological evidence has shown that there was a focus of activity centred on a pond. The site was raised and levelled and there were several huts, an animal stall, garden and from c. 1815 there was a smokehouse. This building was found in the centre of the site, on its southern edge behind the present-day 859 George Street. Despite the evidence of a plan of 1837 showing this to be a garden area we could find no trace of cultivation.

12.2 BLACKMAN'S LAND

When the first subdivision of the Ultimo Estate was made in the 1830s this land was included in the land purchased by Samuel Blackman. It included all of the land from what is now Harris Street to and including the yard space behind 859 George Street. Blackman constructed a house on the corner of Harris and George Streets. We could find no evidenced of any changes or improvements made to the land behind this house or throughout the rest of 732 Harris Street from this period. The smokehouse certainly remained standing in this period up to 1836 although we have no idea what it was used for at that time.

12.3 THE HOTEL YARD

When Samuel Blackman sold his property in 1836 the house was adapted for use as a hotel, the Lamb Inn and subsequently the Turon. In this period this portion of the property appears to have been used as a yard associated with the hotel. The former smokehouse was probably modified to serve as a small house, possibly for hotel staff.

It is likely that the right-of-way that still exists between the properties on George Street and this strip of land was established when the hotel began to trade and the remainder of the George Street frontage was subdivided and progressively developed with shops and yards in the later 1830s and early 1840s. The yards stopped at the right of way as did the main hotel out-buildings. We found no evidence of any other hotel buildings in the yard. At best it was probably used for storage and a place to dump rubbish.

12.4 JOSEPHSONS, SMITHS AND SHAW'S YARDS

The eastern half of the land behind the George Street shops was encompassed within the yards that stretched behind what is now 849-857 George Street. These were properties developed in the 1840s and later and the archaeological evidence from these properties has been discussed in earlier sections.

12.5 VACANT LAND

After the demolition of the former smokehouse in the c. 1850s this land appears to have been vacant for several years. In 1867 it was described as "vacant land,,113. There are no occupants listed at this address until 1870. No evidence of any occupation was found but, possibly, the site was sealed for use as an open yard. Small fragments of a dark clay deposit [113} with inclusions of charcoal and some shell were found towards the centre of the site beneath a structure built in c. 1870 [108}.

113 Sands Directory 1867 Harris Street to George Street intersection.

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12.6 THOMAS BERWICK, FARRIER

The first record of an occupant of the site is in 1870. In that year Thomas Berwick, a farrier, occupied this land 114 Farriers specialise equine foot-care. He was still there in 1880.

Site Preparation

To prepare the site for this building a sUbstantial deposit of loam was spread about the site, up to 500mm on the lower part of the slope on the east [013}. It included considerable quantities of waste such as animal bones, leather off-cuts and glass. It appears to have been a rubbish deposit, possibly brought to the site from elsewhere (because of the quantity of what appears to be tannery waste) specifically for the purpose of building up this corner prior to erecting the building on it. In the centre of the building this lay over the yard surface of the mid-nineteenth century [013} but much of this appears to have been stripped away exposing the introduced levels of fill brought to the site as part of the reclamation project of the 1850s [014} and, lower down the site at its eastern end, above fragments of the distinctive pink sand deposit that had been laid about the old smokehouse [069=114}.

This eastern end of the building cut into the remnants of the smokehouse that lay under it's covering of demolition fill and loam [138}. Just to the west of this deposit was the possible yard surface of the c. 1860s [113}. The exposure of so many surfaces and deposits from various periods suggests that before the fill was brought in the site was cut and levelled in several places to even it out, thus exposing portions of several older surfaces.

