k :1 1 1

iH l i i a r iui

the balmainassociat ionIncorporatednews sheet

T h e P e n i n s v i l a

V o l 3 1 N o 4 I s s u e 2 4 2

Birchgrove Bicentenary1 7 9 6 - 1 9 9 6 .

Private George Whitfield,New South Wales Corps.

"n June 1789 Major Francis Grose. . . w a s e n t r u s t e d w i t h t h e f o r m a t i o nof the New South Wales Corps andt h e r e c r u i t m e n t s w e r e c a r r i e d o u t a tLondon and Chatham in England.The Corps were to replace theM a r i n e s o f t h e F i r s t F l e e t a n d t h efirst detachment arrived in Sydneyw i t h t h e S e c o n d F l e e t i n 1 7 9 0 a sconvict guards. Detachments of theCorps continued to arrive in theColony as guards on most of themale convict ships with the lasta r r i v ing w i th the i r commander,Grose, on the Pit t in February,1792. At first the Corps were mainlypreoccupied with the rout ine ofgarrison duty.

George Whitfield joined the NSWCorps as a Private on the 17thN o v e m b e r, 1 7 8 9 . r e c e i v i n g a nannual pay of £14 in two paymentsa year. Also a levy of £3.12.6 butthe money would soon disappear asthe recruits had to part pay for theiru n i f o r m . T h e u n i f o r m w a s b a s e d o nthe Marines, having a coat of redcloth with yellow lapel, shirt of whitelinen with frill neck, white singleb r e a s t e d w a i s t c o a t , w h i t e c l o t hbreeches with black knee lengthga i t e r s . One wonde rs how theclothing was kept clean! Whitfield'sheight must have been at least 163cm, age between 16 to 30 years andbe literate, also be strong enough tohandle 15 kg weight of the completek i t o f k n a p s a c k , w a t e r b o t t l e ,b a y o n e t a n d a 5 k g m u s k e t .Although much research has beenc a r r i e d o u t o n W h i t fi e l d ' s l i f e i nSydney, little could be found otherthan the NSW Corps pay lists whichdid not convey where the men weres t a t i o n e d .

A daughter Elizabeth was bom onthe 13th April, 1794 to George andSarah (Jones?) Whitfield, baptismrecorded on the 27th April, 1794. inthe register of St Philips ChurchSydney. Elizabeth's burial is alsorecorded for the 25th April, 1796.There is no marriage recorded between George and Sarah.

Pr ivate Whitfield, descr ibed as agun maker, received a 25 acre granta t H u n t e r ' s H i l l o n t h e I 9 t hNovember, 1794, which was leasedby James Wi l l iamson, who cul -

F o u n d e d N o v e m b e r 1 9 6 5

t i v a t e d 1 0 a c r e s . O n t h e 1 5 t hSeptember, 1796, Whitfield againreceived a small grant of 30 acresand i t was named Wh i t fie ld Fa rm,although no farming was carriedout. The area today is Birchgrove.The original boundary line to the1800 William Balmain grant, is Cove

a n d G r o v e S t r e e t s . T h e s e e v e n t scould be interpreted to mean thatGeorge Whitfield and Sarah werestationed in Sydney during thoseyears. There is no record of a landsale under the name of GeorgeWhitfield, although on the 1stJanuary, 1800, William Wilson soldWhitfield Farm to Richard Knight for£20. The property was sold in 1806to Captain Edward Abbott of theNew South Wales Corps, for £21w h o i n t u r n s o l d t o J o h n B i r c h ,Paymaster of the 73rd Regiment fora c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f £ 4 5 0 . I t w a s B i r c hwho in 1810, built the first house,Birch Grove House, from which thea r e a w a s n a m e d ,

George and Sarah Whitfield's sonG e o r g e , w a s b o r n o n 5 t hSeptember, 1899. baptised on the1 7 t h N o v e m b e r, 1 7 9 9 . I n d i c a t i o n s

t

Marine private and sergeant 1789

August/September 1996

a r e t h a t t h e b i r t h w a s o n N o r f o l kIsland and the visiting clergy fromSt Philips Church. Sydney, baptisedand married as required on visits tothe island. Another daughter Sarahw a s b o m o n t h e 2 5 t h D e c e m b e r.1801, baptised the 6th January,1802. on Norfolk Island.

