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I I I " I I HISTORICAL AN,AL VSIS I I RAN S'TO'RES I RVDALMERE I i I I APRIL 1996 I I I I I WENDYTHORP I . :.; " . I I I I I I Historical Analysis: Ryr;Jalmere Naval Stores I 1.0 I INTRODUCTION The following analysis defines the development of the Navy Stores site at Rydalmere from first settlement until the present day. The evidence is drawn from I primary documents and some secondary sources; a full list is supplied in the bibliography. The discussion is presented in a number of phases each of which I reflects a major period of change or evolution. These phas~s are: I Phase I: Pre- 1788, The Pre-Existing Environment and the Original Occupants Phase 11: 1788 - 1848, Alienation and the Vineyard Estate I Phase Ill: 1848 -1927, Subdivision and Small Farms I Phase IV: 1927 - 1943, The Broadoaks Estate I Phase V: 1943 - 1990, Military Uses Phase VI: 1990 - 1996, General Stores I I I I I I I I I I I Wendy Thorp Page 1 I I Historical Analysis: Rydalmere Naval Stores I 2.0 I HISTORICAL ANALVSIS 2.1 Phase I: Pre- 1788 I The Pre-Existing Environment and the Original Occupants The site of the Navy Stores is included within the greater Cumberland Plains I environment and, more specifically, it was a typical portion of the Parramatta River eco-system prior to European intervention. Like most of the surrounding areas it was bordered by mud flats and mangroves with, above High Water Mark, marshy I land that supported shrubs such as glass wort and sea blite as well as native grasses such as Kangaroo Grass (1). The earliest survey maps of the area show the site to have had a few low rises which are likely to have supported stands of I trees including Iron Barks, Turpentine, Box, Rough Barked Apple and Kurrajongs I (2). Later settlers would describe how the mud flats along the river were a haven for marine life; myriads of small crabs and balloon fish were found in this area and the I river was especially plentiful with bream and mullet (3). The marshy areas were a refuge for migratory birds and further back from the swamp land other varieties included whip birds, bell birds, kookaburras, quail, wild duck and snipe (4). The I area also was noted for its native cats, flying foxes and dingoes as well as its plentiful insect life. Large numbers and varieties of scorpions, caterpillars, I mosquitoes, ants and flies were seen as well as seyeral types of snakes (5). The naturalist George Bennet described the environment surrounding and including the study area in 1834 as being of barren soil though heavily wooded I and particularly noteworthy for its wild flowers, native orchids being especially plentiful (6). Early settlers in the district were similarly impressed with the profusion I of flowers. With the rich natural resources available here it is not supr.ising that this area was I home to Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years. At the time of white settlement thirty-four clans occupied lands in and around Sydney. Those most closely associated with Rydalmere were the Wangal people or clan although association I with a particular tribe, Guringai, Eora or Dharug, is problematic. There are many recorded impressions of the original occupants of this area. by the first white settlers and explorers to reach it. A number of archaeological sites of Aboriginal I occupation have been recorded in the area although none are known to exist within the study area. I I -I Wendy Thorp Page 2 I I I Historical Analysis: Rydalmere Naval Stores I 2.2 Phase 11: 1788 - 1848 I Alienation and the Vineyard Estate The first explorers of the Parramatta River in the area of Rydalmere were Governor Phillip accompanied by Lieutenant Bradley in 1788. They described how I they and several others took boats up to this point of the river and explored inland for several miles. The site of the stores was first alienated for European I occupation in 1791. In this year Phillip Schaffer was awarded a Crown Grant of 140 acres which encompassed the site. Schaffer extensively developed his land as a farm and, particularly, as a vineyard after which it was named liThe Vineyard I Estate". It cannot be determined whether the study area was used in any way at this time but, on the basis of later evidence, it would seem not; the quality of the land was not conducive to extensive development. The focus of the estate was I around a house built by Schaffer, replaced in 1792 with a brick structure, to the west of the study area (1). I While Schaffer was developing his estate the land surrounding his grant was gradually alienated in the form of farms of varying sizes. The Ermington district was largely divided between several grants made to ma'rines in 1792. The I occupation of the owners gave rise to the name The !