View south of some of the foundations of Berwick's building with the layers of site preparation, fill and demolition material under it (SR 10:10)

114 Sands Directory 1870 Harris Street to George Street intersection.

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Stables? - An Unidentified Building

There is evidence to suggest that there was a large building on the northern boundary of the site or several buildings. All that remained of this structure or structures was a very disrupted line of wall or walls that lay under the foundations of the last building constructed on this portion of the site in 1891. and outside the area of a shed that was built here in 1886. It had been greatly disrupted by later works but covered a distance of at least twenty metres. It was set back from Harris Street by a distance of approximately nine metres.

The most eastern portion of the farrier's building comprised three blocks of sandstone that had been cut into the western side of the smokehouse; the remains of this building lay under several deposits of fill [138, 014]. The three blocks, of which the central was only identifiable from a pad left in the ground encompassed an area approximately 800 x 800mm [105].

Separated by a distance of four metres to the west were six similar blocks of sandstone [108] but a wall constructed in the 1890s or early 1900s may have displaced these stones. Alternatively they were fragments of a hearth set in a wall. A small piece of the double skinned wall of stone, similar to [105] abutted the end of this line of stones. This small fragment [109] was intact for only one metre. It had a rubble core. These stones were laid on a thin bedding layer of grey clay at most 30mm thick [111]. It was impossible to see if the same measure had been taken for any more of the wall to the west. The clay had been laid over a clean deposit of SOmm of sand [112]. In this portion of the building this had been laid directly over a fragment of the yard surface of the c. 1860s [113].

The wall had been lost for the next 4.S metres but two metres of it survived at the end of this gap. It had two skins of sandstone and a rubble core and ended with two substantial single blocks [118]. There was a small portion of the wall missing, approximately 800mm where a later concrete wall had cut through the older structure [122]. The remainder of the wall lay under the foundations of a building constructed in 1891 [119]. The latter appears to have kept the older stonework to serve as a foundation course. The older foundation comprised five metres of sandstone ashlar construction intact to two courses [120]. This was probably the full extent of this building. It is very likely that the structure of the building was iron but we found no trace to prove that this was the case.The evidence for the structure is provided by Rate Assessments which list a one-room iron store on this site in 1891 although it was then used by another tenant.

View norlh showing Berwick's foundations under a building constructed in 1891 (SR 09:11)

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The interior of this building does not appear to have been hard paved. Lying immediately above the filling material [013J was a deposit that probably formed the floor. It comprised a 100mm layer of compacted black loam [012J. There were a few artefacts associated with this deposit largely domestic waste in the form of broken table-wares including a broken Willow pattern platter and plate (CR4843, 4844), a transfer printed Seaweed pattern saucer (CR 4845). The only readily identifiable chronological markers were some fragments of a gin/schnapps bottle made before 1890 (CR 4847) and some fragments of a beer-wine bottle made before and around the 1870s (CR 4850). There were other pieces of glass including some sherds from pickle/chutney bottles and there was a small horseshoe (CR852) the later presumably from one of Berwick's customers. It was a small and scattered assemblage and appears to have been created by casual breakages and losses inside the building. The most likely interpretation of this building is that it was stables for the horses and storage for material associated with the business.

We could find no evidence of a yard associated with this building. Immediately to the east of the remnant structure there was evidence that the site had been cut back and levelled down to deposits associated with the smokehouse. The distinctive pink sand laid around that building was uppermost [069=114J above a disturbed topsoil [116J and an intact A-horizon soil profile [115J. There was a rubbish pit [011J approximately a metre in diameter to the west of the building. It contained a small amount of non-diagnostic black glass that could have been placed there in this period of occupation or by several of the later nineteenth century occupants. The removal of the stratigraphy here back to early nineteenth century levels made it impossible to determine a more precise date for the pit. It had been cut through by a wall [010J built in the 1890s which had further lessened its associations.

12.7 MISCELLANEOUS TENANATS

Berwick appears to have moved out in 1880-1881. Several tenants took his place, over the next few years. In 1882 there was George Murphy and his plate and sheet glass warehouse. In 1883 it was vacant. In 1884 it was the business premises of J.A. Saunders and Co, 115 auctioneers . These tenants must have been using Berwick's old stables/storage building.

