Charles Street, Marrickville and surrounds - a potted history. Part 2

This is taking forever, so just to remind you, whilst I am looking at Charles Street, Marrickville in particular I am using a very broad brush... in general Charles Street was part of the "Beer's estate", released for subdivided sale in 1891...

Or go back to Part 1!

"Clearance sale, Beer's Estate, Marrickville [NLA cartographic material] / to be sold by Watkin & Watkin on the ground on Saturday 27th Dec 1891 at 3.30 p.m. Sales plan for land in the suburb of Marrickville in Sydney, bordered by Illawarra Road, Horton Street, Charles Street and Addison Road. Terms! 10 per cent deposit. Balance - by equal payments at 1,2 & 3 years with interest 6% payable halfyearly. Torrens title".

Who was "Beer" and how did they come to own this land? I don't know. It was dairy farmland prior to that, and probably somewhat swampy. Illawarra Road passes right past and remains a narrow track, whereas the estate's streets are wider. Thomas Chalder's Marrick Village is just 100m or so away.

Anyway, on with part 2...

1. "1920 - Airport (later Kingsford-Smith) at Botany. Extension of St Peters municipality to west of Unwin’s Bridge Road. Tresillian (built 1900) bought by Royal Society for the Welfare of Mothers and Babies." Tresillian was a 'mothercraft' home and I can recall my baby sister being weighed and measured in the front rooms in the early 1960s.






2. "1920 - Fowlers set up main works in Fitzroy Street. 1921 - Census shows Marrickville, 42240; Petersham, 26236; St Peters 12700; Newtown 28169. St Brigid’s Church and monastery at Marrickville. Salvation Army Training College opened" (Livingstone Road).






3. "1922 - Marrickville Town Hall opened" at corner of Petersham and Marrickville Roads.






4. "1925 -Duly and Hansford in Carrington Road. 1926 - Electrification of Illawarra and Bankstown railway lines. Opening of city stations at Museum and St James’. 1927 - St Peters Town Hall, Unwin’s Bridge Road opened. General Motors plant in Carrington Road. 1928 -Abergeldie estate subdivision and sale (last major subdivision). Small’s Confectionery at Stanmore. Electrification of Parramatta railway line. Cooks River Road becomes Prince’s Highway. 1929 - Major extensions to Globe Worsted Mills, Sydenham. Onset of Depression brings severe unemployment to industrial Marrickville. 1931 - Census deferred until 1933 but population estimates for 1931 were Marrickville 46590; Petersham 28340; St Peters 13890; Newtown 28660."






5. "1932 - Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Town Hall at Wynyard stations. Henson Park created on site of Daley’s brickworks became Rugby League Centre." This statement undervalues our history - it was a cycling facility, a big velodrome, that drew thousands of people to weekly night-time races. It also hosted the closing ceremony of the 1938 Empire Games. Charles Street remains an important access road to Henson Park if you are travelling from the north and east.






6. "1936 - General Motors move to Pagewood: Carrington Road site occupied by Davis Coop Cotton." The GM Pagewood plant took over the site of one of Australia's largest film studios, National Studios. When GM vacated the plant in the 1970s it was redeveloped into a shopping centre and a bus depot.




7. "1936 - Crago Flour Mill silos erected. 1938 - Opening of new Petersham Town Hall on site of old Hall. 1939 - Outbreak of World War Two. Despite manpower and material shortages, war gave a fillip to Marrickville industry. Development of Welfare groups under patronage of municipal councils. 1941 - Census deferred until 1947 but population estimates for 1941 were Marrickville 46300; Petersham 27580; St Peters 12520 ;Newtown 24630. The population had declined slightly over the decade.






8. "1942 - Metal Processors set up at Donney’s Works. 1945 - End of World War Two. 1947 - Beginning of new migration policy and rapid rate of arrivals. 1948 - Local Government Areas Act: Marrickville, St Peters and Petersham combined as Marrickville. Most of Camperdown Cemetery resumed as Rest Park. 1949 - New Marrickville Municipality with headquarters at former Petersham Town Hall. Seymour’s Store (est. 1900) destroyed by fire. 1950 - Globe Worsted Mill moved to Victoria. 1953 -Beginning of decline in number of smaller manufacturing concerns in Marrickville. 1954 - Population (on 1969 boundaries) 95189."






9. "1957 - Tramway services discontinued; replaced by buses. Conversion of Tempe Depot. Camdenville Park on site of Speare’s Brickworks. 1960 - Midden deposit and stone axe head were found at Marrickville Golf Course. 1961 - Population (on 1969 boundaries 91396; the first census to contain a significant number of inhabitants born overseas, other than in the U.K. and N.Z.






10. "1962 - Beginning of large scale flat (later home unit) development. Vicars merged with Australian Woollen Mills. 1966 - Population (on 1969 boundaries) 92745. Greek Orthodox church in Marrickville Road. 1968 - Marrickville expanded to include Enmore and parts of Camperdown. Incorporation of South Sydney (originally Northcote) municipality. Fowler’s Potteries taken over by Newbold General Refractories. Coptic Church in former Methodist Church in Railway Road, Sydenham. 1971 - Population 98700 (including 13171 of Greek origin). "






11. "1974 - Marrickville Administrative Centre, Petersham, opened. 1975 - Fowler’s ceased to produce pottery at Marrickville. 1976 - Population 90750. Vicars Woollen Mills company wound up. Addison Road Community Centre set up", replacing the Army barracks and stables.






