Ardill House, originally called Clermont House, was constructed in 1861 on a grant to Henry Bray, third Mayor of Concord. Henry died in 1896. Subdivision of the estate began in 1917 and in 1918 the house and existing grounds were donated by the then owner, Mr. F.K. Oliver, to the Society for Providing Homes for…
A tale of one persons dedication. Keith was born in Moss Vale in 1933 and, aged 14 months, became a resident at Rosslyn Hall, Rockdale. This Home was a link in a chain of charities forged by George Edward Ardill, MBE. The first half of the nineteenth century had produced anxious social problems which the…
Macquarie’s Military Hospital – Fort Street School – National Trust Centre As the NSW National Trust celebrates its 70th anniversary in April this year (2015), another important `birthday’ will be marked in July when the imposing edifice at the top of Sydney’s Observatory Hill which has housed the Trust since 1974 reaches the ripe age…
Turning the First Sod The ceremony of turning the first sod of the tramway line, which is to connect the suburb of Enfield with Mortlake, was performed yesterday afternoon by the Minister for Works, Mr. O’Sullivan. Elaborate preparations had been made by the municipalities interested in honouring the event, as the day was regarded by…
Cockatoo Island was largely undisturbed until 1839 when Governer Gipps chose it for the site of a new penal establishment to alleviate overcrowding on Norfolk Island. Convicts were put to work initially quarrying stone for various projects around the colony. They also built stone prison barracks, a military guardhouse, granary silos, official residences and commenced…
Victor Horder was the youngest solder from Concord to enlist in the First World War at 15 years of age. He went on to serve in the Second World War. On 28 March 1917 he enlisted in the Army under the name of William Arthur Coleman and gave his age as 18 years. Although he…
By 1916 three hundred men from Concord had enlisted, eleven had died, twenty-one wounded and five invalided home. They went to Gallipoli, France, the deserts of Egypt and North Africa. The Council supported the national war effort to the full. Those left at home devised all kinds of community functions to raise money to provide…
A prominent Sydney physician, Dr George Fortescue, bought an estate on the Parramatta River in 1851. He named the area “Chiswick” after the village on the Thames River and his home “Wymston” after the Fortescue family estate in Devonshire. Blackwall Point Road was laid out in the late 1870’s but few houses were built in…
CYCLISTS! YOUR KING & COUNTRY NEED YOU! New cyclists battalions to be raised at once. Who will ride in the ranks of the famous Essex regiment? Unique opportunities for keen, fit wheelmen How and where to join… Most of us have more than one hobby, a number of interests, which can be quite…
The question of what becomes of beer confiscated by the police in raids upon sly grog shops was raised at Burwood Court yesterday. Mr. Williams S.M., said that he thought that the police sold the liquor. Sergeant Saunders said that the present practice was to give to public hospitals for the benefit of the inmates. Mr. Williams:…
At the first mention of the word “Denison” we immediately think of Fort Denison. I am sure that the builders of our complex had a former governor in mind when naming the building. William Thomas Denison was born in London on May 3, 1804. He was sent to Eton for his education and at age…
This post is about the shocking murder of two innocent men during the botched robbery of the local toll-gate at Parramatta in 1814. In addition to the two deaths another two men were almost executed for a crime they did not commit. On the fateful evening of Saturday 28 May 1814, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales…
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