115 Sands Directory 1880 - 1885, Harris Street

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Archaeological Investigation 732 Harrls Street Ultimo

Ho I CRM for Spurbest o 4 T. Berwick- W. Carey George Street 1870-1891 Metres Archaeological Investigation 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006

12.8 WILLlAM CAREY AND SONS

From 1886 the firm of William Carey and Sons occupied the old shed. They imported building materials and used the yard for storage 1. The firm arrived there in 1886 and left when their building was demolished in 1891. This was the building described as an iron shed in the 1891 but in a Statutory Declaration made in 1911 by a man who knew the site well, Adolphus Peters, it was described as timber. Peters described some changes made to the place by the removal of Carey's building on the northern boundary. He stated that the boundary consisted of the wall of the old wooden shed occupied by Carey and Sons.

He described the shed as "very old and the wall appeared to be very old and to have been erected where it stood for many years" (this was the rest of the northern boundary wall). When the shed was pulled down a new brick wall replaced it to enclose this portion of the boundary116.

The building shown on the 1887 survey extended all the way to Harris Street while the sandstone foundations exposed in the excavation stopped several metres short of the footpath. It is likely that Carey extended the western end of the building to Harris Street. It may be that it was at this point that Berwick's iron building became Carey's timber building. To support the new length of the shed a deposit of sandstone rubble [121J was laid down at the western end of the Berwick foundations. This rubble formed a base course for the extension to the shed.

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116 Statutory Declaration of Adolphus Peters July 1911 in Primary Application Packet 47927

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View north-west showing the original foundations of Berwick's building and the extension using blocky sandstone made by Carey (SR 09:10)

Detail of the rubble foundations [121] under the building constructed in 1891 [119] (SR 09:07)

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12.9 ROBERT B. CROPLEY

From 1885 the southern portion of the Harris Street frontage was occupied by Robert B. Cropley, undertakers. Cropley was still there in 1890 although by that time the firm had diversified to become undertakers and builders. Cropley and Sons remained on the site until 1892. A new building was constructed on the street frontage for the business. The 1891 Rate Assessment described it as a two-storey brick-built and iron-roofed shop. This was the long L­ shaped building on the street front that was next to the right-of-way separating it from the hotel (in green below).

The Assessment noted that there was also off Harris Street a one-room wood and iron-roofed store used by Chas Frankel117 This must be the third building shown on the 1887 survey immediately behind Cropleys and taking up most of the southern boundary of the block (in yellow). We found no evidence of this building. It was demolished between 1911 and 1915 (Section 12.13).

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There was a small fragment of Cropley's building found in the excavation. To prepare and level the site some of the naturally occurring loam [015J was cut back and levelled leaving a depth of approximately 300mm above the B-horizon clay [133]. The exposed surface acquired some inclusions of charcoal and small brick fragments [132]. There was also a small deposit of broken sandstock bricks [131J tumbled into the soil. It had no structure and appears to have been refuse lying on the old surface that was relocated and tumbled when the cutting and levelling for this building was carried out in 1885. If there had been any of the fill added to the site in the 1850s as part of the reclamation and site levelling associated with the railway development [014J, which was present on the northern side of the site at this point, it was removed by the new work. The walls of the new building were cut into this levelled platform.

Five metres of the northern wall were found starting from its north-eastern corner. It extended towards Harris Street but the overburden of the excavation had to be maintained here. The wall foundation [126J was made using two skins of sandstone ashlar blocks bonded with a lime mortar. It was extant to a height of three courses. Only 1.2 metres of the back of the main building could be excavated for the same reason of maintaining an overburden, here along the lane. This wall [136J was built in the same manner as the northern wall using two skins of sandstone ashlar blocks. It was bonded into the main northern wall; the red arrow on the survey on the following page indicates the corner.

