Walking Sydney of the First Fleet
A self-guided walking tour in the vicinity of Circular Quay which identifies the location of the buildings of Sydney created by those who arrived with the First Fleet. The locations are taken from a chart prepared by Capt. Hunter and Lieut. Bradley in March 1788 which gives an insight into what Sydney was like in its first year. It will be helpful to have a current map of the Circular Quay area with you as you take this walk.
Above: Map: Sydney Cove, Port Jackson. The position of the encampment and buildings are as they stood at March 1788. William Bradley, chart from his journal A Voyage to New South Wales, 1802+. Mitchell Library, State Library NSW. It is the earliest known map of Sydney Cove settlement showing the various uses of ground including gardens, stores, bakehouse and cooking places.
First Fleet Park
Commence the walk from First Fleet Park, Circular Quay.
This park is located where the first shipbuilding and repair facilities on Sydney Cove were built. The ships of the second and third fleets and subsequent visiting ships during Sydney's first 25 years offloaded their cargoes here. The point across the cove where the Opera House now stands was first known as Cattle Point. It was there that first the human cargo of convicts and afterwards the cattle, sheep and other livestock which arrived on board the ships of the first fleet were brought ashore. Behind the park, below the rocky hillside that was to become known as The Rocks, a tent hospital was erected to take care of the sick among the first fleeters.
Portable Hospital, Evans, c1803: Sydney from the western side of the Cove. Mitchell Library. This watercolour shows the head of Sydney Cove, the mouth of The Tank Stream, Sydney's first water supply. The beached ship is where the shipbuilding yard would soon be built. The phtograph above (First Fleet Park) shows the same location today.
Today, Sydney Cove is rectangular in shape but before it became known as Circular Quay the head of the cove was triangular. Its eastern shore continued south to what today is the corner of Tank Stream Way and Bridge Street where the small stream which provided drinking water for the colonists entered the cove (Tank Stream Way is in fact built over the Tank Stream).
Proceed along Pitt Street to the corner of Pitt Street and Bridge Street.
Pitt Street follows what was the right bank of the Tank Stream from the head of the cove (the left hand corner of Customs House on Alfred Street was built on timber piles over the steam). The triangle of land at the head of the cove bounded by Pitt Street, Macquarie Place and the Sydney Cove shoreline was originally largely mudflats at low tide. They were reclaimed by convicts in the 1840s when the original Semi-Circular Quay seawall were built.
Corner of Bridge Street and Tank Stream Way. Look out for the Tanksteam markers embedded into the pacement. Created in 1999 by artist Lynne Roberts-Goodwin, the insallation consists of a series of markers set into the pavement through the city centre, following the original course of the creek.
Walk down Bridge Street a little way to its lowest point (the junction of Tank Stream Way).
You are standing on the site of the first bridge built by the colonists. It was initially a simple log bridge which had to be replaced on numerous occasions with more substantial timber structures. In 1803 Gov. King asked the semi-retired Augustus Alt to have the log bridge replaced by a more sturdy stone arch tall enough for small sea-going vessels to pass under it. King laid the corner stone for the new 9m long bridge at this spot. Its construction proved to be somewhat of a chore. Continual rock hewing activities by convicts for government buildings and public works had sapped the strength of the few able bodied men capable of carrying out this task. This led Gov. King to appeal to the colony's free settlers to help in the bridge's construction.
Bridge over the Tank Stream - Sydney from the west side of the Cove, c. 1803 Evans, George William (attrib.), 1780 1852. Watercolour. Courtesy Grace Karskens.
Struggling to survive a drought, colonists refused point-blank to labour on the bridge under the hot sun and the job was left to five convicts supervised by stone-mason Isaac Peyton. Built in haste, it was opened to traffic on 5 January 1804 but collapsed nine months later due to a combination of poor workmanship and heavy rains which caused the creek to flood. Repairs were undertaken immediately and again in 1806. The bridge was later completely remodelled by John O'Hearn, which included widening and lowering of the arch. O'Hearn's labour was paid for with 675 gallons of rum. It was demolished in the 1840's when the Tank Stream was channeled underground and the area beyond the bridge reclaimed and remodelled as part of the construction of Circular Quay.
Many fine houses were built at the lower end of the street in the first half of the 19th century, but these were gradually replaced by commercial buildings which, due to their close proximity to the harbour, attracted shipping and trading companies which established their head offices there.
Proceed up Bridge Street to the corner of Macquarie Place.