12. "1980 - Salvation Army Training College relocated to Bexley", from Livingstone Road. 1980 - Marrickville Margarine complex, Edinburgh Road, sold." This site was lit up with an impressive (for its day, anyway) Christmas display every year. It became the site of Marrickville Metro shopping centre in 1987. "1981 - Population 83448. 1982 -Fowler’s Pottery demolished and land subdivided. Reference: Marrickville Council website.




13. Also useful to look up is the History of Transport, Marrickville






14. Marrickville South and the Warren is referenced as well at the Council site: "Before Richardson’s Lookout, there was only The Warren, a remarkable castle-like structure owned by Thomas Holt. The surrounding estate was filled with rabbits for sport, alpacas and other exotic animals, and Holt used the hunting grounds to entertain royalty and other guests. When he returned to London in 1886 (to help the Salvation Army and Dr Barnardo), he left his estate to Carmelite nuns. In World War I, The Warren was modified by the government into housing for returned soldiers. After the war, The Warren was demolished, and the site left abandoned until a Marrickville alderman named Warren Cook Richardson led a campaign to revitalise the park. It was renamed in his honour in 1936 and all that is left of The Warren are two pillars taken from the demolished house".






15. And the National Library contains useful details (and maps) of subdivisions, such as this "sales plan for land bounded by Livingstone and Marrickville Roads, and Francis, Arthur, Stanley, Lilydale Streets, Marrickville, New South Wales. * Oriented with north to left.* Torrens title"






16. And "Pilgrims Estate, Marrickville [cartographic material] : close to the tram on Marrickville Road / auction sale on the ground, Saturday 12th December, 1908, at 3 o'clock ; Richardson and Wrench Ltd., 98 Pitt St., auctioneers"






17. And "Plan of allotments at Marrickville between Victoria Road and Chapel Street with Harbers Land adjoining. Also available in an electronic version via the Internet at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-f642d"






18. And "Local sketch, Tracing of allotments between Crinan Street and New Canterbury Road Marrickville. Also available in an electronic version via the Internet at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-f615a
"





19. And also "The Warren, Marrickville [cartographic material] : the property of the Excelsior Land, Investment & Building Co. and Bank Limited : first subdivision (1893). Sales plan for land in the suburb of Marrickville in Sydney, bordered by Illawarra Road, Premier Street, Cary Street, Renwick Street, Warren Road, Park Road, and Excelsior Parade. This magnificent estate, so well known as the late residence of the Hon. Thomas Holt, has now been subdivided, and the directors of the above company have much pleasure in submitting a portion of it to the public with every confidence that it will be appreciated as it deserves. Purchasers of land on land will enjoy the following advantages:- healthy and elevated position, splendid views, good soil, excellent drainage, wide roads, 66 and 80 ft., large reserves, and above all, easy access to the city by tram, bus, and railway, as the tramway is now completed for sale, the 'bus runs regularly, and the Illawarra Railway line is surveyed to pass right through the estate. Every facility is given by the company for the erection of dwellings, etc., on the estate. 90 per cent of the cost of building will be advanced, or the company will themselves undertake the erection on their well-known liberal terms. This is the best guarantee that the value of the land will increase rapidly, as where buildings are constantly being erected land is sure to rise also. For example, the Elswick Estate was subdivided by this company twelve months ago, there are now over 200 buildings and the land has increased in value some 25 per cent. Take particular notice of the liberal terms of sale ... T. S. Parrott, Surveyor, 57 Pitt Street".




20. And "allotments in the estate of the late Joseph Graham Esq., J.P., Marrickville [cartographic material] / for auction sale on the ground, Saty. 22nd Dec. 1894 ; W. Pritchard & Son, auctioneers, 100 King St., Sydney. Sales plan for land bounded by Livingstone and Marrickville Roads, and Francis, Arthur, Stanley, Lilydale Streets, Marrickville, New South Wales."






21. And at "The Grove, St. Peters [cartographic material] : close to Marrickville Railway Station : for auction sale on the ground, by order of the mortgagees, Saturday 1st July 1893 at 3 o'clock / by W. Pritchard and Son ; G.H. Barrow, draftsman Sydney.






22. And "a sales plan for land in the suburb of Sydenham in Sydney, New South Wales, bounded by Creagh Street, George Street, Yelverton Street and Cook's River Road. Torrens title. Note: The vendors reserve to themselves the right of closing or altering the lane between the unsold portions of the Estate. Arnold W. Love, surveyor under Real Property Act, St. James' Chambers, King Street. Easy terms. North is oriented slightly to the right. Valuable properties of Thos. Chalder Esq [cartographic material] : St. Peters, Cooks River Road : to be sold on the ground on Monday 22nd March 1875, at half past 2 o'clock / by W. Pritchard."




23. And lastly (for me, you can keep searching if you want) "Marrickville [cartographic material] : 14 good building lots, splendid position / for auction sale, on the ground, Saturday, August 4th, 1900, at 3 p.m. ; by Hardie & Gorman, auctioneers. Sales plan for bounded by Petersham and Illawarra Roads, Marrickville, New South Wales. Includes local sketch. Printed in red. Torrens title. Terms: 1/4 cash deposit & the balance in 1, 2 & 3 years at 5 per cent interest."
    

Sounds like a good deal to me. More posts soon.