117 Sydney City Council Rate Assessment 1891,732 Harris Street

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Approximately 1.5 metres to the west of the back wall was a second sandstone ashlar wall [127} constructed in the same manner but not bonded into the main northern wall. It appears to have formed a small toilet or sink enclosure at the back of the building. There was a terracotta riser pipe [137} in the space formed by this wall, the back and northern walls.

The plan below shows a small extension at the back of Cropley's building (indicated with the blue arrow). Very little of this survived; what did appears to have been the base of a fireplace. There was single piece of sandstone approximately 0.5 x 0.5 metres [135} in line with the northern wall [126}. Next to this on the southern side, inside this room space, was a brick paved hearth [134]. It was made using what appear to be recycled sandstock bricks. It remained intact for a width of nine courses, approximately 1.5 metres. The bricks had been bedded on a 100mm deposit of yellow clay [130} and were covered in 100-150mm of black ash and cinders; these had filtered down under the bricks [129}.

.; I II ..J I I jw = I ;: ...... :.. = .IIr~

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View to the west of the foundations of Cropley's building. The wall to the right is part of a structure built in 1891 (SR 09:01)

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Extent of Excavation

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View south-west of Cropley's building with the hearth in foreground (SR 09:02)

This building was incorporated into a new building constructed on the site in 1891. Cropley ceased trading there in 1895 and it was subsequently leased to several tenants. The building was still standing on the site into the 1990s. Throughout the twentieth century it was home to a very great variety of tenants. These are discussed in the following section.

After it had been demolished a service trench was cut through the site of the building along the lane [1241125J. It removed most of the foundations; the back fill contained fragments of them. It was cut deep into the underlying soil profile [115].

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12.10 GOODWIN'S BUILDING: COACH AND WAGGON BUILDERS

After the sale of this land to William Dwyer in 1836 the property remained in the hands of the same family for the remainder of the nineteenth century. When William died his estate was divided between his three children. His daughter Roseanna married Edwin Goodwin, landlord of the Turon Inn, and her property became his.

In 1891 Goodwin demolished William Carey's (formerly Berwick's) old shed on the northern Harris Street frontage. He appears to have retained Cropley's building. The cleared site was used to as the site of a new two-storey brick building. The new building used the foundations from Berwick's stable [108, 109, 118,120} and Carey's extensions to it [121} as the foundation course for the southern wall. These lay directly under the new dry-pressed brick and slate damp-course of Goodwin's building [119}. As part of the construction of this southern wall a terracotta waste pipe was laid approximately in the centre of it [128}. This fed into a second terracotta service pipe 200mm in diameter that ran down the side of the building going out to Harris Street [123}.

There was a fine although fairly plain fayade placed across it to meet the back of the Agincourt Hotel at the right-of-way between the two properties. This is shown on the photograph below taken just at the commencement of the archaeological programme. The jump-up in the elevation next to the right-of-way and the two windows in the upper storey at a slightly higher level were consequences of incorporating Cropley's building. The very wide doors at the ground floor provide a good clue to the nature of Goodwin's business. In 1895 the business was described as Henry Goodwin'S wagon and coach-builders118 There were Similarly wide doors in the side of the building on its southern facade.

Above the ground floor and behind the fayade the building was a utilitarian brick building typical of its period. It had several small windows along the second storey on both its southern and eastern walls. The original building was enclosed with a brick wall not far from its back or western wall and this also survived at the commencement of the programme.

Goodwin's coach building remained in business until 1898.

118 Sands Directory 1895, 732 Harris Street

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View east of Goodwin's building on the left and Gropley's old building on the right. The pipe in the background [123J ran between them (SR 09:14)

View to the west showing Goodwin's building over the combined foundations of Berwick and Garey and Gropley's building to the south. The pipe [123J runs between them (SR 09:15)

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12.11 WAREHOUSES AND STORES

After the coach-building business left the premises the building was used by a variety of occupants largely needing space for their merchandise. In 1899 it was described as Frank Grimley's Store and again in 1900. By 1905 it had become the Bon Marche Furnishing Warehouse and it remained so until 191011H

The back of Goodwin's building showing the enclosing wall around the original structure.