Bridge Street
Bridge Street has the honour of bring one of Sydney's as well as Australia's first streets. It began as a path from the Governor's house to the Military Barracks and was known as Governor's Row until 1811 when Gov. Macquarie gave the street its present name.
HMS Sirius anchor, Macquarie Place
The triangle of park now known as Macquarie Place Park was the lowest part of the Governor's garden, a sizable vegetable patch which extended up the hill to around modern day Phillip Street. The line of Macquarie Place fronts an area Arthur Phillip set aside for the offloading of stores from the Governor's Wharf, a simple jetty erected alongside a flagstaff near the corner of Reiby Place. Its name recalls ex-convict and colonial businesswoman Mary Reiby who owned a home here, which she leased to the Bank of New South Wales (now Westpac), Australia's first bank, when it was founded by her and other colonials in 1815. The an anchor of HMS Sirius, the flagship of the first fleet, and a cannon from the vessel, recovered in 1907, are on display in the park.
It was from this spot that Governor Macquarie first measured distances within the colony of New South Wales in 1818 and commissioned Francis Greenway to design and build a sandstone obelisk to record those distances. The obelisk, though since moved a metre or so from its original position, is still the reference point from which all road distances in Australia are measured.
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Proceed up Bridge Street to the corner of Phillip Street.
Climbing the rise along Bridge Street was the blacksmith's workshop (Cnr Pitt and Bridge Streets alongside the Tank Stream), a storehouse (Cnr Bridge and Young St), a guardhouse (Macquarie Place) and the very first Government House, the colony's first brick building.
First Government House: corner of Bridge and Phillip Streets (high side)
Originally terminating at the original Government House which was located where it meets Phillip Street, Bridge Street was extended up the hill to Macquarie Street when the building was replaced in the 1840s. Gov. Phillip established governmental offices and stores on its high side beyond the stream, a location which afforded a view of the whole of the settlement from it. This precinct has remained the centre for government administration ever since. It is still home to a row of governmental office buildings that were erected in the late 19th century.
Museum of Sydney
Proceed to the corner of Bridge and Phillip Streets.
The Museum of Sydney, which is part of Governor Phillip Tower, is located on the site of the first Government House where Governor Bligh was placed under house arrest in 1808 in what became known as the Rum Rebellion. Featured on display inside and outside the Museum are the remnants of the footings of both the original Government House and its many extensions. The footings, which include walls, paths and drains, have been preserved undisturbed and are on permanent display. East of the governor's quarters at the top of the rise was the Provost Marshall (Cnr Macquarie and Bridge Sts) and another Government store.
Bligh Street: originally the path leading from the surgeon's and judge's quarters to the governor's residence
Proceed along Phillip Street to Bent Street.
It was in the area where these two streets intersect that the tents housing the first fleet's female convicts were erected. The row of tents followed the line of Bligh Street.
Proceed along Phillip Street to Bligh Street.
The corner of Bligh Street is the site of the Judge Advocate's house and office. Beyond his tent at what is today the corner of Bent and O'Connell Street was another row of tents where the first fleet's male convicts were housed. This row of tents followed the line of O'Connell Street.
Cnr Bent and O'Connell Streets
Between the row of tents at their far end around what is now the corner of Hunter and Castlereagh Streets was the Surgeon's marquee. The path leading from the surgeon's and judge's quarters to the governor's residence became Bligh Street, and the track from the military barracks to the male convicts' tents became Spring Street. The path which passed these tents and led over the hill to the colony's vegetable farm near Garden Cove (Botanical Gardens) became Bent Street.
Proceed down Bent Street, Spring Street and Bond Street to George Street.
Note that Bent Street between O'Connell and Phillip Streets follows what was the southern boundary of the vegetable garden of Old Goverment House.
Wynyard Park
Proceed up Margaret Street to Wynyard Park.
The land on the high side of George Street towards York Street was selected by Gov. Phillip for use by the military. The area occupied today Wynyard Park is part of the site of the colony's first military barracks which housed the Marines stationed at the colony of New South Wales. Its boundary extended south as far as Barrack Street. The Parade Ground fronted George Street.
As land in the town became more valuable and as more of the population consisted of free persons, a military presence in the centre of the town became less popular. It remained their home until 1848 when regiments stationed there were transferred to the newly completed Victoria Barracks in Paddington. Between the Barracks and George Street was the Lieut. Governor's Garden (around Margaret Street) and a row of storehouses (between Margaret Street and Grosvenor Street.