George Whitfield was made aCorporal on the 26th June, 1799,a n d d i e d o n N o r f o l k I s l a n d o n 1 8 t hNovember, 1801.

I n t h e 1 8 0 2 N o r f o l k I s l a n dVictualling Book, Sarah Whitfield,daughter Sarah and son George arem e n t i o n e d . T h e 1 8 0 5 N o r f o l k I s l a n dMuster includes Sarah, son Georgea n d a J a m e s - W h i t fi e l d .

George Whitfield, Drummer Boy,departed Sydney on the Providenceon the 11th September, 1811 underthe command o f Cap ta in JohnPiper.

The Birchgrove Bicentenary willbe celebrated in September, 1996.Events include a Heritage Walk onSaturday, 14th Sept, adults $12,50,c o n e $ 1 0 , c h i l d r e n f r e e , AC o m m e m o r a t i v e S e r v i c e a t S tJ o h n ' s C h u r c h , a t 9 , 3 0 a m o nSunday, 15th Sept, with 200 bellpeals. A Colonial Dance at theBalmain Town Hall, on Saturday21st and a Grand Picnic Day withenter ta inment , 10am - 5pm onSunday, 22nd Sept, at BirchgrovePark. Bring a picnic rug and buyyour lunch from the food stal ls.Support your community and theBirchgrove Bicentenary.

C o n t a c t 9 8 1 0 7 9 1 7 o r 9 8 1 0 8 2 0 8

Annual General Meeting

A l l m e m b e r s a r erequested to attend the

30 th Annua l Genera lMeeting of the BalmainA s s o c i a t i o n t o b e h e l d

at 7.30pm onWednesday

4 September 1996I n t h e W a t c h H o u s e179 Darling Street

Pyrmont DevelopmentNSW Minister for Planning,L Craig Knowles, recently called for

the enhancement o f SydneyHarbour but we have learned that hehas approved a development planfor Pyrmont Point without notifyingthe public and interested parties.Pyrmont Community Group spokesman, Michael Brook said, "Its anoutrageous decision, consideringthat the park is covered by anInterim National Heritaae Listing anda union green ban. We found outonly last week at a Sydney CityCouncil Open Space Committeethat Mr Knowles had approved theamended Pyrmont Point Master Plano n 4 D e c e m b e r 1 9 9 5 . "

The plan, prepared by City WestDevelopment Corporation, wouldallow private developers to constructpr ivate h igh-r ise hous ing onharboursideland on and adjacent toInterim Park. "This area is one of the

few remaining pieces of publicly-owned waterfront land in Sydney. Tosell it off to private developers forprofit means it will be lost to localresidents and the people of Australiaforever," Mr Brook said.

The decis ion fl ies In the face ofthe Governments own guidelines forproviding open space for residentsand visitors. The Draft Open SpaceStudy commissioned by SydneyCity Council states that Pyrmont/Ultimo should have additional openspace of 14.1 hectares if it is toreach the 15 m per resident asstated in the (JIt imo/PyrmontPrecinct Planning Study (DoP,1991) as being an acceptablea m o u n t f o r a n u r b a n w a t e r f r o n tl o c a t i o n .

The Chairman of Clean UpAustralia, Ian Kiernan, a strongsupporter of Interim Park and thesurrounding headland, said that theplanned sell-off directly contradicts

t h e F e d e r a l G o v e r n m e n t s u r b a nr e n e w a l c r i t e r i a u n d e r t h e B e t t e rCities program. "As well as being animportant recreational space forl o c a l r e s i d e n t s , t h i s a r e a h a snational significance and should beretained as green harbourside landforming an integral part of an overallplan for Sydney", he said.

Interim Park, a piece of "urbanwasteland" that was cleaned up andtransformed into parkland byresidents, won the 1933 SydneyMoming Herald Australia Day Awardf o r t h e M o s t O u t s t a n d i n gCommunity Service.

Jack Mundey, Chairman of tlieHistoric Houses Trust, backed thecall to reverse the approval. Hesays, "Its Just like the situation in theRocks in the 1970s. The PyrmontHeadland, both upper and lowerlevels should be retained as publicopen space. To do otherwise woulddestroy the finest part of Pyrmont."