12.12 CLAIRVOYANTS AND RABBIT MERCHANTS

When Goodwin's building was leased to Bone Marche and others Cropley's old building was also leased to several tenants after he ceased trading there in 1895. For many years after that this old building was home to a particularly great variety of businesses beginning in 1896 with Valentine Engent a commission agent. By 1899 Mrs Stephenson a medical clairvoyant could be consulted here and William Stephenson, an all-purpose clairvoyant, succeeded her in 1900. By 1905 Mrs Margaret Brown, another clairvoyant was in residence.

Perhaps they saw it coming; by 1910 the clairvoyants were out of business and had been replaced rather prosaically by a hairdresser. By 1915 this building now housed the British Record Pty Ltd to be replaced in 1920 by the wonderfully named William Bird, a rabbit merchant. By the 1930s the building housed several small businesses including a tobacconist, auctioneer and plumber120

The wooden shed behind Cropley's old building was still there in 1911. The Rate Assessment of that year described the off Harris Street behind Cropley's building as the premises of the 121 Federal Furnishing Co Ltd . It must have been demolished between 1911, when it was still

119 Sands Directory 1890-1932, 730-732 Harris Street 120 Sands Directory 1890-1932, 730-732 Harris Street 121 Sydney City Council Rate Assessment Denison Ward 1911; 732 Harris Street

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123 122 191

110 o 192 o 102 Extent of Excavation

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listed in the Rate Assessment and 1928 when a survey of the site showed almost the entire area to have been built over by what was described as an "old brick building,,122 shown below (Harris Street at the top of the survey and the dark strip to the left the right-of-way. In fact it was probably removed between 1911 and 1915 (Section 12.13).

122 Plan of Part of Harris' 34 Acre Grant 1928, in Primary Application Packet 29586

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12.13 KING'S PICTURE THEATRE

The 1928 survey on the previous page shows almost the entire site covered by what was described as an "old brick building". The tenant was the King's Picture Theatre. The Picture 123 Theatre is first listed on the site in 1915. It was still there in 1932 . It is likely that the theatre was responsible for the large extensions made behind Cropley's and Goodwin's buildings and, in doing so, demolishing the old wooden building behind Cropley's building. The addition was supported by massive piers, over two metres deep, the latter substantially cutting into several early features including the smokehouse. One had cut the eastern side of the chimney or flue. It was an irregular oval shape with a maximum diameter of 700mm [102}. Another pier had cut through the eastern wall of the hut; it was similar in size and composition to the others [187}. Another pier had cut through the deposits lying just outside the northern end of the hut. It was also concrete and 700mm in diameter [188}. Opposite this pier, to the west, another had cut into the northern end of the hut [189}. A pier [190} was cut into the eastern end of brick wall that had formed the southern end of the hut [103}. Four other piers were found on the southern side of Goodwin's building [117, 191, 192, 193}.

One of the massive piers being removed from the northem side ofthe site (SR 01.05)

In this period, there are the Sands Directory references to the businesses at 732 Harris Street. It suggests strongly that part of Cropley's building was still used for small shops while the former coach-building works at 730 Harris Street and the extensions made behind after the demolition of the furniture warehouse were used for the King's Picture Theatre. All the buildings were still standing in 1961 124

123 Sands Directory listings, 73-732 Harris Street 1900-1932 124 Shown on DP203873

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There was evidence of some additions made to the original Goodwin's building, at least on the southern side after the removal of Cropley's old building and the picture theatre. It was a small annexe added to the south-eastern corner of the original building. There was a aggregate concrete wall [122} at the back of the building, This was the western end of the annexe. It was 0.5 metres wide, 100mm deep and lay over the old terracotta service pipe running down the side of the building [123]. A similarly dimensioned aggregate wall defined the eastern end [106}. There was an internal wall [110} of concrete and this used broken sandstock bricks as an aggregate. The annexe would have measured 11.5 metres from east to west and 2.5 metres from north to south.

