The Hordern Tree

 

The Hordern business was originally established by a free immigrant from England, Anthony Hordern, in 1823, as a drapery shop. A further large menswear store was later opened in upper George Street.  It went on to become Anthony Hordern & Sons with a famous department store in Sydney.

One of its advertising slogans was that it sold “anything from a needle to an anchor”. The crest on their coat of arms was a budding tree with the motto: “While I live I’ll grow”. It appeared above all the store’s window fittings and on all its stationery.

A Port Jackson fig tree located on a ridge on the south side of the Razorback range near Camden, bore a striking resemblance to the tree pictured in the trade emblem. In the 1920s Anthony Hordern arranged with the land owners at the Razorback to erect a hoarding sign alongside it, bearing the store motto.

Anthony Hordern & Sons

Anthony Hordern was the founding member of the Hordern family in Australia and the business remained in family hands for a century. A substantial six-storey building was opened by them in 1905, called The Palace Emporium, the main entrance being completely fitted out in imported Italian marble.

The store was located on a block bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Streets in the south end of the CBD, on what was a small hill called Brickfield Hill. It was also one of the largest mail order businesses in Australia.

It was once the largest department store in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With 52 acres (21 hectares) of retail space, Anthony Hordern’s was also once the largest department store in the world.

It was controversially demolished during 1986 to make way for the World Square development.

 

Similar Posts

  • Dairies in the West

    From the Archives Advertisements are often the best indicators of contemporary society for while they are meant to sell goods and services, they are framed with the intention of appealing to a particular clientele. Advertisements reflect the values, concerns and aspirations of their intended audience. They are an appeal for trust, to engage in good…

  • My Country

    This cherished timeless poem speaks to the core of the Australian heart with its line “I love a sunburnt country”. The love of field and coppice, of green and shaded lanes. Of ordered woods and gardens is running in your veins, Strong love of grey-blue distance, brown streams and soft dim skies I know but…

  • Mortlake

    Sydney is made up of many fascinating suburbs and areas, many of which are such a normal part of Sydneysiders lives that they spare little thought for the history of these areas, let alone for the names they go by.  Today most are simply residential suburbs, home to countless families.  Mortlake is just one such…

  • Ernest Stephen Lukeman

    Adrian Boothman’s great grandfather, Ernest Stephen Lukeman, father, Richard Stephen Boothman and his family lived at 75 Formosa Street Drummoyne for more than 100 years. Ernest Stephen Lukeman was prominent in soccer circles in the late 1920s until his passing in 1936. He was the Secretary/Manager of the Australian Soccer Football Association and hosted visits…

  • Garden Island

    One of the prettiest islands in Port Jackson has the distinction of having given us our first bushranger, Black Caesar, whose story was in the August newsletter. The principal and almost the only policy of the Government of New South Wales during its earliest years consisted mainly of finding something to eat for the thousand…

  • The Walker Crest/Motto

    On our open days we are often asked what is the meaning of the latin on  the Walker crest – “Per Varios Casus”. An approximate translation would be “Through diverse (or various) opportunities”, which would appear to be an indication of how his wealth was acquired. It’s not known if this was an old crest or whether it came…

Add your first comment to this post