Ampol Site Sold

C\\ne of Balmain's controversial^development sites has beenbought by Meriton Apartments for$7.5 million. It plans to build 170d w e l l i n g s o n t h e 2 . 1 h a s i t e .Townhouses would be built on topof the escarpment and apartmentsb e l o w. C h i e f e x e c u t i v e , H a r r yTriguboff said, This is the first timeM e r i t o n h a s p l a n n e d t o b u i l dapartments at Balmain, and webelieve the area has the potential tobe as successful for us as Pyrmont".

Meriton have agreed to consultwith a local community committeeto be setup by council. The firm hasbeen remarkably successful inselling apartments beside freewaysb u t t h e n o i s e f r o m 2 4 h o u roperation of the adjacent containerterminal may present problems.F o r m e r c o u n c i l l o r a n d l o c a lresident, Kath Hacking, said that theproposal would overdevelop the site.

Colgate-Palmolive Plans"' eichhardt Council has agreed to a

JbDevelopment Control Pan formulated by a commit tee of loca lresidents and a Balmain Associationrepresentative. It allows for development only within the two buildingsof the complex to reduce the number of apartments, car parking to becontained within the buildings wherepossible and the provision of adequate open space.

The Counc i l has r ece i ved a DAproposing to convert the originalbuildings to 100 dwellings and 20townhouses on other parts of thes i t e . Because t he Counc i l d i d no trespond to the application within thestatutory forty days the developershave taken the i r case to the Landa n d E n v i r o n m e n t C o u r t .

D a r l i n g S t r e e t T r a f f i c l i e v i n g t h £nphe scrapping of plans for a $4.3 imprcJL million Iron Cove underpass by expectatioLeichhardt Council brought critic- The Daism from the RTA representative at Victoriathe Sydney South Regional holdups t fMetropolitan Strategy Sub-Corn- other penm i t t e e . H e d i d n o t m e n t i o n t h a t R T A d o e sCouncil had dropped the plan advantagebecause the information presented the integby the RTA was incomplete and Victoria Rdrew no conclusions. In reply I the suburlaccused the RTA of having a one- Rozelle st r a c k m i n d a s t h e r e a r e o t h e r e a s i e r rproposals that would improve parking,access to Balmain and Rozelle. They Write tohad given little support for Greg asking fcVicas' proposal for a Victoria Road evaluatedunderpass of Darling Street be-

S m l l e R o z e l l e 1A smile costs nothing, but gives TP^espite

X\much. It enriches those who -U/Road

lieving that the Glebe Island Bridgehad improved the traffic flow aboveexpectations.

The Darling Street intersection ofVictoria Road generates biggerholdups throughout the day than theother peninsula access points. TheRTA does not appreciate the otheradvantages of an underpass such asthe integrat ion of Rozel le whenVictoria Road no longer separatesthe suburb and invigoration of theRozelle shopping centre throughe a s i e r m o v e m e n t a n d b e t t e rparking.

Write to your council and the RTAasking for the proposal to beevaluated correctly.

Vat Harney

R o z e l l e To w n C e n t r e

receive, without making poorerthose who g ive. I t takes but amomen t , bu t t he memory o f i tsometimes lasts forever. .None is sorich or mighty that he can get alongwithout it, and none is so poor butthat he can be made rich by it. Asmi le c reates happ iness in thehome, fosters good will in business,and is the countersign of friendship.It brings rest to the weary, cheer tothe discouraged, sunshine to thesad, and it is nature's best antidotefor trouble. Yet it cannot be bought,begged, borrowed or stolen for it issomething that is of no value toanyone until it is given away. Somepeople are too tired to give you asmile. Give them one of yours, asn o n e n e e d s a s m i l e s o m u c h a s h ewho has no more to give.

w ; i w j t o

"r^.espite rebuffs of his Victoria.̂ Road underpass, Greg Vicas ispressing for implementation of otheraspects of the Rozelle Town Centreproposal. The principal of Rozelle^ubllc School, Mr John Charlton, iskeen to have the school groundsrevitalised with new landscaping andsporting areas. A nature walk wouldb e c r e a t e d a s a n e d u c a t i o n a l t o o l f o rs t u d e n t s a n d t h e a d v e n t u r ep l ayg round w i l l be moved andrevamped with rocks and sand pits.The wire fence would be removed. Astage would be used by buskers aswell as providing storage space formarket stal lholders. There would bea n e w a c c e s s t o t h e s c h o o l f r o mD a r l i n g S t r e e t a n d t w o n e wcommunity car parks.