There was no evidence contained within the structure to determine what had been its purpose. This small building lay over land that appears to have been cleared as part of Thomas Berwick's period of occupation even though it was probably outside the area of his stables or shed. It lay directly over the distinctive pink sand [069=114} that had been laid down around the smokehouse in c. 1815. Below this were disturbed topsoil [116} and then intact topsoil [115}. It appears to have been a mid-later twentieth century addition. It is shown on a survey of c. 1997 labelled "metal and awning" shown below (shown by red arrow).

J" ". i o.!' """HARRIS STREET

12.14 DEMOLITION

In 1962 the Dwyer family sold the property to Railway Square Properties for £55,000 along with the lane. Before the commencement of the archaeological programme all but the original Goodwin's building had been demolished and the site was hard paved and used for car parking. There was no evidence of the demolition process left on the site. The surface laid at this time was bitumen with paving bricks added later [001}. Both had compacted road base under them [002}. This was the surface covering over the entire site at the commencement of the excavation.

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 107 13.0 RESPONSE TO RESEARCH DESIGN Archaeological Investigation: 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006

The excavation of the site yielded a surprising amount of evidence of which the most significant undoubtedly was the Ultimo Estate smokehouse. Apart from shedding light on the management of this very significant early colonial estate it provided the earliest evidence of this activity uncovered in Australia as well as a very rare form of building.

Several questions were posed before the commencement of the excavation to provide a framework in which to address the physical evidence retrieved from the site. In this section these questions are revisited and discussed in light of what was found here and how it has added to, changed or complimented our view of this part of the city.

13.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Was there evidence of early nineteenth century exploitation, specifically agriculture but also including, for example, brick making (seen elsewhere on the Ultimo Estate)?

The site yielded evidence that shows this land was being used probably from the earliest years of the estate development in 1803. It can be inferred from archival sources that this use was probably related, in the first instance, to agriculture or garden development. However, there was no phYSical evidence of this activity that could be speCifically identified as its purpose. There was, for example, no crop marks.

There was no evidence of materials exploitation such as brick-making that has been seen elsewhere on the estate. The evidence acquired from both sites suggests that the estate was managed in quite specific ways with areas devoted to particular activities.

Were there intact cultural deposits or features associated with the George Street development that could particularly be used to more accurately date the first development of this street frontage?

A close analysis of several archival sources was the most useful in providing a more detailed chronology of the development of the George Street frontage. However, the archaeological evidence in several cases provided corroboration for some of the earliest uses, such as the Harris Estate gardening, and amplified our understanding of others through, for example, artefact assemblages.

Was there evidence that could be used to define the earliest uses of the Harris Street land, a period poorly documented in archival sources?

The most significant outcome of the archaeological investigation was the evidence recovered for the use of this portion of the Ultimo Estate. We revealed a focus of activity that centred around a pond and stream, probably related to gardening in the first instance but later incorporating a smokehouse. Furthermore we are able to infer from archival sources and confirm from archaeological evidence that some of the earliest huts built on this estate lived long past their association with the Ultimo property. They were adapted for new uses and certainly survived into the 1840s, 1850s and possibly in once case the 1870s. This longevity of what appear to have been quite minimal buildings is surprising.

Was there evidence that could help to describe the pre-settlement environment?

Despite quite extensive disturbance by later works over most of the site there was sufficient evidence to retrieve a broad picture of the pre and early settlement environment. As well we were able to identify the earliest measures taken to change this landscape to suit the needs of the first European settlers as well as later works to suit other purposes.