=ield of Mars (2). I By the later 1790s most of the original grantees had sold or bartered their lands. Schaffer sold his estate in 1798 to Captain Waterhouse. Most of the smaller Ermington farms were purchased at about the same time by larger capitalists. '. I I Waterhouse left the colony in 1800 and by 1802 the Vineyard Estate was occupied by William Cox. Later Gregory Blaxland used the house (3). In 1812 Waterhouse, who had used the Vineyard Estate as his home farm with a merino I stud located across the river, sold the property to Hannibal Macarthur. Macarthur was then in the process of purchasing most of the current area of Dundas and Hydalmere. Macarthur made the Vineyard Estate his home property and I constructed the mansion later named "Subiaco", to the west of the study area, in 1836. Close by several other large estates had been formed including the I Ermington Estate and Broadoaks Estate (4) It is likely that the study area remained undeveloped by Macarthur principally because of the quality of the land. The latter largely comprised mud flats and I marshy land. In 1833 Thomas Mltchell surveyed this part of the Parramatta River preparatory to it being improved for river transport. His survey plan shows Macarthur's house and, further to the east, a mill. The ,study area is shown to be a I low mud flat with shallow rises at High Water Mark. Mitchell proposed a cut to be made through the land at this point to make navigation easier around a particularly I difficult bend in the river. The work was not carried out or at least not to the extent that was proposed by this plan (5). I By the 1840s Australia had been plunged into a severe economic recession. Many went bankrupt and large land holders, especially those who had overcapitalised in I the boom years of the 1830s, were hard hit. Hannibal Macarthur like many of his Wendy Thorp Page 3 I------------------------------------------' I I Historical Analysis: Rydalmere Naval Stores I contemporaries was forced to sell his estate. In 1848 the Vineyard Estate was sold to Thomas Iceley for 4500 pounds. Shortly after Iceley sold it to the Catholic Church and the Benedictine order of nuns occupied the former estate house now I renamed "Subiaco" (6). I I I I I I I I I I I I -I I I I Wendy Thorp Page 4 I I I Historical Analysis: Rydalmere Naval Stores . I 2.3 Phase Ill: 1848 - 1927 I Subdivision and Small Farms The new owners of the Vineyard Estate made Subiaco their home and retained a I portion of the land around it. The majority of the estate, however, was sold or leased, principally to small farmers. This was the case with the study area. By 1859 the land along the river at this pqint had been subdivided and the study area I was divided essentially between two owners (1). By 1878 the land bordering Subiaco to the east, and encompassing the study I area, appears to have changed hands and had been further subdivided with three large allotments located along the river front. The study area was included in the eastern-most two lots. Some smaller properties bordered what was then named I Wharf Street, now Spurway Street. Other streets had been formed to the north of the study area (2). All this land was, at that time, put up for sale generally in lots of twenty to twenty-four acres. There is no indication that any improvements had I been made to these lots. I Further subdivisions occurred in the area in the 1880s but there is no evidence to suggest that the study area was settled or used in any significant way. This is I certainly because of the quality of the land. By the turn of the century it is likely that some reclamation had occurred in the area of Spurway Street, probably initiated by the Sydney Harbour Trust newly I formed in 1901. A survey of 1904 shows the wharf at the end of Spurway Street to be on reclaimed land (3). However, despite the subdivision, the development of the surrounding district and the river improvements, until the 1920s, the land lay I unused and unoccupied. I I I I I I I Wendy Thorp Page 5 I.~--------------------------- I I Historical Analysis: Rydalmere Naval Stores I 2.4 Phase IV: 1927 - 1943 I The Broadoaks Estate The optimistic financial climate of the 1920s andoa rapidly expanding suburban I market made viable by the expansion of the railway network encouraged many speculators, experienced or otherwise, to invest in land.

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