^ Can you/igpare a couple ofh o n m o n o n e e a w l in t o n i l i t o i . i ) » e i c o m e i i l s i l ^ t o . t h eWntcii Honao?l ^ a 8 e r i n o 0 a t a 4 8 S 4 .

Rozelle Distr ict Brass Band'pSuring the Back-to-Ba!main Day,

- / ^he id on the 28 th Oc tobe r l as tyear, Mr George Holmes approached the Association with a request toa s s i s t h i s r e s e a r c h i n t o t h e w h e r e abouts of the trophies won by theRozel le Dis t r ic t Brass Band, 1906-1 9 1 6 . M r H o l m e s f a t h e r a n d u n c l e swere members of the Championshipb a n d a n d h e h a d o f t e n w o n d e r e dwhere the silver trophies where, asthey had been presented to theN S W B r a s s B a n d A s s o c i a t i o n i n1959. The research eventually led toc o n t a c t s i n N o w r a , A d e l a i d e a n dTasmania. Surprisingly, we foundnone in Sydney until this July.

T h e b a n d w a s f o r m e d i n 1 9 0 6u n d e r t h e b a t o n o f M r W B r o w n a n dh a d i t s fi r s t s u c c e s s i n 1 9 0 8 a t aTamworth contest, under the con-ductorship of Mr Alf Lovell. In 1911the band was reorganised by MessrsR K e l l y , A S h e l l s e l l a n d SC r u i c k s h a n k s , w i t h M r W i l l i a mPartington as the conductor. MrPartington was Tasmanian by birthand played the euphonium but confined himself wholly to the duties ofc o n d u c t o r .

Cinder his leadership, the bandhad a wonderful sequence of contest successes. They attended sixinterstate and four Sydney contestsa n d h a d a n u n b e a t e n r e c o r d i n t h r e ed i f f e r e n t s t a t e s . T h e b a n d w o u l da s s e m b l e a t t h e c o r n e r o f W e s t o n(Victoria) Road and Darling Street,Rozelle, to march and play on theirway to Sydney or to Central Railwayfor the in ters ta te compet i t ions .Many noted soloists were connectedwith the band, W Statton, R Cadden,S Gatiss, C Franz, J Worsley, W

Cocks. S Wallings. L Spinks. UEaston, J Whitmore and G Cook.The band was called upon to attendl o c a l f u n c t i o n s , s u c h a s t h eFoundation Stone ceremony of theBalmain Mission Hall . MontagueS t r e e t . B a l m a i n o n t h e 1 4 t hNovember, 1914. On the band's dis-bandment, the trophies worth at thattime 200 guineas, (see photo) werekept at the residence of Mr R Kelly,13 Birchgrove Road, Balmain formany years, before being donatedt o t h e N S W B r a s s B a n d A s s o c i a t i o n .Mr Kelly's daughter Mrs Betty Baileyof Adelaide remembers the prizeswell as it was her responsibility tokeep them dusted and polished.

Unfortunately the research hascome to a stop as the NSW BrassBand Association could not provideany information about the where

abouts o f the Memor ia l Sh ied andCups but the Balmain Associationhas received from Mr K Short ofTasmania, a medallion with a luteon one side and on the reverse aninscription reading;"Tamworth BandContest, won 1^. Rozelle DistrictBand, G Cook. Cornet, 27 January1 9 0 8 " . G C o o k w a s M r S h o r t ' sqreat-uncle. Miss Ethel Partington ofTasmania has generously donatedher uncle William Partington'sworking and ceremonial batons aswell as a tuning fork. Mr PhilWorsley of Maroubra had donatedthree photographs of the Band. Hisgrandfather, Jim Worslev was also abandsman. A display of the RozelleDistrict Brass Band memorabil ia wil lb e s h o w n a t t h e W a t c h H o u s e o n c e

•a secu re cab ine t i s f ound .Kath Harney

Mr Partington with baton and Rozelle Bras.s Band 1914

Balmain DaysWhat say this life for a Balmain boy. where one may dwell and enjoy a

bottle of wine and a woman's tranquil banter by the somnolent river.Where fellow fools dare each other to dive from the jetty then to be towed

upon old boards behind a boat "til the sun sinks back into the cool of dusk.To swim in kindred waters where the harbour and river combine to create

one of God's greatest splendours that once bore the water child calledD a w n .