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13.2 FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The immediate outcome of this work has been the retrieval of a body of information that would otherwise have been lost through the redevelopment of the site. Secondly, we have been able to provide tangible evidence of places and activities that are now only statistics, plans and disparate pieces of evidence spread through dozens of archival sources. The evidence recovered has given a much clearer impression of nineteenth century Ultimo.

The most important outcome of the work has been the evidence relating to the use and management of Ultimo Estate. This is completely unique and gives an absolutely new perspective on how this, and probably other, estates worked in the nineteenth century. What it also underlines is the care that must be taken when other parts of Ultimo may be subject to redevelopment that has the potential to impact on former Ultimo Estate land.

This excavation has clearly demonstrated that the archival records provide only a glimpse of what was actually contained on the estate. Investigating other portions of this property has the potential to add even more to what is evidently a very limited understanding of the resources of this place. This must also be true of other estates of a similar vintage.

13.3 ARTEFACT ASSEMBLAGE

The artefact assemblage from this site has limited potential for future research purposes. The principal assemblages came from the demolition areas of the smokehouse. They appear to be samples of what was probably a much larger rubbish dump that was not found during the course of the excavation. While it provides some indication of what goods and services were provided and used at the hotel on the corner in the later 1830s to early 1850s it is most certainly a skewed sample and better assemblages exist from other sites.

However, the assemblage has been catalogued (a disc of the database is at the end of this report) and it has been permanently stored on site. The box list is as follows:

Box No: Material Catalogue Nos

01 Ceramic 4500-4504,4509-4510,4512-4513,4523-4553, 4566,4574-4614,4626-4668,4681-4699 02 Ceramic 4700-4703,4705,4719-4826,4828,4833-4836 4840-4846 03 Glass 4506,4511,4514,4517-4519,4520-4522,4566- 4573,4669-4676,4704,4706-4716,4739-4740, 4742-4751,4785-4790 04 Glass 4791-4800,4809-4818,4837-4839,4847-4851 05 Bone, Shell, Metal 4505,4507,4508,4515,4516,4554-4555,4557- Leather 4565,4615-4525,4677-4680,4717-4718,4752- 4754,4802-4808,4827,4829-4832,4852

CRM for Spurbest Pty Ltd Page 110 14.0 REREFERENCES Archaeological Investigation: 732 Harris Street, Ultimo 2006

14.1 REPORTS

Anglin Associates (1989) Pyrmont Ultimo Heritage Study - Historical Report Council of City of Sydney

City Plan Heritage (ND) Conservation Management Plan 849-855 George Street Spurbest Pty Ltd

CRM and Godden Mackay (1993) Archaeological Investigation Paddys Market Development Site. Rockfell.

Cultural Resources Management (1997) Archaeological Assessment St Helens Development 732 Harris Street and 849-855 George Street Broadway. Abigroup Contractors.

Cultural Resources Management (2002) Archaeological Investigation Transgrid Site Haymarket. Transgrid

Douglas Partners (1997) Report on Geo-technicallnvestigation Proposed Multi-Storey Development 732 Harris Street Ultimo. Abigroup Contractors pty Ltd.

14.2 SECONDARY SOURCES

Doug Benson, Jocelyn Howell(1995) Taken for Granted the Bushland of Sydney and Its Suburbs. Kangaroo Press.

Warwick Gemmell (1986) And So We Graft from Six to Six The Brickmakers of New South Wales Angus and Robertson. Sydney

John S. Levi (2006) These Are the Lives Jewish Lives in Australia 1788- 1850 Miegunyah Press. Victoria. 2006

Edward West Marriott (1988) The Memoirs of Obed West A Portrait of Early Sydney Barcom Press.

Tim McCormick First Views of Australia 1788 - 1825 Ellis Press. 1987

Michael Matthews (1982) Pyrmont and Ultimo A History Private Publication.

