North Sydney Heritage Leaflet 28 TAKING THE FERRY Ferry travel was a way of life; the wharves and associated activities established North Sydney as a transport hub providing facilities to move passengers to and from the city. Beginning with the first ferrymen on the north side, such as Billy Blue, bridging the physical divide of the harbour was a range of ferries from small craft and paddle steamers to diesel-driven ferries carrying hundreds of passengers and cartloads of goods and wares. Tram and train lines constructed in the late nineteenth century stretched across northern Sydney ending their tracks at the foreshores of North Sydney at the large and small ferry terminals and wharves dotting the bays and foreshores - making North Sydney the ultimate transport hub. A fixed harbour crossing was talked about as early as 1815 when Francis Greenway expressed his plan for a bridge across Sydney Harbour. This was not realised until 1932 by which time North Sydney was a thriving municipality with housing and commercial businesses occupying every nook and cranny of its landscape and ferries crisscrossing the Harbour servicing the domestic and commercial needs of the area ‘owing to the progress and importance of the district of St Leonards and the rapidly increasing traffic with the City of Sydney and its suburbs this Council is of the opinion that the time is opportune for the construction of a high level bridge to connect North Sydney with the city and other suburbs’. Borough of North Sydney Minutes August 1893 Visions for connecting north and south were abundant, perhaps none so lush as JJC Bradfield’s. His presentation on town planning included an elaborate plan for the North Sydney train station and its environs in a paper he gave to the British Town Planning Institute in June 1922. I have recommended that the foreshores should be made into a park, and no more beautiful or suitable site can be found in North Sydney… grassed lawns, and shrubs, to provide masses of colour as a background, would transform the present wilderness into beautiful gardens in the style, maybe, of the celebrated Italian Gardens… residential flats and other buildings in Italian Renaissance to harmonise with the garden below could be constructed in charming surroundings, with fine arcaded walks on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the waters of the harbour. The first ferry services were launched in the mid-nineteenth century and up to the opening of the Bridge in 1932 provided the only means of access across Sydney Harbour. Ferries filled the harbour landscape darting back and forth loaded with passengers and cargo, horses and carts and later motor vehicles. The early Borough Councillors frequently received written requests from ferry owners and businesses to provide wharves or conduct on-going maintenance of the existing wharves, leaving the Borough officials to dig deep into their pockets to ensure that water transport remained accessible to all who depended on it for their livelihood or quality of life. Benefits though did flow back into Council’s coffers as leases were drawn up granting certain rights and conditions to the ferry companies with deemed compensation through annual leasing fees. Throughout the 1870s, the meetings of the Borough of Victoria (amalgamated to form Borough of North Sydney in 1890) dealt increasingly with these types of requests: petitions for ferry services, passengers’ complaints regarding inadequate services or facilities and a raft of other related topics all focusing on the growth of ferry traffic and the Borough’s obligations to service the growing public demand for improved transport services. In 1877 the Borough adopted a minute suggesting they submit a by-law that in effect would assist them better to enable [the Council] to regulate, control and manage the wharf at the foot of Walker Street, Lavender Bay and to provide for the leasing of a portion of the said wharf and the same having been laid open to public inspection at the office of Council for a period of more than seven days by a notice posted on the wharf. Although there were a number of attempts at establishing ferry companies and formalising ferry services from the 1830s, it wasn’t until 1860 that The North Shore Ferry Company formed providing services to a burgeoning population requiring travel to and from the city. The partnership of James Milson, Charles Firth, Francis Lord and William Tucker, all wealthy businessmen with interests on the north shore, pooled their resources and began running the Kirribilli, licensed to carry 60 passengers between Circular Quay and Milsons Point. As ferry traffic increased over the next 30 years, trying to keep pace with the growth of the north shore and providing the only means of crossing Sydney Harbour, vessels became larger and more efficient, outfitted with improved accommodation for the transport of passengers and vehicles. In 1899 Sydney Ferries Limited took over the North Shore Ferry Company including the land investments accumulated over time which was of ‘considerable value’ and featured harbour frontages, wharves, buildings and cottages valued at approximately £77,000. The Milsons Point and McMahons Point-Lavender Bay ferries are estimated by the Manager of Sydney Ferries Ltd to carry 7,500,000 passengers per annum’. Report of Royal Commission of Inquiry into Constitution, Business, and Operations of Sydney Ferries Limited, Vol 1, 1919 A Royal Commission examining the communication between north and south Sydney was conducted in 1909 on the issue of building a bridge for Sydney. Witnesses talked about ferry services and the demands placed upon them ‘The night trips across the harbour by the ferries are the cause of very disagreeable feeling amongst numbers of the passengers. If a boat stops, or a whistle is blown, there is, as a rule, great consternation; the passengers never know what is going to happen. You frequently hear the remark, “There will never be a bridge here until a boat filled with 1,200 people goes down”. The expenditure of £2,000,000 to avoid a catastrophe of that kind would be well spent’. Report of Royal Commission on Communication Between Sydney and North Sydney, 1909 Ferry Chronology 1899-1932 1899 North Shore Steam Ferry Company Limited liquidated and stock and land investments valued at £77,000 was purchased by Sydney Ferries Limited. Operated services: Quay to Milsons Point, Lavender Bay and McMahons Point, Quay and Neutral Bay and Quay to Mosman Bay and vehicular service between Benelong Point and Milsons Point. Sydney Ferries Limited acquired all property of Parramatta River Steamers and Tramway Company Limited 1901 Vehicular ferry begins service between Blues Point and Dawes Point 1909 Royal Commission on Communication Between Sydney and North Sydney 1911 Ferry service from Quay to Cremorne Point (connecting with Cremorne Point tramline) 1915 Service to new railway station at Milsons Point opened in May – lapsed quickly due to “public clamour” to bring old railway station back into use 1917 Sydney Ferries Limited acquired company and stock of Balmain New Ferry Co. 1919 Sydney Ferries Limited offer 12 services: Milsons Point passenger and vehicular service; Lavender Bay; Blues Point vehicular service; Neutral Bay; Cremorne; Athol; Taronga Zoo; Clifton Gardens; Nielsen Park; Balmoral and Mosman 1919 Royal Commission of Inquiry into Sydney Ferries Limited 1925 Vehicular Ferry dock at foot of Jeffrey Street, North Sydney came into use when Milsons Point docks were closed for construction of Sydney Harbour Bridge 1931 Benelon is last ferry to leave Blues Point vehicular dock 1932 More than 40 million passengers annually were transported by Sydney Ferries Limited using over 50 ferries 1932 19 March – passenger ferry service to Milsons Point terminated with opening of the Bridge.1 April – vehicular service ceased to operate North Sydney Heritage Centre 1st Floor Stanton Library 234 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2060 Phone: 02 99368400 Fax: 02 99368440 Email: [email protected] www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au .