A place that allows witness to impressionist sunsets in languid thought,where the distaste of normality ends at the Exchange and is replaced byBalmain ways.

To sit beside the river's hypnotic flow and watch the pleasure boatssteam by as juvenile play creates the illusion of holidays of bygone days.

Yet, this is my home, the village within a city by the flow. A place wherethe adversity of life is kept at bay.

The real world has no say here, there Is little time for grief or past regretsfor this is the village of younger ways, this is the river of my happier days.

K e i t h D i x o n

C o l o n i a l D a n c eCelebrate the Birchgrove Bicentenary at the Colonial Dance in

the Balmain Town Hail on Saturday 21 September to the musicof Ryebucks Band. There will be prizes for best period dress.Supper. 7.30pm - 11.30pm. Tickets available $25 single $50family and $15 concession. Contact Lynette Hicks 9818 5780.

v . . . .

J / / ^ r i r } )eNSpring Heralds Azalea Season

Soon spring will be here and it isimportant to understand the basicsof positioning azaleas for the thebest results. In general, azaleasprefer a climate that is warm andm o i s t i n s u m m e r a n d w i t h a c e r t a i nwinter chi l l . However, this is not tosay that they cannot be grownsuccessfully in a wider range ofcl imates. Always remember thatazaleas are shallow rooted and hot,dry weather causes the surface soilto dry out quickly,a n d d a m a g e t h ep l a n t s . T h e r e f o r ethey mus t be p rotected from strong,drying winds, especially in summer, andgiven sufficient watert o k e e p t h e s o i ldamp. Most speciesp a r t i a l s h a d e t oprotect their delicateb l o o m s f r o m h a r s hsunlight. There arespecies with smallerflowers in the deeperh u e s t h a t s e e m t o b ea b l e t o w i t h s t a n d f u l ls u n . h o w e v e r , a l l o fthe larger floweringwhites and pale Azalea "Rose Queen'

pinks are better if given a l itt leshade, especially during the middleof the day or late afternoon insummer. Positioning azaleas in bedsbeneath established trees is a goodway to create a suitable growinge n v i r o n m e n t .

Choose plants when in flower sothat you are sure of the colours youlike for your garden. Most nurserieshave a very la rge se lec t ion tochoose from. Transplanting is bestdone in the early morning or late inthe afternoon. Watering in the lateafternoon, when the heat has left theday, is far better as water in the

sunlight may causeburning of the leavesa n d fl o w e r s . L a t eafternoon water ingreally soaks in overnight giving plants a

^ g o o d s t a r t t o t h enext day.

M o s t c o m p l e t efertilisers designedf o r a z a l e a s a r e i ngranulated forrn andapplied according tot fi e d i r e c t i o n s t w i c ea year during lateau tumn and ear l yspr ing shou ld seeyou a happy healthyplant.

B o n n i e D a v i d s o n

Birchgrove BicentenaryS o u v e n i r s f o r s a l e :

P o r t $ 1 2M u g s $ 7T s h i r t s $ 1 5P e n s $ 1C a r d s $ 2 . 5 0

C o n t a c t 9 8 1 8 5 7 8 0 o r 9 8 1 8 4 9 5 4 .

cheque to Birchgrove BicentenaryC o m m i t t e e P O B o x 5 0 9 R o z e l l e2 0 3 9 ,

INick Origiass Honoured

reception to mark 25 years ofi f " k O p e n C o u n c i l a n d t h ec o n t r i b u t i o n s o f i t s i n i t i a t o r s M i c k

Origiass and Issy Wyner was held atLeichhardt Counci l in May. (Jn-fortunateiy, Mick Origiass' death on17 May preceded his commendation by a few days.

Long-time colleague, Issy, said hefelt empty with the loss of Mick whowas first elected to Council in 1958and was Mayor in 1971, 1972 and1 9 8 0 . T h e t w o f r i e n d s e s t a b l i s h e dthe People Come First party afterbeing expel led f rom the LabourParty.

