LYONS ROAD, DRUMMOYNE
Most of us would be familiar with Lyons Road, which runs from Drummoyne, through Russell Lea, Wareemba and finishes in Five Dock West. Lyons Road is named after Samuel Lyons, who purchased the Five Dock Farm estate in 1836. He subdivided the Estate for housing and built the first roads in the area.
Samuel Lyons was a pardoned convict from London who rose to prominence in the Colony as a landowner and businessman. He was a tailor by trade, convicted for theft, and transported to Sydney Town in 1815. He didn’t respond well to convict life and found himself transported to Hobart where he tried to unsuccessfully to escape. In 1833 he returned to Sydney to start a new life, opening a small shop in Pitt Street, Sydney.
He was eventually given a conditional pardon in 1825, and an absolute pardon in 1832. He also worked as a successful auctioneer, In 1835 he helped found Australia’s first political party, the Australian Patriotic Association. He was a successful businessman acquiring land and building houses. He also helped to establish the Sydney Banking company and later had shares in the Bank of NSW
He married Mary Murphy in 1822 and had a daughter and two sons. He died on the 3rd August 1851, having made a significant positive impact on the growth of Sydney.
Jenny Alfonso
Reference
Australian Dictionary of Biography (2006). Samuel Lyons (1791-1851)
(Main photograph: Lyons Terrace, Hyde Park. This row of five terraces facing Hyde Park on Liverpool Street were built by emancipist trader Samuel Lyons in 1842 as accommodation for senior government officials. Tenants included Judge Sir Alfred Stephen. Each cost £5,000. They were described as “without exception the best in the city, and would not disgrace the Regent’s Park in London”. Dixson Galleries, State Library of NSW.)