Lang Street
Proceed north along York Street to the corner of Lang Street.
The land alongside York Street between Margaret and Jamison Streets was used as a parade ground. Within weeks of the first fleet's arrival, Governor Phillip instructed the Colonial Surveyor Augustus Alt and his assistant Lieut. William Dawes to come up with a plan for a township for the colonists to live in.
The layout they set down was never followed - instead the first streets of Sydney town developed somewhat by accident from the tracks beaten through the bush by the early settlers linking one location to another - except for one street. It commenced at the northern perimeter of the Military complex and led down the hill to the Governor's boathouse at the south-west corner of Sydney Cove and was to be the town's main street. Two sections of the street survive - what is now known as Lang Street, and the section of George Street between Essex and Alfred Streets.
St Phillips Church, Church Hill, 1817
Proceed along Lang Street and Grosvenor Street to George Street.
This area was known as Church Hill as it was here that the colony's Chaplain Rev. Johnstone held the first church service under a tree where the Westpac head office building now stands. Two years on he built a church at the top of the hill which was later joined by a number of other churches of various Christian denominations. The division between the Governor of New South Wales and his second in command was symbolised by the location of their residence. Governor Phillip lived on the east side of the Tank Stream and the Lieutenant Governor, Major Robert Ross, on the west side, at what is now the corner of George and Grosvenor Streets.
Proceed along George Street towards Circular Quay.
Another row of male convicts tents were erected on the eastern side of the section of George Street between Jamison and Essex Streets. The corner of Essex and Harrington Streets (just up Essex St.) is the site of gallows where the colony's early lawbreakers were hanged. The first to be hanged here was convict Thomas Barrett, who in 1788 stole butter, pease and pork from camp provisions. A gallows tree located here between the male and female convict camps was used for the deed. It stood beside the colony's first gaol. Made of logs, the gaol did not last long, having been destroyed by fire. It was probably deliberately lit. It was only with difficulty that the prisoners in it, some of them in irons, were rescued from the flames. The cost of the second gaol was met by the inhabitants contributing their labour and also by levies on spirits and other duties.
Beyond the gaol and gallows in the area now occupied by the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney was a second row of tents which housed more female convicts. Underwood Street, off Dalley Street, recalls James Underwood who lived here close to the site of Sydney's first shipbuilding facility. Underwood arrived in New South Wales with the First Fleet, having been transported for 14 years for killing five sheep. His shipbuilding business, located in the vicinity of where Cadman's Cottage stands today, was part of a larger trading enterprise and his ships were engaged in sealing, whaling and carrying coal. He imported goods from India and Europe and later engaged in building a distillery on the South Head Road.
Nurses Walk
Proceed along George Street to Dawes Point.
The corner of Nurses Row (Walk) and George Street is believed to be the site of Sydney's first hospital, which operated her from 1788 to 1815. The hospital was flanked by guard houses and a vegetable garden located near the corner of George and Argyle Streets on the higher ground behind the Governor's boathouse (Cadman's Cottage).
The area around George Street beyond Argyle Place was cultivated as a vegatable garden by Captain Shea of the Marines. It was in this vicinity that, at his request, Captain Shea was buried, in 1789, along with many other first fleeters. Known as The Old Sydney Burial Ground, it was the first major official cemetery for the town. It is estimated that some 2,000 burials took place there until it was deemed offensive and too close to human habitation when it was closed.
In March 1788 Lieutenant Dawes built an observatory beyond the hospital on the tip of the rocky point to the west of Sydney Cove which now bears his name. Dawes also built a small fort there to guard the entrance to Sydney Cove.
Dawes Point fort
When HMS Supply was dispatched to the Cape of Good Hope to purchase much needed supplies in October 1788, 8 guns from the Sirius were taken ashore and mounted at the fort on the point to make as much room as possible for the purchases which it was hoped the ship would bring back. This extended the fort's firepower to two brass 6 pounders and four iron 12 pounders.
The fort was razed in 1928 to make way for the foundations of the Sydney Harbour Bridge approaches. A few canon from the fort were re-housed on new carriages located in the vicinity. The underground section of the fort which included powder magazines and passageways to adjoining quarters remained intact as its location did not interfere with the bridge works. These ruins were buried under the park that was subsequently created under the bridge's southern approaches. Archaeological digs of the site in the 1990s led to it being excavated and partly restored.
Dawes Point fort historic display