It was a Mayoral Minute fromM i c k t h a t r e m o v e d t h e b a r r i e r t h a ts e p a r a t e d t h e p u b l i c f r o m t h ec o u n c i l l o r s w h i c h p r e s e n t e d aphysical and symbolic demarcationo f t h e p o w e r w i t h i n t h e l o c a lc o m m u n i t y.

Sesqui-centenary ServiceQt Mary's Anglican Church willOcelebrate its 150th anniversarywit l i a service on 18 August at3.00pm. The speaker will be theArea Bishop, the Rt Rev PeterWatson, and the musical group,Mixed Blessings" will perform withorganist, Greg Dixon. Afternoon teawi l l be se rved .

T h e r e w i l l b e a C i v i c C o m m e moration Service on the fol lowingSunday, 25 August during which theBalmain Schod Choir will sing. Thes e r v i c e w i l l s h o w s u p p o r t a n dapp rec ia t i on f o r a l l t hose whoenhance our common life together.The Mayor and representatives ofthe Police, Fire Brigade, Schools,Hospital, polit icians and localbusinessmen will attend. Morningt e a w i l l f o l l o w.

W h a t ' s O nW a t c h H o u s e E x h i b i t i o n sPaul Connor Architectural photoswith Paul Snow Aug 17-25Rozelle Photographers WorkshopO c t 5 - 7

The Pr in t C ' i rc lc Oct 12-20EClaine Norling Oct 26-Nov 3

Printed on recycled paper bySnap Print, Balmain

Miklouho-Maclay Park"Russian Minister for Culture,. !Nt£vgeny Sidorov, unveiled thenameplate of the smal l park inGrove Street, Birchgrove on Friday,19 Ju ly. I t i s named a f te r the

R u s s i a n n a t u r a l i s t a n d a n t h r o

pologist, Mikolai Miklouho-Maclay,who lived in Wuoming, Wharf Roadin 1884. Ambassador AlexanderLosynkov said that his countrymanhad been very clever in choosing hisplace of living. He paid tribute toC o l i n a n d J a n e t t e S u l l i v a n ' s r e s to r a t i o n o f h i s f o r m e r h o m e .

The Russian delegation onWednesday had presented a bust ofthe scientist to the Macleay Museumin Sydney University which has ac o l l e c t i o n o f a r t i f a c t s f r o m h i sexplorations in Mew Guinea andM e l a n e s i a .

Heritage Forum'""■throughout the inner suburbs of.. Sydney there is considerablepressure for redevelopment andthose concerned with preserving theheritage face substantial difficulties.The inner City Heritage Forum onSaturday 10 August 10.30am -3 . 3 0 p m i n H i s t o r y H o u s e 1 3 3Macquarie St will include discussionon understanding the processes ofthe heritage legislation system: therole of the community in heritageassessmen t and p lann ing ; andc o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t h e m o s t e f f e c t i v em e a n s o f w o r k i n g w i t h l o c a lcouncils. Bookings 9247 8001.Contact James Moloney 9557 3702.

T h e B a l m a i n A s s o c i a t i o n I n crepresenting Balmain, Birchgrove,

R o z e l l e .O u r A i m s A r e To :• improve the living, working and

recrea t iona l amen i t ies o f our a rea• maintain all features having natural

a r c h i t e c t u r a l a n d / o r h i s t o r i c a l v a l u e• compile and record history of the

area «& keep a permanent collectiono fi t e m s o f h i s t o r i c a l i n t e r e s t

• seek the cooperation of everyoneconcerned in the real isat ion of thea b o v eThe Watch House is open every

Saturday from 12 to 3pmThe Balmain Association meets on the firstWednesdoy of each month at 7.30pm inthe Wotcfi House / 79 Dor/ing Street,Balmain. Mail PO Box 57, BALMAIN. 2041.Our editorial phone/fax is 9818 4954

Interested artists, potters,sculptors, etc. who would like to

organise an exhibition in theWatch House are urged to contact

S t e v e S o u t h o n 9 8 1 0 1 4 11 .

Annual Subscriptions:Househo ld $16, Pens ioners &Students S7, Organisation $21.