"The Hall of Illusions and Cyclorama" 1900 ML Small Picture File

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14.3 DIRECTORIES

Francis Low (1845) The City of Sydney Directory for 1845 Facsimile Edition. Library of Australian History (1978)

James Maclehose (1839) Picture of Sydney and Strangers Guide to New South Wales Facsimile Edition. Library of Australian History (1978)

Sands and Kenney City and Suburban Directory 1858 - 1932

Stephen and Stokes (1832) NSW Ca lender and General Post Office Directory

14.4 PROPERTY RECORDS

Sydney City Council Street cards 732 Harris Street, 849-855 George Street

Rate Assessments Denison Ward 1845 - 1911

Land and Property Information Primary Application 2364 Primary Application 29586 Primary Application 13731 Primary Application 47927

Primary Application Packet 29586 Primary Application Packet 47927 Primary Application Packet 2364 Primary Application Packet 13731

Certificate of Title Volume 4166 Folio 148 Certificate of Title Volume 94 Folio 176 Certificate of Title Volume 4291 Folio 44

NSW Heritage Office State Heritage I nventory Item 1970443 Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Tennant Creek Telegraph Station (Item 103291) Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Krugers Farm (Item 19970) Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Korawilla (Item 10034) Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Creaton Ruins (Item 10780) Australian Heritage Places Inventory, Bejoording Homestead and Outbuildings (Item 9985) Australian Heritage Places Inventory. Wickham Homestead and Smoke House (Item 19825) Australian Heritage Places Inventory. Roseneath (Item 5045528) Heritage Victoria, Database of Historic Gold Mining Sites Korong Region. Items Site 34.0 (John Preston's Hut) and Site 61.1)

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14.5 NEWS OR JOURNAL ARTICLES

Sale By Auction Ultimo Property The Australian 23 September 1841

"William Walsh's Hotel Agincourt" Freeman's Journal 20 July 1901; 10

14.6 MAPS AND PLANS

Plan of Sydney with Pyrmont New South Wales 1836 ML Q365/G

Harris Family Estate 1837 Harris Family Papers (private holding)

Subdivision Plan Ultimo Estate 1859 ML M3 811.17/1851?/1

Ultimo Estate A tracing Made Between 1851 and 1881. ML M4 Ser4 811.17/1

NSW Department of Lands Metropolitan Detail Series Sydney Section E4. 1887 ML M Series 4811/17/1

Richardson and Wrench Sale No 19 Harris Estate City Freeholds 1899 ML Subdivision Plan SP 811.1735/10

Sydney Water Trigonometrical Survey of Sydney 1865 Sheet V1 (City of Sydney Archives)

Plan of 18per Comprising Premises 851, 853, 855 George Street Sydney 1904 FP 63731

Torrens Subdivision Application 29586 DP 203873

Subdivision of Land Comprised in Conveyance Book 1209 No 339

DP 230568

Plans of the Agincourt Hotel AO Plan 64093, 72147- 72149

14.7 CORRESPONCE AND ACCOUNTS

Harris family private papers Samuel Lyons Accounts Re Ultimo Estate Rent Rolls of the Ultimo Estate Kept by Samuel Lyons Agent for Dr Harris 1830 - 1838

Colonial Secretary Memorials 1824 :4/1836A Fiche 3078 p 341

Colonial Secretary Letters received relating to land Reel 1123 2/7849 (William Joseph Dwyer)

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Letters received relating to land Reel 1063 4/3898 {George Beaver)

Net Search Chantry Island Smokehouse? http://www.sonce.net-dougtrISmokedHerring-.html

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1. ATTACHED TO THE REPORT

• Disc 1: Copy of the Report • Disc 2: Artefact Database • Disc 3: Field and Publication Drawings

2. IN ARCHIVE

• Hard Copy of Report • Disc 1: Copy of Report • Disc 2: Artefact Database • Disc 3: Field and Publication Drawings • Hard Copy Publication Drawings • Hard Copy Field Drawings • Field Log • Site Photographs • Artefact Photographs • Photographic Register

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