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Bill Warner Chemist Has ReOpened At 334 Victoria Street Darlinghurst

john palmer traveled with the first fleet aboard the ship 'Sirius' as ships purser and arrived on the 26th of January 1788 .

appointed 'commissary 2nd June 1791

December 1792 governor Phillip establishes a boundary line from the head of garden cove to the head of the cove next inland (becomes DarlingHarbour) intending to keep orderly control of the growth of the town and by the same provide a point from which to measure land grants to officers, administration officials or free settlers as a way of finding suitable farming land.

February 1793 major general grose grants to palmer 100 acres adjacent to this boundary on the eastern side at garden cove.

to captain joseph Foveaux October 1793 land to the south with an eastern boundary following the escarpment (between riley street & crown street) and called by him the surrey hills farm separated from palmers grant by a 25 acre block of land

1794 lieutenant governor paterson grants 70 acres to the east of the surrey hills farm "George farm" from crown street Southside up oxford street to south dowling street & south to Fitzroy street) a major part of which formed the catchment for the creek that ran into rushcuttersbay being that part from the high point at st margaret's on bourke street then to the north east reaching the edge of the escarpment and dropping down to rushcutters bay

1795 the 25 acre block of land between Foveaux's grant and palmers along the south head road granted Alexander Donaldson & sold shortly after to palmer

Foveaux sells surrey hills farm to palmer before leaving for lord Howe island

September 1796 palmer leaves the colony for England aboard the "Britannia" with the leave of governor hunter & after appointing as his agent

Mr. John Stogdell

returning in November 1800

1800 palmer owns 300 acres being from the harbour at woolloomooloo to what is now Cleveland Street

and the estate is divide by the road to the various roads to south head, see story at right)

Stogdell promises an accounting of the estate

march 1801 stogdell accidentally drowned before providing palmer with a full accounting of the estate

read court documents relating to this

1808 palmer is dinning at government house the night of the rum rebellion

sacked as commissary general by the rebel administration

1810 travels to England with Bligh as a witness

1811 demoted to assistant commissary

June 1813 palmer reinstated in the commissariat

1814 may returns to NewSouthWales and to settle debts

1st of October 1814 the surrey hills estate sold at auction by order of Sheriff william gore

1818 granted land at Bathurst

1819 retires on half pay and

1822 sells woolloomooloo farm to Edward riley

Edward riley proceeds to buy back that part of the surrey hills estate that was along the escarpment on the western side of riley street

Edward riley snr. dies

read related court documents relating to the eventual carving up of the estate and the naming of the streets after the presiding judges

1832 1834 1841

1841 judge dowling judge burton c.j.forbes

the house sat astride the high point to the north of william street at the point that was to become palmer street & faucett street & is shown on the map below

map above shows the carve up of the riley estate according to the terms of the will of Edward riley snr. share and share alike

map also shows the upper catchment and the bridge at the low point mentioned being just above the line of the sydney common.

a foot way to the signal station at south head had been used from the very earliest but access to the signal station in regard to providing personal & supplies was almost always by boat as no way existed to take a horse let alone a carriage

this way was called the south head road and can still be traced through the streets of darlinghurst

that foot way followed the spine rising from the southeast corner of the Hyde park turning to the north at the crest & across the area now covered by the courthouse and gaol complex leaving the escarpment along the line of the path in green park from darlinghurst road to the corner of burton street & victoria street going down along the ridge to the crossing stones at the rushcutters creek

demonstrated by the diagonal line from bottom right to top left in the above map from the national library

-1803 surgeon john Harris agrees to build a road 15 feet wide from sydney to south head for 100 pounds, suitable for horse . called the new south head road & differed in that it turned south at the crest of the hill skirting the head of the water catchment of the rushcutters creek and then east again at what was to become albion avenue and across to the area shown just on the left up from the BusStop

above right showing the highpoint on albion avenue

the picture above shows the ridgeline followed by the original south head road

-disputed by government over delays & cost over runs. Harris receives 20 pounds

-1809 governor macquarie arrives in the colony with the 73rd regiment

(governor from January 1st 1810 to the 1st of December 1821)

1810 macquarie was petitioned by Mr. Thomas west for permission to dam the streams that rose in this area from a number of springs & erect a watermill on part of the land.

the springs ran into what was by then the eastern boundary of the town

rushcutters creek.

asking In the petition for the land being boarded on one side by the south head road.

(both the Old south head road footway to the west of the property & the new south head road ,suitable for horses, along the south of the property.

confusion over which one he was referring to in his initial petition to macquarie

leads to a number of court cases between

the crown and Thomas west

12 October 1831 17 &18 October 1832 )

-1811-march-notice issued in the government gazette calling for public subscriptions to pay for the construction

-1811-march-25th-work started using as a labor force the 73rd regiment being completed 10 weeks latter

as is the way people on foot took the slightly more northern route crossing the creek at the point it starts its decline down the hill through what became know as barcom glen (there is a low point behind the beauchamp hotel , pictured below, at the corner of oxford street & south dowling street and until recently a graphic example of the change in road heights was demonstrated by the exposed western wall of the stairway down to the basement bar and the fire place halfway down the wall. the shadow of this old building can still be seen from the front on oxford street, in the picture below its the area on the far right at the bottom, the old bottle shop. making it the first & last hotel for many travelers on the south head road .

this picture denotes the general area of the palmer mansion


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